Girls DA/ECNL in VA: who will survive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone thing to do with DA and the failure of US system. Not only could the team not qualify for the 2018 WC but two years after a miserable performance the team loses in front of America to a team from the Carribean and one of the worse teams in South America that is in the middle of a major political and humanitarian crisis. Please folks, this is serious.

This has to do with US Soccer leadership and the joke that is called college soccer in this country. But keep telling us the same coaches that coach in the DA would do better for our USMNT by letting kids play for some HS coach and playing a 5 month club season in ECNL or some other league. That will solve all of USMNT problems. The DA is a major improvement in concept but not in execution because the directives are still coming from the dinosaurs at the top of US Soccer.

Lol. Moron. If we got rid of HS and College Soccer we would still suck. What dont you get? USSF is a joke. We cant find 20 guys in a nation of 300 million that can play soccer. Lol.

We agree on USSF. So maybe you should work on reading comprehension before calling someone a moron. The point I was making is that the DA is an improvement over a reliance on a HS plus 5 month club season followed by college soccer. HS and college soccer are developmentally damaging for national team level players.

It is perfectly reasonable to prioritize education over soccer with making college soccer the end goal but don’t expect success at the national team levels after 4 or 5 years of only playing a third of the calendar year during ages 18-23. It is the same argument as the DA vs ECNL. Even assuming coaches are equal in both leagues, 4x a week training vs. 2 or 3 and 10-month season vs. 6 adds up over time.

The DA is not the problem. It is just not enough of a solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone thing to do with DA and the failure of US system. Not only could the team not qualify for the 2018 WC but two years after a miserable performance the team loses in front of America to a team from the Carribean and one of the worse teams in South America that is in the middle of a major political and humanitarian crisis. Please folks, this is serious.

This has to do with US Soccer leadership and the joke that is called college soccer in this country. But keep telling us the same coaches that coach in the DA would do better for our USMNT by letting kids play for some HS coach and playing a 5 month club season in ECNL or some other league. That will solve all of USMNT problems. The DA is a major improvement in concept but not in execution because the directives are still coming from the dinosaurs at the top of US Soccer.

Lol. Moron. If we got rid of HS and College Soccer we would still suck. What dont you get? USSF is a joke. We cant find 20 guys in a nation of 300 million that can play soccer. Lol.

We agree on USSF. So maybe you should work on reading comprehension before calling someone a moron. The point I was making is that the DA is an improvement over a reliance on a HS plus 5 month club season followed by college soccer. HS and college soccer are developmentally damaging for national team level players.

It is perfectly reasonable to prioritize education over soccer with making college soccer the end goal but don’t expect success at the national team levels after 4 or 5 years of only playing a third of the calendar year during ages 18-23. It is the same argument as the DA vs ECNL. Even assuming coaches are equal in both leagues, 4x a week training vs. 2 or 3 and 10-month season vs. 6 adds up over time.

The DA is not the problem. It is just not enough of a solution. [/quote

A reliance on a youth league is a flawed system. It is not a step in the right direction. In fact, it's a step in the wrong direction.

If you truly believe what you are saying (and I am sure you do) then you agree that the BDA is intertwined with the historic failures of the USMNT. And let me tell you, they are absolutely shameful. In fact, lets just agree that the BDA has made USSF even lazier.

[Anonymous]

A reliance on a youth league is a flawed system. It is not a step in the right direction. In fact, it's a step in the wrong direction.

If you truly believe what you are saying (and I am sure you do) then you agree that the BDA is intertwined with the historic failures of the USMNT. And let me tell you, they are absolutely shameful. In fact, lets just agree that the BDA has made USSF even lazier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone thing to do with DA and the failure of US system. Not only could the team not qualify for the 2018 WC but two years after a miserable performance the team loses in front of America to a team from the Carribean and one of the worse teams in South America that is in the middle of a major political and humanitarian crisis. Please folks, this is serious.

This has to do with US Soccer leadership and the joke that is called college soccer in this country. But keep telling us the same coaches that coach in the DA would do better for our USMNT by letting kids play for some HS coach and playing a 5 month club season in ECNL or some other league. That will solve all of USMNT problems. The DA is a major improvement in concept but not in execution because the directives are still coming from the dinosaurs at the top of US Soccer.

Lol. Moron. If we got rid of HS and College Soccer we would still suck. What dont you get? USSF is a joke. We cant find 20 guys in a nation of 300 million that can play soccer. Lol.

We agree on USSF. So maybe you should work on reading comprehension before calling someone a moron. The point I was making is that the DA is an improvement over a reliance on a HS plus 5 month club season followed by college soccer. HS and college soccer are developmentally damaging for national team level players.

It is perfectly reasonable to prioritize education over soccer with making college soccer the end goal but don’t expect success at the national team levels after 4 or 5 years of only playing a third of the calendar year during ages 18-23. It is the same argument as the DA vs ECNL. Even assuming coaches are equal in both leagues, 4x a week training vs. 2 or 3 and 10-month season vs. 6 adds up over time.

