Florida Cup/Showcase Dec 9 — what are people thinking?

This is very accurate and an indictment of the DA model. A ridiculous lack of parity between DA teams from different regions makes it a joke. Traveling that far to play a team 4 or 5 goals worse than you makes zero sense. California should be smart and drop all DA and ECNL teams and have their own superleague.
Many of the margins of victory changed after day 1.....not something you can anticipate or change. You see the same thing in every league around the world, including Champions League.
 
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Not an expert on ECNL or Girls High School but I believe the statement about NE, NW and Ohio Valley are correct. This table shows the top 8 teams in the Champions League so the comparison to my earlier posted table would be more of apples to apples.
 
yet another epic matchup between our DD’s team! Congrats on advancing!
I wasn't there but my wife put it on Facebook Live so I was able to watch the demise of my DDs team in the last 15 minutes! Clutch goals by your DD at the end. There are always lessons learned by wins, losses and even ties.
 
I wasn't there but my wife put it on Facebook Live so I was able to watch the demise of my DDs team in the last 15 minutes! Clutch goals by your DD at the end. There are always lessons learned by wins, losses and even ties.
Was definitely a tale of 2 halves by 2 teams with never say die attitudes.
 
This is very accurate and an indictment of the DA model. A ridiculous lack of parity between DA teams from different regions makes it a joke. Traveling that far to play a team 4 or 5 goals worse than you makes zero sense. California should be smart and drop all DA and ECNL teams and have their own superleague.
I think that's ^ a super philosophy Hank ... That way they could all go through the whole year without ever having to face Solar SC, FC Dallas or Real CO ... ;)
 
All the politics, travel costs and impact on school aside, my daughter was tapped to guest play in the tournament and made the most of the opportunity. Scored and had an assist. Numerous high profile colleges watching. We’d go again. But then again, we’re totally new to the club soccer world...
 
All the politics, travel costs and impact on school aside, my daughter was tapped to guest play in the tournament and made the most of the opportunity. Scored and had an assist. Numerous high profile colleges watching. We’d go again. But then again, we’re totally new to the club soccer world...
Congrats to your DD! Those are the stories we love to hear regardless of the league.
 
It was fun to watch some great games under some amazing Florida skies!
Question: do coaches approach players/parents then and there? Or hold back and talk later?
 
No conversations at all about recruiting until after June 15th after Sophomore year with the new rule. Usually conversations are not had on the sidelines except for a hello, how’s your weekend going.
 
I think that's ^ a super philosophy Hank ... That way they could all go through the whole year without ever having to face Solar SC, FC Dallas or Real CO ... ;)
They are all great clubs, but they are no better than the best in SoCal. Traveling out of state for league games (and tournaments for freshman and younger) is just a way for clubs to siphon money from parents. A SoCal super-league of 8 to 10 teams (NOT clubs) per age group would be as competitive as any league in the country (and for girls, any league in the world) and would be just as good for college exposure/preparation as GDA/DA and ECNL. It would also be much more environmentally responsible.
 
They are all great clubs, but they are no better than the best in SoCal. Traveling out of state for league games (and tournaments for freshman and younger) is just a way for clubs to siphon money from parents. A SoCal super-league of 8 to 10 teams (NOT clubs) per age group would be as competitive as any league in the country (and for girls, any league in the world) and would be just as good for college exposure/preparation as GDA/DA and ECNL. It would also be much more environmentally responsible.

While I do agree that the top teams in Socal are good, they're pretty much the same thing. Smash mouth, kick long and out physical their opponents. While I also agree that traveling to Utah, Texas, Washing for a pair of weekend games are ridiculous, I think it makes Kids better to play against different competition and kids get to see parts of the country they may not have. That being said, if you took the top 10 teams in socal and played against the top teams in Norcal (I can't think of 10 GREAT clubs in Norcal that could match), I think you'd have a pretty damn good league, less expensive, and competitive. It'll never happen but always good to think of the what ifs....
 
