Reply to Pipeline to ECNL

Forum Index » Soccer

Reply to "Pipeline to ECNL"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]You folks are brain dead. Please STFU with this "Elite girls don't want to play HS" stupidity. See letter below from 2016.

Hello Bethesda Soccer Club Girls Families:
I hope your soccer season and school year are off to a good start!
I’m writing to update you on a very important topic for our girls’ program. As many of you are now
aware, US Soccer announced the launch of a Girls’ Development Academy (GDA) to begin play in the
fall 2017 season.? Bethesda Soccer Club (BSC) has spent a tremendous amount of time evaluating the
potential impact of joining the GDA or staying with our current league – Elite Clubs National league
(ECNL) – for our top tier girls’ teams.
After many months of analysis, meetings with coaches at all levels, conversations with both US Soccer
and the ECNL leadership, and most importantly discussions, Q & A sessions, and survey input from
our own BSC families, we have decided to retain our coveted membership in the ECNL as we believe
the league represents the best fit for our club at this time.
As a founding member of the ECNL, we have enjoyed years of quality competition and placed 95% of
our young women at hundreds of college programs across the country. The ECNL is focused on
preparing girls for college soccer – and given that there are twice as many college soccer
opportunities for women vs. men, a college-focused league makes sense for most of our girls. In our
recent survey, “college soccer” was the most frequent response from our families when asked about
their aspirational soccer goal for their daughters. We have every reason to believe the ECNL will
remain a highly competitive league for years to come.
While we believe the ECNL is the right league for many of our girls, we’re fully aware that striving to
play at a national team-level is the goal for a segment of our club. We remain committed to exploring
every potential avenue to provide a direct pathway for our players who prefer to try to play in the
GDA as well as remain a part of Bethesda Soccer Club. Our club Board of Directors has formed a
committee specifically tasked with further exploring alliances with other local clubs and evaluating
other alternatives for providing a GDA option within BSC for our girls.
A few key points about the decision to stay in the ECNL right now:
• Desire to play high school soccer and other sports
It’s clear from conversations I’ve had with many of you over the past several months that
most of you want your daughters to have the opportunity to play soccer for her high school
and play other sports if she desires. The opportunity to play on high school teams goes far
beyond the field, as it provides many girls the chance to assume leadership positions and
gain skills in different roles that they could not get elsewhere. GDA players will not have this
opportunity except in rare cases of a waiver.
• Restrictive substitution rules and restrictions on our girls’ time
GDA players will be required to train four weekdays per week 10-months out of the year
leaving little time for anything else. The no re-entry substitution rule and maximum of five
substitutions in GDA games will restrict playing time.
• Girls’ DA vs. Boys’ DA
As you know, BSC’s boys’ program is a part of the US Development Academy. Many ask why
the decision to join on the boys-side but not the girls-side. When US Soccer started the Boys’
Development Academy there was no established national league for top-tier competition like
the girls have ECNL today. It’s a very different scenario.
We have accomplished a great deal and made enviable progress in our girls’ program in the last 15
months. In our recent survey, “playing for the best coaches” was the most important consideration
for our girls’ families. Since I have been here, we have hired a new YDP program lead in Emily Janss,
brought on Jeff Rohrman to oversee our State Cup teams’ program, and most recently hired a fulltime goalkeeper coach, Laurie Pells-George – all three are “A” licensed coaches. We have instituted a
programmatic approach to ensure all of our coaches work towards their licenses, and today we have 
Document classification: Internal Only
a greater number of “A” and “B” licensed coaches working with your children than the majority of the
clubs in the country. I also strongly believe that soccer coaches are a sum of their education
/licensing, their managerial skills, and their life experiences. We have a unique and growing group of
coaches that are well-rounded in these categories and well-prepared to positively impact the games
and lives of our girls and young women.
In the coming weeks and months, we will be reaching out to speak with all of our teams individually
or by age groups to address questions and concerns. We know some of you are well-briefed on all of
the complexities of this decision; others who have younger daughters or whose daughters today play
in the OBSL, WAGS/NCSL or EDP may be less familiar. I encourage you to talk to your daughter’s
coach as they have all been part of this process and are supportive of our direction. We’re committed
to continuing to raise the bar on all of our programs and to educating our parents about the changing
landscape of girls competitive soccer.
Thank you for your input, patience and understanding during this ongoing process. As I’ve noted,
our evaluation of the landscape will continue. Regardless of the league we are in, you have my
commitment that we will provide the best coaching, the best programming, and the best experience
possible for your daughters.
Go BSC! [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics