Reply to VA MD DC Girls soccer - thoughts, opinions

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]VDA v BRYC first weekend of ECNL. I would imagine BRYC will win easily In almost all age groups. Will be a tough year for VDA 
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The good news with VDA this year is that all those girls will be able to have an opportunity to play high school.  VDA is not a good program - and will not be a good program for a long time to come.

A good program has the best girls - and just enough of them.  A good program is always competitive. A good program has ready access to fields.  A good program has coaches who aren't shady. A good program is transparent with its finances. A good program is fun.  Most importantly, a good program makes the best kids elite.

If your kid is not in the top half of her DA / ECNL roster - seriously consider having them play with their local soccer club.  With all the money / time you both save - take your daughter to private training, let her play futsal in the winter and make sure she plays and excels at a second sport. Then let her tryout again - is she in the top half of the team?  If not, repeat - or just move on.

Soccer rosters with 20 - 30 girls on DA or ECNL (now with limited play via EDP) is not a good formula for success.  They are senseless.  Only you can decide if she's good enough - don't let the tryout do that.  Those whom you trust (her former youth coaches), her high school coach, older peers that she likes - or would like to emulate - they will tell you whether she is good enough and what she should expect from a program.

Case in point...can you imagine driving to New Jersey and getting the snot beaten out of you by an elite team - and not playing.  Or, can you imagine the elite team from where-the-heck-ever coming down here and beating the snot out of your daughters team - and she gets little or no game time?  It's a train wreck.  It's the worst thing you can do - and you can end up in a much worse place with her development than you can imagine.  All of the DA programs - and their 10 month of training did not yield stronger teams this year.  In fact, you can look at the early scrimmages this year and they are getting decimated (Washington Spirit lost every game at every age group this past weekend).

DA / ECNL is for the elite player.  If your daughter is not in the top half of the roster - RUN SOMEWHERE ELSE and reinvest your money in making sure she has a great high school experience.  If she isn't an elite player - she's a "tackling dummy" for the elite players.  She will not get better in a place she where she sits in traffic almost seven days per week, doesn't play but a few minutes per week and misses out on the high school experience that you and I had while growing up.

You cannot develop a player where the price of entry is $10,000 net dollars per year out your paycheck and in addition, quantify the time away from her school work, friends, clubs and becoming a credible multi-sport athlete.

If you are new to ECNL / DA. .. remember when things go terribly wrong - you were warned.

Have a great day!
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Just curious on what would go "terribly wrong" for a kid who is in a good training environment against good players?  Personal opinions you provided on VDA notwithstanding, I'm sure there are others with different opinions of the training there.

So what, your DD doesn't start.  It doesn't mean she isn't getting to be a better player.  Who knows, she may work hard enough and start someday.

What a great message you give...if you aren't cutting it to start right now, give up.   If you can't beat another elite team that has been together for years (or combination of top players from two teams who have played together for years in the example you gave), give up.

Development isn't about winning or starting,  It's about getting better.  And you are correct, for those who don't want their mettle tested against the best, and to get better, stay at your local club or play rec and have fun.  There plenty or room for those types too!
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I agree development is not about winning or starting - but what if you DA / ECNL club field a team lacking a starting roster of winners or starters as compared to perhaps a skill level of a PDA or Michigan Hawks? Do we do anyone any favors if we show up and get shellacked? Who exactly benefits if we don't employ a handicap model (like in golf)? How does it benefit the competition when Washington Spirit shows up to play a PDA (last year). It doesn't. Everybody loses.

Are we furthering our goal for fielding the best to the compete against the world in Women's soccer if we drag your daughter with us and she can't compete against the top talent of another club? I will tell you that we did not benefit the development of the PDA team when we played them last year as we had a roster of mediocre players. No, I think the development happens at the local club - and if you want to do what's best - you as the parent will instead take your money for your EDP-bound daughter and let her play on a competitive local club, let her be active in high school and reinvest your savings in getting her skills so she is on the top half of the roster at next year's tryout. If your kid is mediocre - she needs more than any DA / ECNL can give her. She needs her life back and to refocus on developing the skills and athleticism to be in the top 10 of her team.

Our area has two DA clubs. Perhaps the ECNL clubs should be a close second. They should be the best of the best. Instead, they have rosters with 20 and 30 kids. They need rosters of 16 top kids - the best our area has to offer. The other hundreds of clubs in DMV should be feeding those two teams. These girls should represent as the Navy Seals of high school age soccer. The culture of mediocrity prevents the elite players from getting better. There are many options for the mediocre to improve - it just requires a commitment to the basics: touch, tactics, team-play and athleticism. All of that can be improved when you take your scarce $ and make her train 10 months out of the year until she cracks the top half of the roster. Just my opinion.

Thanks! [/quote]

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