Arlington Getting Boys DA Expansion?
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Anonymous
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I heard a rumor that Arlington was going to get DA expansion for the boys. Right now they have full DA for girls but the boys only go U13, U14 & U15. From what I heard they are going to get at least U16/U17 next year, and possibly U18/19 as well.
Anyone "in the know" willing to confirm or refute this? Their website does list upcoming Talent ID sessions for the 2020-21 season to include the 04 & 03 age groups - which would be U17 and U18 next year. http://arlingtonsoccer.com/programs/development-academy/talent-id-boys |
Anonymous
I would not infer too much from inclusion of 04 and 03 age groups in the Talent ID sessions. Last year, Arlington also included 03 and 02 teams in such sessions. It is a marketing tactic to attract more players to their older age group teams, which do not play in DA. I am sure Arlington would love to get the full DA and if it happens, they will be quick to announce it. |
Anonymous
However, they did that with girls' DA before having full DA. |
Anonymous
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I heard someone saying they heard it from the TD. That DC blocked it last year but it was going to go through this year. Their teams have done well, and with DC moving out to Leesburg next year it would make sense to have another DA option in that location, but US Soccer doesn't always do things that make sense, especially when if it means going against the MLS.
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Anonymous
| New poster here with a son just starting to think about DA possibilities (middle age groups). DC United is moving all academy age group trainings to Leesburg starting fall 2020? Is this public info? Yikes, that is far away. Guess we will narrow to Arlington, Bethesda, and McLean ECNL. |
Anonymous
In the last year, DC United has stated they are: a) moving all DA programs to Loudon. b) moving the U15s and above to Loudon c) moving some practices to Loudon and some to RFK d) not moving any groups anywhere. e) not sure about the future of the DA / starting their own league. Throw a dart and you'll probably have just as accurate idea as everyone else. |
Anonymous
You would think they would at least get the U16 age group added since all the current U15's would assumably want to continue with a DA team? |
Anonymous
You could have made the same assumption last year and it did not happen. Difficult to see any logic in US soccer's decisions other than trying to please the MLS teams. They would rather oblige the best players to commute to Loudoun to play for DCU than give them an opportunity to continue playing for Arlington. In any case, VDA and Arlington would be better served by ECNL than 2nd-tier DA. |
Anonymous
| I don't get why the boys don't have U16 in the DA. The girls do. |
Anonymous
Nah. This already happened to U15 DA last year that are U16 this year w/out DA status because they aged out. |
Anonymous
These are completely unrelated questions. On the boys DA side, everything around DC funnels up to DCU. Loudoun, Arlington and McLean all did so when all had DAs. Bethesda, Baltimore Armour and VDA do not. Second, USSF feels the need to be competitive with ECNL more on the women’s than the men’s side. |
Anonymous
I think it is in the best interests of development to split the age group. All most clubs do is have an almost exclusive U17 team with one or two token U16s. The rest of the U16s are housed on a separate team. It's ridiculous. |
Anonymous
Don't be too surprised if US Soccer gets rid of the U13 age group and adds U16. It makes sense to split the group, as you noted, and the savings of no U12 and U13 should offset cost. And keeps the U16's out of high school soccer. |
Anonymous
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In practice, the U16 DA already exists.
All the regions DA clubs have their U16 teams play against each other, as they do in U15 and U17. It is DA in all but name. |
Anonymous
Isn't DA simply a label? It's not like you have to win your way in. |