Girls' Academy has also been approved to become a U.S. Soccer member!

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The problem with ECNL is if NWSL partners with them the way MLS did with what became MLSN they have no control over how a league is setup implemented and run. More specifically if ECNL is involved they'll want to do showcases and get college recruiters etc involved. Also ECNL has shown that if they don't get what they want they'll work as a group and "take their ball and go home".

From a business perspective all NWSL (just like MLS) wants from a youth league is access to young talent. They don't care about college. They just need a "minor league" where their 2nd teams (aka academy teams) can play against reasonable competition.

This is why GA is a much more appealing way for NWSL to partner with youth.

Maybe NWSL could do something with ECNL but they'd have to implement a league within a league that only focused on playing professionally. But again why would you want to do this when you don't need to and you'd get all the control vs working with ECNL leadership.

MLS didn’t want to work with US Soccer or partner with youth leagues. They wanted the freedom to run their academies and their league the way they want so they made their own league.

It is hilarious that you believe that when NWSL, a professional league, is ready to run academies that they will partner with any youth league. They won’t.

They will do what MLS did and just make their own league when the time is right. All of your pinning your hopes and dreams that somehow GA is the Apple of NWSL’s eye is simply delusional.

Non NWSL clubs will apply be accepted and a new league is formed. This is how it ends.

And all the legacy DA clubs are first ones signed on. Most are the core of GA now, but not all so again its not GA vs ECNL thing. Stupid argument, simply put GA is better setup/stuctured for this, that doesnt make them better or worse just going to be in a favorable position to benefit from this when it happens. Clubs like Surf, PDA, Slammer, Solar, are so big and successful that it will be impossible to not include them. No clubs like that around here, so maybe GA is more beneficial in that case, when this happens. It could be 10 years away so who cares.

Correct, structurally GA is a better fit for NWSL than ECNL just like MLSN is for MLS.

My bet is that GA creates a league within a league that just includes NWSL acadamies and selected GA and maybe ECNL clubs. This would give everyone what they want. The only potential downside would be girls ECNL booting clubs that participate. But that won't work with the bigger clubs.

Simply put, a Professional league is able to form a league son their own and run it as they see fit to run. They don’t need to align with a preexisting youth league and partner.

MLS wanted autonomy and NWSL will learn from that lesson. Sorry, but there is no need to find a league that “aligns” with your mission when you can simply make a league that is run by you and those who join agree to your terms.

NWSL would be better to design a league, pitch it to all clubs and let them decide and apply on their own. Why straddle yourself to legacy leagues and their alignments and clubs when you can pick from all ECNL and GA clubs and pick from the best that fit your needs.

Yes you are correct, and GA clubs are structured to manever naturally into that becuause they are not concerned with this key question and potential roadblock, How does this affect the boys program"

This isn't rocket science, GA for girls, MLSN for boys. ECNL do your thing with college soccer

100% agree and what I've been saying for a while.

With boys its already a forgone conclusion that if you want to play professionally you need to get involved with MLSN at some point.

The problem is with girls there hasn't been a true professional pathway that doesn't involve playing in college. Groups like ECNL have exploited this by catering college access to youth clubs who make much more $$$ preparing players for college than playing professionally. Girls soccer is the cash cow for many clubs. If a female pro pathway focused league with academy teams started up it wouldn't allow clubs to collect talent anymore. Which also means superteams would be hard to keep together unless they were an Academy team participating in the academy league.

Once NWSL flips the homegrown rule switch girls youth soccer will go bananas.

But on the girls side most do not want pro. They want college. Like 90%.

And you know this how?

Do you walk around asking girls if they want to play professionally?

Ridiculous statement by and idiot know it all.

Girls wouldn’t give up HS soccer for DA.

Hahaha pulling out whatever tired rehash you can think of.

If a player is good enough to play on an Academy team HS soccer isn't a concern. By freshman year they have an idea if they're good enough to play professionally.

And if playing professionally isn't in the cards they can always play on an ECNL team. (Which allows HS soccer)

BTW the reason MLSN doesn't allow HS soccer is because different regions play at different times of the year. This makes it impossible to run a nationwide league.

God, you’re a brick wall. MLS and DA didn’t allow HS soccer because it is a distraction.

Pin this for the future:

NWSL will form a league in 5-10 years. They will not partner with any existing league because they will start with a league for reserve teams to play in and expand downwards to younger age groups.

Each NWSL club will of course have their own academy teams and will offer youth clubs the opportunity to apply to be in NWSLNext.

Note, SYC wasn’t a DA club prior to MLSNext. MLS formed their league and clubs across the country applied. GA nor ECNL will have no inside track.

What NWSL will consider is club quality and geographic needs for conference and travel alignment. The best clubs who fit those needs will be awarded league status regardless of league affiliation.

NWSL cannot afford a “build it and they will come” approach. They’ll need to add clubs with solid developmental history. There are GA and ECNL clubs that fit this requirement.

Regardless, go where it is best for your player NOW and in the near future. Placing your kid in a club now based on your reading of tea leaves and what you hope happens is dumb. Youth soccer changes on a dime so you can’t plan more than a year or two ahead.

Your logic is correct but that's not how things work.

US Soccer is in the background and they work with fifa, help the different leagues define and negotiate media contracts, etc. As much as you want NWSL to go it alone it's not going to happen. Also US Soccer created DA because everyone knew the way we develop talent in America wasn't working on the national stage. NWSL and women's soccer in general is in a huge upturn. Literally 5 years ago many of the big European clubs didn't have women's teams now they all do and they're applying the same development techniques used on men for women. Very soon women will face the same challenges as men regarding European Academy dropouts in college and NWSL preferring European Academy players over Anerican talent.

