Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss Part II

[Anonymous]

And when BRYC and Mclean decide to go DA....where do they go....hmmmmmm

[Anonymous]

BRYC /Mclean Kids that is^^^^^

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And when BRYC and Mclean decide to go DA....where do they go....hmmmmmm

Spirit VA would be the more logistical option for McLean and BRYC kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it comical that with three DA's and 2 ECNL's everyone is mediocre.. No one can compete with markets that have less competition.

Again, idiotic statement on so many levels.

Who does your child play for? Let see if they can compete. Or...do you hide behind your anonymous states?

I'm not the PP, but I think you totally missed the point.

It's a legit concern that having so many "elite" teams in one area will dilute the talent. If you put all the top players in this area on one team, it'd be awesome. Split them all up, and are they doomed to get blasted by Penn Fusion and PDA all the time?

But if you insist on knowing where everyone's child plays -- mine plays in the NCSL. He's a boy who'll never be close to ECNL or DA level.

I didn't miss the point. I have heard it all before. How is it a "legit" concern to have so many "elite" teams in one area (A area of over 3 million people). Who is concerned? You? Your son play tier 5 NCSL. Why do you care?

I didn't say tier 5.

I care for two reasons:

1. As someone who sees soccer as much more than a mere vehicle for family vanity, I worry about player development.

2. I have these things called "friends." It's not all about me and my DS.

Well then you just contradicted yourself. Because if you cared about development you would want more elite venues for children not less. You are worried more about scored than development.

I disagree. The more "elite" teams you have in a given area, the farther away from "elite" they will actually be.

The concern over talent dilution is not just about the match scores, it has to do with the training and playing environment the truly elite players are actually in.

The best get better when playing with and against the best, in matches but more importantly every day at training. In the context of elite player development, the real question is how many of the best players in this area are comfortable, versus how many feel that they need to push themselves to their limit every day just to stay in the starting 11, or even on the team. That type of competitive environment at training, day in and day out, lifts the overall level of intensity and focus for everyone. If the top girls in our area are not in that environment, and top girls in PA and NJ are, then our top girls are not going to develop as well as theirs.

One explanation for that may be that the DA & ECNL clubs in this area have not been as successful in consolidating all of the top talent, and there are still a lot of elite players on non-DA/ECNL teams. That is definitely a possibility, especially since this is the DA's 1st year so there is still a lot of uncertainty about it, and on top of that you at least one club charging $5000/year (the Spirit, but I've heard some of the ECNL clubs are comparable when all is said and done).

Another explanation is that this area just doesn't have the talent level to support that many truly elite level girls teams.

I don't think we'll really have the answer to that for another year or two, and at the rate things seem to be constantly changing in the youth soccer landscape these days, who knows what it will all look like by then?

This is a really great post. I think ECNL has done both girls and boys a great disservice by trying to compete with the DA (though I understand why the ECNL leadership was unhappy with the ham-handed DA roll out on the girls' side). Not only does it contribute to the talent dilution problem you mention, it results in a lot more families paying a ton of money for travel soccer. In my perfect world, we'd have a true soccer pyramid with rec at the bottom, then NCSL or similar style pro/rel league, then a true regional league (which would not look like CCL--it would be open to the top teams from the pro-rel leagues), then national league, then DA for the kids who are serious and ambitious enough to forgo HS soccer. This would do a lot more to make sure kids have an appropriate level of competition than the current patchwork.

[Anonymous]

^^ECNLs role in diluting the player pool is only temporary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And when BRYC and Mclean decide to go DA....where do they go....hmmmmmm

Spirit VA would be the more logistical option for McLean and BRYC kids.

Exactly. Give it time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it comical that with three DA's and 2 ECNL's everyone is mediocre.. No one can compete with markets that have less competition.

Again, idiotic statement on so many levels.

Who does your child play for? Let see if they can compete. Or...do you hide behind your anonymous states?

I'm not the PP, but I think you totally missed the point.

