Girls DA 2018-19 Season

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We will take a look at FCV too. They clearly have a strong DA program. We are going to look at all of the DA and ECNL teams. So what is keeping FCV 07 from being clear #1? Someone mentioned depth, any thoughts are appreciated.

I'm not sure they aren't #1. I actually think they are, but I'm giving the benefit of the doubt to Arlington and to Loudoun to see how they match up with clubs and teams I know. I have no doubt they are stronger than McLean.

To be fair, shouldn't FCV 07 at least start making it to the finals games in recent tournaments they played in before you start calling them #1? Let's keep it real.

The bulk of the FCV 07 DA team will likely come from Loudoun. They should probably reach out to the 07s that are currently playing for Spirit and Arlington but I doubt they will move.

Depends on which one you mean - Spirit or Arlington. Not saying that either will or either won't, but the two clubs are in entirely different situations, so I don't think lumping them together makes any sense.

I am not sure players currently on the DAs teams will help FCV 07. The youngest group at DA is 06, so any 07s are current playups and likely fairly committed to the program. Playups tend to be loyalists.

There are no 07 play ups on the FCV 06 DA roster. There are players from the 07 player pool that have the "DP/PT" tag and have attended DA trainings, but none have logged any playing time. Ironically 2 of those 4 are actually 08s. Following the argument above, then at least these 4 stay put and form the foundation of the 07 DA next year.

It appears that Spirit has two 07's playing up on 06 and one 07 playing up on 05s. The question is, will they be loyalists as is eluded to in the PP.

I thought they had an 08 playing with their 06s? All their playups are 07?

Nope. Peanut is an 07. But she was a play up when she played with your DD a few years ago at FCV before the age group change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does it matter? 08 or 07? Congrats to whichever player either way; it just sounds like some hair splitting.

It's interesting from the standpoint of how WS runs its program - i.e. Is 1 girl playing up multiple age groups just a one off or something they'll do to bring in top talent. If your DD is the top player on a CCL team at U10, are you better off staying with your club for U11 or seeing if a DA will take her?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will take a look at FCV too. They clearly have a strong DA program. We are going to look at all of the DA and ECNL teams. So what is keeping FCV 07 from being clear #1? Someone mentioned depth, any thoughts are appreciated.

I'm not sure they aren't #1. I actually think they are, but I'm giving the benefit of the doubt to Arlington and to Loudoun to see how they match up with clubs and teams I know. I have no doubt they are stronger than McLean.

To be fair, shouldn't FCV 07 at least start making it to the finals games in recent tournaments they played in before you start calling them #1? Let's keep it real.

The bulk of the FCV 07 DA team will likely come from Loudoun. They should probably reach out to the 07s that are currently playing for Spirit and Arlington but I doubt they will move.

Depends on which one you mean - Spirit or Arlington. Not saying that either will or either won't, but the two clubs are in entirely different situations, so I don't think lumping them together makes any sense.

I am not sure players currently on the DAs teams will help FCV 07. The youngest group at DA is 06, so any 07s are current playups and likely fairly committed to the program. Playups tend to be loyalists.

There are no 07 play ups on the FCV 06 DA roster. There are players from the 07 player pool that have the "DP/PT" tag and have attended DA trainings, but none have logged any playing time. Ironically 2 of those 4 are actually 08s. Following the argument above, then at least these 4 stay put and form the foundation of the 07 DA next year.

It appears that Spirit has two 07's playing up on 06 and one 07 playing up on 05s. The question is, will they be loyalists as is eluded to in the PP.

I thought they had an 08 playing with their 06s? All their playups are 07?

Nope. Peanut is an 07. But she was a play up when she played with your DD a few years ago at FCV before the age group change.

Gotcha. She's a baller either way

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How'd Arlington do?

'04s lost to Spirit Maryland. Puts them in 6th place out of 8 in the U-15 Atlantic bracket, with PA Classics in 7th and Spirit Virginia in 8th. I really thought they'd be doing better six games into the season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does it matter? 08 or 07? Congrats to whichever player either way; it just sounds like some hair splitting.