Once all this hits NWSL is going to be forced into creating "NWSL Next" because they're facing the exact same challenges as MLS.

US Soccer will bend over backwards to let NWSL create a pro league through them. It would be WAY harder for NWSL to go it alone. Operationally it just makes sense to take everything that works in MLSN and apply it to Girls as "NWSLN".

US Soccer can want it wants but NWSL, just as MLS, Premier League, La Liga, etc are their own leagues. None of those leagues are there to serve the needs of their national teams.

The sooner you get that through your head the better you’ll understand. There are American players in Europe now. Does US Soccer care? Nooo. Players will go where they can play and make the most money at the highest level they can. NWSL is not the highest level women’s league in the world right now. Their mission is not to be a US Soccer development academy. Their mission is to be a professional women’s soccer league. They are competing against European leagues for players not youth academy players.

You’re simply wrong with applying the particular goals of two different organizations. There are moments where their goals are aligned and there are moments where they are not aligned. NWSL will do what is best for NWSL first and foremost. If that happens to help US Soccer, great but US Soccer’s needs are not NWSL or MLS’s priorities.

MLS created MLS Next in conjunction with US Soccer.

MLS Next exists and is thriving.

Sorry, this is what NWSL will emulate when they choose to start working with Youth clubs.

Was SYC in DA? No. Did prior league affiliation matter in their case? No.

No youth league will be partnered with if NWSL creates their own league. How hard is that to understand?

How hard is it to understand that MLS and US Soccer created MLSN? And, just like MLS NWSL will work with US Soccer to create NWSLN.

US Soccer created and manages GA.

You make the next logical step.

US Soccer did not create GA. You don’t even know the basic history of these leagues. Let me guess, your kid is 12.

US Soccer dissolved the DA leaving those clubs out in the cold. Some DA clubs went back to ECNL and the rest of the clubs formed GA on their own so that their kids had a place to play and showcase.

US Soccer pulled the rug out from over 100 clubs and a couple thousand players during Covid. US Soccer emphatically left the youth soccer league business.

You are confusing US Soccer as a sanctioning body with a hand in actually running these leagues.

You honestly believe US Soccer gave up the US Soccer Development Academy because they wanted to run GA?

MLS told DA that they wanted to run their academies their way without US Soccer oversight. They were leaving to do their own thing with or without US Soccer involvement. MLS does not need US Soccer.

Sigh...

After DA blew up the clubs that didn't want to go ECNL reached out to DPL (for the sanctioning) and created GA. Initially it was planned to copy MLS Next (as you can see below) but at the time NWSL was in the dumps and had no $$$ so they basically scaled back and copied ECNL's college showcase and champions league format.

"U.S. Soccer Federation announced it was ending the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, leaving top boys and girls clubs to look for a new home. Former Development Academy clubs had a few options, many choosing to move to the Girls Academy, founded by a group of leaders from the Development Player League (DPL).

Former University of Washington women's soccer coach Lesle Gallimore served as its founding commissioner of the Girls Academy. She accepted the position in the summer of 2020, after the conclusion of her 26-year tenure as head coach of the women's soccer team at the University of Washington.

In October 2020, Girls Academy announced a strategic relationship with Major League Soccer and a partnership with USYS. According to the press release, Girls Academy will work in coordination with MLS Next, to “deliver a true pyramid for female youth players in the US, with the GA serving as the USYS premier girls platform in conjunction with MLS.” The partnership will focus on establishing academy standards for coaching and player development, improving talent identification partnerships, enhancing coaching education, and creating competitions to showcase players. While GA will maintain full autonomy over its league, they will also benefit from advice from the leaders of MLS and USYS as it aims to become the premier league for elite female soccer players in the United States."

Now NWSL is booming and they're going to revive the Academy concept. Everything is in place with US Soccer. All NWSL needs to do is flip the switch.

Sigh….

USYS is a licensing and sanctioning body. USYS cards EDP and NCSL.

Correct, USYS and the whole NWSLN concept at the time didn't work out so GA pivoted to using DPL for sanctioning and copying ECNL. However you can see what they wanted to do. The initial plan was to turn GA into NWSLN. This didn't work at the time because NWSL wasn't doing very well.

Now things have 1000% changed for NWSL. This is why US Soccer made GA a full member and able to self sanction players.

Whenever NWSL chooses to flip the switch. They can because everything needed for NWSLN is in place with GA.

Fine you win. Can’t debate your delusions anymore. If you think 10,000 average is enough to fund academies with 14 teams in the league I don’t know how to explain the economics of it any more.

If you think the same organization that abandoned kids during Covid now cares

US Soccer "abandoned" telling clubs how they need to change to be competitive on the international stage. They remained in thr background transitioning Boys DA to MLS Next and girls DA to GA.

Dear God. They abandoned GDA. You are re-writing history.

What was the alternative? MLS wanted a youth league to play their Acadamies in so US Soccer created MLSN. NWSL at the time didn't want a youth league because they didn't have an established Academy program.

The problem with girls then and up until recently is that there wasn't a viable professional women's league. Now there is so everything has changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with ECNL is if NWSL partners with them the way MLS did with what became MLSN they have no control over how a league is setup implemented and run. More specifically if ECNL is involved they'll want to do showcases and get college recruiters etc involved. Also ECNL has shown that if they don't get what they want they'll work as a group and "take their ball and go home".

From a business perspective all NWSL (just like MLS) wants from a youth league is access to young talent. They don't care about college. They just need a "minor league" where their 2nd teams (aka academy teams) can play against reasonable competition.

