Reply to BRYC Girls TD Larry Best leaving for Washington Spirit

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]maybe Spirit-VA is going to absorb FCV?[/quote]

That's more plausible.  Although still not based in anything other than pure speculation.[/quote]

No. FCV wants to get rid of a VA compeitor. They will either take over the VA side, effectively eliminating it or seeing to it that Spirit dissolves the VA side. There is no chance Christian took on that job without wanting some influence. [/quote]

There are too many elite clubs, particularly in the VA area, which is hurting competitiveness in both GDA and ECNL. Further, the two WS clubs are not dominating, which USSF probably thinks should be occurring.  GDA will allow a long leash to pro team academies, but I doubt they will allow this to occur indefinitely. Across the three age groups, the records are 8-28-3 (VA), and 14-16-3 (MD). Middling at best. Combining the two WS teams (with associated losses of players due to the commute) would only help.

WS has a history of late disclosures regarding rosters, roster sizes that have caused uncertainty at best. They have new management for sure and perhaps this will change, but I don’t think you can rely on them having any integrity with regard to business decisions affecting players and families. The GDA staff on both MD and VA sides is largely unchanged so more of the same is likely, at least in the near term.

The primary issues with the previously proposed WS/FCV/BRYC/Loudoun/etc mergers had to do with control, and it is unlikely that anything has changed there. No club in this area already having an elite program is going to be willing to cede control of that program to WS. The only clubs that are aligning with WS are the ones that did not previously have an elite program (defined here as ECNL or GDA). The initial partnering on the MD side is much stronger and worth building on. It could be the start of a pipeline. Under the current construct, with due respect to GFL, and RSC, WS VA has almost no pipeline, and it is not clear how that will ever improve given the number of elite teams already in the NoVA area.

With regard to the attractiveness of a club merging/aligning with WS, the benefits of WS are primarily a pathway to elite youth levels and eventually to the pro’s. Clubs with existing elite level programs do not need the former, and the latter is of almost no value to 99% of local elite players who are squarely focused on college level play only.

I don’t see GDA being a focus of Larry Best in the near term and I don’t think the middling performance of WS GDA teams has reached a point of criticality with USSF. His hiring, and the hiring of Burke, relieves the GDA coaching staff to some extent, and they can simply carry on. I am sure there is much to be done on the pro side. Eventually though, I think something has to give in the elite scene here. If it is to happen via WS, it will be the assimilation of the VA side into MD.

[/quote]

There will be almost no assimilation of players from VA to MD. The distance is to far. One could call it a merger but in name only. It would be for all intents and purposes dissolving the VA DA. “Merger” just sounds nicer. [/quote]

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