Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IF this does happen....

Every kid must break into an existing roster. Hard. Extremely hard to do at this level. Most will find homes at the expense of other kid who will be cut from the roster and displaced. They in turn will need to find new homes.

20+ displaced DA kids per age group looking for new homes in NOVA is a win for ECNL.

It's better for EVERYONE to announce it early.

Big win for ECNL, especially considering geography. Also, they double the area DA teams. Pretty sad.

What goes around, comes around my friend.

Meaning?

The previous post says "Big win for ECNL .... Pretty sad"

My reply is that USSF came in heavy handed with DA, and Spirit chose to rather awkwardly squeeze their VA franchise into an already crowded market. So when the teams struggle, and when that struggle plays a part in a decision to pull out (which I believe to be the case), I don't have much sympathy for the WS or USSF.
Unfortunately the players and families are the ones left holding the bag when the USSF has made policies in the last few years that are not well thought through. It stinks to have joined a club with high hopes, and then have the thing fall apart (if it turns out that is what is happening). And it's worse that it happens for players at recruiting ages. So unnecessary. The only consolation is that there are still many choices.

.

Interesting.

Word is that the new owner simply isn’t a fan of supporting the youth game with regard to the pro operation. There’s no talk of results in any of the credible information that has been shared. I can’t blame the USSF for this one, it lies with the owner and his snap judgement on what he thinks is best for the pro team. Which, ironically, is actually the worst decision for the pro team long term for those who think a wide and robust development net is a good thing. There’s another infamous owner in the area, different sport, who makes terrible decisions for his club over and over. This one may be getting off to that kind of start.

Oh I see. So are you saying he will shut down the WS MD side as well?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IF this does happen....

Every kid must break into an existing roster. Hard. Extremely hard to do at this level. Most will find homes at the expense of other kid who will be cut from the roster and displaced. They in turn will need to find new homes.

20+ displaced DA kids per age group looking for new homes in NOVA is a win for ECNL.

It's better for EVERYONE to announce it early.

Big win for ECNL, especially considering geography. Also, they double the area DA teams. Pretty sad.

What goes around, comes around my friend.

Meaning?

The previous post says "Big win for ECNL .... Pretty sad"

My reply is that USSF came in heavy handed with DA, and Spirit chose to rather awkwardly squeeze their VA franchise into an already crowded market. So when the teams struggle, and when that struggle plays a part in a decision to pull out (which I believe to be the case), I don't have much sympathy for the WS or USSF.
Unfortunately the players and families are the ones left holding the bag when the USSF has made policies in the last few years that are not well thought through. It stinks to have joined a club with high hopes, and then have the thing fall apart (if it turns out that is what is happening). And it's worse that it happens for players at recruiting ages. So unnecessary. The only consolation is that there are still many choices.

.

Interesting.

Word is that the new owner simply isn’t a fan of supporting the youth game with regard to the pro operation. There’s no talk of results in any of the credible information that has been shared. I can’t blame the USSF for this one, it lies with the owner and his snap judgement on what he thinks is best for the pro team. Which, ironically, is actually the worst decision for the pro team long term for those who think a wide and robust development net is a good thing. There’s another infamous owner in the area, different sport, who makes terrible decisions for his club over and over. This one may be getting off to that kind of start.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IF this does happen....

Every kid must break into an existing roster. Hard. Extremely hard to do at this level. Most will find homes at the expense of other kid who will be cut from the roster and displaced. They in turn will need to find new homes.

20+ displaced DA kids per age group looking for new homes in NOVA is a win for ECNL.

It's better for EVERYONE to announce it early.

Big win for ECNL, especially considering geography. Also, they double the area DA teams. Pretty sad.

What goes around, comes around my friend.

Meaning?

The previous post says "Big win for ECNL .... Pretty sad"

My reply is that USSF came in heavy handed with DA, and Spirit chose to rather awkwardly squeeze their VA franchise into an already crowded market. So when the teams struggle, and when that struggle plays a part in a decision to pull out (which I believe to be the case), I don't have much sympathy for the WS or USSF.
Unfortunately the players and families are the ones left holding the bag when the USSF has made policies in the last few years that are not well thought through. It stinks to have joined a club with high hopes, and then have the thing fall apart (if it turns out that is what is happening). And it's worse that it happens for players at recruiting ages. So unnecessary. The only consolation is that there are still many choices.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IF this does happen....

Every kid must break into an existing roster. Hard. Extremely hard to do at this level. Most will find homes at the expense of other kid who will be cut from the roster and displaced. They in turn will need to find new homes.

20+ displaced DA kids per age group looking for new homes in NOVA is a win for ECNL.

It's better for EVERYONE to announce it early.

Big win for ECNL, especially considering geography. Also, they double the area DA teams. Pretty sad.

What goes around, comes around my friend.

If you are on this thread gloating, there's no question your karma is in worse shape than the Spirit families who may be getting screwed. Keep it classy.

Anonymous wrote:and here we have some insight into human nature... at the end of the day, when the rubber meets the road, people think only of themselves. So it's in your best interest to find a backup plan now, right? so just go ahead and do it. It's not in Spirit's best interest to announce in January that everything is going to be discontinued (in reality it's an unknown), or people will start jumping ship right now, and players won't be motivated for the next 5 months. Good luck coaching a team that is going to be disbanded after the season, nobody wants to be in that position. So why would Spirit say anything about it before the season? My point is if you think it's in your best interest to find a backup plan, then go do it.

