I seemed to claim that DA U12/13 expansion was a sign of the DA casting a greater net…as if that somehow disproves and contradicts my claim that they cast a rather shallow one… Yes, they are casting that net all the way out to St. Charles…once again, no criticism, just don’t try and tell that is some great expansion outside the greater Chicago area….cause it ain’t…it’s just tightening their hooks on their already established area of operation (which I don't blame them one bit for doing)…
Please show me where I said "great expansion"... And despite you stating you are not being critical - you most definately are. Not that you're hurting my feelings but you are making it very difficult to follow along with you.
Point out the way things are and accepting the way things are isn’t being critical…. I got no major problems or issues with the DA system or how it’s being run… Just don’t tell me the DA captures all the best talent in Illinois when they are just now reaching all the way out to bloody St. Charles… Not that you're hurting my feelings but you are making it very difficult to follow along with you. The feeling mutual half the time… My stance at this point has to be pretty clear…I’ve been over it several times with DiffPerspectiv alone…nothing personal either, but you seem to keep taking swipes at it, hence my reaction…
Totally just guessing here, but I assume they'll continue to expand into new areas as more clubs are willing and able to meet their standards. Incidentally our northern California league covers a much wider area than it sounds like is true for the Chicago area. Most of the teams are in the greater Bay Area, with a few in Sacramento and one much further south in the central valley, a 3+ hour drive from where we live, so it's not as if the DA is categorically opposed to casting a wider net.
So now tell me where I said "DA captures all the best talent in Illinois" Again, you are taking quite a few liberties to the point you are basing your comments of things no one has said. Are you my wife by chance?
Based on what I personally experienced and what I've heard from others, I believe the DA knew what was happening before it happened. Without question, they knew about it immediately after it happened, but before anything was set in stone in terms of the new rosters. Several parents contacted the DA in August. They could have stepped in, but chose not to. The fact that they would use BR's license as an excuse for why suddenly FCU had to take over Magic Academy suggests to me, at the very least, the DA was covering up for FCU. The DA could have held FCU to its word that they were not going to cut Magic players for the Fall season. Of course, FCU would have done so eventually, but it would have given players time to explore alternatives. My big issue is honesty and transparency. If FCU was set to take over Magic Academy from the beginning, then be forthright about it. Why lie to parents for two weeks? We heard the rumors that FCU was going to cut players from the '02 team to add players from the Fire, but we were naive enough to believe FCU when they said this was not going to happen. In reality, they were just waiting for the official green light from the DA. I find it highly unlikely that the DA was not aware that half the '02 team from Fire was training with CT at Magic/FCU. I heard from Fire parents that they were shocked when half the team did not return for training in August. Would something like that go unnoticed? How can a large group of players train with one academy for weeks while still being rostered on another one? I find it improbable that the DA was unaware all of this was happening, especially since they were supposedly going to be scrutinizing FCU closely for the year to determine if they would eventually get full Academy status. They certainly knew about it immediately afterwards. And they never had a valid explanation as to why FCU only had to wait two weeks, instead of a year, to get full Academy status. Hence, my skepticism regarding the integrity of the DA system.
True. Difficult to compare the California markets to the Illinois, as California has a significantly larger and deeper talent pool, but you're absolutely right about the DA continuing to expand. The club application process is open until Dec. 4th, take a look at this link for some insight into the process: http://www.ussoccerda.com/da-applications-2017-18
Like you say, difficult to follow along…because at times it sure sounds like you are agreeing with and defending DiffPerspectiv, who has implicitly implied that there is no worthwhile talent or soccer being played outside the DA program in the State of Illinois…my beef isn’t with the DA; it’s with the attitude that everything and everyone else is crap…
You're free to assume whatever you want, but at no point did I definitely say that theres no worthwhile talent in Illinois outside the DA. The HS All-American's list was released, all of them good players outside the DA. Many will likely play D1. I even explained to you the NTC process for player ID outside the DA, which you couldn't accept because there's not one for you in Springfield, IL. There are good players out there, a handful DA players are from small markets, but there aren't nearly as many DA-level players as you think there are. Before you make your statements about who and who doesn't belong, and your tell us your ideas about what the DA should do, please get to know the level first. In the meantime, keep playing level-appropriate competition, whatever that may be for your child/team/club.
ok, you got me...how about strongly implied... I am glad you have definitely stated that there is indeed talent, even D1 level talent, outside the DA program...that is ALL I have been saying this whole time...I have no idea why its taken 4 pages, and whole lot of projection and attacks on my character, to finally come to that agreement...
