I seem to remember that part of the mandate for DA was for DA programs to achieve a tuition free status. Aside from MLS club affiliated academies, I don't think this has worked out too well. Is there still an emphasis on achieving tuition free?
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All of the MLS academies are not yet tuition-free. Seacoast and Oakwood are nearly tuition-free, but travel expenses are not insubstantial.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post -
I don't hear too much talk about free tuition. I guess USSF is okay with status quo.Comment
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USSF is a joke. There is already talks that NEFC, Valeo and Baysidefc will get u13 and eventually u14. I think NEFC already got the ok to get more age groups.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
For those that have been around . Nothing has changed , NPL is the now DAP , MAPLE is now NEP. Same crap different people in charge.
All I have seen in the last 5 years is that it getting more expensive to play a soccer. Soccer is 4th or 5th on most Americans radar.
We just lost two good soccer players to AAU baseball on my sons teams . I am happy for baseball but sad for such a great sport like soccer.Comment
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The reality is very few clubs can afford to be tuition free - to cover expenses they'd have to really jacks up the price on other non DA teams, as well as being a large club. Smaller clubs like OW will struggle to keep prices lower (OW does a lot of fundraising and sponsorships, but folks there are worried about what getting GDA will mean for the club's financial health). Needless to say paying for DA teams wouldn't sit well with parents on other teams. To have free travel on top of that? No way. As it is some of the MLS clubs aren't thrilled about doing DA for free or very low cost either.
a better system would be much smaller and focused on the country's truly top talent. But since they haven't invented Star Trek transporters yet that isn't really an option. Either we move towards residency programs at all the MLS clubs, or we have to continue making compromises because of geographyComment
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It is looking more and more like a money grab by USSF. No offense to clubs in the area, but there aren't enough good kids to support all these DA programs, boys or girls. I was hoping that GDA would start off smaller, but the money was too appealing.Originally posted by UnregisteredComment
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USSF wants to squash ECNL. Its more about power and market share. The $ is a nice bonus. I agree that if it were really about improving our NT it would be vastly smaller, taken the clubs completely out of it, worked more closely with other leagues and spent more time and effort recruiting.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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USSF wouldn't care about squashing a league if there weren't money to be made, so I don't buy the first part of your argument at all. And if squashing to league were the purpose, it isn't going to happen right away but the money will start to flow in.Originally posted by UnregisteredComment
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This has nothing to do about the kids welfare or "development". All about the Benjamin's.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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You really want to be traveling even further than NYC for games? Sorry, but smaller just isn't viable if you want a season that has weekly league games. If you're OK with festivals every three weeks, where multiple teams gather and play four games over the weekend, then maybe, but most would argue that's not best for player development.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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Let's face it GDA is a money grab. GDA doesn't need to be free there will always be parents that will pay the tuition. May not be the best players but the clubs will take them to fill the roster. In Mass there's 2 GDA clubs how many players are on each roster per team 20 or so?
Your going to tell me there's that many players with the potential to make the national team in mass? Sorry parents but it's true how many MA players are in the us national team system now only a hand full through out all of the age groups?
Also the GDA doesn't need to be free cause women's soccer doesn't compete with many other sports besides basketball and maybe hockey lax is starting to get bigger but still is only big in certain areas.
On the boys side different story us soccer has compition from other sports where it needs to offer things free or cheap to keep players.Comment
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Regardless of what the motivation is, how is DA supposed to become free (absent having a pro team willing to foot the bill)?
Every other method is just having the non-DA kids (>99%) fund the DA kids (<1%)- jack up the tuition for the non-DA kids, sponsorships (the proceeds of which otherwise would have reduced the cost for the non-DA kids), funds directly from USSF (sucked from the non-DA kids).
And it's obvious we don't need so many DA teams for purposes of the national team, but it's a big country so the current set-up bridges the gap somewhat.
So how should it work?
How about- a handful regional residential academies, funded by USSF, supplemented by state ODPs (with USSF exerting greater control). Then USSF leaves all the rest of the kids/teams/leagues alone, but maybe banning flying to showcases.Comment
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I like this idea. Regional residential academies in 4-5 areas of the country play each other on a weekly basis. Then have festivals every 2-3 months for cross-over games with other regions. Although, one small step further and it's starting to sound like what we have now, which has the benefit of kids living at home and just traveling to showcases to play teams from other regions now and then.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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DA is already traveling farther than NYC for games.Originally posted by UnregisteredComment
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Please tell us who is grabbing the money adn what they are doing with it.Comment
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