Reply to CCL and Virginia NPL: Make the case

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I would argue that some of the top players on non-DA/ECNL teams are still signing with the top universities. You have players going to top DI programs from the Boys Baltimore Celtic team that won the national championship and FC Bordeaux. Bordeaux sent close to a dozen girls to DI programs. Both programs compare favorably to Bethesda Soccer which is in DA (Boys) and ECNL (Girls). The top teams in ECNL and DA will send girls to the top schools. Top teams at McLean and FCV will send players to UNC, Stanford and Duke but consider that UNC's top player is from Pipeline.  I am not a booster for these clubs but just want to point out that the DA/ECNL will not always have the best players. There are strong players in EDP.  [/quote]

Off topic, but as mentioned on other threads, the strong Baltimore Celtic teams are a special case given the soccer culture that exists at Baltimore privates. There aren't many markets around here where so many kids will have that strong of an incentive to skip DA for school soccer.  You can't really make many generalizations about girls' elite soccer at this point given how unsettled the scene is at the moment. [/quote]

The poster that insists on DA being the only place to have the 'elitist of the elite' is the parent that has a kid in DA or a club with DA.

Most people do not think that Travel Club DA is any better than the top teams in leagues like EDP, etc.  Travel Club DA is generally that travel Club's A team, former CCL---but now CCL is no longer for them, etc.  So, why drive longer to practice?

MLS DA serves only a niche of families that are willing to drive a long distance.  It also serves families that like MLS and see MLS soccer as an option for their kid.  There are many people that hate the MLS style and level of play.  DCU is the most expensive DA in the entire Country.

The pp is correct that many, many top Universities are still recruiting players outside of DA.

[/quote]

I don't think anyone was making the argument that the "elitist of the elite" are only in the DA.  Of course great players and even teams exist outside DA.  The point was that _on average_ the quality of player in the DA is higher than that of outside clubs such as those in EDP top divisions, and the net is that _on average_ more D1 prospects will come from DA teams than non DA.  I don't know why this is such a lightning rod for some people. [/quote]

You will have more elite players in some cases but even in the DC area, you have quality players on quality non-ECNL/DA teams going to DI schools and beyond. FC Bordeaux 99, Herndon 99, Loudoun 99, Arlington 99, OPSA 99, etc. Those teams played in the top brackets at Jefferson Cup, Bethesda, Disney, etc., and are sending their best to DI[/quote]

Hopefully it should be obvious to all that the majority of players recruited to college don't come from DA (or DA+ECNL for the girls).

The latest estimates I found after a quick search shows that there are 24,986 men and 27,638 women competing in soccer at the D1 level (http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/estimated-probability-competing-college-athletics).  There are around 80 something DA programs for boys that go all the way through U19, and they have a max roster of 24 on average, so say around 1,920 DA graduates per year x 4 (for each year of college) gets you to less than 8,000.  And a lot of DA kids don't end up playing D1 or playing in college at all.  For NCAA men, a fair number of the D1 slots will be taken up by international players, but there are still lots of roster spots left.  Add to that that our area is very strong for soccer overall, so I'm sure that the DMV is more heavily represented in college than a lot of other regions.

I haven't run the numbers for women, but it's a similar story.[/quote]

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