Academy vs. ECNL

[mbeach]

The quote that you are referencing had to do with the Boys DA. I have not seen a PT mandate from the GDA.

You are probably right, it is indeed not stated in the application. But in the FAQ page, the following comment is made to answer the question "Are the rules & regulations exactly the same as the boys DA?":
"The vast majority of the current Academy rules and regulations will be the same".
It would be odd that a major regulation such as minimum number of starts were not part of the vast majority, but it could happen.

 

[ESPNANALYST]

With all due respect, I have not in 10 years of watching club soccer seen a team other than a YNT that are full of studs. Not ECNL, not ODP, not PDP. The truth is that per age group there are probably 20-25 top tier players and about half of them might be studs and maybe 5 of them actually are.

Glad this point was touched on. On many top teams the impact players drive the play. They should be the the DA. The impact players can make the rest look good. On a roster of 18 we are talking about 5-6 players.
On 9 DA clubs that's 45-50 players per age group.
If they make it truly elite and stop placating to politics and parents is the only way this could work. Let's see how great these "elite teams" are when you take their four impact players off the pitch and the rest have to be taught to play soccer and be developed.

 

[Zerodenero]

With all due respect, I have not in 10 years of watching club soccer seen a team other than a YNT that are full of studs. Not ECNL, not ODP, not PDP. The truth is that per age group there are probably 20-25 top tier players and about half of them might be studs and maybe 5 of them actually are.

Agreed....U surface a good point, as parents are looking/searching for new DA/Ecnl clubs, ive found direct and ancillary value for dd's to be playing with (same team) top level/special/stud/YNT level player(s). Most top teams (Ecnl & non) usually will have 1, maybe 2 of them. Parents/players (your dd's will know who they are) should seek those Ecnl & or DA teams.

 

[Zerodenero]

Glad this point was touched on. On many top teams the impact players drive the play. They should be the the DA. The impact players can make the rest look good. On a roster of 18 we are talking about 5-6 players.
On 9 DA clubs that's 45-50 players per age group.
If they make it truly elite and stop placating to politics and parents is the only way this could work. Let's see how great these "elite teams" are when you take their four impact players off the pitch and the rest have to be taught to play soccer and be developed.

And those 5-6 (that's a bit of a stretch) will head to the top 5-10 soccer universities - awesome.....Thank god there's several hundred other academic institutions that will fight for the scraps left over

 

[ESPNANALYST]

And those 5-6 (that's a bit of a stretch) will head to the top 5-10 soccer universities - awesome.....Thank god there's several hundred other academic institutions that will fight for the scraps left over

I agree. I will be happy to enjoy D3 spoils.

 

[genesis]

Among many arguments, my infinite wisdom tells me that 98% of the girls playing soccer would not make it to practice four days a week; a requirement of the envelopment academy. With so many fun things to do besides soccer why would they want to? Again the majority of serious players only want to play in college and would prefer to be much more well rounded.

No weight jokes please.

 

[Zerodenero]

I agree. I will be happy to enjoy D3 spoils.

Shoot....there's a hell of a lot more D1's than 10.

But be as it be..... D3 be alright w/me

 

[genesis]

Shoot....there's a hell of a lot more D1's than 10.

But be as it be..... D3 be alright w/me

You mean?

 

[ESPNANALYST]

Shoot....there's a hell of a lot more D1's than 10.

But be as it be..... D3 be alright w/me

I had no idea. WOW THAT IS INCREDIBLE. Kudos to your DD! Playing soccer and getting one of the best educations in the world

 

[Zerodenero]

I had no idea. WOW THAT IS INCREDIBLE. Kudos to your DD! Playing soccer and getting one of the best educations in the world

Just making a point....some D3's ROCK!!

 

[bababooey]

For me, college soccer is just a way for my dd to get her degree. If I can get some financial assistance along the way, great.

I would prefer she played for an Ivy League school versus any top tier D1 school. The soccer career will be over long before the "real" career ends.

 

[Sped]

For me, college soccer is just a way for my dd to get her degree. If I can get some financial assistance along the way, great.

I would prefer she played for an Ivy League school versus any top tier D1 school. The soccer career will be over long before the "real" career ends.

I think I might tweak that a bit - if you can play at Princeton or Stanford, you play at Stanford. Brown or UCLA? Penn or Cal? There are plenty of top D1 schools that give you a great education as well. Michigan, UVA, UNC, Duke, Cal, UCLA, Stanford are all fine by me lol.

 

[ESPNANALYST]

Grades and scores get you a likely letter from an Ivy. Amazing soccer talent is a bonus I would assume.
Yes not interested in D1

I think I might tweak that a bit - if you can play at Princeton or Stanford, you play at Stanford. Brown or UCLA? Penn or Cal? There are plenty of top D1 schools that give you a great education as well. Michigan, UVA, UNC, Duke, Cal, UCLA, Stanford are all fine by me lol.

Oh please Sped there is a lot more that goes into choosing schools!
Princeton any day of the week over Stanford in this house. East coast baby!
Soccer is not life. Soccer should be the added benefit to the school that they enjoy. Choosing a school for a soccer program- for the love of God smh

 

[Zerodenero]

I think I might tweak that a bit - if you can play at Princeton or Stanford, you play at Stanford. Brown or UCLA? Penn or Cal? There are plenty of top D1 schools that give you a great education as well. Michigan, UVA, UNC, Duke, Cal, UCLA, Stanford are all fine by me lol.

