Pre-Academy Results

How did the 99s season start out. Any results and thoughts??

Texans 3 Andromeda 0 at the half not sure what the final score was though

That was the final score in a decently played game though I was expecting a bigger blowout by the mightly wanna be Texans. But please stop posting scores or any other information concerning the Texans because HN doesn't want any information flowing in or out of the organization. He's afraid people on the inside will find out there's a better world beyond the Texans and that people on the outside will learn that all there is to the mystique is an egomaniac that runs it his way and that its all about the Texans and that's it. Afterall he has to pay for that new pad. Just ask the recent coaches who dared to disagree, Molina, Doyle, Massimo....who's next.

The bigger question, Sparky might be how many boys got to sit this one out because they did not make the game day 18?

Texans looked solid throughout, once the subbing began in the second half the game leveled out a bit and was not as one sided, although I don't think Andro got a shot on goal the entire second half and the Texans should have scored a few more.

This is a very talented age group for the Texans right now, not only the talent on the current '99 PreA team but '99 BBs on the '98 PreA team that are playing up. For all the things HN is doing wrong he must be doing something right.

Not sure I see Andro being competitve again in the 99s or 98s but I don't think it will be as bad as the -107 goal differental that they put up last year. It looks like they are trying but still years away on the PreA side in being competitive.

I did not see anyone that did not suit up, that may be do to injuries but rostering 19-20 is not that uncommon compared to other PreA teams so no surprises there either.

Does anyone have a link to follow the pre academy games?

plantit wrote:

Does anyone have a link to follow the pre academy games?

http://npltexas.demosphere.com/schedules/2012-2013/50651372.html

The German wrote:

plantit wrote:

Does anyone have a link to follow the pre academy games?

http://npltexas.demosphere.com/schedules/2012-2013/50651372.html

OK..I will post as it seems that some are reticent to throw this out. Credible source...quoting someone within the CL office says that PA is history...causes far too many problems for CL(money maker) and that major changes are coming...PA possibly being donee/finished after this year...anyone?

I'm a complete novice at this PA stuff.

I thought PA was national USSF thing, not a local Classic League thingy. Particularly since not all the teams in the league are from DFW. IBRA, can you elaborate, please. Just curious.

Say it taint soo.. How could the soccer GODS of pre Acd ever be asked to come back down to earth and play with mere mortals in classic league ? It just won't be fair . Thats It! we're quiting. The talent gap will just be too big to overcome ..

What's left for PA once we have DA for U13/U14 next year?

The German wrote:What's left for PA once we have DA for U13/U14 next year?

Pa and DA for a fetus in the third trimester . The supply of club affiliated diapers will run a tad more than than the standard warm ups, but when has a little money ever stopped the over zealous parents.

Ibra wrote:

The German wrote:

plantit wrote:

Does anyone have a link to follow the pre academy games?

http://npltexas.demosphere.com/schedules/2012-2013/50651372.html

OK..I will post as it seems that some are reticent to throw this out. Credible source...quoting someone within the CL office says that PA is history...causes far too many problems for CL(money maker) and that major changes are coming...PA possibly being donee/finished after this year...anyone?

if this is true then all hell is going to break loose and alot of d2,d3,and ppl/apl kids parents that have now found spots on d1 teams will be very very nervous

Its all about perspective. HN is doing something right, mostly for himself and the business. The focus is in the wrong place.

DA will replace PA, CL will not be affected.

The only 'entity' that will be adversely affected will be US Club Soccer. As they are the governing body of the PA leagues.

PA is essentially a money grab/marketing tool for the DA clubs anyway. (Player/team quality issues aside.)

DA at U13/14 I feel is another money grab. If it's really about developing players, adding all that regional/national travel in at those ages actually impedes development.

Why spend all that time traveling when you can spend it with the ball?

"Quality of competition" doesn't become important until U15/16 anyway. Younger players need a mix of "sharpening and leveling". Games against lesser competition can be as beneficial as playing better competition.

I think this will actually help the nonDA member clubs. If they do it right, they can offer more without sacrificing quality.

Please explain it to me like i was an 8 year old.., what is the difference between PA and DA? PA = Pre Academy, DA = ?? Confused... little help please.

soccerpapa wrote:Please explain it to me like i was an 8 year old.., what is the difference between PA and DA? PA = Pre Academy, DA = ?? Confused... little help please.

Wellll...OK, you asked :-):

Development Academy (DA) is supposed to be where young lads sacrifice their high school soccer careers so that they can someday grow up to play for the USMNT while waiting on a big money contract from Barcelona, Real Madrid, or maybe the Columbus Crew (not so big $ in that case but nice yellow uni's). Anyways, that was working so well and fine, the powers that be decided to start a Pre-Development Academy for promising youngsters who were not old enough to be in DA but whose parents still had gobs of money to spend. This was going to be called PDA, but that acronym was already in use with a totally different meaning, so they had to settle on PA (with an implied D). Anyway, sounds like DA is now moving into PA age groups which will give PA the choice of either disbanding, or maybe moving to even lower age groups. "Hi son, welcome to the Texans U4 Pre-Academy team"! It's coming...

Laimport wrote:The only 'entity' that will be adversely affected will be US Club Soccer. As they are the governing body of the PA leagues.

PA is essentially a money grab/marketing tool for the DA clubs anyway. (Player/team quality issues aside.)

DA at U13/14 I feel is another money grab. If it's really about developing players, adding all that regional/national travel in at those ages actually impedes development.

Why spend all that time traveling when you can spend it with the ball?

"Quality of competition" doesn't become important until U15/16 anyway. Younger players need a mix of "sharpening and leveling". Games against lesser competition can be as beneficial as playing better competition.

I think this will actually help the nonDA member clubs. If they do it right, they can offer more without sacrificing quality.

Laimpart, I don't understand your logic of DA being a money grabber. USSF DA was founded to provide a more focused environment to develop players for the national team(and thus the US in general). USSF looses money, until they sell more tickets to the US National games. Clubs break even at best since they don't collect dues on the team. Younger kids come to big clubs on reputation, DA doesn't help that. Club's like Solar and Texans used to win national championships with there #1 teams all the time, now they have to travel and play tougher teams in the DA realm it is harder to get those acclaims. Now, if airlines and hotels founded USSF, then might share your opinion that it is a money grabber...but they didn't, alot of the clubs went into it reluctantly as well. I would argue that DA is less of a money grabber than select soccer in general, and I welcome a counter argument.

Your travel instead touches argument is goofy, there are around 6000 waking hours in a year...30-40 hours of travel isn't going to prevent any significant touches of the ball. The boys can also use that travel time, doing HW, playing video games, and other kids stuff, and still have time in the day to get their touches in.

I do agree that U13/U14 the stiffest competition might not be for every kid, and could be counter productive...For other kids even at U13/U14 it is exactly what motivates them...If there are enough of those kids to field a team, then great go for it. No-one is forced into playing DA at U13/U14 they can wait(or not enter it ever), and for some(particularly smaller kids) it might be better choice to not do it at that age.

Also, DA teams will scrimmage teams of lesser competition quite a bit, but they also get to test there limits often, and have to learn to play faster. Ultimately, playing faster is the difference between good players and great ones. On a side note I have seen ETP play only once last year, my experience was big, fast, skilled players, good style of play, although it was hard to pick out there style because they could not keep up with the pace of the opposition. Only a small sample, but IMHO the difference in the teams, was the winning team played in fast paced games all year where it was easy to loose half or more of those games, and while ETP tried to play in tourneys where they could win.

Your arguments for ETP and against DA are weak.

First 'refs', you answered the question yourself. Where the DA "makes money" is in their feeder programs. USSF may subsidize the program, true, but the coaches are able to point and say, "look at what we've done".

In other words, it is leverage to market the club to parents.

For the record, I don't object philosophically or in theory to what the DA 'tries' to do.

Fewer meaningless games, more training are noble and ideal.

Regarding the travel aspect, my point is that travelling (albeit occasionally) out of state for nonleague games (if they follow the same pattern as older DA teams with required nonconference games)is really not necessary at u13/14.

Especially given the already competitive nature of NTX soccer. So, calling them "DA" is fine. Hell, practice 3/4 times a week. That's not the issue. But there's little reason to travel outside of NTX at that age for competition. If nothing else, they can play up against older teams either in CL or tournaments. Then schedule some friendlies.

But if they approach the u13/14 DA group in the same way...I'm not buying into it.

Not when its supposed to be about the players.

The ETP thing is a separate thread and topic.

But I'll play....

You said you saw ETP play "last year"? Well, there are 5 completely new players that you haven't seen play. So, in essence you are assuming you know more about the team than you actually do.

First, I wouldn't characterize us as big and fast. In fact, by U16 standards we are quite small. Maybe 1/4th of the roster weighs more than 150 lbs. If that. (Not that it really matters.)

Possession and combination play (attacking in numbers...with speed)is how we play. Factoring in rankings, points and opposition I'd say ETP is much, much better than they were a year ago.

Quality of competition week in and out is good for older players. But not u10-14. (Because it pigeonholes players into 'roles' too early as well as stifles/discourages creative risktaking...the result is cookie cutter players.)

So, just because ETP isn't playing in CL every week doesn't mean they aren't or can't progress individually and collectively. The best pro clubs in the world aren't even playing to their limits every week. In other words, every game doesn't have the intensity of a Champions League final.

So why would it be different for youth players? Especially given that they are developmental players? it doesn't.

And speaking of scrimmaging. So far, every DA/PA coach has declined the ETP coach's request for a friendly.

I find that very, very interesting.

Again, to clarify, I'm not "antiDA". I'm just saying that if it is managed at 13/14 in the same way, it isn't necessary...and therefore more about branding the clubs even further.

I think the real issue that people have a hard time grasping is the difference between player focused training versus the team development approach.

Yes, it is possible to do both, but there has to be a balance.

Do you think the top youth academies in Europe have their U11-14 players play in highly structured, promotion/relegation leagues? Hell, the bulk of foreign countries don't even form national teams until u16/17. And even then it is more about teaching/preparing players than it is about results.

I am starting to realize that there are way too many parents that want to "justify" their huge expenditures and the misguided philosophy that their kid will be better because they play X team in Y league for Z coach.

I hate to break it to you. But no coach, team, club or league is going to make your kid a superstar.

That's largely up to the kid...