Dos Equis
GOLD
These critical comments on women's college soccer are fascinating. My experience, and most of those who have daughters who have participated in and/or finished this process, are that the best girls/womens coaches I have encountered are in college soccer. Many are able to teach multiple styles of play, and are adept at implementing them as the game situation warrants.
So the criticism is often a product of the mismatches that often occur in the NCAA, and the style of play coaches employ to try to improve their chance of winning against a team with, frankly, more talent. News alert -- those mismatches and resulting less "beautifiul" play occur at the national level just as much. These include a disruptive, physical style of play with a high press (i.e. Spain against the WNT in the 2019 World Cup, committing 18 fouls to our 4), or the physical bunker mentality with direct counterattacking (i.e Sweden in the 2016 Olympics, also committing 15 fouls to our 4).
I watched the NWSL last year, more than I would care to admit, and enjoyed it. I saw a lot of direct play, a bunch of mismatches, some very physical soccer. It reminded me a lot of the over 100 NCAA women's games I have watched. Actually, most Stanford and UCLA games exhibit more skill in passing and possession than NWSL games.
Crap all you want to on the college game, but spare me any claim that there is some mythical land of soccer where women are paid well, they play only possession, coaches don't favor speed and athleticism, don't encourage their superstars to be selfish, but instead all the coaches prioritize teamwork and soccer IQ when building their rosters.
So the criticism is often a product of the mismatches that often occur in the NCAA, and the style of play coaches employ to try to improve their chance of winning against a team with, frankly, more talent. News alert -- those mismatches and resulting less "beautifiul" play occur at the national level just as much. These include a disruptive, physical style of play with a high press (i.e. Spain against the WNT in the 2019 World Cup, committing 18 fouls to our 4), or the physical bunker mentality with direct counterattacking (i.e Sweden in the 2016 Olympics, also committing 15 fouls to our 4).
I watched the NWSL last year, more than I would care to admit, and enjoyed it. I saw a lot of direct play, a bunch of mismatches, some very physical soccer. It reminded me a lot of the over 100 NCAA women's games I have watched. Actually, most Stanford and UCLA games exhibit more skill in passing and possession than NWSL games.
Crap all you want to on the college game, but spare me any claim that there is some mythical land of soccer where women are paid well, they play only possession, coaches don't favor speed and athleticism, don't encourage their superstars to be selfish, but instead all the coaches prioritize teamwork and soccer IQ when building their rosters.
Anyway, we need a pro youth travel league, like now, like 2020-2021 season. My dd makes the teams in Socal. I showed her this picture last week and she hasn;t stopped asking me to take her to the hs school for PE and some shooting and running. No one within 100 ft of us either so were being super careful. 