This is why GA is a much more appealing way for NWSL to partner with youth.

Maybe NWSL could do something with ECNL but they'd have to implement a league within a league that only focused on playing professionally. But again why would you want to do this when you don't need to and you'd get all the control vs working with ECNL leadership.

MLS didn’t want to work with US Soccer or partner with youth leagues. They wanted the freedom to run their academies and their league the way they want so they made their own league.

It is hilarious that you believe that when NWSL, a professional league, is ready to run academies that they will partner with any youth league. They won’t.

They will do what MLS did and just make their own league when the time is right. All of your pinning your hopes and dreams that somehow GA is the Apple of NWSL’s eye is simply delusional.

Non NWSL clubs will apply be accepted and a new league is formed. This is how it ends.

And all the legacy DA clubs are first ones signed on. Most are the core of GA now, but not all so again its not GA vs ECNL thing. Stupid argument, simply put GA is better setup/stuctured for this, that doesnt make them better or worse just going to be in a favorable position to benefit from this when it happens. Clubs like Surf, PDA, Slammer, Solar, are so big and successful that it will be impossible to not include them. No clubs like that around here, so maybe GA is more beneficial in that case, when this happens. It could be 10 years away so who cares.

Correct, structurally GA is a better fit for NWSL than ECNL just like MLSN is for MLS.

My bet is that GA creates a league within a league that just includes NWSL acadamies and selected GA and maybe ECNL clubs. This would give everyone what they want. The only potential downside would be girls ECNL booting clubs that participate. But that won't work with the bigger clubs.

Simply put, a Professional league is able to form a league son their own and run it as they see fit to run. They don’t need to align with a preexisting youth league and partner.

MLS wanted autonomy and NWSL will learn from that lesson. Sorry, but there is no need to find a league that “aligns” with your mission when you can simply make a league that is run by you and those who join agree to your terms.

NWSL would be better to design a league, pitch it to all clubs and let them decide and apply on their own. Why straddle yourself to legacy leagues and their alignments and clubs when you can pick from all ECNL and GA clubs and pick from the best that fit your needs.

Yes you are correct, and GA clubs are structured to manever naturally into that becuause they are not concerned with this key question and potential roadblock, How does this affect the boys program"

This isn't rocket science, GA for girls, MLSN for boys. ECNL do your thing with college soccer

100% agree and what I've been saying for a while.

With boys its already a forgone conclusion that if you want to play professionally you need to get involved with MLSN at some point.

The problem is with girls there hasn't been a true professional pathway that doesn't involve playing in college. Groups like ECNL have exploited this by catering college access to youth clubs who make much more $$$ preparing players for college than playing professionally. Girls soccer is the cash cow for many clubs. If a female pro pathway focused league with academy teams started up it wouldn't allow clubs to collect talent anymore. Which also means superteams would be hard to keep together unless they were an Academy team participating in the academy league.

Once NWSL flips the homegrown rule switch girls youth soccer will go bananas.

But on the girls side most do not want pro. They want college. Like 90%.

And you know this how?

Do you walk around asking girls if they want to play professionally?

Ridiculous statement by and idiot know it all.

Girls wouldn’t give up HS soccer for DA.

Hahaha pulling out whatever tired rehash you can think of.

If a player is good enough to play on an Academy team HS soccer isn't a concern. By freshman year they have an idea if they're good enough to play professionally.

And if playing professionally isn't in the cards they can always play on an ECNL team. (Which allows HS soccer)

BTW the reason MLSN doesn't allow HS soccer is because different regions play at different times of the year. This makes it impossible to run a nationwide league.

God, you’re a brick wall. MLS and DA didn’t allow HS soccer because it is a distraction.

Pin this for the future:

NWSL will form a league in 5-10 years. They will not partner with any existing league because they will start with a league for reserve teams to play in and expand downwards to younger age groups.

Each NWSL club will of course have their own academy teams and will offer youth clubs the opportunity to apply to be in NWSLNext.

Note, SYC wasn’t a DA club prior to MLSNext. MLS formed their league and clubs across the country applied. GA nor ECNL will have no inside track.

What NWSL will consider is club quality and geographic needs for conference and travel alignment. The best clubs who fit those needs will be awarded league status regardless of league affiliation.

NWSL cannot afford a “build it and they will come” approach. They’ll need to add clubs with solid developmental history. There are GA and ECNL clubs that fit this requirement.

Regardless, go where it is best for your player NOW and in the near future. Placing your kid in a club now based on your reading of tea leaves and what you hope happens is dumb. Youth soccer changes on a dime so you can’t plan more than a year or two ahead.

Your logic is correct but that's not how things work.

US Soccer is in the background and they work with fifa, help the different leagues define and negotiate media contracts, etc. As much as you want NWSL to go it alone it's not going to happen. Also US Soccer created DA because everyone knew the way we develop talent in America wasn't working on the national stage. NWSL and women's soccer in general is in a huge upturn. Literally 5 years ago many of the big European clubs didn't have women's teams now they all do and they're applying the same development techniques used on men for women. Very soon women will face the same challenges as men regarding European Academy dropouts in college and NWSL preferring European Academy players over Anerican talent.

Once all this hits NWSL is going to be forced into creating "NWSL Next" because they're facing the exact same challenges as MLS.

US Soccer will bend over backwards to let NWSL create a pro league through them. It would be WAY harder for NWSL to go it alone. Operationally it just makes sense to take everything that works in MLSN and apply it to Girls as "NWSLN".

