Girls DA 2018-19 Season
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Anonymous
| How did WS VA end up with so many 04 players this year? |
Anonymous
WS VA 04s have one less than last year. If your DD ever plays in college get used to having 28-30 players on the team. Most won't play. It's tough but that's top level soccer. |
Anonymous
Actually, that's incorrect. The boys are told that their U16 year is a non-DA year, at least at VDA, and they understand they will be playing, as a team, in EDP matches. Those 03 boys stay with the club, with good training mixed in with the DA kids, and with the opportunity to be in the older half of the DA's U16/17 age group the following year and make the DA team. Looks like Spirit is following that model. Most of the boys offered that option stay with the club; those who don't like it leave. Easy. There's this one Spirit hater on the board that's really poisonous, whether that person is a troll from another club or a true Spirit parent. The other Spirit commenters who have posted once or twice seem very reasonable. We should all ignore the poison and try to move on to more productive conversations. |
Anonymous
I don’t think the poster is a “Spirit hater”, rather a parent who is over being lied to. And frustrated that the lies continue this year, when the poster gave the Spirit a pass for last year as it was their first go at the DA. Poster is making other parents aware so that they don’t make the same mistake. |
Anonymous
| Have you? Have you really reached out to the other parents with your concerns or are you just venting here? |
Anonymous
?? A tiger doesn’t change its stripes. |
Anonymous
| Poster needs to come to terms with reality. If his U15 DD is getting benched with no playing time, and he is that frustrated... then DA is clearly not for his family. Certainly D1 and D2 college is off the table so move to another club and enjoy the rest of the time playing youth soccer in high school or a non-DA or ECNL club. |
Anonymous
The only parents who would defend the things they are hearing here is that 1 or 2 players that may be getting all the benefits and perks. The level of anger rising within WS families is rising. It can be swept aside or attacked here by the same 1-2 WS apologists ad nauseam. That doesn't erase facts on the ground. |
Anonymous
Calm down Spartacus. |
Anonymous
Your numbers concerning the actual U17 roster are incorrect and US Soccer's website on the roster is missing players, as are apparently a couple of other teams. So if they play up some of the U15s, that will mean sitting U17s for these U15s. I don't see how that resolves anything, though it may move problems around. |
Anonymous
If your DD received equal playing time until now at U15 and is now benched, then she has hit a plateau for the first time. That's tough but it happens to everyone at some level. She was good enough to get this far so should be commended for that. Now - she can work hard to get better or move on. Either way it's okay. DA is not for everyone. If she wants to continue to play DA and ultimately college soccer - here is what coaches look for (in this order): 1. Intangibles / Attitude 2. Intelligence 3. Technical Skills If she does not want to grind it out, then #1 is missing. That's okay and nothing wrong with her. The players that make it to play D1 have incredible desire to fight through challenge, discomfort and routine to be the best players they can. They want to play hard and win no matter what. Most sit on the bench their Freshman and Sophomore years of college waiting for playing time while grinding it out 20 hours per week in season at training on the field and in the gym. You can't coach that. That's why it's #1 on the list. Instead of worrying about the 1-2 that "get all the benefits" - do you and your own. Soccer at this level is a meritocracy. |
Anonymous
Different poster here, but I don't understand why you are so upset by this situation. The DA programs are basically set up to help find and develop a few stars who will go into the national youth system, and for everyone else there is the benefit of good training and potential college offers. There is no goal of ensuring that all kids get equal treatment. Parents angry that their kids aren't considered to be in the top of the group can join together and complain all they want. It's not going to change anything, nor should it. I suppose if there are others out there like you who didn't really understand what kind of a program they were signing up for, then your warning is a good one. Certainly everyone should do their research before committing to DA. |
Anonymous
The expectation is that parents will get the minimum professionalism and treatment found at the rest of the local DA and ECNL clubs. When that isn't matched, parents get upset. Everyone at WS has done travel at varying levels before, some have done ECNL and some have done DA at other clubs. So they expect what is the norm. Nothing being described here is normal. |
Anonymous
|
The DA and ECNL do not offer equal playing time.
If you need that at U15 than your DD needs to play Rec soccer. |
Anonymous
The overloading of a field one night a week may or may not be an issue at other DAs, but large roster sizes, players playing up and pushing older players to the bench, unequal playing time, having to compete for a roster spot every week - let alone playing time, not finding out until Friday whether you've made the roster for Saturday, ... all of that is perfectly normal in the DA. I'm not saying that's necessarily the right way to do things, but Spirit is certainly not alone if that's the way they are operating. Whether the demand for their program is strong enough to handle that kind of cut throat environment remains to be seen. |