Official GA Fall 2025 Thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My religion is better than yours. Bla bla bla.

The ECNL parents are so obnoxious and nervous about GA. You never see them posting about other leagues.

My oldest played at both GA and ECNL (Discovery player) games and events. Believe it or not but the league games and events are nearly identical. You just go to different clubs. ECNL does have an advantage because they have more established clubs. But, GA has multiple established clubs as well. Over time GA clubs will continue to get better and better. Its just how things work. In our regional league GA has added multiple very good clubs. Its amazing how good some are considering they were blocked out of both GA and ECNL for so long.

Change has already occurred. GA has made themselves a spot at the table. ECNL parents can go cry somewhere else.

Because no other group of parents from any other league constantly writes nonsense like this about ECNL. That’s why you ECNL parents don’t talk about other leagues. Only the mighty girls Academy league.

The constant reference to ECNL parents is a deflection. I don’t care about ECNL. My kid plays GA. I want GA to succeed. Having U13 teams with -58 and -33 goal differentials after 8 games is a problem. The chasm between top half and bottom half is a problem (Rankings app says top half on average is inside top 200 and bottom half on average is outside top 1200). Those are facts. If you think those facts are ok, then your vision for GA is different than mine, and I bet it’s different than GA’s as well. Everyone would be better off if the uncompetitive teams dropped to Aspire until they right the ship. It’s not about ECNL. Blah blah blah.

why do you post on a GA thread complaining about goal differential. While pretending that North Carolina ECNL doesnt exist. Get out of here.

You do realize CISC was a bottom feeding ECNL MA club and are now running the GA?

Seriously go waste your time talking about ECNL differentials in an ECNL thread.

Nobody cares what you write.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My religion is better than yours. Bla bla bla.

The ECNL parents are so obnoxious and nervous about GA. You never see them posting about other leagues.

My oldest played at both GA and ECNL (Discovery player) games and events. Believe it or not but the league games and events are nearly identical. You just go to different clubs. ECNL does have an advantage because they have more established clubs. But, GA has multiple established clubs as well. Over time GA clubs will continue to get better and better. Its just how things work. In our regional league GA has added multiple very good clubs. Its amazing how good some are considering they were blocked out of both GA and ECNL for so long.

Change has already occurred. GA has made themselves a spot at the table. ECNL parents can go cry somewhere else.

Because no other group of parents from any other league constantly writes nonsense like this about ECNL. That’s why you ECNL parents don’t talk about other leagues. Only the mighty girls Academy league.

The constant reference to ECNL parents is a deflection. I don’t care about ECNL. My kid plays GA. I want GA to succeed. Having U13 teams with -58 and -33 goal differentials after 8 games is a problem. The chasm between top half and bottom half is a problem (Rankings app says top half on average is inside top 200 and bottom half on average is outside top 1200). Those are facts. If you think those facts are ok, then your vision for GA is different than mine, and I bet it’s different than GA’s as well. Everyone would be better off if the uncompetitive teams dropped to Aspire until they right the ship. It’s not about ECNL. Blah blah blah.

why do you post on a GA thread complaining about goal differential. While pretending that North Carolina ECNL doesnt exist. Get out of here.

For people who say they don't want to talk about ECNL, you sure do bring it up a lot. Can't we discuss / debate the current state of GA in south MA without making comparisons to ECNL?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My religion is better than yours. Bla bla bla.

The ECNL parents are so obnoxious and nervous about GA. You never see them posting about other leagues.

My oldest played at both GA and ECNL (Discovery player) games and events. Believe it or not but the league games and events are nearly identical. You just go to different clubs. ECNL does have an advantage because they have more established clubs. But, GA has multiple established clubs as well. Over time GA clubs will continue to get better and better. Its just how things work. In our regional league GA has added multiple very good clubs. Its amazing how good some are considering they were blocked out of both GA and ECNL for so long.

Change has already occurred. GA has made themselves a spot at the table. ECNL parents can go cry somewhere else.

