Girls DA U16/U17 age group split next year

[SpiritVAParent]

The age group split is not yet confirmed by a US Soccer announcement, but given the info coming out of the meetings at the Winter Showcase, seems as definite as it can be short of the official announcement.

Pros: parity with ECNL, keeps more girls in the program
Cons: less narrowing of the pyramid for consolidating talent, #MONEYGRAB

What do people think? Good idea or bad idea?

[Anonymous]

Good idea. Silly not to do it. Hope the boys will follow suit.

[Anonymous]

SpiritVAParent wrote:The age group split is not yet confirmed by a US Soccer announcement, but given the info coming out of the meetings at the Winter Showcase, seems as definite as it can be short of the official announcement.

Pros: parity with ECNL, keeps more girls in the program
Cons: less narrowing of the pyramid for consolidating talent, #MONEYGRAB

What do people think? Good idea or bad idea?

It is a good idea. If DA wants to be the top league then it first must be an attractive option. To do this the league must offer what ECNL does plus something more. Matching age groups is a no-brainer. The no HS soccer is something that is still an issue but I don't see US Soccer conceding on that issue but it can easily match ECNL on many of the other issues.

[Anonymous]

DA needs to do more to move from 2nd tier to the top of the pyramid but this is a move in the right direction to make the platform more player and club friendly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DA needs to do more to move from 2nd tier to the top of the pyramid but this is a move in the right direction to make the platform more player and club friendly.

LOL. Give it a rest.

[Anonymous]

I have it on good authority that they will split the boys next year too.

[Anonymous]

I wonder how that will affect the strength of the teams in those ages. For example, if FCV has a present player pool at 16/17 of 22 kids, and if half are in each age group, next year that means there is a a 16U roster of 11 and a 17U roster of 11. These ages will need to pick up players. From where? Those new teams will become diluted, possibly from girls coming from other programs where they aren't earning playing time.

[Anonymous]

Isn't that the case for every club... so no need to worry

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how that will affect the strength of the teams in those ages. For example, if FCV has a present player pool at 16/17 of 22 kids, and if half are in each age group, next year that means there is a a 16U roster of 11 and a 17U roster of 11. These ages will need to pick up players. From where? Those new teams will become diluted, possibly from girls coming from other programs where they aren't earning playing time.

This years U15's will graduate to the U16 team next year. No issues there.

For U17, you will get half of this years U16/U17 girls, the rest will come from the EDP teams that they stashed players on. The clubs saw this coming and have made efforts to keep the bottom half of the U16 rosters in their systems for the most part.