VA MD DC Girls soccer - thoughts, opinions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is driving from North Arlington to Reston 4 days a week for practice for U14 DD not realistic? Ignore carpools, is that just too much time in the car at that age?
Agree that Arlington not left with good choices. No one buys this National league thing.

My DD and her carpool have a similar drive. They do their homework. It works well.

[Anonymous]

- how were WS id sessions today?

- how many players, which da coaches there, what did they tell parents?

- any sense of which clubs most represented among the new, non-returning players (i.e., 05s and 06s)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is driving from North Arlington to Reston 4 days a week for practice for U14 DD not realistic? Ignore carpools, is that just too much time in the car at that age?
Agree that Arlington not left with good choices. No one buys this National league thing.

That is assuming that all Arlington soccer players live in North Arlington, which is not the case. On my DD's team of 15, there are 8 players who aren't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:- how were WS id sessions today?

- how many players, which da coaches there, what did they tell parents?

- any sense of which clubs most represented among the new, non-returning players (i.e., 05s and 06s)?

We were leaving ‘04 practice as the ID session was starting. LOTS of girls (60?) with gear from all over the area. No one club seemed to be providing a preponderance of the players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:- how were WS id sessions today?

- how many players, which da coaches there, what did they tell parents?

- any sense of which clubs most represented among the new, non-returning players (i.e., 05s and 06s)?

We were leaving ‘04 practice as the ID session was starting. LOTS of girls (60?) with gear from all over the area. No one club seemed to be providing a preponderance of the players.

This would have been a session for 04-06? If so 60 doesn’t seem like too many. Do current players not attend the ID sessions? I know with the boys current players did attend the I’d sessions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:- how were WS id sessions today?

- how many players, which da coaches there, what did they tell parents?

- any sense of which clubs most represented among the new, non-returning players (i.e., 05s and 06s)?

We were leaving ‘04 practice as the ID session was starting. LOTS of girls (60?) with gear from all over the area. No one club seemed to be providing a preponderance of the players.

This would have been a session for 04-06? If so 60 doesn’t seem like too many. Do current players not attend the ID sessions? I know with the boys current players did attend the I’d sessions

Correct, current players do not attend the ID sessions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Should we take a moment to be amused that the big CCL boosters (Arlington, BRYC, Loudoun) are scrambling/have scrambled to find other options?

I think all three of those clubs screwed up by playing chicken with US Soccer and Wash Spirit Girls DA last year and losing. They should have gone ahead and ceded control of the DA teams to the Spirit/GDA organization instead of insisting on coach and team selection control.

I agree with the earlier posters on some important points. The talent pool in near-Beltway NOVA/MD is too diluted for the current ECNL and GDA teams to compete nationally, and a contraction would make sense. However, traffic and commuting patterns have a significant impact that cuts against contraction, at least up to about the U15 level when the girls who are not looking for college play are moving away from the higher intensity teams. I'm not sure how we reconcile those two things in our region.

And what about coaching dilution as more "elite" teams are added? How many really good coaches for all of these *girls* teams are out there, with less potential for increased salary by climbing the ladder than on the boys side, and how many of those coaches can live well in this area on their coaching salary/manage two (or three) jobs to make the rent? Maybe paying slightly better salaries is part of the reason for the Washington Spirit higher prices for GDA--they do seem to have stellar coaching that doesn't rely on a cult of personality the way some of the other elite clubs do.

It is amusing that arlington has pretty much just been squeezed our Maybe the GDA will pan out. Otherwise they are out in the cold and will be saying how great the national league is to their players / parents.

So PPs think arlington is not going to get a full girls DA, and may get some partial U13 + U14 da??? You may be right about them being squeezed out this year because they didn't get in last year, as it looks like us soccer has made it an all or none proposition. The boys da allows applications for partial da, but at their website for girls applications, there is no similar option. It is either full academy or nothing. There is also a footnote that mentions the expansions at U13, etc.

* * * * *
The Boys' and Girls' Development Academy Membership Applications for the 2018-2019 season are now available here: Boys Application | Girls Application. The application process for both genders are open to any clubs that are not currently members of the Development Academy as well as any existing members wishing to expand to additional age groups. For review, a PDF version of the application may be found here; however, only online submissions are accepted.

Boys' Applications: New clubs can apply for one of three options: U-12 only, U-12 to U-14, and full Academy (U-12, U-13, U-14, U-15, U-16/17 and U-18/19). Existing Academy clubs can apply for one of three expansion options depending upon their current status: U-13 & U-14, U-13 to U-18/19, and U-15, U-16/17 & U-18/19. Existing Academy members are encouraged to contact their Technical Advisor to discuss the plans for the market.

Girls' Applications*: New clubs can apply for full Academy at the following age groups: U-14, U-15, U-16/17 & U-18/19.