Because no other group of parents from any other league constantly writes nonsense like this about ECNL. That’s why you ECNL parents don’t talk about other leagues. Only the mighty girls Academy league.

The constant reference to ECNL parents is a deflection. I don’t care about ECNL. My kid plays GA. I want GA to succeed. Having U13 teams with -58 and -33 goal differentials after 8 games is a problem. The chasm between top half and bottom half is a problem (Rankings app says top half on average is inside top 200 and bottom half on average is outside top 1200). Those are facts. If you think those facts are ok, then your vision for GA is different than mine, and I bet it’s different than GA’s as well. Everyone would be better off if the uncompetitive teams dropped to Aspire until they right the ship. It’s not about ECNL. Blah blah blah.

why do you post on a GA thread complaining about goal differential. While pretending that North Carolina ECNL doesnt exist. Get out of here.

For people who say they don't want to talk about ECNL, you sure do bring it up a lot. Can't we discuss / debate the current state of GA in south MA without making comparisons to ECNL?

GA is fine. Some clubs are starting to learn what it takes to conpete on a national level. These clubs will get better over time or they will be replaced with clubs that will. Its fairly simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My religion is better than yours. Bla bla bla.

The ECNL parents are so obnoxious and nervous about GA. You never see them posting about other leagues.

My oldest played at both GA and ECNL (Discovery player) games and events. Believe it or not but the league games and events are nearly identical. You just go to different clubs. ECNL does have an advantage because they have more established clubs. But, GA has multiple established clubs as well. Over time GA clubs will continue to get better and better. Its just how things work. In our regional league GA has added multiple very good clubs. Its amazing how good some are considering they were blocked out of both GA and ECNL for so long.

Change has already occurred. GA has made themselves a spot at the table. ECNL parents can go cry somewhere else.

Because no other group of parents from any other league constantly writes nonsense like this about ECNL. That’s why you ECNL parents don’t talk about other leagues. Only the mighty girls Academy league.

The constant reference to ECNL parents is a deflection. I don’t care about ECNL. My kid plays GA. I want GA to succeed. Having U13 teams with -58 and -33 goal differentials after 8 games is a problem. The chasm between top half and bottom half is a problem (Rankings app says top half on average is inside top 200 and bottom half on average is outside top 1200). Those are facts. If you think those facts are ok, then your vision for GA is different than mine, and I bet it’s different than GA’s as well. Everyone would be better off if the uncompetitive teams dropped to Aspire until they right the ship. It’s not about ECNL. Blah blah blah.

What exactly would you like to happen to achieve your vision? Fewer teams so the talent isn’t spread so thin sounds nice until you realize less teams means you will be traveling a lot more for league games. A couple years ago we had to drive regularly to Baltimore, Philly, NJ, Delaware to play a single game. Now we get to play most games in NoVA and it’s better. Sure, some of the games are not competitive but that’s still better than before. Some of those games we drove 2-3 hours to weren’t very competitive either. Look, we all want a conference full of competitive teams every game. There just isn’t enough talent to achieve that. Teams can still find a way to make games more competitive and develop players. Coaches can tell the team no punting the ball forward, allow players to try different positions, set goals for keeping time of possession and consecutive passes, and lots of ways a good coach can find a way to develop players against a bad opponent. The realities are what they are.

I don't think anyone told my DD when she was considering her GA team that the league expanded in NOVA to reduce travel time. I believe the message was focused on creating the top platform for girls who want to play highly competitive travel soccer through high school and aspire to play in college (and possibly even professionally). I get that it will take time for things to shake out (e.g., better RL players moving to GA might help) and that the current situation may not persist, so I can understand calls to be patient, but some people on this thread seem to think the current situation would be good / ok / acceptable as steady state. I hope that's not the league's or the clubs' perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only club ripe for relegation right now would be STJ. They are basically at the bottom of the table across all age groups, and I don't see how they are going to build back up anytime soon. I feel like everyone else is either doing "well enough" or is too new to the league for relegation to Aspire to really be a topic of conversation for them right now.