The DA is not the problem. It is just not enough of a solution.

Any reliance on a single league or system is bound to fail at catching and developing all of our elite athletes. If you rely solely on prescriptive training from any league environment, it will not be enough to succeed at this level. The argument that the varied environments posed by an ECNL + HS + other individualized development + college presents a better development path for some than the DA environment is completely valid. There is nothing in the ECNL/HS/College environment that holds back the YNT or future pro athlete.

As it stands right now, DA is just a slightly more immersive and prescriptive environment. To the extent that clubs do not properly implement the fourth training day, or do not properly periodize year round training, it may actually be worse for some athletes.

There just isn't enough data to support an exclusive argument that any particular path is best. We need them all, and to not periodically cannibalize our own system.

[Anonymous]

The empirical evidence is the rest of the world that trains 10 months a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The empirical evidence is the rest of the world that trains 10 months a year.

Exactly. Not sure why this is so difficult to acknowledge. It’s not for every youth athlete but for the top in any sport, training more and with higher level players is better than less with lower level players.

This is not to understate the importance of free play or pick up. That has enormous value and is why a lot of the world plays more creatively than we do.

However, HS and college soccer is not free play. It is structured and crappy soccer with very few exceptions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone thing to do with DA and the failure of US system. Not only could the team not qualify for the 2018 WC but two years after a miserable performance the team loses in front of America to a team from the Carribean and one of the worse teams in South America that is in the middle of a major political and humanitarian crisis. Please folks, this is serious.

Please explain exactly how the DA figures into this loss

The DA can't produce enough talent to beat a small Carribean nation and the 2nd weakest soccer system in South America (Only Bolivia is weaker).

Poulisic is spot on:

"Soccer, it's just this way of life in other countries. It's part of the fabric of who they are, and of what they do. There's this sense of identity that I think is baked into global soccer – that touches everyone, and connects everyone together. If your city's club team is having success, or if your national team is having success, there's just this amazing sense of personal pride that comes with it. And it's hard to put into words how powerful that is."

I tried to find highlights of the USMNT game and the Women's WC and all I saw on local channels was football interviews and we are months away from summer camp.

[Anonymous]

I continue to argue that when watching the USMNT play, you are not watching the best that the US has to offer. When watching other countries, you are. USWNT is another story. There are not many sports that women can play that lead to serious opportunity than Soccer. Basketball, track & field, volleyball and soccer are the sports that are accessible and can lead to opportunities beyond HS and college. If you are a boy there are a dozen such sports, including football, basketball, baseball, hockey, track & field, etc. Again, this is not about the biggest or fastest athlete but about having enough of a pool of talent and enough opportunities to drive dedicated athletes to the sport. There is just so much wrong with the way our youth system is run and the fact that we don't have a nation that values soccer does not help.

[Anonymous]

The BDA cant even produce homegrown talent for their affiliated MLS club. Let that sink in. In fact, watching the the USMNT is like watching MLS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I continue to argue that when watching the USMNT play, you are not watching the best that the US has to offer. When watching other countries, you are. USWNT is another story. There are not many sports that women can play that lead to serious opportunity than Soccer. Basketball, track & field, volleyball and soccer are the sports that are accessible and can lead to opportunities beyond HS and college. If you are a boy there are a dozen such sports, including football, basketball, baseball, hockey, track & field, etc. Again, this is not about the biggest or fastest athlete but about having enough of a pool of talent and enough opportunities to drive dedicated athletes to the sport. There is just so much wrong with the way our youth system is run and the fact that we don't have a nation that values soccer does not help.

This post, along with the post with Pulisic’s quote hit the nail on the head as far as crux of the issue with USMNT. Culture (and high paying professional opportunity) are intertwined. The athletic culture in the US still favors football (first), basketball (second), baseball (third), and then, finally, a grouping of sports including tennis, swimming, golf, track, soccer, and lacrosse. The first three are favored as they pay the most because of the success of NFL, NBA, and MLB. Trust me that if soccer were as ingrained in our culture like football, we’d be the best in the world. It would almost be like how dominant we are at basketball. But, soccer is not that way here and may never be. Too many alternative for the top male atheletes here. There aren’t as many alternatives for the women here, so the better atheletes stay in the game. Hence, we win more than anyone else on the women’s side. It is not always population overall per se, but the elite population, the desire to become great at that thing, and proper development (thru mix of individual practice and coaching). And no, you can’t just be a great atheletes. You also have to hone your skills, but the elite athleticism puts you over the edge as far as dominance. Even Messi is an elite athelete, despite his height. His balance, quickness, coordination, and strength are world class. If you watched the U20 team play Ecuador you’d have noticed how much bigger and stronger (while being equally skilled) they were than our team. That was the difference. Only Weah and Keita could compare. The rest looked like boys agains men. Until all the above this changes, the US will not be consistently elite and even worse will struggle more and more, even in Concacaf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I continue to argue that when watching the USMNT play, you are not watching the best that the US has to offer. When watching other countries, you are. USWNT is another story. There are not many sports that women can play that lead to serious opportunity than Soccer. Basketball, track & field, volleyball and soccer are the sports that are accessible and can lead to opportunities beyond HS and college. If you are a boy there are a dozen such sports, including football, basketball, baseball, hockey, track & field, etc. Again, this is not about the biggest or fastest athlete but about having enough of a pool of talent and enough opportunities to drive dedicated athletes to the sport. There is just so much wrong with the way our youth system is run and the fact that we don't have a nation that values soccer does not help.

