Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People, are we all now so sad, pitiful and jaded drowning in insecurities and low self-esteem we're trying to form a group to collectively hate and disparage the local academy because our kids weren't qualified or exceptional to be selected by them?

Sad shameful and despicable

Here's your option.
Don't accept an invitation from DCU if offered and or just take your kid to Philly or NEW York if they'll have him.

Seems much simpler than this pitiful display

That you cannot admit or acknowledge any issues with DCU academy really undercuts anything you say. And if you’re reflecting the leadership and mindset of the organization, then it will continue staying mid.

DCU academy is the lone academy in the DC area which encompasses Baltimore. There is no doubt in underperforms for such a large and diverse metro region. If comparing academies across similar metro area, it comes last.

I think perhaps people can also suggest improvements that they’d like to see. For one, I would like to see their youth academy start earlier or at least ID earlier and keeping a list or a pool of players that they have IDed.

I agree with this post and with the notion that we could also suggest improvements. DCU hasn't accepted the basic concept of you get what you put in. Once DCU starts really investing in the academy it will see a shift in overall perception because if they believe in it and put some money behind it, so will others. The first sign of believing in the academy for me, would be building a new facility for the academy. That could be in Loudoun near the pro facility or elsewhere. I also agree with having programs and teams at younger ages, to start the pipeline earlier (like FC Dallas, Philly Union and others have successfully done).

Anonymous wrote:Starting a new discussion so that the DCU topics doesn't hijack other threads like the Bethesda one. Post all evidence and arguments about DCU here.

DC United's academy is the only option to play in an MLS academy in the DMV area. That is worth stating and gives them power in our area because the power structure within youth soccer in our country has shifted to the MLS Academies. MLS Academies are now the top tier of soccer in this country. Does that mean they have all the best players? No. But it does mean that when scouts are looking for talent, whether that is national team, European, college, they are starting (and often times ending) at MLS academy events. That makes DCU attractive because your kid will just get more exposure. But honestly, that (and maybe the fact that DCU is free) is where the benefits of DCU probably end.

A prior poster asked a salient question and that is - how do you define a strong academy? Because the reality is that we could measure that in a lot of different ways. However, in my view, strong youth academies do have some foundational commonality:

Facilities: They have their own facilities to train their talents and those facilities have multiple fields, fitness areas, classrooms for video study, locker rooms etc.

Scouting network: to constantly identify talents to keep the academy vibrant and reloading year after year. The more scouts you have the better you can do this. The less scouts you have, the more likely talents will fall under the radar.

Development philosophy and style of play: a clear articulation and implementation of a manner by which the academy will develop its players and how the academy will hold itself accountable to this philosophy and the development of the players. Also, the academy should have a defined and known way of playing (and mentality) and usually this mirrors the first team.

Strong coaches: Coaches are on the front lines. They are developing the talents and are one of the most important cogs in the academy engine. Without good coaches, the talents have a harder time developing. The academy needs to show a commitment to hiring and retaining top notch coaches. Plus, they need to be investing in training the coaches to be better coaches.

Commitment from leadership: Financial and structural. Does the academy get enough funding to be the best it can be and structurally, is the academy truly seen as a breeding grounds for the first team?

In my opinion, DCU has fundamental issues in all of these areas:

Facilities: They don't have an academy facility. Period.

Scouting network: They have one full time scout for the DMV. ONE. To be fair, this scouting issue is common in the US overall not just DCU. Scouting is generally weak all over the country because our country is so vast and we don't have much investment in scouting talents like the rest of the world.

Development philosophy and style of play: DCU doesn't have a real development philosophy and there is absolutely ZERO accountability for the development of the kids (this is common elsewhere too). Of course, if you are in the academy, the brass will have some PPT or document that articulates something that sounds like a philosophy because they have to have that to not look ridiculous, but end of day, you can't see any consistency in the way the teams play or in the coaching methodology across the academy. Players are generally treated the same, but they all have very different developmental needs. Style of play is weak, rudimentary football and very far from possession based football leading to low touch rates for the players.

Strong coaches: This is where DCU has been suffering for years. They have never wanted to pay a competitive salary to the coaches so they get coaches that are willing to take the low pay and that normally results in a weaker coaching slate with coaches that lack experience or, on the flip side, were good players in their time but weaker as coaches.

Commitment from leadership: Similar to coaches, this is also an area where DCU has a serious problem. The leadership has never believed that the academy could be a money maker for them so they didn't invest in it and are still doing the bare minimum. Why the academy was pay to play for so many years. Leadership wanted to be sure they weren't losing money on it so they operated it like every other club in our area which undercut its efficacy, put them in the same category as every other club in our area and also let competitors get a head start in building proper academies (now DCU is trying to catch up on academies that have a decade or more head start)

DCU does have a decent track record of putting players from the academy on the first team and that is notable and also a factor by which an academy is also judged. But I would argue that DCU didn't really develop the majority of those players, they were the beneficiaries of someone else's work and/or being the only pro/MLS game in town.

But, all of those things aside, and to the first point made here, DCU is the only MLS academy in our area, and that has weight. You just have to take it for what it is and know what you're getting into. You will have to make it work at DCU (for whatever you player's goals are), they aren't going to make it work for you. If becoming a pro soccer player is the ambition, the DCU pro pathway is a much harder one (of course not impossible) because there are so many issues with the organization. If you just want to play high level soccer as a foundation for college or something else, then it could be good for that. Its just sad that the only MLS academy in our area, an area that has traditionally been so rich in soccer talent, is just not on the level of most of the other MLS academies in the country (or even in our region see Philly Union and Red Bulls). Our kids deserve better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People, are we all now so sad, pitiful and jaded drowning in insecurities and low self-esteem we're trying to form a group to collectively hate and disparage the local academy because our kids weren't qualified or exceptional to be selected by them?