US Soccer can want it wants but NWSL, just as MLS, Premier League, La Liga, etc are their own leagues. None of those leagues are there to serve the needs of their national teams.

The sooner you get that through your head the better you’ll understand. There are American players in Europe now. Does US Soccer care? Nooo. Players will go where they can play and make the most money at the highest level they can. NWSL is not the highest level women’s league in the world right now. Their mission is not to be a US Soccer development academy. Their mission is to be a professional women’s soccer league. They are competing against European leagues for players not youth academy players.

You’re simply wrong with applying the particular goals of two different organizations. There are moments where their goals are aligned and there are moments where they are not aligned. NWSL will do what is best for NWSL first and foremost. If that happens to help US Soccer, great but US Soccer’s needs are not NWSL or MLS’s priorities.

MLS created MLS Next in conjunction with US Soccer.

MLS Next exists and is thriving.

Sorry, this is what NWSL will emulate when they choose to start working with Youth clubs.

Was SYC in DA? No. Did prior league affiliation matter in their case? No.

No youth league will be partnered with if NWSL creates their own league. How hard is that to understand?

How hard is it to understand that MLS and US Soccer created MLSN? And, just like MLS NWSL will work with US Soccer to create NWSLN.

US Soccer created and manages GA.

You make the next logical step.

US Soccer did not create GA. You don’t even know the basic history of these leagues. Let me guess, your kid is 12.

US Soccer dissolved the DA leaving those clubs out in the cold. Some DA clubs went back to ECNL and the rest of the clubs formed GA on their own so that their kids had a place to play and showcase.

US Soccer pulled the rug out from over 100 clubs and a couple thousand players during Covid. US Soccer emphatically left the youth soccer league business.

You are confusing US Soccer as a sanctioning body with a hand in actually running these leagues.

You honestly believe US Soccer gave up the US Soccer Development Academy because they wanted to run GA?

MLS told DA that they wanted to run their academies their way without US Soccer oversight. They were leaving to do their own thing with or without US Soccer involvement. MLS does not need US Soccer.

Sigh...

After DA blew up the clubs that didn't want to go ECNL reached out to DPL (for the sanctioning) and created GA. Initially it was planned to copy MLS Next (as you can see below) but at the time NWSL was in the dumps and had no $$$ so they basically scaled back and copied ECNL's college showcase and champions league format.

"U.S. Soccer Federation announced it was ending the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, leaving top boys and girls clubs to look for a new home. Former Development Academy clubs had a few options, many choosing to move to the Girls Academy, founded by a group of leaders from the Development Player League (DPL).

Former University of Washington women's soccer coach Lesle Gallimore served as its founding commissioner of the Girls Academy. She accepted the position in the summer of 2020, after the conclusion of her 26-year tenure as head coach of the women's soccer team at the University of Washington.

In October 2020, Girls Academy announced a strategic relationship with Major League Soccer and a partnership with USYS. According to the press release, Girls Academy will work in coordination with MLS Next, to “deliver a true pyramid for female youth players in the US, with the GA serving as the USYS premier girls platform in conjunction with MLS.” The partnership will focus on establishing academy standards for coaching and player development, improving talent identification partnerships, enhancing coaching education, and creating competitions to showcase players. While GA will maintain full autonomy over its league, they will also benefit from advice from the leaders of MLS and USYS as it aims to become the premier league for elite female soccer players in the United States."

Now NWSL is booming and they're going to revive the Academy concept. Everything is in place with US Soccer. All NWSL needs to do is flip the switch.

Sigh….

USYS is a licensing and sanctioning body. USYS cards EDP and NCSL.

Correct, USYS and the whole NWSLN concept at the time didn't work out so GA pivoted to using DPL for sanctioning and copying ECNL. However you can see what they wanted to do. The initial plan was to turn GA into NWSLN. This didn't work at the time because NWSL wasn't doing very well.

Now things have 1000% changed for NWSL. This is why US Soccer made GA a full member and able to self sanction players.

Whenever NWSL chooses to flip the switch. They can because everything needed for NWSLN is in place with GA.

Fine you win. Can’t debate your delusions anymore. If you think 10,000 average is enough to fund academies with 14 teams in the league I don’t know how to explain the economics of it any more.

If you think the same organization that abandoned kids during Covid now cares

US Soccer "abandoned" telling clubs how they need to change to be competitive on the international stage. They remained in thr background transitioning Boys DA to MLS Next and girls DA to GA.

You are simply wrong about this:
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37582958/us-soccer-ends-development-academy-mls-announces-youth-league

MLS is a US Soccer member. They worked with US Soccer to create MLS Next when US Soccer chose to exit being directly involved with how clubs train and develop players to be competitive at the international level.

[Anonymous]

The problem with sites like DCUM is that for whatever reason it attracts girls parents and most never played a sport at a high level.

For girls, parents get exposed to pay to play and ECNL and ultimately College development styles. What they don't understand is this style of development does not create the best possible players. However it does generate the most amount of money for clubs.

Boys have MLS Next and the Academy system of development. In general it's a pale reflection of what European Acadamies implement but even that is better than pay to play. Girls players and parents generally have no concept of why you want to play up, or why clubs might pay transfer fees for potential new talent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with sites like DCUM is that for whatever reason it attracts girls parents and most never played a sport at a high level.

For girls, parents get exposed to pay to play and ECNL and ultimately College development styles. What they don't understand is this style of development does not create the best possible players. However it does generate the most amount of money for clubs.

Boys have MLS Next and the Academy system of development. In general it's a pale reflection of what European Acadamies implement but even that is better than pay to play. Girls players and parents generally have no concept of why you want to play up, or why clubs might pay transfer fees for potential new talent.

