DA Teams Selected- 25 Teams Initially

http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2016/06/30/19/42/160630-development-academy-us-soccer-announces-first-25-clubs-for-girls-development-academy

Those names are not surprising...

Supposedly this is only the initial round of team entries, at the bottom it posts final application date for July 1, 2016.

Impressive list of clubs posted. Also like the training requirements for the teams. This will make for an elite level of competition.

I'm absolutely stunned TSC is not part of this. I was certain they were top 10 club in the nation.

ENERGYFC04 wrote:I'm absolutely stunned TSC is not part of this.  I was certain they were top 10 club in the nation.  

#1 in Oklahoma doesn't translate... Lol. Probably top 50 though!

Yellowcard wrote:

ENERGYFC04 wrote:I'm absolutely stunned TSC is not part of this.  I was certain they were top 10 club in the nation.  

#1 in Oklahoma doesn't translate...  Lol.  Probably top 50 though!

top 50?

Could care less, if TSCH gets it great if not, we got ECNL

Top 50's probably right since there are about 70 clubs participating in ECNL, so somewhere in that range is probably right

ENERGYFC04 wrote:

Yellowcard wrote:

ENERGYFC04 wrote:I'm absolutely stunned TSC is not part of this.  I was certain they were top 10 club in the nation.  

#1 in Oklahoma doesn't translate...  Lol.  Probably top 50 though!

top 50?  

Yeah top 50 clubs in the nation is probably about accurate. Ish. Lol

That's an impressive list of clubs. They begin play in Fall 2017. That's a year away. With the requirements for the coaches and the clubs I don't see an OK team in there for at least 5-6 years. All my girls will be pretty much done at that point. Glad we have ECNL now. DA will be good for some but not for all. Just another money maker. Pretty sure our women's teams have been elite in the US for some time. Unlike the mens side which has been terrible.

I see the DA more as an attempt to hurt US Club than anything else.  I'm starting to believe USYS is living in a dream world.  I've seen "A" and "B" licensed coaches who couldn't coach their way out of a shoe-box.  I've seen "D" licensed coaches who were incredible at developing kids.  You essentially can be book smart that doesn't mean you have coaching common sense.  

That said, rumor has it the cost of getting a B license has almost quadrupled in the last month.   All this is a money making scheme and USYS will still search high and low for talent.

The above does not alleviate USCLUB (which i believe USYS is trying to take out).   They have lacked structure and the prevailing selling point USCLUB has pitched is autonomy to rule yourself and make up your own rules.   This has led to problems, rumors and inconsistent messages being sent out. The only real redeeming concept of USCLUB has been ECNL whose prestige is about to drop so watch USCLUB form leagues with promises they can't keep.

The problem lost in this is the kids.   Money, politics and trying to create coaching youth robots is not good for the system.   The focus should have been on increasing the love of the game and getting rid of these recruiters posing as coaches whose only redeeming developmental quality is their teams win from U10 to U13 to only find those players being discussed in the past tense by U15

ENERGYFC04 wrote:I see the DA more as an attempt to hurt US Club than anything else.  I'm starting to believe USYS is living in a dream world.  I've seen "A" and "B" licensed coaches who couldn't coach their way out of a shoe-box.  I've see "D" licensed coaches who were incredible at developing kids.  You essentially can be book smart that doesn't mean you have coaching common sense.  

That said, rumor has it the cost of getting a B license has almost quadrupled in the last month.   All this is a money making scheme and USYS will still search high and low for talent.

The above does not alleviate USCLUB (which i believe USYS is trying to take out).   THey themselves have lacked structure and the prevailing selling point USCLUB has pitched is autonomy to rule yourself and make up your own rules.   This has led to problems, rumors and inconsistent messages being sent out. The only real redeeming concept of USCLUB has been ECNL whose prestige is about to drop so watch USCLUB form leagues with promises they can't keep.

The problem is lost in this is the kids.   Money, politics and trying to create coaching youth robots is not good for the system.   The focus should have been on increasing the love of the game and getting rid of these recruiters posing as coaches whose only redeeming developmental quality is there teams win from U10 to U13 to only find those players being discussed in the past tense by U15

Wow! This is the most I've ever agreed with you Energy.

