NWSL Academies

Discussion in 'NWSL' started by Blaze20, Jan 14, 2016.

  1. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    I feel like a lot of people here don't properly remember high school... either that or you were all the "cool" people.
     
    TsovLoj repped this.
  2. BigData

    BigData Member+

    Feb 2, 2014
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    You weren't? :confused:
     
  3. holden

    holden Member+

    Dundee FC, Yeovil Town LFC, Girondins de Bordeaux
    Oct 20, 2009
    Los Angeles
    Club:
    Dundee FC
    I was a floater. But I didn't hang out with the "cool" people who were all really mean to everyone, including each other.
     
    Gilmoy repped this.
  4. BigData

    BigData Member+

    Feb 2, 2014
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    I was just kidding. I doubt many of those hanging out on message boards were in the "cool" group.
     
  5. 8MiLLeNiuM

    8MiLLeNiuM Member

    Jan 14, 2016
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'm with Gilmoy on this issue. This only affects a very small percentage of kids who play the game.
    High school is not the only place to socialize with others. I agree it's an important experience to many, but not all look upon high school as a coming-of-age ritual. I recall that I didn't reach my peak physically and socially until my college days.
    Many kids who play sports socialize with other kids in the same sport. Therefore, those kids who attend the Dev. Acad. will still be socializing with others of like mind and will be living the experience together, which builds strong bonds.
    I think that many kids who attend the Dev. Acad. would be honored among their peers.
     
  6. BigData

    BigData Member+

    Feb 2, 2014
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    We agree to disagree. When you sequester and focus kids too much, too soon it can backfire. You tend to get a whiplash affect as they get older and at some point they go crazy, get lazy, or just quit because of burnout.

    See Capriati, Jennifer
    Adu, Freddy
     
  7. 8MiLLeNiuM

    8MiLLeNiuM Member

    Jan 14, 2016
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #32 8MiLLeNiuM, Feb 25, 2016
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2016
    Perhaps we are looking at the issue from different angles.
    I'm am only looking at this issue from the standpoint of the student-athletes.
    That is, the kids choose this path and their parents nurture, guide, and help them along the way. Is that a bad thing?
    On the other hand, if the parents push their kids to take this route, then that I don't agree with and I see your point.
    I absolutely agree with your point about burnout, that's a big concern for me when discussing talented youngsters.
    In any case, it would definitely make for an interesting study.

    Out of curiosity, isn't the Dev. Acad. approach similar to how European countries (like Germany) develop talent for their national teams?
     
  8. Blaze20

    Blaze20 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Seattle Reign FC
    Sep 22, 2009
    Club:
    Philadelphia Independence
    And for every Capriati and Adu there are hundreds of others that weren't "sequestered" that turn out the same way.

    I also don't see how this is sequestering? Basically all this is doing is replacing one team with another.
     
  9. lil_one

    lil_one Member+

    Nov 26, 2013
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No, its not. Its reducing players from playing in multiple environments to playing in just one. Previously, the elite athletes had the option of playing on a club team plus a high school team plus maybe practicing with a boys' team (although some elite clubs surely limited their players to only playing in certain situations). Now the DA elite players will only play in one club environment. While the better coaching and resources may surely help development, playing in multiple environments (playing up to accelerate growth, playing even to promote competition, and playing in a situation where a player dominates and has freedom to be creative and lead, such as on a high school team) also has proven to help development.

    The DA has not yet shown to help the men at the national team level although it has seemed to be moderately beneficial at the professional level. I remain unconvinced that this will do anything for the WNT.
     
    BigData repped this.
  10. 8MiLLeNiuM

    8MiLLeNiuM Member

    Jan 14, 2016
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    How long has the men's Dev. Acad. been in operation?
    Also, do you know if European countries like Germany use Development Academies?
    I cannot imagine that the USSF is implementing this without having done their homework.
     
  11. lil_one

    lil_one Member+

    Nov 26, 2013
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    --since 2007
    --Sort of but not really. DA does have the scholarship program and is a step moving away from pay-to-pay but is still essentially that (at least from what I understand...without knowing the actual amounts that parents are paying) while Europe is not. They are similar in that the focus is on tying elite youth clubs to professional or pro-am clubs to fund the youth development. This is what is currently happening in the Boys' DA anyway. This may (but also may not happen) in the Girls' DA as we don't have an actual link to a NWSL club yet. However, many of the DA boys' clubs are not tied to a professional club and are just elite youth clubs that have always been elite clubs and produced fantastic players and moved into the DA when it was formed. I imagine that is what will happen with the Girls' DA and will see teams like the Surf move into the Girls' DA...so is this really an improvement or just change for the sake of change? (I honestly haven't decided at this point.)

    One crucial way that development still differs here from in Germany is that Germany pours most of their development money into coaching at the youngest levels, while the US does the opposite. Many of the coaches at the youngest youth levels in the States are volunteers who may know nothing about the game or how to teach the most basic technical skills.
     
