Travel Soccer teams around NOVA let's discuss

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The USA"s results were certainly better when most of the players all played in high school and college. But there are other factors at play as well.

Some of the DA ideas are sound -- more training, fewer games, etc. -- and there are some outstanding programs (Dallas especially). Bur as a whole, is it an improvement? Jury's still out.

I bet is you set up a European model DA in California, Texas and Florida and heavily recruit, pay and give a path to plying professional soccer over sea, you could field a top 10 team in 5-7 years. Those three states have a population a little greater vs Germany and have been a hot bed for sports recruiting for years. You need a few hundred Odell Beckhams competing for each spot on the national team.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have any experience with the National Training Cemters in Virginia on the girls side?

[asksoccernova]

No direct experience myself, but it's someone's job to be on the hunt for potential youth national team players.

http://goalnation.com/women-in-soccer-april-kater-on-scouting/

http://www.ussoccer.com/us-under14-national-development-program/us-soccer-girls-training-center-program

http://www.ussoccerda.com/calendar-training-centers

[Anonymous]

^^invite only. Recs through big club coaches. This is why major talent is missed and we have the crap we do.

It's a closed system and highly politicized.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^invite only. Recs through big club coaches. This is why major talent is missed and we have the crap we do.

It's a closed system and highly politicized.

I never find these cynical replies helpful.

My son did several training centers a while back. Some of the kids were from big clubs, but several were not. The invitee group changed a lot from one center to the next. I had the sense that they were trying to cast a wide net. Some of the kids were really talented but not all. My son was very impressed by the coaching at most of the sessions.

They did seem to be a pipeline to the youth national team camps for a few of the kids, though many of those were ultimately only called into a single YNT camp. My advice for any kid who gets an invite is to take it very seriously and go all out. It's definitely a good thing to have on your resume for later recruiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^invite only. Recs through big club coaches. This is why major talent is missed and we have the crap we do.

It's a closed system and highly politicized.

I never find these cynical replies helpful.

My son did several training centers a while back. Some of the kids were from big clubs, but several were not. The invitee group changed a lot from one center to the next. I had the sense that they were trying to cast a wide net. Some of the kids were really talented but not all. My son was very impressed by the coaching at most of the sessions.

They did seem to be a pipeline to the youth national team camps for a few of the kids, though many of those were ultimately only called into a single YNT camp. My advice for any kid who gets an invite is to take it very seriously and go all out. It's definitely a good thing to have on your resume for later recruiting.

How does any of this counter the claim that it is both closed and politicized?

[Anonymous]

My DD's club is non ECNL and non GDA. The DOC routinely recommends players to the NTCs on the girls side. It's up to the the player to impress to continue to get invited back. Training sessions are quality with talented athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD's club is non ECNL and non GDA. The DOC routinely recommends players to the NTCs on the girls side. It's up to the the player to impress to continue to get invited back. Training sessions are quality with talented athletes.

That isn't political at all. Whenever objectivity is removed the process is always deemed to be political or due to favoritism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^invite only. Recs through big club coaches. This is why major talent is missed and we have the crap we do.

It's a closed system and highly politicized.

I never find these cynical replies helpful.

My son did several training centers a while back. Some of the kids were from big clubs, but several were not. The invitee group changed a lot from one center to the next. I had the sense that they were trying to cast a wide net. Some of the kids were really talented but not all. My son was very impressed by the coaching at most of the sessions.

They did seem to be a pipeline to the youth national team camps for a few of the kids, though many of those were ultimately only called into a single YNT camp. My advice for any kid who gets an invite is to take it very seriously and go all out. It's definitely a good thing to have on your resume for later recruiting.

How does any of this counter the claim that it is both closed and politicized?

I'm not interested in trying to counter the claim--I've found it a waste of time to try to have discussions with the sort of people who like to make such broad brush statements. My goal was to provide information that may be helpful to the poster who asked if anyone had experience with the training centers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^invite only. Recs through big club coaches. This is why major talent is missed and we have the crap we do.

It's a closed system and highly politicized.

I never find these cynical replies helpful.

My son did several training centers a while back. Some of the kids were from big clubs, but several were not. The invitee group changed a lot from one center to the next. I had the sense that they were trying to cast a wide net. Some of the kids were really talented but not all. My son was very impressed by the coaching at most of the sessions.

They did seem to be a pipeline to the youth national team camps for a few of the kids, though many of those were ultimately only called into a single YNT camp. My advice for any kid who gets an invite is to take it very seriously and go all out. It's definitely a good thing to have on your resume for later recruiting.

How does any of this counter the claim that it is both closed and politicized?

I'm not interested in trying to counter the claim--I've found it a waste of time to try to have discussions with the sort of people who like to make such broad brush statements. My goal was to provide information that may be helpful to the poster who asked if anyone had experience with the training centers.

Well it isn't terribly helpful. It offered zero insight and basically stated everything anyone knew already. It is a closed system that some coaches seem to either be in the loop about or bother to use. It demonstrates exactly the small net that is actually cast.

[Anonymous]

18:08. You seem to be an expert on the topic, what would be your solution pertaining to NTCs? The kids have to be selected somehow?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:18:08. You seem to be an expert on the topic, what would be your solution pertaining to NTCs? The kids have to be selected somehow?

Not 18:08.

My solution: open tryouts. Blind--not pre-selected tryout fields--with coach recs only on certain fields. Every player knows within in the first minute based on which field they are sorted to whether anyone is even going to watch or consider them.

Give all players an equal chance/look.

[Anonymous]

So open tryouts for every player on the boys and girls side ages 11 through 14 in all 50 states to determine the top 20 to 30 players that have potential National Team potential that will train once a month. Do you know what the TrainIng Centers are? This isn't practical at all. DOCs know which of their kids have potential. ODP coaches also have the ability to recommend players from their districts. Some players are going to be missed but the resources that you are suggesting just isn't feasible.

[asksoccernova]

There are some players out there who are advanced enough that they make ODP-level players look inferior in comparison (you just know it when you see them play), with some variation from state to state. Since not everyone is in the loop with ODP or even cares about it (and for some players it makes no sense or is infeasible for them), NTCs exist to find those players and give them an avenue to be seen by national staff. It's not to identify and observe players that should be playing ODP, its for identifying those that are above that level.

NTCs are not intended to be an open tryout system in the first place, that is taken care of at the District and State level. It's a pyramid, and as you start to get closer to the top, the number of players start to shrink drastically and only ones that really impress will make it through. As one of the posters said, maybe a player here or there secures an invite because of favoritism or the recommending coach has a track record or someone trusts their judgment... (I'm sure that happens) but as soon as the session starts, its up to the player.

If they don't really deserve to be there, it will be evident very, very quickly. A good recommendation might get you an invitation somewhere, but as you go up the ladder, the coaches get sharper and sharper and can spot a weak player or a glaring weakness that a players has 10 miles away. They also have radars for players that should be moved upwards. I'm sure its not a perfect system but it's another avenue for players that are outside the ODP realm (which is a a lot, as we know).

Put it this way... if the player is so good that they stick out like a sore thumb everywhere they play, they should be there. If not, they will have to work their way up through the player pools at the District -> State -> Regional -> National levels one at a time. Alex Morgan did this, but she also played for a high performing club team that was her initial platform to get a look in the first place. I think it is much harder to work your way up on the boys side than on the girls side if you aren't already "there".

[Anonymous]

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