It's a legit concern that having so many "elite" teams in one area will dilute the talent. If you put all the top players in this area on one team, it'd be awesome. Split them all up, and are they doomed to get blasted by Penn Fusion and PDA all the time?

But if you insist on knowing where everyone's child plays -- mine plays in the NCSL. He's a boy who'll never be close to ECNL or DA level.

I didn't miss the point. I have heard it all before. How is it a "legit" concern to have so many "elite" teams in one area (A area of over 3 million people). Who is concerned? You? Your son play tier 5 NCSL. Why do you care?

I didn't say tier 5.

I care for two reasons:

1. As someone who sees soccer as much more than a mere vehicle for family vanity, I worry about player development.

2. I have these things called "friends." It's not all about me and my DS.

Well then you just contradicted yourself. Because if you cared about development you would want more elite venues for children not less. You are worried more about scored than development.

I disagree. The more "elite" teams you have in a given area, the farther away from "elite" they will actually be.

The concern over talent dilution is not just about the match scores, it has to do with the training and playing environment the truly elite players are actually in.

The best get better when playing with and against the best, in matches but more importantly every day at training. In the context of elite player development, the real question is how many of the best players in this area are comfortable, versus how many feel that they need to push themselves to their limit every day just to stay in the starting 11, or even on the team. That type of competitive environment at training, day in and day out, lifts the overall level of intensity and focus for everyone. If the top girls in our area are not in that environment, and top girls in PA and NJ are, then our top girls are not going to develop as well as theirs.

One explanation for that may be that the DA & ECNL clubs in this area have not been as successful in consolidating all of the top talent, and there are still a lot of elite players on non-DA/ECNL teams. That is definitely a possibility, especially since this is the DA's 1st year so there is still a lot of uncertainty about it, and on top of that you at least one club charging $5000/year (the Spirit, but I've heard some of the ECNL clubs are comparable when all is said and done).

Another explanation is that this area just doesn't have the talent level to support that many truly elite level girls teams.

I don't think we'll really have the answer to that for another year or two, and at the rate things seem to be constantly changing in the youth soccer landscape these days, who knows what it will all look like by then?

This is a really great post. I think ECNL has done both girls and boys a great disservice by trying to compete with the DA (though I understand why the ECNL leadership was unhappy with the ham-handed DA roll out on the girls' side). Not only does it contribute to the talent dilution problem you mention, it results in a lot more families paying a ton of money for travel soccer. In my perfect world, we'd have a true soccer pyramid with rec at the bottom, then NCSL or similar style pro/rel league, then a true regional league (which would not look like CCL--it would be open to the top teams from the pro-rel leagues), then national league, then DA for the kids who are serious and ambitious enough to forgo HS soccer. This would do a lot more to make sure kids have an appropriate level of competition than the current patchwork.

#1. We already have that DA/ECNL/NPL/Region1 / EDP / NCSL / ODSL / REC
#2. You do not dilute the talent pool by developing more players. You EXPAND IT! Its better to use the word 'disperse" which is what is going on. But that's fine. Again, more opportunities for more kids. The cream will rise to the top at the end of the day and the NT will get their players, and the colleges will get their players, so forth and so on.

[Anonymous]

So what happens if a u13 DA kid for example plays for another club in Columbus Day tournament? or even during a league game? I heard that the DA can get in trouble but how do they really find out? and who is "they"? The DA Coach? What if the DA Coach doesn't say anything? I mean why would he? He doesn't want the DA to get in trouble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[

#1. We already have that DA/ECNL/NPL/Region1 / EDP / NCSL / ODSL / REC
#2. You do not dilute the talent pool by developing more players. You EXPAND IT! Its better to use the word 'disperse" which is what is going on. But that's fine. Again, more opportunities for more kids. The cream will rise to the top at the end of the day and the NT will get their players, and the colleges will get their players, so forth and so on.