It's interesting from the standpoint of how WS runs its program - i.e. Is 1 girl playing up multiple age groups just a one off or something they'll do to bring in top talent. If your DD is the top player on a CCL team at U10, are you better off staying with your club for U11 or seeing if a DA will take her?

This is a pilot program, and therefore I think we can be forgiving. But, that is a small roster that WS had a hard time filling. It's also yet to be remotely competitive. Not a big deal, but that also matters when we see play ups. Are they there by sheer skill or was there also an issue filling out the team?

Not saying any of those girls aren't good for their age, but just to give it all some perspective.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How'd Arlington do?

'04s lost to Spirit Maryland. Puts them in 6th place out of 8 in the U-15 Atlantic bracket, with PA Classics in 7th and Spirit Virginia in 8th. I really thought they'd be doing better six games into the season.

This is a much more competitive league than what they are used to. It may be that they are finally matching up with players that can challenge them. It is also without a doubt a faster pace of play than the CCL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does it matter? 08 or 07? Congrats to whichever player either way; it just sounds like some hair splitting.

It's interesting from the standpoint of how WS runs its program - i.e. Is 1 girl playing up multiple age groups just a one off or something they'll do to bring in top talent. If your DD is the top player on a CCL team at U10, are you better off staying with your club for U11 or seeing if a DA will take her?

This is a pilot program, and therefore I think we can be forgiving. But, that is a small roster that WS had a hard time filling. It's also yet to be remotely competitive. Not a big deal, but that also matters when we see play ups. Are they there by sheer skill or was there also an issue filling out the team?

Not saying any of those girls aren't good for their age, but just to give it all some perspective.

Spirit VA DA has more than one 07 and one 08 who actually play in games.

It is not unusual in the DA programs to have players playing up. Remember this is about developing players!

If you have a standout 08 who is ready to practice 4x a week at Lake Fairfax park with 07s and even potentially 06s (U13 and U14 Spirit sometimes train together), then by all means bring them to the ID session in January.

[Anonymous]

I would rather be a starting player on a u13 DA team with 15 rostered players than a non starting player on a U13 ECNL team with 30 rostered players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does it matter? 08 or 07? Congrats to whichever player either way; it just sounds like some hair splitting.

It's interesting from the standpoint of how WS runs its program - i.e. Is 1 girl playing up multiple age groups just a one off or something they'll do to bring in top talent. If your DD is the top player on a CCL team at U10, are you better off staying with your club for U11 or seeing if a DA will take her?

This is a pilot program, and therefore I think we can be forgiving. But, that is a small roster that WS had a hard time filling. It's also yet to be remotely competitive. Not a big deal, but that also matters when we see play ups. Are they there by sheer skill or was there also an issue filling out the team?

Not saying any of those girls aren't good for their age, but just to give it all some perspective.

Not exactly. There are 15 pilot U13 team in the DA across two divisions. The Atlantic Division and the Frontier. The Frontier Division had the U13 Pilot age group last year and the current roster size breakdown is the following:
18
18
15
16
15
19
16

The Atlantic roster size is the following
16 Spirit VA
16 FCV
16 Arlington
17 Cedar Stars
16 Spirit MD
17 PA Classics
17 Penn Fusion
16 SJEB

In general, comparatively the Atlantic division did not draw in as many players likely due to two reasons:
1. Two new DA's being added
2. Many people likely didn't know there even was a U13 age group to even tryout for. This affected all the DA's in the Atlantic Division in comparison to the Frontier who had already had the age group for a year and could market for recruitment with certainty.

Also, U13 rosters are rarely maxed out. 16 is about the target size for that age group and the average roster sizes across the pilot program comes in about 16.4. The reason rosters at U13 are smaller is for the simple fact that transitioning to 11v11 requires more adjustments and that players should get the maximum playing time possible. DA allowing for re-entry at this age group is also a beneficial move made by US Soccer.

