Yes, GirlsDA. Clubs where notified yesterday.Did they announce this for the girls also, or just for the boys? I've only seen the announcement for the boys side.
Yes, GirlsDA. Clubs where notified yesterday.Did they announce this for the girls also, or just for the boys? I've only seen the announcement for the boys side.
I'm sure there are some '05's that will have a chance to play up.Does "Age Pure" mean "04s only" mandated?... or "04 and under?"
I see that Lambchop disagreed. Lambchop?I'm sure there are some '05's that will have a chance to play up.
There is a G05 playing for TFA and playing ODP 04. I'm sure she will be playing up if they decide to go DA.I see that Lambchop disagreed. Lambchop?
Sorry forgot to mention. She is playing on the boys side.There is a G05 playing for TFA and playing ODP 04. I'm sure she will be playing up if they decide to go DA.
Good or bad, the one thing it continues to clarify is that the one's leading the pack have no idea what they're doing. More and more top US players are going to forge their careers in Europe. Other nations are catching up quickly and our response is to build a program on the fly with the same old dinosaurs who led us down this path calling the shots! Come on USSDA hire someone independent with experience and qualification, who isn't incestuously linked to one of the current US Staff and lets put a real program together.
Then again, it is not like high schools, HS Athletic Directors and CIF have reached out and tried to make HS a better experience for elite players. CIF and many HS AD's still act as if it is still the 1980's and this whole annoying girls soccer thing has been forced on them by Title IX. I personally think that HS soccer could be an integral, positive part of youth soccer in the United States, but instead over the years the HS side has provided the absolute minimum support required by law and this allowed the club side to grow large enough to become the dominant force in youth soccer. CIF treats female soccer players as second class athletes and actively discourages them from college recruitment opportunities. Club soccer has no adult supervision looking out for the overall welfare of the players and is making a power grab where it sees an opening. On the plus side, soccer will continue to become more popular in the US and the absence of elite players in HS soccer will provide opportunities for others to play (further increasing the player base and popularity). Having said that, there are many, many great people doing their best for the kids at many levels, but unfortunately there are not enough to contain the power hoarding kingdom protectors.ALL of the High School girls coaches I have talked too are not happy with the GDA. They all have ECNL players that plan to play GDA even though they know they will not be able to play high school soccer. Most of the coaches seemed pissed off that they would be losing their best players to GDA.
I wouldn't say "no idea" what they are doing as they have setup the program and gave pretty good reasoning behind many aspects of the program. The whole age group part you are probably correct since they never really gave a sound reason for it. Anything else about the GDA give you the belief they have no idea? Any general questions you (or others) want answered by US Soccer?
Do you know that these things were forced (as implied) on all the clubs or were they voted upon and the majority won?Reason for age banding was the belief by US soccer that better players should play with older players to expedite development. I think that's a fairly logical reason and now it's seemingly deemed as "not that important!" I don't know that they have created anything that didn't already exist except in name. They've seen another organization have success and essentially hijacked the process by flexing their weight! The lack of clear communication to clubs, coaches, players and parents really does nothing to alleviate my opinion that they are winging it, but that's just my little old opinion. Imagine asking club's to apply to enter a program that would host 3 teams, accepting the clubs, then telling them that now they're in, they now need to budget for a new team, which will need another highly qualified coach, training field, game field etc.....oh and did I mention that we 're also thinking about adding a reserve team in each age group! Seems they're more intent on sticking it to ECNL than creating a clearly defined pathway for what's best for the kids.
I'm sure there are some '05's that will have a chance to play up.
I see that Lambchop disagreed. Lambchop?
There is a G05 playing for TFA and playing ODP 04. I'm sure she will be playing up if they decide to go DA.
Change in age bands separating the 04s from the 03s will definitely leave the door open for the top 05s to explore the DA option, including the player mentioned above and a few others.Sorry forgot to mention. She is playing on the boys side.
There are a few 05s that could play (actually they already do) with 04s, just like there are a few 04s that can play up, while making an impact in the game. But why would you like to do that when you are currently playing in a top 05 team?I see that Lambchop disagreed. Lambchop?
wow.. so if the plans to split the U-14/15 age groups happen.. does that mean there will two DA teams for each age group as well.. 03 DA1, 03DA2, 04DA1, 04DA2 ? Will DA2 teams be allowed to play SCDSL/Coast,etc?
Does this basically mean SCDSL/Coast, etc just lost their entire Flight 1/Gold brackets for these age groups?
So is it only a matter of time before they announce dedicated age pure '02 teams now too? That'll be in the nail in the coffin for high school and ECNL.
Certainly not the nail in the coffin. As is most of the country is not participating in GDA. Again , what U.S. Is saying is that essentially the best players live in SoCal and the northeast part of the country. So, ECNL will continue to thrive with 3/4 of the country not able to participate in GDA.