GDAP will be ruinous for girls development

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Everyone is right. Stop trying to win the discussion. Make the choice that feels right for you, and allow others to do the same.

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Everyone is right. Stop trying to win the discussion. Make the choice that feels right for you, and allow others to do the same.

Amen,

But HS vs DA is apples and oranges. Each to her own. Remember soccer is fun and fun comes in many flavors.

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NY lurker here! I get people's issue with HS soccer. My oldest loved it, it's honestly what convinced her to play in college. Her club tean was middle of the road NPL and she wasn't sure she could cut it in college play, but after a ton of accolades (multiple MVP awards, All-state/region/county etc, team captain, all-star team) she had the confidence to talk to college coaches and "sell" herself. I know people will say those awards don't mean anything, but when you have a kid who isn't sure she's good enough to play D1, that kind of acknowledgement means the world to her self-esteem. She's currently a junior and very happy playing for a mid-level D1 program.

My younger one would walk away from HS soccer in a heartbeat. She's a much better technical player than her sister ever was and is a starter on her ECNL team and gets good PT. She definitely wants to play in college. Here's the thing, she will NEVER consider giving up HS track. She's been on Varsity track since she was 12 (7th grade) and while she and Her coaches all know it's her "2nd sport", she loves it. So what do you do when school soccer isn't the issue, but another sport is? Her love of track doesn't lessen her desire to become the best soccer player she can, it doesn't lessen her desire to play with the best in her age group. Soccer (as it does now) would still come first, But That's not good enough. My kid was very interested in GDA. She's not been to a YNT camp but gets invited to NTCs and ID2 and PDP and all that, so I'm guessing she'd be a good fit for GDA, but she'll never go out for it.

Make a deal with the local gda team for her to run track. If the gda wants her on the team, they wil say it is fine.

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And the U.S. will still have crappy National teams and your kids won't be on them! 😜. HS is high school... It's fun! Have a blast with your intense "Academy" level soccer... I'm sure it will get you far in life.

Like a previous poster mentioned, kids play soccer for many different reasons. They don't always play it purely to have fun. For some kids, high school soccer is perfect. It's a social outlet, a way to be recognized by friends and family, a way to connect to their community, and they have fun. It seems many parents of these kids posting on here see their player having a such a great time in their HS program, and don't understand how another parent could allow their kid to miss out on this.

But for some kids, soccer is something they choose to work extremely hard at and put a ton of time into perfecting their skills. They will have fun with soccer on their off days, playing pick-up with friends or messing around in the backyard with their family, but they want more from it than just fun. It's way to test themselves, see how hard they can push themselves to be the best they can be, to continually strive to reach the next level. They derive satisfaction and enjoyment from realizing self improvement, even if it may not be considered pure fun all the time.

Most of these kids playing high school soccer "just for fun" may be choosing to put some serious time and energy into something else, such as a musical instrument or drawing, whereas a kid in DAP may mess around on the piano at home purely for fun. What's most important is to let the kids choose that area of passion and how "serious" they want to make it, and to realize that what makes your kid feel happy and fulfilled may be very different than that of another poster's kid.

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Like a previous poster mentioned, kids play soccer for many different reasons. They don't always play it purely to have fun. For some kids, high school soccer is perfect. It's a social outlet, a way to be recognized by friends and family, a way to connect to their community, and they have fun. It seems many parents of these kids posting on here see their player having a such a great time in their HS program, and don't understand how another parent could allow their kid to miss out on this.

But for some kids, soccer is something they choose to work extremely hard at and put a ton of time into perfecting their skills. They will have fun with soccer on their off days, playing pick-up with friends or messing around in the backyard with their family, but they want more from it than just fun. It's way to test themselves, see how hard they can push themselves to be the best they can be, to continually strive to reach the next level. They derive satisfaction and enjoyment from realizing self improvement, even if it may not be considered pure fun all the time.

Most of these kids playing high school soccer "just for fun" may be choosing to put some serious time and energy into something else, such as a musical instrument or drawing, whereas a kid in DAP may mess around on the piano at home purely for fun. What's most important is to let the kids choose that area of passion and how "serious" they want to make it, and to realize that what makes your kid feel happy and fulfilled may be very different than that of another poster's kid.

