Get Ready Boys & Girls-Major Changes Coming

TheFarPost wrong assumption on competitiveness of DA vs Classic League DI teams. TFC 94 from U-17 age group beat #3 DA standings team in DA Texas Region 1 to 0 this last week-end in the FC Dallas College Showcase. The TFC team with 94's beat the Texans Houston DA academy team in college showcase event before college coaches. College coaches were very impressed with the TFC team not sure about DA team.

There are some DA teams like FC Dallas U18 academy that are truely extremely good. Others are at bottom of league standings nothing more than classic league teams with alot of ceremonial hoopala. We have seen players who don't consistently start on DI classic league team start on DA team.

Soccernovice wrote:TheFarPost wrong assumption on competitiveness of DA vs Classic League DI teams. TFC 94 from U-17 age group beat #3 DA standings team in DA Texas Region 1 to 0 this last week-end in the FC Dallas College Showcase. The TFC team with 94's beat the Texans Houston DA academy team in college showcase event before college coaches. College coaches were very impressed with the TFC team not sure about DA team.

There are some DA teams like FC Dallas U18 academy that are truely extremely good. Others are at bottom of league standings nothing more than classic league teams with alot of ceremonial hoopala. We have seen players who don't consistently start on DI classic league team start on DA team.

At least your consistent Soccernovice. Congratulations to TFC U-17 beating a U15-16 DA team 1-0. That would consistently result into a shellacking from U-17/18 DA teams.

with the same coaches coaching, the technical training will not improve. more bad practice is just more bad. and from what i've seen the ecnl teams are still practicing only 2 times a week.

Until soccer pays like football,basketball and baseball the best athletes will continue play these sports.And it ain't gonna happen.

actually soccer pays better than those sports. Expand your vision and look internationally. Also take the very short average careers of football players and salary caps and it get's even worse. So if it was all about money then all the best athletes would be playing baseball, golf, or maybe boxing.

I don't think many would argue that top DA teams will usually dominate a game against the same age from the CL; however, to say that the CL will undergo major changes is simply not accurate. The CL has roughly 475 players in the U14 age group. Having 4 teams in the DA would pull less than 80 out. Sure, 80% of those would be top players, but the league will continue on...just as it has with the current DA structure.
You haven't convinced me that this new girls league will have a major impact on the boys league.

This is much ado about little, IMO. All they did was push down the decision for boys to join Academy. And as mentioned above, there's been a couple of years of talking U-14 academy with no action yet.

Shocking though it may seem, there will be people out there who will say no to academy and no to $$$$$$ travel. Those folks will continue in Classic League, and will still get a good game.

And at the end of the day, if you expect much more out of this whole endeavor than a good game of soccer, you probably need to adjust your perspective. The % of boys who will go from DA/CL to a position on a big dollar european team - or even a small dollar MLS team - or even get a significant (non-academic) scholarship to anywhere - is very, very small.

go99 wrote:actually soccer pays better than those sports. Expand your vision and look internationally. Also take the very short average careers of football players and salary caps and it get's even worse. So if it was all about money then all the best athletes would be playing baseball, golf, or maybe boxing.

I understand your point,but I'm talking about the currrent pay here in the states.Look at the average pay for the Burn.

OnTheSurface wrote:This is much ado about little, IMO. All they did was push down the decision for boys to join Academy. And as mentioned above, there's been a couple of years of talking U-14 academy with no action yet.

Shocking though it may seem, there will be people out there who will say no to academy and no to $$$$$$ travel. Those folks will continue in Classic League, and will still get a good game.

And at the end of the day, if you expect much more out of this whole endeavor than a good game of soccer, you probably need to adjust your perspective. The % of boys who will go from DA/CL to a position on a big dollar european team - or even a small dollar MLS team - or even get a significant (non-academic) scholarship to anywhere - is very, very small.

Very well said!

