Interesting... US Soccer assessing all the USDA clubs

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Read this article to see what US soccer is doing with all the USDA clubs..

http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016...my-development

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Excellent read. Thanks for posting. Good to see that they are looking for continual improvement in the program. However, some of it reminded of when I worked for big companies - lots of pretty graphs and talk talk talk. 700-800 key measures of evaluation?

But, this part is important, especially in light of the plans to do girls DA

"Double PASS believes the incentive system connected with its certification is a big reason for the success of the nations with which the company works in Europe. Its CEO, Schoukens, mentioned return on investment as a major driving factor for the work academies do.

“For us, it’s a little bit strange that Development Academies end their development at [age] 18. What is the next step?” Schoukens said. “The objective of setting up an academy is to bring them to your first team, in Europe; that’s the basic idea.”

In the U.S., college soccer remains a major draw for players graduating from Development Academy teams. However, if players don’t sign homegrown player contracts out of MLS academies and expenses-paid clubs aren’t compensated for moving players on, Schoukens said it’s difficult to find any return on the clubs’ investment in development.

“If you consider not the pay-to-play system—if you consider it as for-free development—well then, the return on investment should be provoked by the transition of players into the first team,” he said. “So the business model of the Development Academies today is a business model, I think, for 50% of these clubs based on the pay-to-play system; 50% are already evolving into for-free development. But then my question is, where are they going to find their return on investment? Because at 18, thank you very much, I got a good education or a good development in your club and now, what is the next step?”

A financial incentive, Schoukens said, could be a step in the process toward eradicating the pay-to-play system that limits participation in elite soccer only to those who can afford the costs and rewarding all academies, whether they are connected to MLS franchises or not, for developing players.

“Why should [the academies] do this [work without reward]?” he said. “There is always the intrinsic motivation, but there is also the extrinsic motivation. By the end, people can be idealists, but at a certain moment, that ends.”

Mooney said the federation hasn’t ruled out some sort of incentive system."

So it doesn't work well on the mens' side with professional teams that can pay for development. There essentially is no pro league on the women's side

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what needs to be done first is getting rid of a lot of the DA's that are not developing kids. There are to many with average to below average and then no development. How can we expect to have home grown pro's??? then can you imagine a 2nd tier level league. God its bad enough watching the top teams now and whats coming up next is worse. U19 cant even beat canary Island do they even have enough people to have a team.. wake up

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well after reading the article I will say that if they evaluated Kendall then I don't see how that could be a positive evaluation. The U15/16 coach needs to go no development no idea how to coach. Plus the director is only picking kids that are big. Know a few that tried out that are way better skilled then some on the DA but they were still a bit small. What a joke to think they could keep up the winning. Coach is lazy and director really doesnt care or he'd get better coaching. So until anyone is going to tell these clubs the truth we are paying for this service and getting nothing out of it.

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To date DA hasn't relegated that many clubs, but I think that is finally changing. This evaluation process is part of that. It's been running for close to ten years now - clubs couldn't have been expected to meet criteria straight out of the gate. But now they've been given ample time to up their performance. Clubs that aren't cutting it need to be cut. Even some MLS clubs don't do a great job with development - they can win games because they capture the best talent in their area. Good to see the call for more accountability

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I will believe it when it starts to happen. which should be this next year but like all U.S. soccer they will keep pushing it back for some reason. And until they get qualified coaches to start really understanding what development means(like looking at skill vs speed game intelligence vs pushy and strong passing team play vs kick and run) we will not grow as youth soccer players. DA is not doing a good job at this is south FL. When will that be addressed. Bring an outsider in for picking the DA players have them run drills and skill along with play and you might have a different academy.

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To date DA hasn't relegated that many clubs, but I think that is finally changing. This evaluation process is part of that. It's been running for close to ten years now - clubs couldn't have been expected to meet criteria straight out of the gate. But now they've been given ample time to up their performance. Clubs that aren't cutting it need to be cut. Even some MLS clubs don't do a great job with development - they can win games because they capture the best talent in their area. Good to see the call for more accountability

Only 1/3 the evaluations done, I doubt they will do much with the information until they are all done. As far as Kendall I agree generally with the previous assessment. Until they are all free(DA'S) we will not have the best development. The picks are many times politically based, as they have no skin in the game, and they load up their teams to 30+ players. cha-ching goes the cash register....