TSC010405 wrote:

ENERGYFC04 wrote:I see the DA more as an attempt to hurt US Club than anything else.  I'm starting to believe USYS is living in a dream world.  I've seen "A" and "B" licensed coaches who couldn't coach their way out of a shoe-box.  I've see "D" licensed coaches who were incredible at developing kids.  You essentially can be book smart that doesn't mean you have coaching common sense.  

That said, rumor has it the cost of getting a B license has almost quadrupled in the last month.   All this is a money making scheme and USYS will still search high and low for talent.

The above does not alleviate USCLUB (which i believe USYS is trying to take out).   THey themselves have lacked structure and the prevailing selling point USCLUB has pitched is autonomy to rule yourself and make up your own rules.   This has led to problems, rumors and inconsistent messages being sent out. The only real redeeming concept of USCLUB has been ECNL whose prestige is about to drop so watch USCLUB form leagues with promises they can't keep.

The problem is lost in this is the kids.   Money, politics and trying to create coaching youth robots is not good for the system.   The focus should have been on increasing the love of the game and getting rid of these recruiters posing as coaches whose only redeeming developmental quality is there teams win from U10 to U13 to only find those players being discussed in the past tense by U15

Wow!  This is the most I've ever agreed with you Energy.

Haha. I guess the only thing to say is

These are the same problems in all youth athletics. Everyone wants to cash in. I think ECNL will still fill it's role for collegiate recruiters. Even with DA, events are going to be haphazard as all of these teams are all across the nation and all are I believe ECNL clubs. So these teams still need to compete unless playing a couple of games a year are okay and then a national tournament. Also the demands of no HS play and other restrictions such as sub ruling, limit play extremely. Coaching is a must as anyone watching he Euros has seen, tiny Iceland with a population of 330,000 wiped out some big European players such as England, because of their ratio of people to Uefa licensed coaches helped extremely build the sport.

Nowadays, UEFA courses are being run locally in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik. The result is more than 800 coaches with UEFA licenses - and 185 of those hold the prestigious A license. In a country of 330,000, this means a ratio of one A-licensed coach per 1,793 people. In contrast, England, who has lost to Iceland in Tuesday's last-16 match, has an A licensed coach for every 44,537 people.

But coaching is just one part of the puzzle. According to FIFA's latest report, the country has 21,508 active football players, meaning one in every 15 people in the island plays football in some capacity.

Link: http://m.dw.com/en/euro-2016-the-numbers-behind-icelands-surprise-success/a-19361967

Until the US is willing to do this we can keep dreaming, Spain's national team was a national treasure and heavily invested in it until the financial meltdown in Europe. Iceland has done the same, it's time Sunil Gullatti did the same for US Soccer, Klinsman would be a great architect for a youth national program but his philosophy does not work with the kids we have had come up through the hodgepodge of US soccer systems and coaches.

Its a philosophy that will not change until such time as soccer becomes a legitimate top 3 sport in the US.

As for ECNL I personally go back forth. I truly believe USYS has the money and ability to eradicate ECNL and/or severely diminish it if they wish. I see the beginnings of this with SRPL changing structurally.

Further, ECNL is dependent on USCLUB which has shown with the composite teams and anything other than ECNL that it struggles both in structure and communication. You want to roll with this format? Tough decisions are forthcoming for clubs.

So will clubs like FC Dallas and Solar now play DA and ECNL or will they drop ECNL?

TSC010405 wrote:So will clubs like FC Dallas and Solar now play DA and ECNL or will they drop ECNL?

Thats what I'm curious of as well. While USYS has not said its a requirement, what if they do the following:

Upon acceptance of a DA program you have to drop your ECNL and USCLUB affiliation and send your other teams into SRPL.

Do you think the DA clubs (rumored to be around 60 - 80) will all of a sudden say "no, we are happy in ECNL" I highly doubt it. Its the ultimate leverage to destroy ECNL, prop up SRPL to mirror ECNL and make it more team centric than club centric. Got to admit, now that i've typed it if I'm USYS i do exactly this and try to destroy USCLUB who is taking some of their money along with the way.