So, for kids playing up with a bench of just 5 can be viewed as a pretty good development opportunity. At the very least, a 16 player roster for a U13 team is not necessarily a sign of not attracting players when that size for that age group is actually the norm.

[Anonymous]

Despite the doom and gloom predictions, Spirit VA did fine against FCV. As expected, they lost to the strongest program in our area, but the scores were close particularly in the older age groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does it matter? 08 or 07? Congrats to whichever player either way; it just sounds like some hair splitting.

It's interesting from the standpoint of how WS runs its program - i.e. Is 1 girl playing up multiple age groups just a one off or something they'll do to bring in top talent. If your DD is the top player on a CCL team at U10, are you better off staying with your club for U11 or seeing if a DA will take her?

This is a pilot program, and therefore I think we can be forgiving. But, that is a small roster that WS had a hard time filling. It's also yet to be remotely competitive. Not a big deal, but that also matters when we see play ups. Are they there by sheer skill or was there also an issue filling out the team?

Not saying any of those girls aren't good for their age, but just to give it all some perspective.

Not exactly. There are 15 pilot U13 team in the DA across two divisions. The Atlantic Division and the Frontier. The Frontier Division had the U13 Pilot age group last year and the current roster size breakdown is the following:
18
18
15
16
15
19
16

The Atlantic roster size is the following
16 Spirit VA
16 FCV
16 Arlington
17 Cedar Stars
16 Spirit MD
17 PA Classics
17 Penn Fusion
16 SJEB

In general, comparatively the Atlantic division did not draw in as many players likely due to two reasons:
1. Two new DA's being added
2. Many people likely didn't know there even was a U13 age group to even tryout for. This affected all the DA's in the Atlantic Division in comparison to the Frontier who had already had the age group for a year and could market for recruitment with certainty.

Also, U13 rosters are rarely maxed out. 16 is about the target size for that age group and the average roster sizes across the pilot program comes in about 16.4. The reason rosters at U13 are smaller is for the simple fact that transitioning to 11v11 requires more adjustments and that players should get the maximum playing time possible. DA allowing for re-entry at this age group is also a beneficial move made by US Soccer.

So, for kids playing up with a bench of just 5 can be viewed as a pretty good development opportunity. At the very least, a 16 player roster for a U13 team is not necessarily a sign of not attracting players when that size for that age group is actually the norm.

Right, I meant it's a pilot for our conference. And the U13s didn't start out with 16. They had much less. At one point, I know it was 13, including the 07 that doesn't typically play with them (although I think she may have played one game against Arlington, if memory serves me correctly). They had to work to get to that number. One girl in reality is so tall, I think she should play up because although she isn't technically the best on the team, but her size means she may be able to overrun girls. Developmentally, usually bigger girls play up to remove that out of the equation and force the player to be technical instead of just big and physical. But I realize they can't because of the numbers. I don't think a single player who tried out got turned away and I know WS actively recruited younger siblings from players they already had.

The reasons include it being a new program that a lot of people didn't know about and also WS doesn't have a true feeder program like the other clubs. That doesn't mean they won't eventually be successful, because neither does DCU, but it does mean it will take a little time to build it. They will need to develop a strong reputation that attracts players without needing to rely on feeder clubs.

And again, it's not a criticism. It's just reality. It's the first year in, and they had to get to a big enough roster to field a team. I'm sure eventually WS will start attracting more talent. Not that the team is completely lacking, but it's patchy. Some girls are very technical and savvy. Some probably wouldn't have made any other DA, ECNL, or maybe even the better elite teams. Maybe WS can coach them up and get them there over time.

[Anonymous]

They actually do have a feeder team now in Great Falls who do have some competitive teams in the 06 to 08 age groups. Having a core group of players to build around will help Spirit in the coming age groups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does it matter? 08 or 07? Congrats to whichever player either way; it just sounds like some hair splitting.