Regardless of age group, Academy teams (USSF) have a drastic effect on the CL teams. All the top quality players bolt to the Academy division. With the deep rosters on Academy, they even sweep up the next level down players whose parents jump at the opportunity to have their BB play on a "premier" academy team. Go watch a 94 age group game, then compare it to the quality of play from last season. There are plenty of players left to fill all the spots opened up by the movement to the Academy clubs. But the speed and quality of play suffer tremendously. The powers that be will make the decisions they feel are best for the clubs, not necessarily for the players. Although the U15/16 and up Academy teams are "free" the travel expenses add up quick. Not all parents I associate with are pleased with their family's Academy experience. TONS more practice time, MANY fewer games (not all bad in my opinion), less playing time than if their BB had stayed in CL. But they didn't feel they had an option when the entire team they had played with last season evaporated into the Academy system. Having experienced both settings, I miss many aspects of the CL system. But, progress is progress.

happyfeet wrote:I don't think many would argue that top DA teams will usually dominate a game against the same age from the CL; however, to say that the CL will undergo major changes is simply not accurate. The CL has roughly 475 players in the U14 age group. Having 4 teams in the DA would pull less than 80 out. Sure, 80% of those would be top players, but the league will continue on...just as it has with the current DA structure.
You haven't convinced me that this new girls league will have a major impact on the boys league.

The depletion of the CL argument also assumes that the talent pool as a whole in NTex is not expanding. I suspect that is not true. I suspect that the activity at the lower ages and in local associations is creating an expanding number of good players. So it may be that you can take out the top 60 in 2012 for DA, and the CL may still be at least as good as it was say 2-3 years ago, because the overall talent level in the area has been improving due to increased participation.

Playing time is very important to continue a players development. Seems like the best development environment would be where a player starts and plays as much of the game as possible. I would think being on a DA team would be of less benefit if your son is not getting adequate playing time for their continued development.

come on! everybody knows telling people your bb is on the "top" team is what's good for his development. The proper car window sticker helps too.

go99 wrote:come on! everybody knows telling people your bb is on the "top" team is what's good for his development. The proper car window sticker helps too.

I have been told by parents that their kids play soccer for free, but the sticker on the car costs thousands per yr.

Aswan wrote:This is just more top-down BS. Americans already have more opportunity to rise to high levels of competition commensurate with their abilities than in virtually any other country in the world. What we don’t have is a social order where kickin-the-ball-around is a major pastime or, alternatively, a community-based venue for regular free-play. What separates our players from other nationalities is basic ball control skills, skills developed playing around with the ball…a lot. If they really wanted to do something effectual they would encourage and support local rec associations in expanding opportunities for playing and practicing at young ages instead of creating more elite categories that will ghettoize the sport instead of popularizing it. Regular local pick-up games at age U-8 would have helped my son much more that DA ever will.

Aswan is right. The US has been a world power in almost every sport except soccer. Why not soccer? Because the percentage of our athletes that choose to pursue soccer is very small? Why? Because in most parts of the country, there isn't a place for kids in the neighborhood to go and play for free. Most communities have free basketball courts, but why not soccer fields? I have taken my kids to many soccer fields around the metroplex to practice with them and have been kicked off of almost every one of them because I didn't pay the city to rent the field. I have only found a few free fields but they all have big holes in the ground, red ants, or overgrown grass. I have been to my share of third world countries and they all have soccer fields for kids in the community to play on at no charge. (Many times they are dirt lots, but at least they are set up for soccer)
I grew up an hour outside of DFW and there were no soccer fields. My friends and I loved soccer and would have played daily during the summer if we had a place to play in our neighborhood.

Make soccer available to kids in every community around the U.S, and the talent level would rise to record levels.

actually we have more people playing soccer than the entire population of Netherlands. The fact that there is no place to just play is a major issue though. We have the players in place, the just can play.