Energy US sports teams aren't quite to the financial levels of soccer clubs worldwide, just check Forbes. When you consider life expectancy as a player, salary, continuation in the sport as a coach, trainer, pundit, Soccer blows out all other sports. It's Worldwide, hows that NFL Europe going? NBA is doing ok but provide maybe 25 talented athletes from around the globe. Soccer has a better return and as the world becomes even smaller watch soccer to overtake the US as it already has done the rest of the world. I travel quite a bit around the world and the number of Basketball, Cricket, Rugby players I see playing compared to Soccer players is insurmountable. American sports will remain American but as the wealth of the Premier League and other Leagues salaries overtake American athletics salaries who do you think the children of tommorow are going to want to emulate. You already see the kids with Messi and Ronaldo. I don't think I remember a single person growing up here it T Town wearing jersey's of Soccer players. The future is written.
As for ECNL and DA its up to my kid and whats offered but I would preder the Academic Scholarship. : )

Footballdad

I truthfully am not sure what your initial point is. If you could better explain I could respond on whether i agree or not. I fully recognize the ecomomics as well as worldwide impact of soccer. My comments above are based more on its view here in the good ole USA.

As to scholarships, your preaching to the choir. I have noted on this board many times that if a college scholarship for purposes of paying for college is your goal you should immediately pull your kid and put them money you would spend on soccer in an interest bearing account. Also, i personally do not think its coincidental that many of our best players typically are also good in the classroom.

How many of the first DA clubs also have ECNL?

If DA wants to topple ECNL all they have to do is award it to the ECNL Member clubs and make their top positioning a stipulation. That way the clubs would make DA their top league and relegate ECNL to second tier overnight. However, if USYS awards DA to clubs without ECNL there will not be one top league. ECNL may be stronger in some states and DA in others.

Looking at the first 25 DA club selections does anyone know how many of them are ECNL member clubs?

Most of them are ECNL!!!

Gunner, do you know how many of the 25 DA clubs have ECNL?

Surprised sting is not part of the initial group and wonder what Dallas Texans will do also. Energy04fc only thing I would disagree is kids interest changes at U13. My younger one is in love with soccer now, but my older two started to have other interest and did not want to train 11 out of 12 months when they got 13-14. I wouldn't blame their coach at u10-13 they played at a higher level earlier but chose other sports as they got into school athletics. I'd hate to think it was my kids coaches fault that they didn't love soccer as much when they got older. Great athletes will have multiple options as they enter school sports, and I think it hurt that their school didn't have middle school soccer to keep their interest higher.

The other big difference compared to the ECNL or U.S. Youth Soccer leagues is that the GDA will ban players from participating in high school ball. That, Heinrichs said, will only affect “1 percent” of the players in girls youth soccer. And she expects players with college and national team ambitions to be OK with skipping high school ball.

That it doesn't ban kids from high school ball will no doubt be a selling point from the ECNL when it starts competing for players with the GDA, which begins taking applications this May for the fall 2017 launch.

The applications will be evaluated by U.S. Soccer technical staff on:

• Leadership of the club and quality of the coaching staff;
• Desire to embrace and promote the core values of the program;
• U.S. Soccer license levels of coaching staff;
• Infrastructure of the club and the resources currently being invested in development (facilities, scholarships, staff to player ratio, etc.);
• History of player production for youth national teams, the senior women’s national teams, and professional leagues;
• Market and depth of the player pool, geographic location and travel implications, and proximity to other elite clubs.

They (USYS) want to own you especially the first few years to make bank, expenses are ridiculous. No HS soccer, once subbed your done, 3 sub rule with 2 year combo's, looks to be a waste of time and if this is the way the mens are going we should leave the womans alone, this is their business model, great they have cash but if the womans team starts tanking like the mens do you think it's a good model. They shure haven't proven it to me. If they are producing talent where are they. On the mens dide we have people out there from over a decade ago. I beleieve in development and if my daughter never plays where is she being developed. DA sounds like a geat recruiting tool for MLS and maybe thats why they invested millions in DA but for our girls this will only take away. Too much control the reason ECNL stepped in in the first place. Pay to be dictated too to ride the bench. Not.