Nobody is against a fully funded professional academy system for girls.

Where the disconnect is the current feasibility of NWSL running such a league in the near future.

Nobody argues against the need we just disagree on how and when.

When it happens NWSL will run it and run it their way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with ECNL is if NWSL partners with them the way MLS did with what became MLSN they have no control over how a league is setup implemented and run. More specifically if ECNL is involved they'll want to do showcases and get college recruiters etc involved. Also ECNL has shown that if they don't get what they want they'll work as a group and "take their ball and go home".

From a business perspective all NWSL (just like MLS) wants from a youth league is access to young talent. They don't care about college. They just need a "minor league" where their 2nd teams (aka academy teams) can play against reasonable competition.

This is why GA is a much more appealing way for NWSL to partner with youth.

Maybe NWSL could do something with ECNL but they'd have to implement a league within a league that only focused on playing professionally. But again why would you want to do this when you don't need to and you'd get all the control vs working with ECNL leadership.

MLS didn’t want to work with US Soccer or partner with youth leagues. They wanted the freedom to run their academies and their league the way they want so they made their own league.

It is hilarious that you believe that when NWSL, a professional league, is ready to run academies that they will partner with any youth league. They won’t.

They will do what MLS did and just make their own league when the time is right. All of your pinning your hopes and dreams that somehow GA is the Apple of NWSL’s eye is simply delusional.

Non NWSL clubs will apply be accepted and a new league is formed. This is how it ends.

And all the legacy DA clubs are first ones signed on. Most are the core of GA now, but not all so again its not GA vs ECNL thing. Stupid argument, simply put GA is better setup/stuctured for this, that doesnt make them better or worse just going to be in a favorable position to benefit from this when it happens. Clubs like Surf, PDA, Slammer, Solar, are so big and successful that it will be impossible to not include them. No clubs like that around here, so maybe GA is more beneficial in that case, when this happens. It could be 10 years away so who cares.

Correct, structurally GA is a better fit for NWSL than ECNL just like MLSN is for MLS.

My bet is that GA creates a league within a league that just includes NWSL acadamies and selected GA and maybe ECNL clubs. This would give everyone what they want. The only potential downside would be girls ECNL booting clubs that participate. But that won't work with the bigger clubs.

Simply put, a Professional league is able to form a league son their own and run it as they see fit to run. They don’t need to align with a preexisting youth league and partner.

MLS wanted autonomy and NWSL will learn from that lesson. Sorry, but there is no need to find a league that “aligns” with your mission when you can simply make a league that is run by you and those who join agree to your terms.

NWSL would be better to design a league, pitch it to all clubs and let them decide and apply on their own. Why straddle yourself to legacy leagues and their alignments and clubs when you can pick from all ECNL and GA clubs and pick from the best that fit your needs.

Yes you are correct, and GA clubs are structured to manever naturally into that becuause they are not concerned with this key question and potential roadblock, How does this affect the boys program"

This isn't rocket science, GA for girls, MLSN for boys. ECNL do your thing with college soccer

100% agree and what I've been saying for a while.

With boys its already a forgone conclusion that if you want to play professionally you need to get involved with MLSN at some point.

The problem is with girls there hasn't been a true professional pathway that doesn't involve playing in college. Groups like ECNL have exploited this by catering college access to youth clubs who make much more $$$ preparing players for college than playing professionally. Girls soccer is the cash cow for many clubs. If a female pro pathway focused league with academy teams started up it wouldn't allow clubs to collect talent anymore. Which also means superteams would be hard to keep together unless they were an Academy team participating in the academy league.

Once NWSL flips the homegrown rule switch girls youth soccer will go bananas.

But on the girls side most do not want pro. They want college. Like 90%.

And you know this how?

Do you walk around asking girls if they want to play professionally?

Ridiculous statement by and idiot know it all.

Girls wouldn’t give up HS soccer for DA.

Hahaha pulling out whatever tired rehash you can think of.

If a player is good enough to play on an Academy team HS soccer isn't a concern. By freshman year they have an idea if they're good enough to play professionally.

And if playing professionally isn't in the cards they can always play on an ECNL team. (Which allows HS soccer)

BTW the reason MLSN doesn't allow HS soccer is because different regions play at different times of the year. This makes it impossible to run a nationwide league.

God, you’re a brick wall. MLS and DA didn’t allow HS soccer because it is a distraction.

Pin this for the future:

NWSL will form a league in 5-10 years. They will not partner with any existing league because they will start with a league for reserve teams to play in and expand downwards to younger age groups.

Each NWSL club will of course have their own academy teams and will offer youth clubs the opportunity to apply to be in NWSLNext.

Note, SYC wasn’t a DA club prior to MLSNext. MLS formed their league and clubs across the country applied. GA nor ECNL will have no inside track.

What NWSL will consider is club quality and geographic needs for conference and travel alignment. The best clubs who fit those needs will be awarded league status regardless of league affiliation.

NWSL cannot afford a “build it and they will come” approach. They’ll need to add clubs with solid developmental history. There are GA and ECNL clubs that fit this requirement.

Regardless, go where it is best for your player NOW and in the near future. Placing your kid in a club now based on your reading of tea leaves and what you hope happens is dumb. Youth soccer changes on a dime so you can’t plan more than a year or two ahead.

Your logic is correct but that's not how things work.