Plenty of kids playing HS soccer are also very serious about soccer. Now the girls will have to make choices between two paths. The boys haven't had options but now will with ECNL. We won't see the true results of how it all shakes out for 2-3 years. The battle has just begun - this is all lead up to the real fight

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Like a previous poster mentioned, kids play soccer for many different reasons. They don't always play it purely to have fun. For some kids, high school soccer is perfect. It's a social outlet, a way to be recognized by friends and family, a way to connect to their community, and they have fun. It seems many parents of these kids posting on here see their player having a such a great time in their HS program, and don't understand how another parent could allow their kid to miss out on this.

But for some kids, soccer is something they choose to work extremely hard at and put a ton of time into perfecting their skills. They will have fun with soccer on their off days, playing pick-up with friends or messing around in the backyard with their family, but they want more from it than just fun. It's way to test themselves, see how hard they can push themselves to be the best they can be, to continually strive to reach the next level. They derive satisfaction and enjoyment from realizing self improvement, even if it may not be considered pure fun all the time.

Most of these kids playing high school soccer "just for fun" may be choosing to put some serious time and energy into something else, such as a musical instrument or drawing, whereas a kid in DAP may mess around on the piano at home purely for fun. What's most important is to let the kids choose that area of passion and how "serious" they want to make it, and to realize that what makes your kid feel happy and fulfilled may be very different than that of another poster's kid.

DA for girls will simply be a watered down league (that's the point). Your dream of "Academy level" soccer for girls is just that... A dream! It barely works for the boys (if it even does) and there are more of them out there who may be interested in that option.

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered View Post
While I agree with most of your points I don't think you made an effective argument as to why "GDA will be ruinous for girls development." My thinking is that while it won't be "ruinous" it also think it won't be helpful either. So in the meantime girls soccer will get watered down even more, more turmoil and tough decisions to be made - and for what? A 1/10th degree of improvement in the NT, who already play each other the same ECNL teams and then have their own NT training? All they're doing now is playing each other with new uniforms. It isn't like there were two AMAZING leagues out there and they're being combined into one for the best of the best. It's another shell game by USSF.



Ha! That's a good one. Now let's get back to the original question. The term "ruinous" was referring to development overall, not just soccer. It was a bit of hyperbole, simply to get the ball rolling. That said I do believe that GDAP will be a negative for girls development net/net. Pulling kids out of all extracurriculars at the age of 12/13 limits their exposure to other activities, putting an overemphasis on soccer over all else. Now let's play it forward. Here are the possible outcomes:

1. Kid makes NT and plays 6 years in the pro league. (and there are 22 spots, how likely is that?). 1-2 will be wealthy enough to call their own shots. The rest, will have to get a real job. However, they know nothing else other than soccer. Wind up as your local club coach. If lucky, get a college gig....

2. Kid makes a top 20 program (let's say 150 slots available/yr). Classes geared around practices and games, limited their education. At the end of it all, they can look back at their soccer accomplishments, but what else have they got? No memories of hanging out with friends after practices and games. No connection with their high school or community. Soccer has been their whole life. Where do they go from there? (Have a look at the coaches at your local club, is that the best career choice for kids?).

3. Kid makes a mid-major (could also be accomplished with ECNL, NPL or attending clinics).
Left wondering what life would have been like if, they had been able to do more things as an adolescent.

4. Kid decides gets cut, injured or decides that it's not for them after a couple of years. Kid misses out on a couple of years hanging out with their HS friends, playing other sports becoming part of the community (e.g. being a kid!). May join HS as a junior, but their high school experience is limited. However, at least they'll have some HS left.

5. Kid goes through DA, gets a scholarship, burns out as a freshman never to play again.

Which ones of these are most/least likely for the DA kids?

I love how some here want to project that super talented person like a professional athlete is nothing but dumb robot that has nothing but their athleticism to fall back on in life. They are the very caricature of the typical cock blocking club soccer parent fueled by jealousy and anger that the soccer clubs feast on. They are the same types of parents who would literally kill their neighbor to have their kid get into an Ivy League school not realizing that the same type of highly talented, highly motivated, over achieving people that go to school at places like them are usually the same type of athletes that are drawn to programs like the DA. Sure the DA will have their fair share of future drunks, social misfits, and failures, lord knows places like Harvard aren't immune from them, so why would anyone label something like the DA a failure simply because one of it's participants ended up to be a CEO instead of a world class soccer player?

