Can we please put to bed the idea that TFA doesn't develop players? My son is one of those kids who came to TFA at u11 "fully developed" according to this logic. He's thrived at TFA and, more to the point, completely transformed his game from a classic poacher to a team player.
Couple of points:
- The idea that some other hard-working club put in the effort to train up my kid and PW just reaps the rewards is completely comical. We all know what kind of crap coaching we're likely to find in the the fun neighborhood club. You can't compare the training at TFA to what he was getting before.
- at u11, there's no such thing as "the finished product". There are better and worse players for sure, but anyone that age has a ton to learn. TFA has a clear curriculum for what it wants to teach. The evidence is on the field, no one plays possession soccer like TFA. If you don't think possession soccer will serve your kid, take him someplace else. Most of the parents at TFA aren't just there for the funding, we also think possession soccer is the platform for learning good movement, quick decision making, and team play, which will serve our kids in the long term.
- Why knock just TFA for getting recruits? It's the name of the game for Galaxy and FCLA, and pretty much all the DA system. Hell, my son's local u10 coach told me we have to win everything now, so that we establish ourselves as the best team in the area to recruit the best players.
You can argue that TFA doesn't deserve expansion for geographic reasons. I'd disagree, but it really depends on what US Soccer's strategy is, which none of us really knows for sure. But to say there's little player development at TFA isn't correct, especially by the standards of the DA system.