It's interesting from the standpoint of how WS runs its program - i.e. Is 1 girl playing up multiple age groups just a one off or something they'll do to bring in top talent. If your DD is the top player on a CCL team at U10, are you better off staying with your club for U11 or seeing if a DA will take her?

This is a pilot program, and therefore I think we can be forgiving. But, that is a small roster that WS had a hard time filling. It's also yet to be remotely competitive. Not a big deal, but that also matters when we see play ups. Are they there by sheer skill or was there also an issue filling out the team?

Not saying any of those girls aren't good for their age, but just to give it all some perspective.

Not exactly. There are 15 pilot U13 team in the DA across two divisions. The Atlantic Division and the Frontier. The Frontier Division had the U13 Pilot age group last year and the current roster size breakdown is the following:
18
18
15
16
15
19
16

The Atlantic roster size is the following
16 Spirit VA
16 FCV
16 Arlington
17 Cedar Stars
16 Spirit MD
17 PA Classics
17 Penn Fusion
16 SJEB

In general, comparatively the Atlantic division did not draw in as many players likely due to two reasons:
1. Two new DA's being added
2. Many people likely didn't know there even was a U13 age group to even tryout for. This affected all the DA's in the Atlantic Division in comparison to the Frontier who had already had the age group for a year and could market for recruitment with certainty.

Also, U13 rosters are rarely maxed out. 16 is about the target size for that age group and the average roster sizes across the pilot program comes in about 16.4. The reason rosters at U13 are smaller is for the simple fact that transitioning to 11v11 requires more adjustments and that players should get the maximum playing time possible. DA allowing for re-entry at this age group is also a beneficial move made by US Soccer.

So, for kids playing up with a bench of just 5 can be viewed as a pretty good development opportunity. At the very least, a 16 player roster for a U13 team is not necessarily a sign of not attracting players when that size for that age group is actually the norm.

Right, I meant it's a pilot for our conference. And the U13s didn't start out with 16. They had much less. At one point, I know it was 13, including the 07 that doesn't typically play with them (although I think she may have played one game against Arlington, if memory serves me correctly). They had to work to get to that number. One girl in reality is so tall, I think she should play up because although she isn't technically the best on the team, but her size means she may be able to overrun girls. Developmentally, usually bigger girls play up to remove that out of the equation and force the player to be technical instead of just big and physical. But I realize they can't because of the numbers. I don't think a single player who tried out got turned away and I know WS actively recruited younger siblings from players they already had.

The reasons include it being a new program that a lot of people didn't know about and also WS doesn't have a true feeder program like the other clubs. That doesn't mean they won't eventually be successful, because neither does DCU, but it does mean it will take a little time to build it. They will need to develop a strong reputation that attracts players without needing to rely on feeder clubs.

And again, it's not a criticism. It's just reality. It's the first year in, and they had to get to a big enough roster to field a team. I'm sure eventually WS will start attracting more talent. Not that the team is completely lacking, but it's patchy. Some girls are very technical and savvy. Some probably wouldn't have made any other DA, ECNL, or maybe even the better elite teams. Maybe WS can coach them up and get them there over time.

I am assuming you are referring to WS VA and not MD? Not sure which girl you think is so tall she should play up. My guess is the average height of the FCV and Arlington teams is about 6 inches taller than the Spirit VA U13 team.

[Anonymous]

I agree. Great Falls Reston may be the equalizer for WS. GFR beat FCV in NPL league play last year. They are ranked #4 right behind FCV. Now this team is practicing once a week with WS DA coaches.

Also like FCV they also have a core group of 07 and 08 players to build around. These players are actually playing U13 DA games unlike FCV.

Should Loudoun and McLean hold most of their players or if WS can pick some up, it could be interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They actually do have a feeder team now in Great Falls who do have some competitive teams in the 06 to 08 age groups. Having a core group of players to build around will help Spirit in the coming age groups.

Great! I hope that starts to show itself down the line in the DA teams.