    8MiLLeNiuM repped this.
  12. billf

    billf Member+

    May 22, 2001
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Like with the current Academy league for boys where you see lots of academy players going to college, I would not expect this to affect the number of players going to college too much. College coaches really do not scout high school much at all anyway so its not a big deal and ODP hasn't been a major part of development for a long time. No big losses there. Colleges scout the showcase events for clubs and they'll focus on this league so it makes things easier for coaches IMO. The value of an education is very high in the US and the pay to go pro at 18 will be very very low. I do not see many families opting for what is essentially a minimum wage job over a free and/or heavily subsidized college education plus soccer.

    MLS gets some players to go pro but they have to pay a lot more to get these kids out. Many get high five to low six figures for four years with salary budget exemptions and a college fund benefit to boot. Can the USSF/NWSL afford that at this point and how would that work politically to pay 18 year olds that when an experienced player is making 13k and working at Footlocker to pay the bills?
     
    8MiLLeNiuM repped this.
  13. cpthomas

    cpthomas BigSoccer Supporter

    Portland Thorns
    United States
    Jan 10, 2008
    Portland, Oregon
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This is changing in the USA. At least, it is where I am. For rec soccer, it's true to some extent (although the rec team I'm most familiar with had three real players as coaches and the one I'm next most familiar with had a college All American/USWNT pool/College Cup player as a coach). There's still a good distance to go, but it's not as bleak as the picture you paint.
     
    8MiLLeNiuM repped this.
  14. kernel_thai

    kernel_thai Member+

    Oct 24, 2012
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    There were always situations in HS where a high quality athlete would choose not to participate in their sport for whatever reason. While this can lead to bad feelings with team mates and fellow students, at least it's a personal decision that was hopefully well thought out by the athlete, her parents and coaches. IMO opinion simply making a rule that they cant participate is wrong. For every reason u can think of that they shouldnt participate, u can think of a benefit to participation. What u r doing here is making life decisions for minors without parental input. They'll get enough of that when they get a job...they dont need it in HS.
     
  15. Blaze20

    Blaze20 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Seattle Reign FC
    Sep 22, 2009
    Club:
    Philadelphia Independence
    You guys are making this out to be way more serious than it is. From your post one would think they were preventing them from attending high school at all. At Holden said early, there's some serious over estimation of the high school experience. These kids will not be missing much. They still get to hang out with their high school friends and if they still crave that bond from being part of a high school team, there are countless other non soccer extra curricular activity that they can be part off.
     
  16. BigData

    BigData Member+

    Feb 2, 2014
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    No, that's not the way it works. It isn't about "high school", it's about putting kids in an uber competitive, overly serious environment too soon. It's about psychology, and being age appropriate. And it's about letting young people make decisions for themselves when they are capable of doing so, rather than getting shunted off to an academy whether they want to or not. Our society has decided that pushing kids harder at a younger age improves them somehow, when it has been proven time and again that it is detrimental in the long run.
     
  17. kernel_thai

    kernel_thai Member+

    Oct 24, 2012
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    I bet if u polled the current members of the WNT u wouldnt find much support for this. Wambach, for example still brings up her biggest regret in sports is not winning a NYS high school soccer championship for her school.
     
  18. 8MiLLeNiuM

    8MiLLeNiuM Member

    Jan 14, 2016
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Are you serious? Is USSF making the Dev. Acad. attendance mandatory now?
     
  19. BigData

    BigData Member+

    Feb 2, 2014
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Um, that parents will make the majority of these decisions, whether the kids realize it or not.
     
  20. Blaze20

    Blaze20 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Seattle Reign FC
    Sep 22, 2009
    Club:
    Philadelphia Independence
    You must be kidding me. I want everyone to step back and realize we are talking about HIGH SCHOOL soccer. Its one thing to lament missing out on college soccer (and don't get me started that you were just the other day calling for Pugh to skip UCLA) but High School. Please.
     
    steelers07 repped this.
  21. Blaze20

    Blaze20 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Seattle Reign FC
    Sep 22, 2009
    Club:
    Philadelphia Independence
    Seems you have a problem with the DA academy as a whole and not just the fact that they are forbidden them from playing on their high school team. Whether kids play high school soccer doesn't change the fact that the DA will always be a high pressure environment.
     
  22. BlueCrimson

    BlueCrimson Member+

    North Carolina Courage
    United States
    Nov 21, 2012
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Johnston and Rapinoe were the only two players on the WC roster that didn't play high school soccer.
     
  23. BigData

    BigData Member+

    Feb 2, 2014
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    Yes. But high school sports is normal in a world of craziness they are experiencing. Why add to the crazy? High school is actually low pressure and fun for these kids. Let them have some fun. Taking the fun out of an exercise is the surest way to induce burnout in teens.

    You seem very passionate about this. What about this scenario makes you think this is such a great idea?
     
  24. Blaze20

    Blaze20 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Seattle Reign FC
    Sep 22, 2009
    Club:
    Philadelphia Independence
    Which one leads to more burn out:
    Playing in the DA + High school vs Playing in the DA only

    For me the second option means yes my kid will be in a high pressure environment but at least he/she will have extra time to engage in other non-soccer related activities and actually become well rounded individuals
     
    cpthomas repped this.
  25. BigData

    BigData Member+

    Feb 2, 2014
    Club:
    Orlando City SC
    We disagree.
     

Share This Page