It does not end. Its picked up after HS for playoffs, etc. There might even be token training for non HS players but not league games.
I tend to agree also, but not because it will work over time, nor because it is a good idea. Right now, allowing hs play is a differentiating factor; attractive to some, and disappointing to others. Both leagues create a lot of college exposure for their players and that is not about to change. Until that materially changes I think both are viable. In the medium term, I think it is a war waged and won region by region. GDA has been declared the winner in southern California, but not so much in northern CA. Florida DA teams are not very good, including the >$50k/yr IMG academy (OMG are they horrible). ECNL is strong in FL and ECNL just awarded a badge in south Florida to a non-existent club. Here in Chicago, the line item veto one club seems to have will ensure ECNL withers. The mission of ECNL is to showcase girls for the purpose of college exposure. GDA is about USSF keeping tabs on the few dozen players it cares about at each age. Don't kid yourselves that the training (or competition) is leaps better in GDA. It is the same players and coaches that were playing ECNL and lesser leagues just last year. I don't think the battle will be won totally on merits of the two systems, which clearly have very different mandates, and approaches towards allowing hs. Rather, I think parents, and their desire to chase the prettier badge (GDA) may be what tips the balance eventually. It won't necessarily be won based on which league better serves 98% of the talented female players in meeting their goal of playing in college.
Geez, Upper Left, I have another conspiracy for you to run down... Phx will have 3 ECNL (Blackhawks and Arsenal recently added) and 1 GDA clubs next year. And these will all be the top leagues of the 4 dominant clubs- i.e. no ECNL/DA clubs. Phx soccer is dogsh*t, so this does not really add up. Need to get on that...
I believe GDA added a club in PHX for next year too. The Utah Royals will actually play out of PHX, right? So Phoenix looks like quite a battleground. Southern Cal already has massive representation in both leagues. Maybe Las Vegas will be next battle ground? I think your point is that PHX youth soccer is weak (in your opinion) but is able to support 5 GDA/ECNL clubs, whereas Chicago has 3.5. Another data point that suggests there is something anomalous happening here? The last release by ECNL announcing Arsenal suggested there were more additions to come... maybe there is more news to break in the coming weeks.
Man, I forgot about the Los Angeles Angels of Scottsdale. Good catch. That team will struggle - unless its totally underwritten by the Royals. Really not enough talent in Phx to field 5 teams.
Saw many FCU players at Olympic Park this week. What sort of madness do we expect for players who do not make their respected GDA teams? Heard FCU players running to Sockers and Sockers players looking at Eclipse. Have to imagine Eclipse players looking at Sockers as well. I think FCU will take a few years if they can get consistant teams - not convinced they can just yet. So I predict a good deal of movement to Eclipse and Sockers for now. Maybe some chaos before the storm settles.
Yes, hearing that a lot of families unhappy at FCU and Eclipse are talking to Sockers. This will be interesting to see how it plays out as Sockers (to their credit or determinant) has been always been loyal to their existing girls vs transfers. If you look at the GDA U17 and U15 standings, only Eclipse U15 and FCU U17 seem strong (i.e., in playoffs). I could see non-starters and lower-half starters at the Eclipse U15 team (i.e.,but not the GNT or near-GNT kids) leaving. Not sure about FCU 17s. Looks like they lost some good kids to North Shore HS teams this spring. And I think the real risk to FCU is when those remaining 8-9 Lake Forest kids on U17 DA go to play HS which will gut that team when they go to 19s. Also, remember that U17 team was not home-grown or discovered at tryouts, instead, FCU took the entire existing 01 LFSA team to seed this U17 team. So, again, given the local HS soccer desires of the nearby kids and its unlikely ability to "purchase" an another existing top-tier team, I can't see FCU fielding constantly good teams for a very long time.
Is this a reference to the Nike Academy Tournament two weekends ago? Or something else, that would suggest FCU eyes are starting to stray?
First merger of the season announced. Glen Ellyn and wheaton working together for high school ages. Makes sense as both have the awful future pros trainers and most of the good players have left for Sockers or Eclipse at that point. http://glenellynparkdistrict.teamsn.../uploads/sites/376/2018/01/Midwest-FC-FAQ.pdf
This won't be first. Fewer players and the need to field more "elite" teams that play regionally will certainly lead to more.
Looks like the Chicago girls clubs did well at DA event in NC last weekend. Wow, not surprisingly, Eclipse, as a club, dropped one game, while Sockers and FCU were also above .500 as a club. Either, the DA teams are better than we thought or the entire country is watered down. Maybe a little of both.
I think southern California is a bit overrated but haven't looked at it analytically. Controlling for different "showcase" rostering and playing time approaches, these weekends can provide a useful window into the level of play regionally. Maybe OC can break it down for us.
HA, I would not know where to start. I tried my Python web scraping program to compare Topdrawer player rankings to Soccerwire college commits to past ID2 attendees to the DA showcase rosters, and all i got was a link to the Palatine Celtic Cup...strange....
Go find your spiral notebook where you recorded regional GotSoccer point totals for the past five years, and report back.
UL, Good news / bad news.... I found your new ECNL team. Unfortunately, its not in the North Shore; it's in the western suburbs....FAR western suburbs.... http://www.eliteclubsnationalleague...occer-club-as-member-club-for-2018-19-season/
Haha... looking for carpool options now! KC Athletics, nice name change, not at all related to that failed GDA FCKC program. (wink wink) I did notice FCKC, I mean KC Athletics got a big hug from an existing club. 984487468945891329 is not a valid tweet id Enjoy visiting Chicago 2x year, where you will only be able to schedule one game per visit. It's ok, more time to enjoy our museums and catch a Blue Man Group performance! Window closing... has FCU figured out how to flip out of the GDA contract and get into ECNL?
KC, Omaha and Indy will be interesting to watch. 2 top clubs in each market: one ECNL, the other GDA. Shame that the teams can never play each other too.
I think it would interesting to know if FCKC was booted by USSF, if the DOC said no mas, or if the parents finally said enough is enough. Just before the announcement, their four teams took a road trip to Colorado and went 1-7 giving up 63 goals and scoring just 3. Yes a goal differential of -60! Maybe it was the start of the KC high school season? Maybe it is related to their NWSL team folding. A more relative question might be, why was ECNL so fast to welcome them into ECNL? Answer. ECNL will take just about anybody right now... as long as you ain't too close to the 630.
KCFC's top teams had been playing in MRL and NL, second teams in DA. MRL teams are pretty solid, so my guess is that KCFC is quitting DA.
Interesting. You, sir/ma'am, are an encyclopedia of really useful information. However, you didn't answer my second question; So, I guess that means I nailed it.