That might be true, but our best athletes are picking other sports over soccer.
Just look at baseball/softball, there are about 70 million people in the U.S. that play that sport compared to only 16 million in soccer. And of those 16 million, soccer is a third or fourth sport for many young athletes. Most of them will only play a few seasons before giving up on soccer to concentrate on other sports.

Just think about how many college football athletes that we have in the U.S. that are freaks of nature. You can go to just about any D1 or D2 college and find quite a few guys running 4.3 or 4.4 40 yard dashes with huge vertical jumps and bench pressing 300lbs. How many of those guys played soccer growing up? Almost none of them. There are around 350 Division 1 colleges alone and probably even more Division 2 schools. If just 5% of those athletes had grown up playing soccer and focusing on soccer as their number one sport, we would easily have thousands more top end soccer athletes to choose from. We would easily be able to find 12 to 15 superstars to take the United States to the next level in international play on a yearly basis.

My view is simple if your kids is that good, you have the money great. But only 1 in a million is going to make it to the big show. If it's between MSL and College Soccer, my son knows he'll take the free ride for an education worth more in the long run.

As for my son, he plays D-2. He also plays football, basketball, cross country, track, and soccer (last year going 10-0-0 district champs) with only three kids on the team playing in classic (2) and PPL (1) in the Frisco ISD. And the best thing it's all for free.

My son is an A honor roll student taking all AP classes. As far as soccer, all he cares about is playing time no matter if it's D1 or PPL. He loves it. That's when I know his not living my dreams but his.

As for me, I happy as long as a coach does not play mind games with my son, then that's personal and a different story.

FCdad wrote:That might be true, but our best athletes are picking other sports over soccer.
Just look at baseball/softball, there are about 70 million people in the U.S. that play that sport compared to only 16 million in soccer. And of those 16 million, soccer is a third or fourth sport for many young athletes. Most of them will only play a few seasons before giving up on soccer to concentrate on other sports.

Just think about how many college football athletes that we have in the U.S. that are freaks of nature. You can go to just about any D1 or D2 college and find quite a few guys running 4.3 or 4.4 40 yard dashes with huge vertical jumps and bench pressing 300lbs. How many of those guys played soccer growing up? Almost none of them. There are around 350 Division 1 colleges alone and probably even more Division 2 schools. If just 5% of those athletes had grown up playing soccer and focusing on soccer as their number one sport, we would easily have thousands more top end soccer athletes to choose from. We would easily be able to find 12 to 15 superstars to take the United States to the next level in international play on a yearly basis.

That's a consistant argument that is made in defense of our soccer. Altidore is considered by many to be one of the better "athletes" playing soccer. He just lack the high level skill. Most would say the US team is one of the most athletic squads out there. You fail to realize or accept the difference in athletes for different sports. Might as well say if only our best athletes did gymnastics we would dominate the world. The problem is not the athletes we have. it's the soccer players we fail to develope.

go99 wrote:

FCdad wrote:That might be true, but our best athletes are picking other sports over soccer.
Just look at baseball/softball, there are about 70 million people in the U.S. that play that sport compared to only 16 million in soccer. And of those 16 million, soccer is a third or fourth sport for many young athletes. Most of them will only play a few seasons before giving up on soccer to concentrate on other sports.

Just think about how many college football athletes that we have in the U.S. that are freaks of nature. You can go to just about any D1 or D2 college and find quite a few guys running 4.3 or 4.4 40 yard dashes with huge vertical jumps and bench pressing 300lbs. How many of those guys played soccer growing up? Almost none of them. There are around 350 Division 1 colleges alone and probably even more Division 2 schools. If just 5% of those athletes had grown up playing soccer and focusing on soccer as their number one sport, we would easily have thousands more top end soccer athletes to choose from. We would easily be able to find 12 to 15 superstars to take the United States to the next level in international play on a yearly basis.