And to make this a more interesting topic, who would be your top 10 north and south teams

in no particular order

1) Surf
2) Beach
3) Real
4) Blues
5) LAFC Slammers
6) Eagles
7) Arsenal
8) Strikers
9) Slammers FC
10) Legends

1) Thorns
2) Mustang
3) MVLA
4) Earthquakes
5) Davis
6) Lamorinda
7) Elk Grove
8) San Juan
9) Placer
10) Rage
 
They are all great clubs, but they are no better than the best in SoCal. Traveling out of state for league games (and tournaments for freshman and younger) is just a way for clubs to siphon money from parents. A SoCal super-league of 8 to 10 teams (NOT clubs) per age group would be as competitive as any league in the country (and for girls, any league in the world) and would be just as good for college exposure/preparation as GDA/DA and ECNL. It would also be much more environmentally responsible.

Hmmm ... The DA Championships last year and the DA Cup results to this point might suggest otherwise, but we can agree to disagree there. No doubt that there isn't an abundance of talent, mostly due to sheer numbers in SoCal, and a local league there (horse was beaten dead a decade ago) would clearly be as talent rich as most any in the nation.

Really just having a tough time getting passed your, "Traveling out of state for league games is just a way for clubs to siphon money from parents" ... Tough to figure how are the clubs themselves are making more money from parents that are traveling like the DA than they are from those parents with kids on team not traveling with the same frequency? They all pay the same club dues don't they? And if there is a discrepancy it's much more typical for the lower level folks to pay more than the DA folks isn't it?
 
Hmmm ... The DA Championships last year and the DA Cup results to this point might suggest otherwise, but we can agree to disagree there. No doubt that there isn't an abundance of talent, mostly due to sheer numbers in SoCal, and a local league there (horse was beaten dead a decade ago) would clearly be as talent rich as most any in the nation.

Really just having a tough time getting passed your, "Traveling out of state for league games is just a way for clubs to siphon money from parents" ... Tough to figure how are the clubs themselves are making more money from parents that are traveling like the DA than they are from those parents with kids on team not traveling with the same frequency? They all pay the same club dues don't they? And if there is a discrepancy it's much more typical for the lower level folks to pay more than the DA folks isn't it?

I once did the math for one of the showcases for GDA. Our kids pay 1500 for 4 days, room and board, and vans (no food). Just out of curiosity, I checked flights, hotel, van and for the same time staying there. it would have been roughly 600 bucks per player. I know there's a registration fee and they have to pay for a 100 coaches to attend (which i think is BS) and their food. AS much as some of these coaches make, it's robbery to pay for them. split the cost of the reg and coaches and it's still about 900 bucks per player (traveling with 18 kids).

I addressed this with our travel coordinator and she really didn't have much other to say that this is what the coaches wanted. The kids went to 3 showcases that year so from just ONE team, they made 37.8k. Again, I don't have all the details for what went where, but I added everything that was given to us as "costs". There's a reason why soccer is a billion dollar industry and DOC's are buying fat houses in affluent areas. It's not all about the kids, sometimes.
 
I once did the math for one of the showcases for GDA. Our kids pay 1500 for 4 days, room and board, and vans (no food). Just out of curiosity, I checked flights, hotel, van and for the same time staying there. it would have been roughly 600 bucks per player. I know there's a registration fee and they have to pay for a 100 coaches to attend (which i think is BS) and their food. AS much as some of these coaches make, it's robbery to pay for them. split the cost of the reg and coaches and it's still about 900 bucks per player (traveling with 18 kids).

I addressed this with our travel coordinator and she really didn't have much other to say that this is what the coaches wanted. The kids went to 3 showcases that year so from just ONE team, they made 37.8k. Again, I don't have all the details for what went where, but I added everything that was given to us as "costs". There's a reason why soccer is a billion dollar industry and DOC's are buying fat houses in affluent areas. It's not all about the kids, sometimes.
There are no registration fees paid by the club for any DA showcases.
At my dd’s club, we pay only the actual cost of flight, hotel, van/bus rental, gas and food. Nothing is marked up and our club itemizes and publishes all costs for each trip.
 
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