US Soccer is in the background and they work with fifa, help the different leagues define and negotiate media contracts, etc. As much as you want NWSL to go it alone it's not going to happen. Also US Soccer created DA because everyone knew the way we develop talent in America wasn't working on the national stage. NWSL and women's soccer in general is in a huge upturn. Literally 5 years ago many of the big European clubs didn't have women's teams now they all do and they're applying the same development techniques used on men for women. Very soon women will face the same challenges as men regarding European Academy dropouts in college and NWSL preferring European Academy players over Anerican talent.

Once all this hits NWSL is going to be forced into creating "NWSL Next" because they're facing the exact same challenges as MLS.

US Soccer will bend over backwards to let NWSL create a pro league through them. It would be WAY harder for NWSL to go it alone. Operationally it just makes sense to take everything that works in MLSN and apply it to Girls as "NWSLN".

US Soccer can want it wants but NWSL, just as MLS, Premier League, La Liga, etc are their own leagues. None of those leagues are there to serve the needs of their national teams.

The sooner you get that through your head the better you’ll understand. There are American players in Europe now. Does US Soccer care? Nooo. Players will go where they can play and make the most money at the highest level they can. NWSL is not the highest level women’s league in the world right now. Their mission is not to be a US Soccer development academy. Their mission is to be a professional women’s soccer league. They are competing against European leagues for players not youth academy players.

You’re simply wrong with applying the particular goals of two different organizations. There are moments where their goals are aligned and there are moments where they are not aligned. NWSL will do what is best for NWSL first and foremost. If that happens to help US Soccer, great but US Soccer’s needs are not NWSL or MLS’s priorities.

MLS created MLS Next in conjunction with US Soccer.

MLS Next exists and is thriving.

Sorry, this is what NWSL will emulate when they choose to start working with Youth clubs.

Was SYC in DA? No. Did prior league affiliation matter in their case? No.

No youth league will be partnered with if NWSL creates their own league. How hard is that to understand?

How hard is it to understand that MLS and US Soccer created MLSN? And, just like MLS NWSL will work with US Soccer to create NWSLN.

US Soccer created and manages GA.

You make the next logical step.

US Soccer did not create GA. You don’t even know the basic history of these leagues. Let me guess, your kid is 12.

US Soccer dissolved the DA leaving those clubs out in the cold. Some DA clubs went back to ECNL and the rest of the clubs formed GA on their own so that their kids had a place to play and showcase.

US Soccer pulled the rug out from over 100 clubs and a couple thousand players during Covid. US Soccer emphatically left the youth soccer league business.

You are confusing US Soccer as a sanctioning body with a hand in actually running these leagues.

You honestly believe US Soccer gave up the US Soccer Development Academy because they wanted to run GA?

MLS told DA that they wanted to run their academies their way without US Soccer oversight. They were leaving to do their own thing with or without US Soccer involvement. MLS does not need US Soccer.

Sigh...

After DA blew up the clubs that didn't want to go ECNL reached out to DPL (for the sanctioning) and created GA. Initially it was planned to copy MLS Next (as you can see below) but at the time NWSL was in the dumps and had no $$$ so they basically scaled back and copied ECNL's college showcase and champions league format.

"U.S. Soccer Federation announced it was ending the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, leaving top boys and girls clubs to look for a new home. Former Development Academy clubs had a few options, many choosing to move to the Girls Academy, founded by a group of leaders from the Development Player League (DPL).

Former University of Washington women's soccer coach Lesle Gallimore served as its founding commissioner of the Girls Academy. She accepted the position in the summer of 2020, after the conclusion of her 26-year tenure as head coach of the women's soccer team at the University of Washington.

In October 2020, Girls Academy announced a strategic relationship with Major League Soccer and a partnership with USYS. According to the press release, Girls Academy will work in coordination with MLS Next, to “deliver a true pyramid for female youth players in the US, with the GA serving as the USYS premier girls platform in conjunction with MLS.” The partnership will focus on establishing academy standards for coaching and player development, improving talent identification partnerships, enhancing coaching education, and creating competitions to showcase players. While GA will maintain full autonomy over its league, they will also benefit from advice from the leaders of MLS and USYS as it aims to become the premier league for elite female soccer players in the United States."

Now NWSL is booming and they're going to revive the Academy concept. Everything is in place with US Soccer. All NWSL needs to do is flip the switch.

Sigh….

USYS is a licensing and sanctioning body. USYS cards EDP and NCSL.

Correct, USYS and the whole NWSLN concept at the time didn't work out so GA pivoted to using DPL for sanctioning and copying ECNL. However you can see what they wanted to do. The initial plan was to turn GA into NWSLN. This didn't work at the time because NWSL wasn't doing very well.

Now things have 1000% changed for NWSL. This is why US Soccer made GA a full member and able to self sanction players.

Whenever NWSL chooses to flip the switch. They can because everything needed for NWSLN is in place with GA.

Fine you win. Can’t debate your delusions anymore. If you think 10,000 average is enough to fund academies with 14 teams in the league I don’t know how to explain the economics of it any more.

If you think the same organization that abandoned kids during Covid now cares

US Soccer "abandoned" telling clubs how they need to change to be competitive on the international stage. They remained in thr background transitioning Boys DA to MLS Next and girls DA to GA.

You are simply wrong about this:
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37582958/us-soccer-ends-development-academy-mls-announces-youth-league

MLS is a US Soccer member. They worked with US Soccer to create MLS Next when US Soccer chose to exit being directly involved with how clubs train and develop players to be competitive at the international level.

Everything you have said is in contradiction to what the ESPN article outlined.

MLS was frustrated with DA and was leaving DA. US Soccer could not afford DA and cut ties running a youth soccer league.