You cant do promotion relegation with p2p leagues because youd have to do it by club not by team. This is not a GA or any other specific league thing. Its why bottom feeders exist and tend to always be the same clubs.

I wasn't talking promotion/relegation on a year to year basis, I was just saying if there was going to be a team in the MA South to get Relegated to Aspire it would be STJ. They have shown themselves over the last few years to be perennially at the bottom of the table, with no real improvement in sight. They don't have any real leadership, they don't have any fields, they don't seem to have much of a pipeline, and the vast majority of their impact players left.... But GA would probably want to replace them with someone so that there would be an even number of teams in the conference. They could relegate 2 clubs to Aspire to keep the number even, but like I said every other club is either doing well enough, or too new to the league for relegation to really be a topic of conversation for them. STJ may stay just through sheer luck, unless another team gets added to the MA South in the near future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only club ripe for relegation right now would be STJ. They are basically at the bottom of the table across all age groups, and I don't see how they are going to build back up anytime soon. I feel like everyone else is either doing "well enough" or is too new to the league for relegation to Aspire to really be a topic of conversation for them right now.

You cant do promotion relegation with p2p leagues because youd have to do it by club not by team. This is not a GA or any other specific league thing. Its why bottom feeders exist and tend to always be the same clubs.

I wasn't talking promotion/relegation on a year to year basis, I was just saying if there was going to be a team in the MA South to get Relegated to Aspire it would be STJ. They have shown themselves over the last few years to be perennially at the bottom of the table, with no real improvement in sight. They don't have any real leadership, they don't have any fields, they don't seem to have much of a pipeline, and the vast majority of their impact players left.... But GA would probably want to replace them with someone so that there would be an even number of teams in the conference. They could relegate 2 clubs to Aspire to keep the number even, but like I said every other club is either doing well enough, or too new to the league for relegation to really be a topic of conversation for them. STJ may stay just through sheer luck, unless another team gets added to the MA South in the near future.

Loudoun in the other outlier across all years except one (where they still are not good). This is not surprising given that NVA really is Loudoun's top team. I would think Loudoun's better players will migrate to Rev after such a difficult season, making it even harder for them to compete in GA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only club ripe for relegation right now would be STJ. They are basically at the bottom of the table across all age groups, and I don't see how they are going to build back up anytime soon. I feel like everyone else is either doing "well enough" or is too new to the league for relegation to Aspire to really be a topic of conversation for them right now.

You cant do promotion relegation with p2p leagues because youd have to do it by club not by team. This is not a GA or any other specific league thing. Its why bottom feeders exist and tend to always be the same clubs.

I wasn't talking promotion/relegation on a year to year basis, I was just saying if there was going to be a team in the MA South to get Relegated to Aspire it would be STJ. They have shown themselves over the last few years to be perennially at the bottom of the table, with no real improvement in sight. They don't have any real leadership, they don't have any fields, they don't seem to have much of a pipeline, and the vast majority of their impact players left.... But GA would probably want to replace them with someone so that there would be an even number of teams in the conference. They could relegate 2 clubs to Aspire to keep the number even, but like I said every other club is either doing well enough, or too new to the league for relegation to really be a topic of conversation for them. STJ may stay just through sheer luck, unless another team gets added to the MA South in the near future.

Dropping a team down has many considerations. Like now that GA+ MLS are linked what are the boys like? Is the club in the right location / easy to access? What are the fields like? Are the club owners easy to work with etc etc etc. Usually theres a probation period for non performance. If actions need to be taken GA could do like ECNL does and force clubs to merge instead of booting them from the league.

[Anonymous]

These clubs are not professional teams which are franchises of the league. The clubs are independent entities all looking out for their own best interests. The league is trying to sign up as many clubs as possible. There is no top down soccer body that is going to control how teams are allocated and relegated or promoted. Clubs are free to move to another league. Players and coaches are free to move to another club. It's not necessarily a good or bad thing but it is the reality. Free markets, baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only club ripe for relegation right now would be STJ. They are basically at the bottom of the table across all age groups, and I don't see how they are going to build back up anytime soon. I feel like everyone else is either doing "well enough" or is too new to the league for relegation to Aspire to really be a topic of conversation for them right now.

You cant do promotion relegation with p2p leagues because youd have to do it by club not by team. This is not a GA or any other specific league thing. Its why bottom feeders exist and tend to always be the same clubs.

I wasn't talking promotion/relegation on a year to year basis, I was just saying if there was going to be a team in the MA South to get Relegated to Aspire it would be STJ. They have shown themselves over the last few years to be perennially at the bottom of the table, with no real improvement in sight. They don't have any real leadership, they don't have any fields, they don't seem to have much of a pipeline, and the vast majority of their impact players left.... But GA would probably want to replace them with someone so that there would be an even number of teams in the conference. They could relegate 2 clubs to Aspire to keep the number even, but like I said every other club is either doing well enough, or too new to the league for relegation to really be a topic of conversation for them. STJ may stay just through sheer luck, unless another team gets added to the MA South in the near future.

Loudoun in the other outlier across all years except one (where they still are not good). This is not surprising given that NVA really is Loudoun's top team. I would think Loudoun's better players will migrate to Rev after such a difficult season, making it even harder for them to compete in GA.

I would think Loudoun players would try to go to NVA before migrating to Rev. I know the older girls from Loudoun mostly chose to stay together seeing how most of them played together as RL. Maybe next year they may tryout for NVA instead of staying Loudoun or leaving for Rev. NVA has some inherent advantages over Loudoun given that NVA is the top team. You can see in the age groups where the girls stayed like 2013, 2012, and 2008/07 those NVA teams are clear and away better than the Loudoun teams. The better players on the teams that had a difficult season may try to move to NVA, which of course would further dilute the Loudoun team

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only club ripe for relegation right now would be STJ. They are basically at the bottom of the table across all age groups, and I don't see how they are going to build back up anytime soon. I feel like everyone else is either doing "well enough" or is too new to the league for relegation to Aspire to really be a topic of conversation for them right now.

You cant do promotion relegation with p2p leagues because youd have to do it by club not by team. This is not a GA or any other specific league thing. Its why bottom feeders exist and tend to always be the same clubs.

I wasn't talking promotion/relegation on a year to year basis, I was just saying if there was going to be a team in the MA South to get Relegated to Aspire it would be STJ. They have shown themselves over the last few years to be perennially at the bottom of the table, with no real improvement in sight. They don't have any real leadership, they don't have any fields, they don't seem to have much of a pipeline, and the vast majority of their impact players left.... But GA would probably want to replace them with someone so that there would be an even number of teams in the conference. They could relegate 2 clubs to Aspire to keep the number even, but like I said every other club is either doing well enough, or too new to the league for relegation to really be a topic of conversation for them. STJ may stay just through sheer luck, unless another team gets added to the MA South in the near future.

I also think STJ is going to “test” the GA leadership’s criteria on what it takes to stay in GA. GA now has enough teams that they can be more selective.
In terms of # of teams, GA has 12 conferences and 4 have an odd number of teams. So they are not against it.
For replacement, I’d look to add somebody like VA United. Doubt VA United can make the jump to ECNL NL. Gives you another part of the state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only club ripe for relegation right now would be STJ. They are basically at the bottom of the table across all age groups, and I don't see how they are going to build back up anytime soon. I feel like everyone else is either doing "well enough" or is too new to the league for relegation to Aspire to really be a topic of conversation for them right now.

You cant do promotion relegation with p2p leagues because youd have to do it by club not by team. This is not a GA or any other specific league thing. Its why bottom feeders exist and tend to always be the same clubs.

