Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a 2009 parent you should know by now how little the standings matter. This is the most important recruiting year for 2009 players. That’s what you should be focused on. Standings will not get your player recruited.

I don’t think this is true. There is a reason that VDA and RU have so many girls committed already. Partly because they are really good players, and partly because winning has put them in a place to be seen competing against the best of the best in ECNL.

And their standings got them there.

You are mixing up cause and effect. A good number of VDA's commits have recently joined the team from another club. Those girls would have committed to comparable schools even if they had stayed at their previous clubs who were not as high in the standings. They are not committing because VDA is high in the standings, rather, VDA is high in the standings because they have collected most of the top players.

Most of the important ECNL showcases that got these girls committed were in the winter and spring, when the standings weren't fully known yet and all the teams regardless of record were also playing at the same showcases. It's only the June playoffs where standings matter somewhat and teams are playing to win more than to showcase.

You are mixing up more than cause and effect. 2 commits have recently joined VDA 2009. Both committed to solid programs but not headline grabbers by any means. They were actually uncommitted before they joined VDA as but were definitely seen at their old teams, where they were the best players.

All top level players are welcome at VDA! I love how mad all of you dads are!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a 2009 parent you should know by now how little the standings matter. This is the most important recruiting year for 2009 players. That’s what you should be focused on. Standings will not get your player recruited.

I don’t think this is true. There is a reason that VDA and RU have so many girls committed already. Partly because they are really good players, and partly because winning has put them in a place to be seen competing against the best of the best in ECNL.

And their standings got them there.

You are mixing up cause and effect. A good number of VDA's commits have recently joined the team from another club. Those girls would have committed to comparable schools even if they had stayed at their previous clubs who were not as high in the standings. They are not committing because VDA is high in the standings, rather, VDA is high in the standings because they have collected most of the top players.

Most of the important ECNL showcases that got these girls committed were in the winter and spring, when the standings weren't fully known yet and all the teams regardless of record were also playing at the same showcases. It's only the June playoffs where standings matter somewhat and teams are playing to win more than to showcase.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a 2009 parent you should know by now how little the standings matter. This is the most important recruiting year for 2009 players. That’s what you should be focused on. Standings will not get your player recruited.

I don’t think this is true. There is a reason that VDA and RU have so many girls committed already. Partly because they are really good players, and partly because winning has put them in a place to be seen competing against the best of the best in ECNL.

And their standings got them there.

sucks for a certain club to put a lot of work in marketing these girls to have the new club get the pub and exposure for the commitment at the beginning of the season.

There’s one 2009 from NVA and one from Union that came to VDA. Both committed while at VDA. What’s the big deal? The team is super excited to have them.

Congrats to the VDA OG’s on their commitments too. They’ve made the team so great that all the top players in Northern Virginia want to come play with them!

No it’s “OG” as in 1 for the 09s, the rest showed up w/ or after BobP.

Hhhhmmmmm. By my count 14 VDA 09s came through PWSI/VSA.

Regardless, the VDA 2009 team is tops in the area. Bar nobody.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a 2009 parent you should know by now how little the standings matter. This is the most important recruiting year for 2009 players. That’s what you should be focused on. Standings will not get your player recruited.

I don’t think this is true. There is a reason that VDA and RU have so many girls committed already. Partly because they are really good players, and partly because winning has put them in a place to be seen competing against the best of the best in ECNL.

And their standings got them there.

sucks for a certain club to put a lot of work in marketing these girls to have the new club get the pub and exposure for the commitment at the beginning of the season.

There’s one 2009 from NVA and one from Union that came to VDA. Both committed while at VDA. What’s the big deal? The team is super excited to have them.

Congrats to the VDA OG’s on their commitments too. They’ve made the team so great that all the top players in Northern Virginia want to come play with them!

No it’s “OG” as in 1 for the 09s, the rest showed up w/ or after BobP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a 2009 parent you should know by now how little the standings matter. This is the most important recruiting year for 2009 players. That’s what you should be focused on. Standings will not get your player recruited.

I don’t think this is true. There is a reason that VDA and RU have so many girls committed already. Partly because they are really good players, and partly because winning has put them in a place to be seen competing against the best of the best in ECNL.