Sad shameful and despicable

Here's your option.
Don't accept an invitation from DCU if offered and or just take your kid to Philly or NEW York if they'll have him.

Seems much simpler than this pitiful display

I mean that is what players are doing, trying to not be scouted by DCU and focusing on getting into an academy somewhere else.

Yes, we should believe you that all the good players and their families in the DMV area that are MLS academy level talent are seeking avenues outside the area.

You're so focused on this crap you can't even hear how ridiculous you sound.

When local kids are offered spots by outside academies, including DCU, guess which ones they go for?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People, are we all now so sad, pitiful and jaded drowning in insecurities and low self-esteem we're trying to form a group to collectively hate and disparage the local academy because our kids weren't qualified or exceptional to be selected by them?

Sad shameful and despicable

Here's your option.
Don't accept an invitation from DCU if offered and or just take your kid to Philly or NEW York if they'll have him.

Seems much simpler than this pitiful display

I mean that is what players are doing, trying to not be scouted by DCU and focusing on getting into an academy somewhere else.

Yes, we should believe you that all the good players and their families in the DMV area that are MLS academy level talent are seeking avenues outside the area.

You're so focused on this crap you can't even hear how ridiculous you sound.

I’m pretty sure you defending DCU academy like ur life depended on it is more crap sounding.

I mean what does it even matter. Whether DCU academy sucks or not, your kid will be fine if he is good enough for an academy. That’s impressive of a feat for a kid. Why r u so insecure about it? So bizarre.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People, are we all now so sad, pitiful and jaded drowning in insecurities and low self-esteem we're trying to form a group to collectively hate and disparage the local academy because our kids weren't qualified or exceptional to be selected by them?

Sad shameful and despicable

Here's your option.
Don't accept an invitation from DCU if offered and or just take your kid to Philly or NEW York if they'll have him.

Seems much simpler than this pitiful display

I mean that is what players are doing, trying to not be scouted by DCU and focusing on getting into an academy somewhere else.

Yes, we should believe you that all the good players and their families in the DMV area that are MLS academy level talent are seeking avenues outside the area.

You're so focused on this crap you can't even hear how ridiculous you sound.

Anonymous wrote:People, are we all now so sad, pitiful and jaded drowning in insecurities and low self-esteem we're trying to form a group to collectively hate and disparage the local academy because our kids weren't qualified or exceptional to be selected by them?

Sad shameful and despicable

Here's your option.
Don't accept an invitation from DCU if offered and or just take your kid to Philly or NEW York if they'll have him.

Seems much simpler than this pitiful display

I mean that is what players are doing, trying to not be scouted by DCU and focusing on getting into an academy somewhere else.

Anonymous wrote:People, are we all now so sad, pitiful and jaded drowning in insecurities and low self-esteem we're trying to form a group to collectively hate and disparage the local academy because our kids weren't qualified or exceptional to be selected by them?

Sad shameful and despicable

Here's your option.
Don't accept an invitation from DCU if offered and or just take your kid to Philly or NEW York if they'll have him.

Seems much simpler than this pitiful display

That you cannot admit or acknowledge any issues with DCU academy really undercuts anything you say. And if you’re reflecting the leadership and mindset of the organization, then it will continue staying mid.

DCU academy is the lone academy in the DC area which encompasses Baltimore. There is no doubt in underperforms for such a large and diverse metro region. If comparing academies across similar metro area, it comes last.

I think perhaps people can also suggest improvements that they’d like to see. For one, I would like to see their youth academy start earlier or at least ID earlier and keeping a list or a pool of players that they have IDed.

People, are we all now so sad, pitiful and jaded drowning in insecurities and low self-esteem we're trying to form a group to collectively hate and disparage the local academy because our kids weren't qualified or exceptional to be selected by them?

Sad shameful and despicable

Here's your option.
Don't accept an invitation from DCU if offered and or just take your kid to Philly or NEW York if they'll have him.

Seems much simpler than this pitiful display

Anonymous wrote:The owners are cheap! Crap field. Poor school ing options. I know two gifted players went back to their non-affiliated MLS Next clubs - and one to an ECNL club.

Given the solid base of support absolute mismanagement that the next Etcheverry isn’t home grown - and not even waiting in wings. There’s your QED alone.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Etcheverry

Did the gifted players turn down offers from all the top MLS academies in the country?

The owners are cheap! Crap field. Poor school ing options. I know two gifted players went back to their non-affiliated MLS Next clubs - and one to an ECNL club.

Given the solid base of support absolute mismanagement that the next Etcheverry isn’t home grown - and not even waiting in wings. There’s your QED alone.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Etcheverry

Strong compared to what?

Yes it’s strong nationally, but compared to Philly Union, or Red Bulls, or even Atlanta and Chicago, it’s not competitive.

Anonymous wrote:Reposting

https://www.ussoccercollective.com/mls/mls-academy-rankings

Don't you dare post any of these hype page rankings, even though they all consistently rank them similarly. We need facts, truths and verifiable evidence. Beep beep boop boop.

Maybe share the factors for what ppl think makes a good academy?

Reposting

https://www.ussoccercollective.com/mls/mls-academy-rankings

Starting a new discussion so that the DCU topics doesn't hijack other threads like the Bethesda one. Post all evidence and arguments about DCU here.