I wasn't talking promotion/relegation on a year to year basis, I was just saying if there was going to be a team in the MA South to get Relegated to Aspire it would be STJ. They have shown themselves over the last few years to be perennially at the bottom of the table, with no real improvement in sight. They don't have any real leadership, they don't have any fields, they don't seem to have much of a pipeline, and the vast majority of their impact players left.... But GA would probably want to replace them with someone so that there would be an even number of teams in the conference. They could relegate 2 clubs to Aspire to keep the number even, but like I said every other club is either doing well enough, or too new to the league for relegation to really be a topic of conversation for them. STJ may stay just through sheer luck, unless another team gets added to the MA South in the near future.

Loudoun in the other outlier across all years except one (where they still are not good). This is not surprising given that NVA really is Loudoun's top team. I would think Loudoun's better players will migrate to Rev after such a difficult season, making it even harder for them to compete in GA.

I would think Loudoun players would try to go to NVA before migrating to Rev. I know the older girls from Loudoun mostly chose to stay together seeing how most of them played together as RL. Maybe next year they may tryout for NVA instead of staying Loudoun or leaving for Rev. NVA has some inherent advantages over Loudoun given that NVA is the top team. You can see in the age groups where the girls stayed like 2013, 2012, and 2008/07 those NVA teams are clear and away better than the Loudoun teams. The better players on the teams that had a difficult season may try to move to NVA, which of course would further dilute the Loudoun team

It does seem like Loudoun/NVA needs to consolidate talent on the 2011, 2010 and 2009 teams. In those age groups at best they have 2 mediocre teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only club ripe for relegation right now would be STJ. They are basically at the bottom of the table across all age groups, and I don't see how they are going to build back up anytime soon. I feel like everyone else is either doing "well enough" or is too new to the league for relegation to Aspire to really be a topic of conversation for them right now.

You cant do promotion relegation with p2p leagues because youd have to do it by club not by team. This is not a GA or any other specific league thing. Its why bottom feeders exist and tend to always be the same clubs.

I wasn't talking promotion/relegation on a year to year basis, I was just saying if there was going to be a team in the MA South to get Relegated to Aspire it would be STJ. They have shown themselves over the last few years to be perennially at the bottom of the table, with no real improvement in sight. They don't have any real leadership, they don't have any fields, they don't seem to have much of a pipeline, and the vast majority of their impact players left.... But GA would probably want to replace them with someone so that there would be an even number of teams in the conference. They could relegate 2 clubs to Aspire to keep the number even, but like I said every other club is either doing well enough, or too new to the league for relegation to really be a topic of conversation for them. STJ may stay just through sheer luck, unless another team gets added to the MA South in the near future.

Loudoun in the other outlier across all years except one (where they still are not good). This is not surprising given that NVA really is Loudoun's top team. I would think Loudoun's better players will migrate to Rev after such a difficult season, making it even harder for them to compete in GA.

I would think Loudoun players would try to go to NVA before migrating to Rev. I know the older girls from Loudoun mostly chose to stay together seeing how most of them played together as RL. Maybe next year they may tryout for NVA instead of staying Loudoun or leaving for Rev. NVA has some inherent advantages over Loudoun given that NVA is the top team. You can see in the age groups where the girls stayed like 2013, 2012, and 2008/07 those NVA teams are clear and away better than the Loudoun teams. The better players on the teams that had a difficult season may try to move to NVA, which of course would further dilute the Loudoun team

I agree LOU players would go to NVA before REV. I just assumed that, if they were on LOU and not NVA, it was because they couldn’t make NVA. You’re suggesting there are dynamics behind why players choose between NVA and LOU beyond better team / worse team, which seems surprising but who knows given some of the comments on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Is directorship at Loudoun (O’Hara and Ryan) I. Cahoots or enemies with NVA director (Hughes).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only club ripe for relegation right now would be STJ. They are basically at the bottom of the table across all age groups, and I don't see how they are going to build back up anytime soon. I feel like everyone else is either doing "well enough" or is too new to the league for relegation to Aspire to really be a topic of conversation for them right now.

You cant do promotion relegation with p2p leagues because youd have to do it by club not by team. This is not a GA or any other specific league thing. Its why bottom feeders exist and tend to always be the same clubs.