That's a consistant argument that is made in defense of our soccer. Altidore is considered by many to be one of the better "athletes" playing soccer. He just lack the high level skill. Most would say the US team is one of the most athletic squads out there. You fail to realize or accept the difference in athletes for different sports. Might as well say if only our best athletes did gymnastics we would dominate the world. The problem is not the athletes we have. it's the soccer players we fail to develope.

The problem is MLS pays Beckham 25 million and FC Dallas pays there FCD home grown players peanuts. These kids contracts are a joke. Using them as recuiting tools for their academies. The MLS needs to step up to the plate like all other major sports.
That's why soccer is dying in the US. I've talked to coach that played in the MLS and they make more money coaching players then playing in the MLS.

A few years ago FC ROMA a local team beat a MLS club in the Lamar Cup tournament with a bunch of local talent. But again it was all about money. NO SPONSERS = NO MONEY. Talent is everywhere but playing for peanuts will not cut it. I see kids in HIgh School driving newer cars then some of these players (current and ex), that's a shame. ( No disrepect to them, because I know they play for the love of the game and their dreams.)

DownTown21 wrote:My view is simple if your kids is that good, you have the money great. But only 1 in a million is going to make it to the big show. [If it's between MSL and College Soccer, my son knows he'll take the free ride for an education worth more in the long run.
As for my son, he plays D-2. He also plays football, basketball, cross country, track, and soccer (last year going 10-0-0 district champs) with only three kids on the team playing in classic (2) and PPL (1) in the Frisco ISD. And the best thing it's all for free.

My son is an A honor roll student taking all AP classes. As far as soccer, all he cares about is playing time no matter if it's D1 or PPL. He loves it. That's when I know his not living my dreams but his.

As for me, I happy as long as a coach does not play mind games with my son, then that's personal and a different story.

THERE IS NO MONEY IN COLLEGE SOCCER. THATS WHY EDUCATION IS PUSHED FOR SOCCER ATHLETES BECAUSE YOU GET MORE ACADEMIC MONEY AND THE COLLEGE SAVES THE FEW SCHOLARSHIP $$$ THEY HAVE>

[quote="FCdad"]That might be true, but our best athletes are picking other sports over soccer.
Just look at baseball/softball, there are about 70 million people in the U.S. that play that sport compared to only 16 million in soccer. And of those 16 million, soccer is a third or fourth sport for many young athletes. Most of them will only play a few seasons before giving up on soccer to concentrate on other sports.


Same poop, different pile, but here goes anyway... I think a significant reason that so many players drop soccer for other sports in this country is because so few middle schools have soccer programs. The kids want to play the sports that their school peers are playing and so often that does not include soccer. There seems to be a trend where more middle schools are starting soccer programs, but not so much where bb goes unfortunately.

As someone else pointed out, it's regularly stated that our NT has as much or more athleticism as anyone out there pretty much. We don't lack for athletes. Would finding ways to attract more players be beneficial to the quality of soccer in this country? Of course. But it's not athletes that we are missing out on, it is skilled players, and that comes down to a lack of quality coaching and training, lack of passionate and knowledgeable parents, and a lack of playing time outside of organized settings in the clubs.

Please forgive me if this was already addressed in a previous response but what does age pure mean in terms if the boys DA for U-14? Wil the age groups only be 97's or a mix if 97 and 98? Or all 98? Conflicting info out and about right now.

U-15/16: Players born on or after 1/1/1994
U-17/18: Players born on or after 1/1/1992
Players can always ‘play up'.

http://www.ussoccer.com/Teams/Development-Academy/Academy-Overview.aspx

"Roman"]As someone else pointed out, it's regularly stated that our NT has as much or more athleticism as anyone out there pretty much. We don't lack for athletes. Would finding ways to attract more players be beneficial to the quality of soccer in this country? Of course. But it's not athletes that we are missing out on, it is skilled players, and that comes down to a lack of quality coaching and training, lack of passionate and knowledgeable parents, and a lack of playing time outside of organized settings in the clubs.






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