I’m sorry you can’t read the article and comprehend the actual facts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with sites like DCUM is that for whatever reason it attracts girls parents and most never played a sport at a high level.

For girls, parents get exposed to pay to play and ECNL and ultimately College development styles. What they don't understand is this style of development does not create the best possible players. However it does generate the most amount of money for clubs.

Boys have MLS Next and the Academy system of development. In general it's a pale reflection of what European Acadamies implement but even that is better than pay to play. Girls players and parents generally have no concept of why you want to play up, or why clubs might pay transfer fees for potential new talent.

Nobody is against a fully funded professional academy system for girls.

Where the disconnect is the current feasibility of NWSL running such a league in the near future.

Nobody argues against the need we just disagree on how and when.

When it happens NWSL will run it and run it their way.

Jessica Berman stated earlier this year that NWSL club leadership were pressuring internally for Academies.

Personally I'd like to see Acadamies and NWSLN sooner than later. But, you can't ignore all the club valuation increases and big money looking to buy clubs like what just happened with SD Wave.

Once big money has pushed out all the mom and pop investors they'll want to turn NWSL into a more professional league that functions like MLS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with sites like DCUM is that for whatever reason it attracts girls parents and most never played a sport at a high level.

For girls, parents get exposed to pay to play and ECNL and ultimately College development styles. What they don't understand is this style of development does not create the best possible players. However it does generate the most amount of money for clubs.

Boys have MLS Next and the Academy system of development. In general it's a pale reflection of what European Acadamies implement but even that is better than pay to play. Girls players and parents generally have no concept of why you want to play up, or why clubs might pay transfer fees for potential new talent.

Nobody is against a fully funded professional academy system for girls.

Where the disconnect is the current feasibility of NWSL running such a league in the near future.

Nobody argues against the need we just disagree on how and when.

When it happens NWSL will run it and run it their way.

Jessica Berman stated earlier this year that NWSL club leadership were pressuring internally for Academies.

Personally I'd like to see Acadamies and NWSLN sooner than later. But, you can't ignore all the club valuation increases and big money looking to buy clubs like what just happened with SD Wave.

Once big money has pushed out all the mom and pop investors they'll want to turn NWSL into a more professional league that functions like MLS.

Show the article where that is actually stated and what the timeline is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with sites like DCUM is that for whatever reason it attracts girls parents and most never played a sport at a high level.

For girls, parents get exposed to pay to play and ECNL and ultimately College development styles. What they don't understand is this style of development does not create the best possible players. However it does generate the most amount of money for clubs.

Boys have MLS Next and the Academy system of development. In general it's a pale reflection of what European Acadamies implement but even that is better than pay to play. Girls players and parents generally have no concept of why you want to play up, or why clubs might pay transfer fees for potential new talent.

Nobody is against a fully funded professional academy system for girls.

Where the disconnect is the current feasibility of NWSL running such a league in the near future.

Nobody argues against the need we just disagree on how and when.

When it happens NWSL will run it and run it their way.

Jessica Berman stated earlier this year that NWSL club leadership were pressuring internally for Academies.

Personally I'd like to see Acadamies and NWSLN sooner than later. But, you can't ignore all the club valuation increases and big money looking to buy clubs like what just happened with SD Wave.

Once big money has pushed out all the mom and pop investors they'll want to turn NWSL into a more professional league that functions like MLS.

Show the article where that is actually stated and what the timeline is.

Look it up for yourself. Berman is calling it "invest in youth" she's deliberately avoiding certain terminology to keep options open.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem with sites like DCUM is that for whatever reason it attracts girls parents and most never played a sport at a high level.

For girls, parents get exposed to pay to play and ECNL and ultimately College development styles. What they don't understand is this style of development does not create the best possible players. However it does generate the most amount of money for clubs.

Boys have MLS Next and the Academy system of development. In general it's a pale reflection of what European Acadamies implement but even that is better than pay to play. Girls players and parents generally have no concept of why you want to play up, or why clubs might pay transfer fees for potential new talent.

Nobody is against a fully funded professional academy system for girls.

Where the disconnect is the current feasibility of NWSL running such a league in the near future.

Nobody argues against the need we just disagree on how and when.

When it happens NWSL will run it and run it their way.

Jessica Berman stated earlier this year that NWSL club leadership were pressuring internally for Academies.

Personally I'd like to see Acadamies and NWSLN sooner than later. But, you can't ignore all the club valuation increases and big money looking to buy clubs like what just happened with SD Wave.

Once big money has pushed out all the mom and pop investors they'll want to turn NWSL into a more professional league that functions like MLS.

Show the article where that is actually stated and what the timeline is.

Look it up for yourself. Berman is calling it "invest in youth" she's deliberately avoiding certain terminology to keep options open.

No, that’s not how it works. When you make a claim or a bold statement it’s up to you to prove it not mine.

I provided a respected news source for how DA was dissolved. The article directly contradicts everything you have stated.

[Anonymous]

Sigh...
https://equalizersoccer.com/2024/01/12/berman-speaks-of-future-of-nwsl-draft-updates-on-local-broadcasts-and-more/


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Equalizer Soccer
Equalizer Soccer
NEWSBerman speaks of future of NWSL draft updates on local broadcasts, and moreby Dan LaulettaJanuary 12, 2024
Photo Copyright Kirby Lee for USA TODAY Sports
The college draft has long been one of the marquee events on the National Women’s Soccer League calendar. But times are changing. In the years since the league changed the rules that required American players to use up their college eligibility players like Jaedyn Shaw and Alyssa Thompson have gone directly to the NWSL as teenagers and become stars. That combined with a more robust international market for clubs has combined to reduce the impact of the draft.