And their standings got them there.

sucks for a certain club to put a lot of work in marketing these girls to have the new club get the pub and exposure for the commitment at the beginning of the season.

There’s one 2009 from NVA and one from Union that came to VDA. Both committed while at VDA. What’s the big deal? The team is super excited to have them.

Congrats to the VDA OG’s on their commitments too. They’ve made the team so great that all the top players in Northern Virginia want to come play with them!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a 2009 parent you should know by now how little the standings matter. This is the most important recruiting year for 2009 players. That’s what you should be focused on. Standings will not get your player recruited.

I don’t think this is true. There is a reason that VDA and RU have so many girls committed already. Partly because they are really good players, and partly because winning has put them in a place to be seen competing against the best of the best in ECNL.

And their standings got them there.

sucks for a certain club to put a lot of work in marketing these girls to have the new club get the pub and exposure for the commitment at the beginning of the season.

To your point, a handful of “VDA’s commits” had never worn a VDA jersey in an actual game, and many - maybe most of the p4 commits - have only been there for a year. Sucks also for the girls that have been there since u13 and won enough to get them in higher brackets at showcases, and are now scrounging for minutes and fighting just to get rostered.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a 2009 parent you should know by now how little the standings matter. This is the most important recruiting year for 2009 players. That’s what you should be focused on. Standings will not get your player recruited.

I don’t think this is true. There is a reason that VDA and RU have so many girls committed already. Partly because they are really good players, and partly because winning has put them in a place to be seen competing against the best of the best in ECNL.

And their standings got them there.

sucks for a certain club to put a lot of work in marketing these girls to have the new club get the pub and exposure for the commitment at the beginning of the season.

Anonymous wrote:The Onion also has horrific coaching. 6th would be lucky!!!

Perhaps but Bethesda will finish last in 09 so does it even matter?

It can also be argued that U16 is actually the most important year, not U17. U17 is for scrambling.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a 2009 parent you should know by now how little the standings matter. This is the most important recruiting year for 2009 players. That’s what you should be focused on. Standings will not get your player recruited.

I don’t think this is true. There is a reason that VDA and RU have so many girls committed already. Partly because they are really good players, and partly because winning has put them in a place to be seen competing against the best of the best in ECNL.

And their standings got them there.

I agree with the above. At this point, most of the VDA and RU team has committed, including bench players. And, standings in an indirect way do help get players recruited - teams get placed with against other top level teams in showcase events which allow best against best and therefore tend to attract top coaches. At this point, for many of these players, they are focused on continuing to develop by working with their clubs and colleges on future plans. Standings will fall where they will, but tend to agree with the placement of the teams, especially at the top.

Anonymous wrote:As a 2009 parent you should know by now how little the standings matter. This is the most important recruiting year for 2009 players. That’s what you should be focused on. Standings will not get your player recruited.

I don’t think this is true. There is a reason that VDA and RU have so many girls committed already. Partly because they are really good players, and partly because winning has put them in a place to be seen competing against the best of the best in ECNL.

And their standings got them there.

As a 2009 parent you should know by now how little the standings matter. This is the most important recruiting year for 2009 players. That’s what you should be focused on. Standings will not get your player recruited.

The Onion also has horrific coaching. 6th would be lucky!!!

With girls from all over moving around, I thought it would be fun to make some predictions on year end standings. The 2009 age group, since U13, has been a volatile one on this board…

Predictions…

1. VDA
2. Richmond
3. CSA
4. Arlington
5. Courage
6. Fairfax
7. Wilmington
8. Beach FC
9. NC Fusion
10. NCFC

VDA and Richmond will remain top dogs in this age group. Both groups have quality players and quality coaches that know how to win at this level.

CSA is always tough to play against but their lack of a possession style makes it more difficult as they get older.

Arlington has added a few really high quality players and will close the gap between the top of the table.

Courage was down last year but will be back.

I’ve heard that many players joined Fairfax. However, with the shorter season, I’d imagine it just takes too long for them to come together as a group.

Then the rest is the rest…

Anybody else have thoughts?