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I will believe it when it starts to happen. which should be this next year but like all U.S. soccer they will keep pushing it back for some reason. And until they get qualified coaches to start really understanding what development means(like looking at skill vs speed game intelligence vs pushy and strong passing team play vs kick and run) we will not grow as youth soccer players. DA is not doing a good job at this is south FL. When will that be addressed. Bring an outsider in for picking the DA players have them run drills and skill along with play and you might have a different academy.

In region C they pick DA kids on size and speed. Here is the tryout- Warm up, small sided game into 11v11. Coaches- "Ok, who did you notice?" "Big kid that could plow through the team, is on my list". "yea, let's take him". "what about the small kid that has a awesome first touch and vision?" "No, he needs to grow".

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In region C they pick DA kids on size and speed. Here is the tryout- Warm up, small sided game into 11v11. Coaches- "Ok, who did you notice?" "Big kid that could plow through the team, is on my list". "yea, let's take him". "what about the small kid that has a awesome first touch and vision?" "No, he needs to grow".

I don't know where you get your information but I find it false. I have seen all the region c DA's play and I find it to be the opposite of what you say. There are quite a few bigger kids in the DA's but they, for the most part, have excellent touch and vision. Maybe you kid got passed over for being too small which is unfortunate. However, if it comes down to taking a guy with good skill that is also big and fast over a smaller kid with good skill, which do you think any team would select? Sorry, those are just the facts of life, unfair or not.

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I don't know where you get your information but I find it false. I have seen all the region c DA's play and I find it to be the opposite of what you say. There are quite a few bigger kids in the DA's but they, for the most part, have excellent touch and vision. Maybe you kid got passed over for being too small which is unfortunate. However, if it comes down to taking a guy with good skill that is also big and fast over a smaller kid with good skill, which do you think any team would select? Sorry, those are just the facts of life, unfair or not.

Excellent touch and vision? I would say, average touch and vision. I think you missed the point. I think the point was a bigger player with average touch and vision or a smaller player with above average touch and vision. Who do they take or should take? I think the OP said they tend to take the bigger kid. Do they do any technical aspects of the tryout or just scrimmage?

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Excellent touch and vision? I would say, average touch and vision. I think you missed the point. I think the point was a bigger player with average touch and vision or a smaller player with above average touch and vision. Who do they take or should take? I think the OP said they tend to take the bigger kid. Do they do any technical aspects of the tryout or just scrimmage?

I agree. There should be more technical aspects to a try-out. But the main thing is this:
Coaches have a limited time to see which kids are best. So they have to go with the kids that stand out. However they stand out. Whether its because they blew by 3 smaller kids. Or they kicked the ball across the field 50 yards. Whether its a legit reason or not, if it catches the coaches eye, that kid stands out. It may be unfair. But thats the reality. I have a smaller kid that is talented but sometimes goes unnoticed in a game because other kids are running 100 MPH past him. He does everything right but simply doesn't do anything to stand apart from the rest.

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OK but see this is the point in whats wrong with U.S. soccer. If a coach does not have time to run drills and see skill before they play then we as a country will go further down hill. Taking the time is what makes Europe Spain etc better than us. Its laziness on directors and coaches. always feeling bigger will win. sorry Kendall but 35 kids that don't have great vision or touch isn't going to develop. That is what this company should be telling them. Put someone else in charge. even the U17/18 is not doing well???

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I agree. There should be more technical aspects to a try-out. But the main thing is this:
Coaches have a limited time to see which kids are best. So they have to go with the kids that stand out. However they stand out. Whether its because they blew by 3 smaller kids. Or they kicked the ball across the field 50 yards. Whether its a legit reason or not, if it catches the coaches eye, that kid stands out. It may be unfair. But thats the reality. I have a smaller kid that is talented but sometimes goes unnoticed in a game because other kids are running 100 MPH past him. He does everything right but simply doesn't do anything to stand apart from the rest.

I have a big kid that has outstanding above average touch and vision. He is growing so tall, he looks a little bit uncoordinated. He does not have a lot of muscle right now, but a large frame to add quite a bit. He appears a little slow right now due to the lack of muscle, do you think he should be selected to DA?

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I have a big kid that has outstanding above average touch and vision. He is growing so tall, he looks a little bit uncoordinated. He does not have a lot of muscle right now, but a large frame to add quite a bit. He appears a little slow right now due to the lack of muscle, do you think he should be selected to DA?

Go away.

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Go away.

strike a nerve?