We all knew that the GDA was going to be a huge question mark the first year or so vs the more established teams. |
OMG. No one from NoVA got called up as a 13 year old, their future is over. They may as well accept that they suck and it's over. ECNL wins! Or, maybe Richmond United is easier to scout because they're the ONLY top club in a big metro area (and the HQ of ECNL btw), so they consolidate talent early and are able to actually focus on developing players. They also attract the best coaches who get to focus on their own development without constantly being undermined and backstabbed. When you have a cesspool like we do in NoVA, it's best to let things sort themselves out with finger crossed and just pluck the best kids at 17. Why not 8 ECNL and 5 GDA clubs, that's the ticket. |
http://www.ncsl-soccer.com/welcome-teams
new boys teams in NCSL: NB06121 BRYC Elite Academy U12 NB07103 BRYC Elite Academy U11 Elite NB07104 BRYC Elite Academy U11 Blue NB0888 BRYC Elite Academy U10 Elite NB0889 BRYC Elite Academy U10 Blue NB0951 BRYC Elite Academy U9 Elite NB0952 BRYC Elite Academy U9 Blue new girls teams in NCSL: NG0585 BRYC Elite U12 NG06101 BRYC Elite Academy U12 Elite |
So now all the girls moving up to to DA at U14 next year have to co compete with other players in the state who have already been in the YNT system already. What are your chances?
Considering the main "pitch" of the girls development academy is the "pathway to the national team" it seems that the odds are long even before you get started... and the players have been ID'd even before the first GDA year begins. Either remove that from your pitch, or be realistic with players and tell them that only 2-3 players in the entire state at their age group will make it there. |
It just seems fishy that you end up with 2 players from Richmond (on the same team, no less) with all the players and clubs we have up in northern VA with zero. |
Are you also the one that if there were 5 on this roster all from GDA clubs in NoVA would be saying "GDA didn't develop those players, don't read anything into this"? The USA could field 20 U14 National teams that would all beat each other over and over and get the same results internationally (how ludicrous is it that they even try a national call up for that age. They should be regional camps anyway). Maybe the US staff is already comfortable with who they are watching in the GDA? Maybe they call kids in from ECNL clubs so they can expose them to the way the USYNTs train so they know what it should really be like? And you want your DD to not have to compete for her spot? Which is it? None of this matters at this age. Focus your DDs and pressure their coaches to challenge them every day. If she's not going out and playing on her own in the yard, with friends, watching on TV, going to games, trying to do tricks she sees on youtube, she's not gonna "make it" no matter what anyway. |
There are around 76 GDA's more or less. There are 48 kids called to a national camp. This is a nothing burger. There are about 3-4 National Training Centers scheduled per season locally. Several GDA kids, as well as others, since GDA is all of 6 months old now, are invited to these centers for U.S. Coaches to look at. It is just possible, I know crazy, but those two Richmond girls possibly were just the best two at the Training Centers? |
Since the training centers happen in years before GDA begins, how do you get into that pipeline in the first place? |
Coaches know coaches and make recommendations to come and watch. A well connected coach can make all the difference in the world. And that is the whole point of DA, to kind of eliminate that. All games are filmed, scouts go to both games and practices, and while they still talk to the coaches they have a wider net and better mechanism to track players going forward than existed last year. |
Club TD recommends you for a first invite to NTC, after that it's up to the player to stay in the pool |
Yup. And the pool continues to grow after the first camp of U14. By the time this age group reaches their later high school years, there will be well over a hundred girls in the pool and some will be called for some camps/trips and not others. Even if you never make it, striving to be good enough to get a call-up and putting in the work will pretty much guarantee that you'll be a good college prospect at a minimum. |
Have you seen either of them play? The midfielder is FANTASTIC, and she deserves every recognition she gets. |
And let's look bigger picture then two players from Richmond. Girls DA is the winner so far nationally. 14 of the 84 ECNL clubs are also DA clubs and most (but not all) of those clubs try to put their better talent on their DA teams. Stop focusing on this cesspool here. Eventually Spirit, VDA, and FCV will emerge from it. |
100% correct. Richmond has an actual pyramid with one boys team and one girls team on top. Richmond United is THE top club that other clubs feed into, doesn't matter their girls side still plays ECNL- there is no other top level team in that region. The players that rise to the top of that system should be heavily scouted. There is no pyramid in this area that makes it clear where the talent is, just a bunch of competing clubs and leagues that all claim to be the best. |
The Richmond girls are/were scouted at the National Training Center, the same as many girls from NOVA...DA, ECNL and other leagues all have girls invited to train there. It really has nothing to do with the lack of a pyramid in NOVA vs. having a pyramid in Richmond |