This post, along with the post with Pulisic’s quote hit the nail on the head as far as crux of the issue with USMNT. Culture (and high paying professional opportunity) are intertwined. The athletic culture in the US still favors football (first), basketball (second), baseball (third), and then, finally, a grouping of sports including tennis, swimming, golf, track, soccer, and lacrosse. The first three are favored as they pay the most because of the success of NFL, NBA, and MLB. Trust me that if soccer were as ingrained in our culture like football, we’d be the best in the world. It would almost be like how dominant we are at basketball. But, soccer is not that way here and may never be. Too many alternative for the top male atheletes here. There aren’t as many alternatives for the women here, so the better atheletes stay in the game. Hence, we win more than anyone else on the women’s side. It is not always population overall per se, but the elite population, the desire to become great at that thing, and proper development (thru mix of individual practice and coaching). And no, you can’t just be a great atheletes. You also have to hone your skills, but the elite athleticism puts you over the edge as far as dominance. Even Messi is an elite athelete, despite his height. His balance, quickness, coordination, and strength are world class. If you watched the U20 team play Ecuador you’d have noticed how much bigger and stronger (while being equally skilled) they were than our team. That was the difference. Only Weah and Keita could compare. The rest looked like boys agains men. Until all the above this changes, the US will not be consistently elite and even worse will struggle more and more, even in Concacaf.

BS

"The world is catching up. The world is catching up. We are being surpassed." That's all you hear in reference to the USWNT.

Question: How did the non-US women catch up so fast?

[Anonymous]

The current population of Iceland is 340,387 as of Sunday, June 9, 2019, based on the latest United Nations estimates.

The current population of Jamaica is 2,905,889 as of Monday, June 10, 2019, based on the latest United Nations estimates.

The current population of Trinidad and Tobago is 1,375,277 as of Monday, June 10, 2019, based on the latest United Nations estimates.

THE CURRENT POPULATION OF THE DMV: 6,216,589 (more than all combined +)

Surly we can find 30 guys, right?

[Anonymous]

They caught up fast because of the soccer cultures. It makes complete sense. If you take a soccer culture like Brazil, Spain or Germany and provide opportunities to women, the women's game will take off because of the institutional knowledge that is leveraged.

Japan is a better case. I honestly don't know enough about Japan to comment but the country does not seem to be as focused on sports as the rest of the world yet has competitive men's and women's soccer. My guess is that Japan's success is driven by the fact that there is limited competitio for the player pool and that the entire nation is focused on soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They caught up fast because of the soccer cultures. It makes complete sense. If you take a soccer culture like Brazil, Spain or Germany and provide opportunities to women, the women's game will take off because of the institutional knowledge that is leveraged.

Japan is a better case. I honestly don't know enough about Japan to comment but the country does not seem to be as focused on sports as the rest of the world yet has competitive men's and women's soccer. My guess is that Japan's success is driven by the fact that there is limited competitio for the player pool and that the entire nation is focused on soccer.

institutional knowledge

You're exactly right. This is the problem.

I have been trying to get someone to finally say it. Its not about the league. It's not about the population. Its about the ability to develop the kids we have into world class players.

Truth being. WE CAN NOT.

We have enough players. They are athletic enough. We dont need a bigger pool. We need a better system.

The USSDA is a crutch. Good for college bound kids. Inferior for international level kids.

The USSF = fat lazy old man picking at the low hanging fruit.

USSDA is not an academy. It's a league bearing the name Academy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They caught up fast because of the soccer cultures. It makes complete sense. If you take a soccer culture like Brazil, Spain or Germany and provide opportunities to women, the women's game will take off because of the institutional knowledge that is leveraged.

Japan is a better case. I honestly don't know enough about Japan to comment but the country does not seem to be as focused on sports as the rest of the world yet has competitive men's and women's soccer. My guess is that Japan's success is driven by the fact that there is limited competitio for the player pool and that the entire nation is focused on soccer.

I watched a special on TV about Brazilian Soccer. They recruit talented kids (5 or so years old) to train at their academies. They pay the families $100 a month or so to do this. The $100 is more than most families make and the kids train all day every day. They get a little education on the side, but mostly soccer, soccer, soccer.

A lot of kids burn out, quit, don't develop...but the players who do...

Start your list of the top Brazilian players.