I wasn't talking promotion/relegation on a year to year basis, I was just saying if there was going to be a team in the MA South to get Relegated to Aspire it would be STJ. They have shown themselves over the last few years to be perennially at the bottom of the table, with no real improvement in sight. They don't have any real leadership, they don't have any fields, they don't seem to have much of a pipeline, and the vast majority of their impact players left.... But GA would probably want to replace them with someone so that there would be an even number of teams in the conference. They could relegate 2 clubs to Aspire to keep the number even, but like I said every other club is either doing well enough, or too new to the league for relegation to really be a topic of conversation for them. STJ may stay just through sheer luck, unless another team gets added to the MA South in the near future.

Loudoun in the other outlier across all years except one (where they still are not good). This is not surprising given that NVA really is Loudoun's top team. I would think Loudoun's better players will migrate to Rev after such a difficult season, making it even harder for them to compete in GA.

I would think Loudoun players would try to go to NVA before migrating to Rev. I know the older girls from Loudoun mostly chose to stay together seeing how most of them played together as RL. Maybe next year they may tryout for NVA instead of staying Loudoun or leaving for Rev. NVA has some inherent advantages over Loudoun given that NVA is the top team. You can see in the age groups where the girls stayed like 2013, 2012, and 2008/07 those NVA teams are clear and away better than the Loudoun teams. The better players on the teams that had a difficult season may try to move to NVA, which of course would further dilute the Loudoun team

I agree LOU players would go to NVA before REV. I just assumed that, if they were on LOU and not NVA, it was because they couldn’t make NVA. You’re suggesting there are dynamics behind why players choose between NVA and LOU beyond better team / worse team, which seems surprising but who knows given some of the comments on this thread.

Yeah there are reasons, but not in like a nefarious way. For example the 09's right, historically any Loudoun girl who wanted to play at a high level would've love to join that 09 NVA team but it was a hard team to crack. Once the decision was made to go GA all of those 09's (who were mostly rising 11th graders) left to go to an ECNL teams for recruiting purposes. Now those Loudoun girls could get into that NVA team, but that team was longer the team it used to be with all the girls leaving, so the girls from Loudoun that could make it decided to just stay together and keep playing as a team. They were now in the same league as NVA anyways. Like I said before there are advantages to being apart of NVA over Loudoun, and we'll see with the age change maybe some Loudoun girls will move to NVA as they shift in age groups, or maybe they wont. For the younger age NVA teams that stayed together the 2013's and 2012's, yeah the Loudoun girls are largely playing for Loudoun because they didn't make the NVA team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the only club ripe for relegation right now would be STJ. They are basically at the bottom of the table across all age groups, and I don't see how they are going to build back up anytime soon. I feel like everyone else is either doing "well enough" or is too new to the league for relegation to Aspire to really be a topic of conversation for them right now.

You cant do promotion relegation with p2p leagues because youd have to do it by club not by team. This is not a GA or any other specific league thing. Its why bottom feeders exist and tend to always be the same clubs.

I wasn't talking promotion/relegation on a year to year basis, I was just saying if there was going to be a team in the MA South to get Relegated to Aspire it would be STJ. They have shown themselves over the last few years to be perennially at the bottom of the table, with no real improvement in sight. They don't have any real leadership, they don't have any fields, they don't seem to have much of a pipeline, and the vast majority of their impact players left.... But GA would probably want to replace them with someone so that there would be an even number of teams in the conference. They could relegate 2 clubs to Aspire to keep the number even, but like I said every other club is either doing well enough, or too new to the league for relegation to really be a topic of conversation for them. STJ may stay just through sheer luck, unless another team gets added to the MA South in the near future.

Loudoun in the other outlier across all years except one (where they still are not good). This is not surprising given that NVA really is Loudoun's top team. I would think Loudoun's better players will migrate to Rev after such a difficult season, making it even harder for them to compete in GA.

This is funny...is Rev going to make any room on their already bloated roster sizes? I'm sure this will be news to current Rev families especially those with players getting next to no playing time. I think some of them will migrate over to NVA/Loudoun.