For what it's worth, a perfect example is Momma Make's dd who is a legit stud on all fronts (yes, I'm for real) who could have attended/played anywhere.... (yes, Harvard, Princeton or Yale) but chose a perennial athletic AND academic power house. Remember, Just because you can doesn't mean you should (funny how that works). FIT is so crucially important for girls.

What ever youth league u-youngers choose....maximize it to the full potential.

 

[NoGoal]

Grades and scores get you a likely letter from an Ivy. Amazing soccer talent is a bonus I would assume.
Yes not interested in D1


Oh please Sped there is a lot more that goes into choosing schools!
Princeton any day of the week over Stanford in this house. East coast baby!
Soccer is not life. Soccer should be the added benefit to the school that they enjoy. Choosing a school for a soccer program- for the love of God smh

Stanford with Silicon Valley tech companies recruiting their grads is tough to reject. Google, Apple, AMD, Intel, Cisco, HP, Nvidia, Netflix and Facebook are a few that come to mind.

 

[outside!]

Princeton any day of the week over Stanford in this house. East coast baby!
Soccer is not life. Soccer should be the added benefit to the school that they enjoy. Choosing a school for a soccer program- for the love of God smh

Nice choice to have to make, for some. For others, neither school is a good fit. "The sun may rise in the east, but at least is settles in a finer location." RHCP. Feel free to move back east anytime.

 

[Glen]

Stanford with Silicon Valley tech companies recruiting their grads is tough to reject. Google, Apple, AMD, Intel, Cisco, HP, Nvidia, Netflix and Facebook are a few that come to mind.

Very true. But beyond Stanford, Duke, and maybe a Northwestern, Cal, or Michigan (I may have missed a couple), the Power 5 conference schools range from great regional schools to so-so regional schools. If your DD is from So Cal and plans to stay, no better place than UCLA or USC. But sending them off to comparable schools far away doesn't make much sense to me. If you go out of state, go to the great academic D-III or Ivy League if you can use soccer to get in.

What seems crazy to me is that parents are sending their kids to say, Ohio State, from So Cal. OSU may be a great school if you are going to live in Ohio. But really? Send your So Cal kid to pay more than double in out-of-state tuition in order to receive, say, a half scholarship. Your kid could probably get a better degree from a Cal state school (e.g., Long Beach) with more connections in So Cal for less than you are paying in travel and reduced tuition to OSU. In some respects, I just see this a more pay to play. But hey, I guess the parent can claim their kid got a scholarship to a Power 5 school.

 

[NoGoal]

Very true. But beyond Stanford, Duke, and maybe a Northwestern, Cal, or Michigan (I may have missed a couple), the Power 5 conference schools range from great regional schools to so-so regional schools. If your DD is from So Cal and plans to stay, no better place than UCLA or USC. But sending them off to comparable schools far away doesn't make much sense to me. If you go out of state, go to the great academic D-III or Ivy League if you can use soccer to get in.

What seems crazy to me is that parents are sending their kids to say, Ohio State, from So Cal. OSU may be a great school if you are going to live in Ohio. But really? Send your So Cal kid to pay more than double in out-of-state tuition in order to receive, say, a half scholarship. Your kid could probably get a better degree from a Cal state school (e.g., Long Beach) with more connections in So Cal for less than you are paying in travel and reduced tuition to OSU. In some respects, I just see this a more pay to play. But hey, I guess the parent can claim their kid got a scholarship to a Power 5 school.

It all depends on the player and what they are looking for in a university. UCLA for the most part recruits from the YNT pool. USC YNT pool and best regional players. A player focusing on those 2 specific schools is drastically narrowing their available choices, especially if they are neither a YNT player or top regional player. Not to mention even a 50% offer at USC is still a hefty tuition rate at 32.5K a year.

I tried convincing my DD to remain local and commit to UCI for selfish reasons, but she wanted to attend an out of state university. I then told her try CAL or UC Davis those schools are far, but she was having none of it, lol.

 

[espola]

It all depends on the player and what they are looking for in a university. UCLA for the most part recruits from the YNT pool. USC YNT pool and best regional players. A player focusing on those 2 specific schools is drastically narrowing their available choices, especially if they are neither a YNT player or top regional player. Not to mention even a 50% offer at USC is still a hefty tuition rate at 32.5K a year.

I tried convincing my DD to remain local and commit to UCI for selfish reasons, but she wanted to attend an out of state university. I then told her try CAL or UC Davis those schools are far, but she was having none of it, lol.

Who is paying the bills?

 

[NoGoal]

Who is paying the bills?

Technically if any player is getting at least a 50% athletic scholarship they are paying for their education as well.

To back track, Pac12 and Big10 athletic ships are now guaranteed for 4 yrs. Where as mid-majors are not, so if any player committs to OSU for example. It's not a poor choice compared to non guaranteed ships at Cal State Schools such as SDSU, SLO and LB State. Saving grace at Cal State schools is the tuition is very affordable at $6,500 per year.

I forgot to add, there are preferred walk-ons at UCLA, but lets be honest. The chances of a preferred walk-on ever touching the pitch at Drake Stadium is slim to none. I recall a couple of times club coaches saying, a schools offer indicates how much they really want a player in their program.