*The Girls' Development Academy is currently in the first year of the program. Academy Leadership is in the stage of observation and analysis about any potential age groups for expansion, e.g. U-13, U-16 single age, etc. If the Academy were to expand, all clubs that complete this application would also be considered for additional potential age groups and would receive communication prior to confirming participation. Note: Existing Academy Clubs do not need to apply for any potential expansion, they will automatically be considered for any additional age group expansion.

[Anonymous]

I've been told by some that the girls DA U16/U17 and U18/U19 age groupings are likely to be split at some point. I look at the boys side and wonder why they would do this. Anybody know what the deal is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Should we take a moment to be amused that the big CCL boosters (Arlington, BRYC, Loudoun) are scrambling/have scrambled to find other options?

I think all three of those clubs screwed up by playing chicken with US Soccer and Wash Spirit Girls DA last year and losing. They should have gone ahead and ceded control of the DA teams to the Spirit/GDA organization instead of insisting on coach and team selection control.

I agree with the earlier posters on some important points. The talent pool in near-Beltway NOVA/MD is too diluted for the current ECNL and GDA teams to compete nationally, and a contraction would make sense. However, traffic and commuting patterns have a significant impact that cuts against contraction, at least up to about the U15 level when the girls who are not looking for college play are moving away from the higher intensity teams. I'm not sure how we reconcile those two things in our region.

And what about coaching dilution as more "elite" teams are added? How many really good coaches for all of these *girls* teams are out there, with less potential for increased salary by climbing the ladder than on the boys side, and how many of those coaches can live well in this area on their coaching salary/manage two (or three) jobs to make the rent? Maybe paying slightly better salaries is part of the reason for the Washington Spirit higher prices for GDA--they do seem to have stellar coaching that doesn't rely on a cult of personality the way some of the other elite clubs do.

It is amusing that arlington has pretty much just been squeezed our Maybe the GDA will pan out. Otherwise they are out in the cold and will be saying how great the national league is to their players / parents.

So PPs think arlington is not going to get a full girls DA, and may get some partial U13 + U14 da??? You may be right about them being squeezed out this year because they didn't get in last year, as it looks like us soccer has made it an all or none proposition. The boys da allows applications for partial da, but at their website for girls applications, there is no similar option. It is either full academy or nothing. There is also a footnote that mentions the expansions at U13, etc.

* * * * *
The Boys' and Girls' Development Academy Membership Applications for the 2018-2019 season are now available here: Boys Application | Girls Application. The application process for both genders are open to any clubs that are not currently members of the Development Academy as well as any existing members wishing to expand to additional age groups. For review, a PDF version of the application may be found here; however, only online submissions are accepted.

Boys' Applications: New clubs can apply for one of three options: U-12 only, U-12 to U-14, and full Academy (U-12, U-13, U-14, U-15, U-16/17 and U-18/19). Existing Academy clubs can apply for one of three expansion options depending upon their current status: U-13 & U-14, U-13 to U-18/19, and U-15, U-16/17 & U-18/19. Existing Academy members are encouraged to contact their Technical Advisor to discuss the plans for the market.

Girls' Applications*: New clubs can apply for full Academy at the following age groups: U-14, U-15, U-16/17 & U-18/19.

*The Girls' Development Academy is currently in the first year of the program. Academy Leadership is in the stage of observation and analysis about any potential age groups for expansion, e.g. U-13, U-16 single age, etc. If the Academy were to expand, all clubs that complete this application would also be considered for additional potential age groups and would receive communication prior to confirming participation. Note: Existing Academy Clubs do not need to apply for any potential expansion, they will automatically be considered for any additional age group expansion.

I really don’t think US Soccer will add another full GDA in this area unless they shut down one of the existing programs, and which would that be? FCV is winning, VDA just got a boys expansion, and US Soccer is deeply invested in the NWSL so likely will stick with the Spirit teams come hell or high water. But maybe US Soccer will broker a deal and move the VA Spirit DA to Arlington rather than having it partnered with Reston. Arlington would have to go along with the Spirit control of the GDA program that they fought so hard previously for that to happen, though.

[Anonymous]

Reston is a great location for Spirit VA. The area is surrounded by high quality clubs and can draw from Eastern Loudoun as well as the Chantilly area as well. While Arlington isn’t as easy to draw players to. While Arlington might make a better feeder club than Reston initially it doesn’t represent the same overall player pool reach across multiple clubs the way a location in Reston does.

[Anonymous]

Arlington will be thrown a bone, U13 USGDA. One year of DA, and then the ones that are good enough can suck it up and do the carpool to Reston 4x a week for U14+. White gets to be coveted Red for one year of U13 CCL, and then reverts back to White the following year for U14 CCL2.

How does CCL deal with clubs fielding their B team in CCL for a year like that? Have never understood that on the boys side or at ECNL clubs.

[Anonymous]

Arlington getting U13 GDA only would not be surprising. The age group is a pilot anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Should we take a moment to be amused that the big CCL boosters (Arlington, BRYC, Loudoun) are scrambling/have scrambled to find other options?

