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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=RantingSoccerDad]Yeah, I'm not sure how this became a DA discussion. Sure, it's going to be extremely rare that a player moves from U10 rec to U12 DA. I don't think that was ever the point.

To answer the Travel A/B/C/D question -- in most clubs, the A team is either in the DA, the ECNL, EDP, CCL or VPL. A handful still have their A teams in NCSL and a couple are in ODSL -- a couple of *those* teams are actually quite good.

So we should remember, of course, that some clubs B teams will be better than other clubs' A teams.

But most clubs' C/D (and E/F in some cases) teams will be in NCSL and ODSL, usually not in the top NCSL division.

Maybe we should be talking, then, about league tiers rather than club tiers. A rough look at that ...

Tier 1: DA, girls' ECNL

Tier 2: Top EDP division, top third of CCL, other teams in the top 25 at Youth Soccer Rankings (which would likely include a couple of teams from VPL, maybe 1-2 from NCSL, maybe lower-tier EDP and middle of CCL).

Tier 3: Boys' ECNL, middle of CCL, top half of VPL, EDP Div 2-3, NCSL Div 1, other teams in top 50 at Youth Soccer Rankings (the occasional ODSL team will make that).

Tier 4: The rest of CCL, all of CCL2, the rest of VPL, the rest of EDP, NCSL Div 2-5, more ODSL teams.

Tier 5: The rest of NCSL and ODSL.

I'm sure there are Classic/Select teams that could beat the Tier 5 teams and certainly some Tier 4 teams as well.

And I'd think the very best U11 rec players (maybe 1-2 percent) could make a Tier 3 team, the next group (maybe 10-15 percent) could make Tier 4, and an above-average rec player would make Tier 5 if not Tier 4.

Then after a year or two of travel, some of those players could move up a tier. Maybe even two if they're starting in Tier 4 or 5.  [/quote]

NP here. This is a good analysis. My DD is one of the rare kids that started travel soccer at the C team/ODSL level (Tier 5) for U9/U10 and eventually played at the ECNL (Tier 1) level.  She was also senior year Captain and "all-league" for her strong high school team.

The progression was gradual and involved a lot of individual training.  At U11 she moved from ODSL up to the Tier 4 level. Then at U14 made at Tier 2 level team at another club, and at U17 she played at the ECNL level.   So while she did not make it to Tier 1 from "rec" soccer, she did make the progression from Tier 5 to Tier 1.  
[/quote]

And this is a reasonable path. The reality is there must be some progression and while excellent coaching is a major component, when it isn't matched through progressively more challenging competition a potentially very good player ends up leaving a lot of fat on the bone that just gets discarded through time lost.

The very idea that great coaching at rec soccer alone without the supporting talent or challenge of progressively tougher competition does not make the leap from classic/rec to elite very likely. Your DD's path is the most realistic outcome for hard working kids who are just climbing the ladder.  [/quote]

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