Week 2 Predictions

I think someone said Andromeda 02 (previously Thornber Texans) are doing both PA and CL. I don't think the other clubs are really doing PA for the 02 birth year. So what PA are Andro Thornber doing? 01 or 02?

NPL is an umbrella organization organized by US Club Soccer. It is made up of independently run leagues--currently 19 leagues--from across the country. Each league determines a champion and that team earns a spot in the NPL finals in the summer and a chance to be crowned "national champion"

In Texas there are now two leagues that are member leagues of NPL.

1. Texas Pre-Academy League (aliases may include TEPAL and PA). This league was the first NPL league in the area and as Sprint mentioned it's member clubs include the 4 DA clubs from North Texas (Texans, Solar, FC Dallas, Andromeda) along with 5 clubs from South Texas which are also members of the DA (Classics Elite, Houston Dynamo, Lonestar, Texas Rush, Texans SC). This league started in 2011 and these clubs use the teams as a feeder into their DA squads.

2. South Central Premier League (aliases on this forum include NPL). This league formed one year ago with 6 inaugural teams including Liverpool FCA from North Texas, Blitz United from Tulsa and 4 teams from south Texas (Dynamos, Eclipse, Houston Express, Space City). The league format is similar to TEPAL, but with less notable clubs and no clubs with DA squads. If one of these clubs were to be invited into the DA then I suspect TEPAL would also invite them to their league. Last year was the first year for this league and Liverpool ended up forfeiting all their games across both genders and all age groups after playing a few games then having difficulty administering whatever... It seems this league is adding at least one new club City FC which is another North Texas 'club' made from 5 smaller clubs. This league in theory has the same prestige as TEPAL in that the league champ can go to the national finals and play against the various other league champs from Cali, Florida, Chicago, etc. Typcially most folks consider TEPAL to be more prestigious because the clubs attract the better players due to their DA squads, scholarships, history of winning, etc.

davito wrote:I think someone said Andromeda 02 (previously Thornber Texans) are doing both PA and CL. I don't think the other clubs are really doing PA for the 02 birth year. So what PA are Andro Thornber doing? 01 or 02?

Andromeda has both an 01 and 02 PA team.

The 01 team will play in the U13 TEPAL league. I have no idea if the roster is partly/mostly/entirely composed of Thornber's players.

Andromeda's 02 PA team trains, but doesn't have a TEPAL league to play in due to the decision to cancel U12 TEPAL this year. That team is being more creative to get games this year.

wulfgar07 wrote:I did not know that PA played more games than CL.
A friend of mine son plays PA Texans.
They don't have that many games, especially given the fact that not all rostered kids even get to travel.
That non-travelling kid's getting screwed (mostly by his delusional parent) since he cannot play CL, but sits the bench in PA.
NPL may not be up to PA's level, but the kids are getting more training than CL non-PA/NPL kids.

I would agree with the premise of your statement. The child who gets "screwed" is the one whose mama/daddy force him to play PA when he simply is concerned about playing games. PA is definitely not for everyone. It has pros and cons, believers and non-believers etc. It was designed to foster development through added and more intense training. I am not saying that it works out that way; everyone has their opinion. Many of the clubs carry upwards of 20 on a team. Only 18 can make a game roster and in many instances not all 18 will see the field equally or at all. The bottom line is that this process is all explained at the outset before one signs. It is the delusional parent that cannot accept that little johnny is the fourth option for a game and does not believe in the "training for development" process that gets upset and causes commotion within the team or on the forum with negative comments etc.

Everyone has their separate beliefs for what they think is ideal for their situation. Rather than be critical of a particular situation, program or coach, go find that ideal that you think exists. PA is not for every child or parent and not every club or team within PA is for every individual. However, the expectations are clearly set forth with the PA clubs and if you claim that they were not, you were either not listening or reading or are very well delusional....

getafe01 wrote:

wulfgar07 wrote:I did not know that PA played more games than CL.
A friend of mine son plays PA Texans.
They don't have that many games, especially given the fact that not all rostered kids even get to travel.
That non-travelling kid's getting screwed (mostly by his delusional parent) since he cannot play CL, but sits the bench in PA.
NPL may not be up to PA's level, but the kids are getting more training than CL non-PA/NPL kids.

I would agree with the premise of your statement.  The child who gets "screwed" is the one whose mama/daddy force him to play PA when he simply is concerned about playing games.  PA is definitely not for everyone.  It has pros and cons, believers and non-believers etc.  It was designed to foster development through added and more intense training.  I am not saying that it works out that way; everyone has their opinion.  Many of the clubs carry upwards of 20 on a team.  Only 18 can make a game roster and in many instances not all 18 will see the field equally or at all.  The bottom line is that this process is all explained at the outset before one signs.  It is the delusional parent that cannot accept that little johnny is the fourth option for a game and does not believe in the "training for development" process that gets upset and causes commotion within the team or on the forum with negative comments etc.  