If you want to use the word "disperse," that works for me. The problem with your #1 is that there are multiple competing leagues along side many of the levels you identify. I think the setup should be: REC/NCLS/Region 1/National League/DA. No CCL, no ECNL, no competing Region 1 and EDP, no USYSA vs. US Club turf wars. You could have multiple levels at Region 1 if there are enough good teams that need more competition to improve, and maybe there is a need for an ODSL type rec + level if it can offer some of the benefits of travel for less cost than NCSL.

You can have all the kids involved in soccer that way while making sure that the most talented and/or serious ones are concentrated on the top teams by high school. You really need to have the most talented kids training with and against each other for the reasons a PP outlined if they are going to have a chance to make the most of their abilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what happens if a u13 DA kid for example plays for another club in Columbus Day tournament? or even during a league game? I heard that the DA can get in trouble but how do they really find out? and who is "they"? The DA Coach? What if the DA Coach doesn't say anything? I mean why would he? He doesn't want the DA to get in trouble.

How is the kid getting a player card?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what happens if a u13 DA kid for example plays for another club in Columbus Day tournament? or even during a league game? I heard that the DA can get in trouble but how do they really find out? and who is "they"? The DA Coach? What if the DA Coach doesn't say anything? I mean why would he? He doesn't want the DA to get in trouble.

I'm not sure what US Soccer would do if they found out a DA player was violating the DA-only rule, but the club would care a lot about it. In addition to not wanting to risk sanctions from USSF, they tend to be very possessive of their players and very firm in their belief that time away from the club and DA training has potential to harm the player and the team. Plus they don't want other kids getting ideas about potentially moonlighting.

In terms of how they find out, it's almost always a parent narc. A few years back I watched our middle school's first soccer game of the season. We had a DA player on the team. I'm not sure if he didn't know he wasn't allowed to play school soccer due to the USSF rules or if he thought it wasn't a big deal, but he got a message from his DA coach 5 minutes after the game started. A parent on the other team recognized him and called the coach to turn him in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what happens if a u13 DA kid for example plays for another club in Columbus Day tournament? or even during a league game? I heard that the DA can get in trouble but how do they really find out? and who is "they"? The DA Coach? What if the DA Coach doesn't say anything? I mean why would he? He doesn't want the DA to get in trouble.

How is the kid getting a player card?

Couldn't the non DA club submit his birth certificate, etc at the beginning of the season and have him rostered on their team in addition to the DA? For example, if the non-DA was in EDP or some other league?

[Anonymous]

He could be with a DA affiliate club and not a DA FT player

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what happens if a u13 DA kid for example plays for another club in Columbus Day tournament? or even during a league game? I heard that the DA can get in trouble but how do they really find out? and who is "they"? The DA Coach? What if the DA Coach doesn't say anything? I mean why would he? He doesn't want the DA to get in trouble.

How is the kid getting a player card?

Couldn't the non DA club submit his birth certificate, etc at the beginning of the season and have him rostered on their team in addition to the DA? For example, if the non-DA was in EDP or some other league?

It is simple, the DA club could simply kick the kid off the team. The DA club does not want to lose their status over these types of rule violations and for what gain would the DA coach approve?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what happens if a u13 DA kid for example plays for another club in Columbus Day tournament? or even during a league game? I heard that the DA can get in trouble but how do they really find out? and who is "they"? The DA Coach? What if the DA Coach doesn't say anything? I mean why would he? He doesn't want the DA to get in trouble.

How is the kid getting a player card?

Couldn't the non DA club submit his birth certificate, etc at the beginning of the season and have him rostered on their team in addition to the DA? For example, if the non-DA was in EDP or some other league?

It is simple, the DA club could simply kick the kid off the team. The DA club does not want to lose their status over these types of rule violations and for what gain would the DA coach approve?

You folks are crazy. Why would you try to work the system? If you sign an agreement to play DA, just follow the rules. What are you teaching your kids? It does not take much to make up a player card and roster....5 mins in photoshop would do the trick! But come on, we need to teach these kids about commitment and a handshake/signature means something.