Of course they won’t lose all their players. Only the best ones. |
Sheep to the slaughterhouse. You can think or say you are elite, but the more you have to do either, the less you are. |
I didn't know Bethesda was in Nova |
All the non-MLS DA clubs, inlcuding Baltimore played their U16 teams in EDP in a special DA league called the Atlantic Development League. You can see the league schedule and standings here (you have to scroll down to get the table for this area): https://www.edpsoccer.com/adl-schedules. FWIW SAC/BA pre-academy finished last with thye following record: SAC/BA PRE-ACADEMY 10 1 9 0 6 26 -20 3 0.3 I don't know what, if anything, DC United may have done with their U16 group though. |
Apologies the link is https://www.edpsoccer.com/adl-schedules |
They will lose a handful of the best ones to DC United. They may lose more back to Loudoun though - the ones that moved from Loudoun to VDA when Loudoun moved to ECNL. |
And BRYC can take kids from Fairfax, Falls Church and Springfield who may have been more willing to go to Arlington when DA. I suspect that depends a lot on whether the current DA coaching staff stays. |
Bryc will take anyone willing to commit at this point. |
I stand corrected. Thought only U12s were in a different "DA only" league. DCUnited only has academy teams, there is no 2nd, 3rd, etc. team. I know a fair amount of the families/kids of that Armour preacademy U16 team. Many played HS and did not participate in full club activities in the fall and several were on the U16/U17 DA roster. So maybe that explains the poor results? |
| Does this mean that MLSDA will be integrated into existing leagues like EDP, but in a separate conference, but maybe still allowed to participate in tournaments and state cup (where they could potentially play ECNL teams)? https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/05/15/major-league-soccer-us-youth-soccer-announce-groundbreaking-strategic-partnership |
Agreed - although (a) it seems clear that they are staying (b) this situation is a little cloudier than the VDA -> Loudoun situation. I mentioned the VDA->Loudoun move because it was a clearly identifiable set of players who were playing at Loudoun two years ago, and made the move to VDA specifically because Loudoun went to ECNL and they wanted to play at the higher level. Now that VDA are also ECNL it seems to me that that particular group are high risk to move back to what was, based on behavior up until last year, their preferred team when the teams were playing in the same league. It's certainly true that Arlington also has players coming from further afield, but I don't think there's quite such a group that might head to one specific club. Plus - as you say, and I agree - the Arlington coaching staff is a big draw. |
| BFD |
Yes - that sounds possible. If so, situation might have evened up in the spring if and when other (e.g. VA) teams lost players to HS soccer. Certainly Baltimore usually managed to put out a good team at most age groups. wrt DC United, they may still have done something with their U16 players other than have them sit on the bench. It's a problem all the DA clubs had - there was not an official DA U16 competition, but they needed those kids to stay part of the program as they would likely form the core of the team the following year. Surely DC United and the other MLS teams must have found a way to get them game time? I have no idea what they did do they, if they did. |
My understanding is that those players, U16/U17, DCUnited, didn’t not play in another league. They weren’t allowed by DA rules, maybe they set up some friendlies, but no organized league. |
Certainly I haven't been able to find a league in which they played so you may well be correct that they didn't. It wasn't because of DA rules though, because - per above - all the non-MLS DA U16 teams played in a DA U16 league organized by EDP - but totally separate league from the rest of EDP - just for the DA U16 teams. |