DA vs ECNL vs everything else

[Anonymous]

Has Arlington filled their 05 and 04 teams? What's the make up look like for them?

[Anonymous]

We are doing DA Super Y-we are from another area so want a jump to know some kids. We had nothing else going on this summer so no vacation so why not. It is Super Y and the pool and maybe a trip to the beach if we can swing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has Arlington filled their 05 and 04 teams? What's the make up look like for them?

Dont know why they wouldnt have since they already had an existing pool

Mclean ECNL?

Lost coach to Spirit and some players. Don't know the impact that will have on their teams though.

LOUDOUN ECNL picking up some FCV and Spirit players

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if you are a 2006 dob that accepted a DA spot can you still play Super Y this summer, or would that be a bad idea

Super Y is technically a summer league and not during the DA time frame so not really in conflict with the "no other soccer league" rules. I would talk with the DA coach and ask them what their plans are for summer training. The only issues I could see with Super Y are 1) level of competition is usually low as teams are "mixed" in the NOVA area of different level skill players, and
2) you may be better off training with your team and doing scrimmages with them instead. With that said, I dont think more touches on the ball will hurt as long as you are not picking up bad habits on fundamentals versus inferior players.

Tried to sign up my daughter for Spirit Super Y for this Summer and Spirit said no. She is a current Spirit DA player. According to Spirit, while they encouraged her to play Spirit Super Y last Summer (as she had done 2 Summers before that), I was told she could not play this Summer as it is not allowed for players currently in DA. There is actually quite a bit of overlap in training and games. Super Y training starts in May and games start in mid June. DA training and games won't end until end of June. So the above is not correct. However, if you are not currently in DA it is OK and even encouraged.

My advice is to have your daughter play up a year in Super Y if she is planning to play DA. Even that is not going to replicate the speed of play she will encounter in DA but at least it is closer.

My other advice, already provided above, is take a vacation while you can. You will only have July and the 3 weeks from Dec. 15 to Jan. 7 or so of down time until next July. We trained through Spring Break this year. They did give us off for Easter Sunday. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Who here is licensed to coach? How long have you played soccer and at what level? Just curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCV is cut throat. Staff members with over the top egos that are fed by parents (almost always moms...sorry) who attempt to politic for their children. Half the moms jump all over themselves to politic with the TD. The same moms wont say hello to a fellow parent on the sideline. I guess its because the parent cant do anything for them or their child.

They have a well earned reputation of treating their players like trash because they know they can easily replace them with the next kid looking to join the "winning" team.

An outside kid will replace a life long kid in the blink of an eye. A year later, they will cut the new "outside" kid and replace them with another outside kid. The cycle just repeats itself.

The talk a good game with development. Truth is, the kids they pick were already good. That's why they picked them. Lots of kids coming from outside clubs to join. They had ECNL and now DA. That drew in a lot of the talent. The talent they really never developed. Their current hallmark team mostly came from SYA, BRYC, etc.

There is no loyalty. Everyone is a bubble kid (regardless of talent). I have seen plenty of kids leave FCV ECNL after not being up to par and go play Mclean ECNL and become twice the player under Clyde Watson. That's true development.

Hence, i will never send my daughter there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who here is licensed to coach? How long have you played soccer and at what level? Just curious.

Just because someone was a good player doesn’t mean they will be a good coach. When you play, you only need to worry about yourself for the most part. Managing and coaching a team are something else entirely.

[Anonymous]

Can someone who followed DA and ECNL closely please tell me if there is really a difference in the game speed and technical skills of players in the U14/U15 age range?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who here is licensed to coach? How long have you played soccer and at what level? Just curious.

Just because someone was a good player doesn’t mean they will be a good coach. When you play, you only need to worry about yourself for the most part. Managing and coaching a team are something else entirely.

Sorry, to answer your question. USSF D license and USC National Advanced Diploma. Coached rec for 3 years, travel for the past 4. Currently coaching travel at the older age groups. Been playing soccer for the past 20 years, highest level was HS varsity. Didn’t play in college because it’s just really expensive soccer in which you stop developing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who here is licensed to coach? How long have you played soccer and at what level? Just curious.

Just because someone was a good player doesn’t mean they will be a good coach. When you play, you only need to worry about yourself for the most part. Managing and coaching a team are something else entirely.

