DC United's New Youth Plan
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Anonymous
+100 |
Anonymous
Except that DCU will not be limiting the pool of players who are coming to them, no matter what that article says. What will happen is what has always happened: Players from every club who think they are good will try out with DCU, and if DCU thinks they are good, they will be offered spots or the opportunity to attend more practices with DCU. This initiative allows DCU to say with a somewhat straight face that they are not in fact "poaching" if some of the kids they take happen to come from the listed clubs, which all announced "affiliation" agreements over the last couple years. Some of those clubs (Loudoun, Arlington) probably regret those affiliation agreements now, because they have their own partial DAs and they don't want players to leave for DCU until U15 at the earliest. It's all just window dressing, with some possibility that a few kids who might not otherwise have ever thought about trying out at the DA level (like those at PPA) may realize there is a bigger world of soccer out there. |
Anonymous
Doesn't VDA have a U17 and U19 Academy? In fact, aren't they strictly an Academy club and the only Academy affliated with this DC Program? So will it be assumed the top players move to DC Academy and VDA Academy keeps lesser players? I guess in reality, only one or two (or none) might be picked up by DC United in any given year, but it still seems strange.....Also, where does Bethesda fit in? Related, what is the competitive history between Bethesda and DC United? I get that DC is MLS but I got the impression that Bethesda actually has been pretty competitive -- has DC United Academy consistently been stronger/much more competitive? |
Anonymous
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^^Don't know much about the VDA vs. DCU dynamic, especially once DC United moves to Loudoun County. Are the practice fields close together?
With respect to Bethesda and DCU, most years they are about equally competitive. Baltimore Armour has been better than both the last couple of years if you go by who makes the playoffs in the older ages, though one of Bethesda's teams made it to the quarter finals two years ago. I don't think either of DCUs older teams have made the playoffs the last two years, though they definitely have plenty of talented players. The conference teams from our area play in is more competitive than many others. From what I've seen, kids tend to move among the established DAs primarily based on whether they are getting playing time or have some other grievance with their original club, plus where they live. That could change down the road if DCU gets more organized, becomes free, or if the rumoured two-tier DA system comes into place in the future. Even then, Bethesda will still probably continue to draw good players so long as they still have good college commitments and some kids in the YNT pools. They keep their costs low for the older academy age groups, which helps a lot, and their location is good relative to Leesburg. It will be interesting to see how much the USL training opportunities change things. |
Anonymous
| I could be totally wrong here, so apologize in advance, but I thought VDA was based in Woodbridge? |
Anonymous
If our soccer journalists stop writing fluff pieces re USSF/MLS/SUM and start holding the major actors accountable, it would be a good start. Without meaningful pressure on the establishment, you are right, nothing is going to help. |
Anonymous
Could you provide any specific examples of major actors being held accountable? |
Anonymous
These articles are very soft critiques that do not go to the root of the problem. A couple of them make valid points, but either do not go deep enough or critique minor things like age group mandate changes. Some of these articles try to shift the primary blame to Klinsmann, who only coached two out of 10 games (against Mexico and Costa Rica). Jermaine Jones is not a journalist but he was far more pointed in his critiques: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zYLi0jPwFc Do these articles ask why USSF would not invest its $140 million surplus into youth soccer, coaching education, young talented players or to give the women's team equal pay? Do they argue that Cordeiro, Gulati's right hand man, should not be the president of the USSF federation since he was the key figure in the failed regime? Do they argue that Sarachan, Arena's assistant, should not coach the national team even on an interim basis? Do they shed any light on the cosy relationship between USSF/MLS/SUM? Do they discuss why MLS rejected $4 billion TV rights offer, which was conditioned on instituting promotion/relegation? This is a $4 billion stream of revenue from a TV contract, which by far exceed the entire value of MLS! Imagine what level of players the league could attract with this kind of investment. Do these articles discuss irregularities in USSF financial statements? Do they call for a change in the flawed and skewed USSF election system following the latest elections? So let's not pretend that media is holding the establishment really accountable. |
Anonymous
| Yea, when you consider that essentially an extension of the old regime is in control of the federation, there really isn’t a whole lot of accountability going on. |
Anonymous
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^^ VDA was already in one of the announced DCU partners, same with all the other clubs listed.
I just don't get what's new about this - other than the USL thing. |
Anonymous
Wouldn't it be that for those older players that they would then have a pathway to USL/Pro team? But like many others have said before, those would players would likely be at DCU by then or could have waited until later due to travel distance at younger ages. |
Anonymous
Thanks for your thoughtful response. Re financial statements, you can talk to this guy: https://twitter.com/RogerPielkeJr/status/1009445621747441665 He is not a soccer guy so he probably does not have a dog in the fight, but he had some questions about the USSF financial statements. There were others questioning them, but I thought you'd be more comfortable with someone's analysis, who is not part of the purely soccer crowd. Re valuation of MLS, the Forbes numbers appear to be overly generous in light of the rather pedestrian revenue these teams bring, but I can accept them and even that evaluation is pretty close to $4 billion. I wonder why MLS did not state that they rejected the $4 billion broadcast rights offer because they have questions about creditworthiness or mismanagement of the broadcasting company, etc? |
Anonymous
This is NOT an effort to consolidate the DA talent across the region to be more competitive for national/regional competitions - except maybe between the DCU and Arlington DA (which I think was the only DA feeder on the DCU list). This happens in some other metro regions but not all. (For instance, Atlanta, where they bring the best players together for these types of competitions). It is one of the DA track options of a few in this region/metro. |
Anonymous
I'm in DC and not familiar with the whole dynamic. But I have seen PPA teams and I haven't been impressed with any of them. They don't play in competitive leagues and don't appear to get the best players in the area. Did money change hands? What's the point of this? Because I simply don't see how an honest arrangement looking to find the best players would go to a club that's definitely not producing the highest level of players in the area. It seems debatable with a lot of clubs, but not with PPA. |
Anonymous
| VDA will continue to have older-age group teams. |