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DA for girls will simply be a watered down league (that's the point). Your dream of "Academy level" soccer for girls is just that... A dream! It barely works for the boys (if it even does) and there are more of them out there who may be interested in that option.

Love it. A league where 99% of the top 1% of players will end up competing is supposedly going to be watered down but presumably the lower level leagues (read ECNL) are going to be the very definition of competitiveness instead. Not too much of a bias here.

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DA for girls will simply be a watered down league (that's the point). Your dream of "Academy level" soccer for girls is just that... A dream! It barely works for the boys (if it even does) and there are more of them out there who may be interested in that option.

It barely works for the boys because u[p until this fall boys have had no choice, plus the potential (albeit very limited) for a professional path and at least a decent number of free to play clubs. Things are shifting on the boys side as well, particularly at the non MLS clubs. Many are questioning if it's all worth it. Both boys and girls is just going to be more watered down. But USSF doesn't care about that - they just care about their top 1%.

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Love it. A league where 99% of the top 1% of players will end up competing is supposedly going to be watered down but presumably the lower level leagues (read ECNL) are going to be the very definition of competitiveness instead. Not too much of a bias here.

Please. A large percentage of the top talent is and will not be in either one of these leagues.

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A large percentage of the top talent is not and will not be in either one of these leagues.

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Love it. A league where 99% of the top 1% of players will end up competing is supposedly going to be watered down but presumably the lower level leagues (read ECNL) are going to be the very definition of competitiveness instead. Not too much of a bias here.

Oh, so where are these amazing break-out players going to come from, exactly? Are they hiding now? All of the sudden an extra 8 weeks of "competitive" training (in place of high school), will now somehow improve players so drastically that there will be enough talent in the area to make strong DA Clubs/teams AND ECNL teams (even if I go with the theory that ECNL will be "lower level"... which I'm not so sure about)? And if that doesn't happen, then yes, the league(s) -- plural -- will be watered down as they fight for the limited talent in the area. Where's the confusion? On that note though, I really don't care on the girls side as I have boys... but just think things through here. That's all. Good luck to all!

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A large percentage of the top talent is not and will not be in either one of these leagues.

Top talent as determined by whom? Sure in u-littles "top talent" is spread far and wide including boys leagues. By the time high school hits it has begun to concentrate. It will be even more concentrated in a few years. Next year the high school seniors who enjoy high school soccer will probably stay in their current club. However, there will be a significant shift to DA evident in the u14 and u15 if not u16/17 age groups of the best players.

FYI all of you projecting your own (back when the world of youth sports was very different) or your daughter's experiences onto other people's children and choices are misdirected. I have two kids one loves high school although as a very defensive midfielder gets no accolades yet loves the camaraderie etc. So you describe her well. My younger kid is different. She hated her year of high school soccer despite the accolades. She is smaller and afraid for her safety as kids are constantly late on tackles and refs are less than adequate at protecting kids. The older kids don't want her to show them up and all but play keep away around her.Yet, to many's chagrin, she was the one on the team to earn the accolades. Sometimes the best kids don't so much love high school soccer and are very happy that there is now an alternative for them.

Like someone said. each kid makes her own decision based on her personal experiences, and goals. No right answer for any kid. But you are delusional if you think the "top talent" already hasn't been concentrated. It will definitely dilute next year between the ECNL and GDA with the older ages and kids making the high school or not choice, but with the youngers, soon it will be clear to all, especially the top college and YNT scouts, where the "top talent" is again.

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Please. A large percentage of the top talent is and will not be in either one of these leagues.

Many certainly won't be going to GDA, at least based on who is trying out, signing up. Like someone said it's not like there's all these other fantastic players lurking in the woods waiting for just the right thing. Top players are mostly in ECNL, a few NPL and they're known entities. There isn't an untapped supply of players out there. Maybe over time talent migrates over, but GDA has the pressure of needing to be a success off the bat in order to attract college coaches and talent. If it is seen as floundering then bringing over talent gets that much more difficult.

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The idea that that majority of best talent has the resources to be competing in either one of theses leagues is laughable.

You are living in a bubble if you think most families can put their players in the ECNL or GDAP.