When you look at soccer and see Cryuff, Pep, Zidane, Beckenbauer, Conte, Diego Simone, Rijkaard, Ancelotti, etc. the list goes on of top players that were/are top manager/coaches. There is something to be said for knowing what's required and what it is like on the playing field, an understanding.

But, I agree, not every personality takes to coaching. I think it's a big advantage to have played though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who here is licensed to coach? How long have you played soccer and at what level? Just curious.

Just because someone was a good player doesn’t mean they will be a good coach. When you play, you only need to worry about yourself for the most part. Managing and coaching a team are something else entirely.

When you look at soccer and see Cryuff, Pep, Zidane, Beckenbauer, Conte, Diego Simone, Rijkaard, Ancelotti, etc. the list goes on of top players that were/are top manager/coaches. There is something to be said for knowing what's required and what it is like on the playing field, an understanding.

But, I agree, not every personality takes to coaching. I think it's a big advantage to have played though.

I could make a list of top coaches who did not play at the highest level. False equivalency. The names you mentioned already had shown a predisposition towards coaching while they were still playing. What about Seedorf, Maradona, Klinnsmann, Gary Neville, etc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who here is licensed to coach? How long have you played soccer and at what level? Just curious.

Just because someone was a good player doesn’t mean they will be a good coach. When you play, you only need to worry about yourself for the most part. Managing and coaching a team are something else entirely.

When you look at soccer and see Cryuff, Pep, Zidane, Beckenbauer, Conte, Diego Simone, Rijkaard, Ancelotti, etc. the list goes on of top players that were/are top manager/coaches. There is something to be said for knowing what's required and what it is like on the playing field, an understanding.

But, I agree, not every personality takes to coaching. I think it's a big advantage to have played though.

I could make a list of top coaches who did not play at the highest level. False equivalency. The names you mentioned already had shown a predisposition towards coaching while they were still playing. What about Seedorf, Maradona, Klinnsmann, Gary Neville, etc?

If you have a knack for coaching and[i] you were a good player, you are going to have a much broader understanding than somebody who has just the knack for coaching and never played.

That's not rocket science. Nobody said a coach had to have played the sport to be a decent coach. But just imagine those coaches if they had played and could even demonstrate a thing or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who here is licensed to coach? How long have you played soccer and at what level? Just curious.

I have my National D License. I played professionally in Europe for a few years after college....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has Arlington filled their 05 and 04 teams? What's the make up look like for them?

Dont know why they wouldnt have since they already had an existing pool

Mclean ECNL?

Lost coach to Spirit and some players. Don't know the impact that will have on their teams though.

LOUDOUN ECNL picking up some FCV and Spirit players

They are still looking for players. Only took 10ish from their pool of players

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone who followed DA and ECNL closely please tell me if there is really a difference in the game speed and technical skills of players in the U14/U15 age range?

I have seen all the local GDA and ECNL teams play this year. Your question is tough to answer generally because there are many differences across age groups and clubs that affect things. If you were going to look at regional showcase games between top teams, you would be hard pressed to see any differences in speed of play and skills between the leagues at any age group. Locally for U14-U15, you will see mostly comparable level of play between ECNL and DA, but it really depends on who is playing. If you sat in on say an FCV vs PDA GDA match, you would likely conclude the skill level and pace of play would be highest there. If you watched a Spirit VA vs Spirit MD GDA match, you would find that pretty comparable to local ECNL matches. If you watched the BRYC U15 ECNL team against some good competition, you would be impressed with that too. For the most part, these two age groups have not seen a ton of movement between the two leagues so the differences are still modest and with few exceptions are within the usual variation between ages and clubs. If they were all in a league together (with perhaps ASA, Pipeline, etc), it would be competitive. Wouldn't that be nice!

As noted in this thread, as a general rule, the strongest ECNL age groups are older (01, 02, 03) because ECNL was the top dog in town then, and those older girls have tended to stay with their clubs. The younger ages (05, 06, 07) are being picked over by the newer GDA teams and are weaker. Next year, I would anticipate that the level of play across these younger age groups will be higher in GDA than ECNL. It's not clear how big that gap will be, and even more unclear if that gap will continue to widen in the years to come. As the years go on, barring no major changes in the landscape (when has there NOT been changes!), you will likely find quality of play becoming higher in GDA than in ECNL as the younger ones flow up through the system.