Everyone has their separate beliefs for what they think is ideal for their situation.  Rather than be critical of a particular situation, program or coach, go find that ideal that you think exists.  PA is not for every child or parent and not every club or team within PA is for every individual.  However, the expectations are clearly set forth with the PA clubs and if you claim that they were not, you were either not listening or reading or are very well delusional....

Thanks,
I couldn't have stated it any better.
Don't blame PA if your kid's constantly sitting.
The parent drove the child there. The parent signed the child up.
The parent had to have read or listened to the rules of PA.
The parent should pay attention to whether or not PA is beneficial to his or her child.

When asked to join a team for NPL, I declined.
BB's barely holding his own right now in CL.

The kid sitting in PA can always go play CL.  Since they are separate chartering organizations (US Club Soccer vs. USYSA), PA kids can play for their club's CL team or for any other non-PA CL team.

There is really no excuse for not playing other than wanting the "prestige" of being on a PA team.

How is that fair to the kid on the CL team that is losing his spot to a PA kid who likely doesn't even train with the team.

Should he be dual- rostered in another league for those days as well?

debit wrote:NPL is an umbrella organization organized by US Club Soccer.  It is made up of independently run leagues--currently 19 leagues--from across the country.  Each league determines a champion and that team earns a spot in the NPL finals in the summer and a chance to be crowned "national champion"

In Texas there are now two leagues that are member leagues of NPL.

1. Texas Pre-Academy League (aliases may include TEPAL and PA).  This league was the first NPL league in the area and as Sprint mentioned it's member clubs include the 4 DA clubs from North Texas (Texans, Solar, FC Dallas, Andromeda) along with 5 clubs from South Texas which are also members of the DA (Classics Elite, Houston Dynamo, Lonestar, Texas Rush, Texans SC).  This league started in 2011 and these clubs use the teams as a feeder into their DA squads.

2. South Central Premier League (aliases on this forum include NPL).  This league formed one year ago with 6 inaugural teams including Liverpool FCA from North Texas, Blitz United from Tulsa and 4 teams from south Texas (Dynamos, Eclipse, Houston Express, Space City).  The league format is similar to TEPAL, but with less notable clubs and no clubs with DA squads.  If one of these clubs were to be invited into the DA then I suspect TEPAL would also invite them to their league.  Last year was the first year for this league and Liverpool ended up forfeiting all their games across both genders and all age groups after playing a few games then having difficulty administering whatever... It seems this league is adding at least one new club City FC which is another North Texas 'club' made from 5 smaller clubs.  This league in theory has the same prestige as TEPAL in that the league champ can go to the national finals and play against the various other league champs from Cali, Florida, Chicago, etc.  Typcially most folks consider TEPAL to be more prestigious because the clubs attract the better players due to their DA squads, scholarships, history of winning, etc.

This is all correct, but would also like to note that all the teams in SCPL are classified as true birth year, so Liverpool either makes a new team with 99 born boys or girls or competes with an intact 00 boys or girls team in the U15 divisions (and so on for the U13 to U18 age groups).  

Also, it is important to differentiate the Region III Southern Premier League which is broken down geographically for Region 3 into three leagues.  The top 4 classic league teams play in Premier League West beginning at U14.  The parent of this is U.S. Youth Soccer which is the parent of NTSSA which begets Classic League, local Premier Leagues and ODP.

So, there are three governing organizations that your boy may encounter.  

1) United States Soccer Federation - DA teams; outstanding players are recommended to do National Team Training Sessions for identification purposes (and regional combines to national combines). (true birth year)

2) U.S. Club Soccer - Pre-Academy leagues such as TEPAL and South Central Premier League.
(ID done same way)(true birth year)

3) U.S. Youth Soccer - National Premier League, Regional Premier League, Premier League West, Classic League and Local Premier Leagues. (Aug-July year)  ID done through ODP (true birth year).

[quote="earbucket"]
2) U.S. Club Soccer - Pre-Academy leagues such as TEPAL and South Central Premier League.
(ID done same way)(true birth year)
quote]

US Club Soccer has an Olympic Development Program of their own called id2.  (true birth year)

Tx Hotspur wrote:

earbucket wrote:
2) U.S. Club Soccer - Pre-Academy leagues such as TEPAL and South Central Premier League.
(ID done same way)(true birth year)
quote]

US Club Soccer has an Olympic Development Program of their own called id2.  (true birth year)

Yes, you are correct. My point intended to state that USSF also calls PA players for the NT identification sessions. Not to take anything away from the id2 program, but considering that USSF is the organization that selects National Teams then I recognize that as a more direct route.

vaquero wrote:PA plays less games. 01"s last year played anywhere from 12-16 games for the whole season and far less tournaments.... Remember it's about development. No dual rostered PA players on FCD Pino but looks like they could use some.

Let’s keep in mind that this year U13, if you finish in the top 4 in D1 qualifies you for Premier League West Southern Division next year at U14. You will play more games, Classic League as well as Premier League games that requires more traveling to south Texas and Oklahoma. But more exposure as the boys get older.