“What we’ve learned and observed probably over the last year or so is that there has been a leveling up of the games globally that is serving as a forcing function for us to recognize that we compete in a global landscape for talent,” commissioner Jessica Berman said Friday during her annual draft-day chat with media. “With that comes a lot of analysis about our approach and our policies and the best ways that we can compete for that talent.”

With that answer, Berman did not address the direct question of whether the league was considering alternatives that might replace the draft entirely before the end of the decade. It also did not indicate support for the draft as a permanent tentpole for the league.

“It’s been established internally and validated by our board that it is our stated vision to be the best league in the world. And we’ll continue to evaluate the ways in which we can compete and work closely with our Players Association to asses all of the mechanisms and levers that we can pull to both embrace and lean into the areas where we are different and have differentiators; parity, competitive balance, investment, and all those areas as well as think strategically about shifts that we may want to make in the future that allow for us to compete in more meaningful ways.”

In the short term, there does appear to be investment from the clubs in terms of the draft. Half of this year’s 14 1st Round picks were traded including the No. 5 pick moving twice. The No. 10 pick fetched a remarkable $175,000 in allocation money.

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Berman also addressed the future of youth academies, a mechanism that helped spawn exponential growth for Major League Soccer in recent years. Currently, teams are free to sign youth players but there is no direct line to an NWSL through an academy. MLS, which is in many more cities than NWSL has a home-grown rule that allows clubs to retain players who come up through their youth system.

“It is one of the areas we really hope to make progress on in 2024 as we chart our strategic initiatives. There are a bunch of clubs that are very interested in figuring out the most strategic ways to build academies or invest in youth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sigh...
https://equalizersoccer.com/2024/01/12/berman-speaks-of-future-of-nwsl-draft-updates-on-local-broadcasts-and-more/

Berman also addressed the future of youth academies, a mechanism that helped spawn exponential growth for Major League Soccer in recent years. Currently, teams are free to sign youth players but there is no direct line to an NWSL through an academy. MLS, which is in many more cities than NWSL has a home-grown rule that allows clubs to retain players who come up through their youth system.

“It is one of the areas we really hope to make progress on in 2024 as we chart our strategic initiatives. There are a bunch of clubs that are very interested in figuring out the most strategic ways to build academies or invest in youth.

Hahaha boooom! 😆

Ready to get with the program yet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sigh...
https://equalizersoccer.com/2024/01/12/berman-speaks-of-future-of-nwsl-draft-updates-on-local-broadcasts-and-more/

Berman also addressed the future of youth academies, a mechanism that helped spawn exponential growth for Major League Soccer in recent years. Currently, teams are free to sign youth players but there is no direct line to an NWSL through an academy. MLS, which is in many more cities than NWSL has a home-grown rule that allows clubs to retain players who come up through their youth system.

“It is one of the areas we really hope to make progress on in 2024 as we chart our strategic initiatives. There are a bunch of clubs that are very interested in figuring out the most strategic ways to build academies or invest in youth.

Hahaha boooom! 😆

Ready to get with the program yet?

What program? It’s as if you didn’t even read that article either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sigh...
https://equalizersoccer.com/2024/01/12/berman-speaks-of-future-of-nwsl-draft-updates-on-local-broadcasts-and-more/

Berman also addressed the future of youth academies, a mechanism that helped spawn exponential growth for Major League Soccer in recent years. Currently, teams are free to sign youth players but there is no direct line to an NWSL through an academy. MLS, which is in many more cities than NWSL has a home-grown rule that allows clubs to retain players who come up through their youth system.

“It is one of the areas we really hope to make progress on in 2024 as we chart our strategic initiatives. There are a bunch of clubs that are very interested in figuring out the most strategic ways to build academies or invest in youth.

Hahaha boooom! 😆

Ready to get with the program yet?

What program? It’s as if you didn’t even read that article either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sigh...
https://equalizersoccer.com/2024/01/12/berman-speaks-of-future-of-nwsl-draft-updates-on-local-broadcasts-and-more/

Berman also addressed the future of youth academies, a mechanism that helped spawn exponential growth for Major League Soccer in recent years. Currently, teams are free to sign youth players but there is no direct line to an NWSL through an academy. MLS, which is in many more cities than NWSL has a home-grown rule that allows clubs to retain players who come up through their youth system.

“It is one of the areas we really hope to make progress on in 2024 as we chart our strategic initiatives. There are a bunch of clubs that are very interested in figuring out the most strategic ways to build academies or invest in youth.

Hahaha boooom! 😆

Ready to get with the program yet?

What program? It’s as if you didn’t even read that article either.

I want a women’s/girls NWSL academy system as much as anyone, I’m just saying it isn’t gonna happen anytime soon.

You keep snorting your hopium and keep reading into things though. You do you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem with sites like DCUM is that for whatever reason it attracts girls parents and most never played a sport at a high level.

For girls, parents get exposed to pay to play and ECNL and ultimately College development styles. What they don't understand is this style of development does not create the best possible players. However it does generate the most amount of money for clubs.

Boys have MLS Next and the Academy system of development. In general it's a pale reflection of what European Acadamies implement but even that is better than pay to play. Girls players and parents generally have no concept of why you want to play up, or why clubs might pay transfer fees for potential new talent.

Very few girls are interested either in a pathway to the pros or being the best possible players. What they are interested in is playing in college. p4 if they can do it and down from there. A large percentage of girls are looking for strong academic colleges where soccer can help them get into places that are tough to get into. You are trying to create a product that few will buy.