I think all three of those clubs screwed up by playing chicken with US Soccer and Wash Spirit Girls DA last year and losing. They should have gone ahead and ceded control of the DA teams to the Spirit/GDA organization instead of insisting on coach and team selection control.

I agree with the earlier posters on some important points. The talent pool in near-Beltway NOVA/MD is too diluted for the current ECNL and GDA teams to compete nationally, and a contraction would make sense. However, traffic and commuting patterns have a significant impact that cuts against contraction, at least up to about the U15 level when the girls who are not looking for college play are moving away from the higher intensity teams. I'm not sure how we reconcile those two things in our region.

And what about coaching dilution as more "elite" teams are added? How many really good coaches for all of these *girls* teams are out there, with less potential for increased salary by climbing the ladder than on the boys side, and how many of those coaches can live well in this area on their coaching salary/manage two (or three) jobs to make the rent? Maybe paying slightly better salaries is part of the reason for the Washington Spirit higher prices for GDA--they do seem to have stellar coaching that doesn't rely on a cult of personality the way some of the other elite clubs do.

It is amusing that arlington has pretty much just been squeezed our Maybe the GDA will pan out. Otherwise they are out in the cold and will be saying how great the national league is to their players / parents.

So PPs think arlington is not going to get a full girls DA, and may get some partial U13 + U14 da??? You may be right about them being squeezed out this year because they didn't get in last year, as it looks like us soccer has made it an all or none proposition. The boys da allows applications for partial da, but at their website for girls applications, there is no similar option. It is either full academy or nothing. There is also a footnote that mentions the expansions at U13, etc.

* * * * *
The Boys' and Girls' Development Academy Membership Applications for the 2018-2019 season are now available here: Boys Application | Girls Application. The application process for both genders are open to any clubs that are not currently members of the Development Academy as well as any existing members wishing to expand to additional age groups. For review, a PDF version of the application may be found here; however, only online submissions are accepted.

Boys' Applications: New clubs can apply for one of three options: U-12 only, U-12 to U-14, and full Academy (U-12, U-13, U-14, U-15, U-16/17 and U-18/19). Existing Academy clubs can apply for one of three expansion options depending upon their current status: U-13 & U-14, U-13 to U-18/19, and U-15, U-16/17 & U-18/19. Existing Academy members are encouraged to contact their Technical Advisor to discuss the plans for the market.

Girls' Applications*: New clubs can apply for full Academy at the following age groups: U-14, U-15, U-16/17 & U-18/19.

*The Girls' Development Academy is currently in the first year of the program. Academy Leadership is in the stage of observation and analysis about any potential age groups for expansion, e.g. U-13, U-16 single age, etc. If the Academy were to expand, all clubs that complete this application would also be considered for additional potential age groups and would receive communication prior to confirming participation. Note: Existing Academy Clubs do not need to apply for any potential expansion, they will automatically be considered for any additional age group expansion.

I really don’t think US Soccer will add another full GDA in this area unless they shut down one of the existing programs, and which would that be? FCV is winning, VDA just got a boys expansion, and US Soccer is deeply invested in the NWSL so likely will stick with the Spirit teams come hell or high water. But maybe US Soccer will broker a deal and move the VA Spirit DA to Arlington rather than having it partnered with Reston. Arlington would have to go along with the Spirit control of the GDA program that they fought so hard previously for that to happen, though.

No that will not happen. GDA is only gong to expand in the next few years. When they have taken over everything they will throw away the little fish.

[Anonymous]

^^ This actually sounds about right.

[Anonymous]

My DD recently went through summer league Super Y tryouts. It almost seemed reflexive with no real discussion of why she was doing this yet again with teammates. It got me thinking about ODP, which I know has tryouts this summer.

If your DD is one of those that wants soccer training 24-7-365, then I get ODP as some supplement to satiate that desire.

But if you are like most, trying to find a balance and picking and choosing among options based on value of dollars/time spent, then what is the current (not past) relevance of girls ODP in the DMV area for an elite player? . . . and I am not talking about the "casual," A team, bread & butter player who repeatedly can make district pool but does not otherwise advance . . .

ODP is expensive, and I am told that if you make it past the relatively costly district plus state pools, then the cost really grows.

So, with this discussion of ECNL vs. US Girls DA, is all the cost and driving time of ODP something elite players are still choosing to do, year after year?

Or is ODP something that U13 girls in the DMV usually try (if they do not make or decide to do ECNL or Girls DA) simply because they do not know better? I meet many families who have no idea what ODP really is.

Wondering about current experiences of girls doing ECNL or DA. Not interested in what ODP used to be back in the day when mom or dad played college ball in this area . . .

So question for anyone: do elite players do ODP anymore in the DMV, which we know from PPs discussions is not some rural area without options?

Here is a good overview from last year, but not from the DMV area:
https://www.collegecommitted.com/free-resources/odp-should-i-do-it/