It is a big leap of faith to stick with something amid the rumors while options dry up. The CEO has been made aware of the rumors according to the posted email reply. The reply was a very vague non-committal response at the time of year when ID sessions are about to begin. Spirit would settle things down by posting ID dates.

Of course the owner free to think about it and explore his options but it is the risk of very real opportunity costs. The opportunity costs are the players, both current and potential. Most parents would rather stay but for good reason would be risk averse moving forward.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IF this does happen....

Every kid must break into an existing roster. Hard. Extremely hard to do at this level. Most will find homes at the expense of other kid who will be cut from the roster and displaced. They in turn will need to find new homes.

20+ displaced DA kids per age group looking for new homes in NOVA is a win for ECNL.

It's better for EVERYONE to announce it early.

Big win for ECNL, especially considering geography. Also, they double the area DA teams. Pretty sad.

What goes around, comes around my friend.

Meaning?

And once a few players start jumping ship, EVERYBODY ELSE follows.

Then after you've paid your deposit somewhere else for 2019-2020 and you find out the DA teams are continuing as normal, then you can start praising how awesome the Spirit DA program is again and how great of a program it is.

and here we have some insight into human nature... at the end of the day, when the rubber meets the road, people think only of themselves. So it's in your best interest to find a backup plan now, right? so just go ahead and do it. It's not in Spirit's best interest to announce in January that everything is going to be discontinued (in reality it's an unknown), or people will start jumping ship right now, and players won't be motivated for the next 5 months. Good luck coaching a team that is going to be disbanded after the season, nobody wants to be in that position. So why would Spirit say anything about it before the season? My point is if you think it's in your best interest to find a backup plan, then go do it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IF this does happen....

Every kid must break into an existing roster. Hard. Extremely hard to do at this level. Most will find homes at the expense of other kid who will be cut from the roster and displaced. They in turn will need to find new homes.

20+ displaced DA kids per age group looking for new homes in NOVA is a win for ECNL.

It's better for EVERYONE to announce it early.

Big win for ECNL, especially considering geography. Also, they double the area DA teams. Pretty sad.

What goes around, comes around my friend.

Wow, did things take a rumor-driven turn here. Personally, I think any kids, girls or boys, should have a backup plan because things happen—kid moves to the area who displaces the player. Injury. Awkward path through puberty. I’ve cultivated a couple of backup options for my daughter all along. Because things happen.

I still think it’s more likely that there could be a new partnership of some kind (BRYC would be geographically logical) rather than a full closure of Spirit VA. But if there is any truth to the rumor of a Spirit VA shutdown, one thing I’m pretty sure about is that the coaching staff would help the girls find good follow-on appropriate places to play. Some probably at non-DA/ECNL levels.

But regardless of what turns out to be true, it’s probably good for the girls to realize that this is the first step in a process riddled with this kind of thing. You want coach Smith to watch you at a showcase but she spends time with the top bracket CA teams instead. You get recruited at school X then never play. You want school Y but that coach prefers the other left back on your club team. You sign with an NWSL team in your hometown where you can live with your parents but then the Boston Breakers fold and you’re living in high-cost DC. Either you move through those things and work with your backup plans or you don’t.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IF this does happen....

Every kid must break into an existing roster. Hard. Extremely hard to do at this level. Most will find homes at the expense of other kid who will be cut from the roster and displaced. They in turn will need to find new homes.

20+ displaced DA kids per age group looking for new homes in NOVA is a win for ECNL.

It's better for EVERYONE to announce it early.

Big win for ECNL, especially considering geography. Also, they double the area DA teams. Pretty sad.

Which is why it won't happen.

Of all the reasons it may not happen, this is the most meaningless. Nobody keeps a club going for moral victories.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IF this does happen....

Every kid must break into an existing roster. Hard. Extremely hard to do at this level. Most will find homes at the expense of other kid who will be cut from the roster and displaced. They in turn will need to find new homes.

20+ displaced DA kids per age group looking for new homes in NOVA is a win for ECNL.

It's better for EVERYONE to announce it early.

Big win for ECNL, especially considering geography. Also, they double the area DA teams. Pretty sad.

Which is why it won't happen.

Then say it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IF this does happen....

Every kid must break into an existing roster. Hard. Extremely hard to do at this level. Most will find homes at the expense of other kid who will be cut from the roster and displaced. They in turn will need to find new homes.

20+ displaced DA kids per age group looking for new homes in NOVA is a win for ECNL.

It's better for EVERYONE to announce it early.

Big win for ECNL, especially considering geography. Also, they double the area DA teams. Pretty sad.

Which is why it won't happen.

Anonymous wrote:IF this does happen....

Every kid must break into an existing roster. Hard. Extremely hard to do at this level. Most will find homes at the expense of other kid who will be cut from the roster and displaced. They in turn will need to find new homes.

20+ displaced DA kids per age group looking for new homes in NOVA is a win for ECNL.

It's better for EVERYONE to announce it early.

Big win for ECNL, especially considering geography. Also, they double the area DA teams. Pretty sad.