Just my opinion - knowing a handful of Magic coaches that are now at FC1 and elsewhere is that the owners of Magic screwed the club long before FCU. May I assume that you had a DA Magic player who was sidelined for a Fire player - you previously being told by likely Magic and FCU people that there would not be any issues? That's some of what I have heard from mates I played with who have sons who played for Magic as well. It's not like Magic owners did not do this to Bailey, Pitcock and a handfull of kids from magic South??? They sure as shit did it to us. I'm not being a jerk but Magic was ran pretty poorly over the last 10 years - give or take a few. If you had a player at the top then perhaps you may have not seen the cracks as much as those with younger or non-DA players. Technically - IMO, Magic should have been sacked by the DA long before this even happened. I would guess that the DA was just happy a club in the same location - with facilities was able to take over - and like adp stated, was able to keep 3 DAs in the Chicagoland area. Is it perfect - no. Did they screw over Magic boys - yes. I still however do not see how the DA could have prevented that - they don't run the club. Sure maybe they can look back - put them on probation but I think they will likely let things shake out a bit before that happens. Don't get me wrong, it's likely a crucial time for your player and this is not helping - sort of all that time and energy for this??? I get it. I guess you can wait or try out with Fire or Sockers. It's a crappy place to be though - I am sympathetic for you.
Magic screwing people could be its own thread! lol. Just look at coaches post-Matko/Hannan: TB, KS, RC, JD, AJ, TY, SG, LM, and TK all got shafted by TR/DB. Whether from paychecks bouncing/not coming, or being forced into decisions by owners (who have no soccer background, mind you), or broken agreements. They all left on their own accord. And with the exception of TY, SG, and LM they're all with Sockers now and many of them for over 5 years! Can't say they're not loyal or they're club jumpers... Hell, you could say Magic did everyone a favor by driving those guys out. Many of them have continued or grown to be successful guys!
I agree with everything you've said here. I'm not sure why I am more upset with the DA than with Magic or FCU, because you are right about both of those clubs and their culpability. I think it's because I assumed the DA existed, in part, to ensure these things don't happen, so when it happened right in front of them and they did nothing, I was surprised as were others who know far more than I do about the DA. In our time at Magic, I saw players competing at the highest level who didn't belong there, but whose parents were very involved at Magic. I should have seen this as a warning, but considering we rarely spoke to the Magic coaches, yet our son was chosen again and again to start in national tournaments, I reasoned he was better off at Magic so long as he was competing at the highest level. I honestly thought the favoritism would end at the Academy level and given how positively our son had been evaluated and how well he had performed at national tournaments (and the fact he had been scouted by another Academy), I assumed he would stay on the Magic/FCU Academy after the merger. I was wrong. We are considering another Academy for our son, but for now he is enjoying being at a great club with a fantastic coach and nice teammates, many of whom are as talented as the Academy players. We expect they will do very well in the Spring. We will look again at the DA next year if that's still what our son wants to pursue. He has lost some ground because of this, but he's young enough that I am confident he will catch up if that's what he decides to do. Ultimately, if this type of adversity doesn't make him stronger as a player, then it wasn't meant to be.
Honestly, this whole discussion screams butthurt parent who's kid has been displaced because of the club's decisions and you want to blame something/someone. Why not blame the club? If you're dissatisfied, leave. Who's forcing you to be there? There are other DA clubs in the area, go experience one of those before you jam the whole system.[/QUOTE] Ha. This whole discussion screams "guy from USSDA posting on message boards and calling people who question the academy system 'butthurts.'" Yeesh. That shows me the arrogance you guys have as well as your disdain for parents and players.
It's very unfortunate when politics come into play. No club is without this however and it's a hard experience for both the player and parents after all that has been put in. Passion and drive for the sport however can help him get past the adversity.
Wow! Who uses the term "butthurt" anyway? As you can see from a previous post, we did leave. And, I hardly think commenting about our experience in a soccer forum is going to "jam the whole system." I am posting my opinion in an honest and thoughtful way. I have been careful to only assert facts and to make it clear when I am speculating. I wish I had read some of the forums on this website years ago. We probably would have chosen different clubs for our son. Perhaps others will get some insight from our experience. Of course, you can disagree with my conclusions regarding the DA, and it sounds like you work for them as a scout, so I'm sure you have a different and valid perspective. But you undermine the strength of your argument when you call someone "butthurt" after they share valid criticism of the DA. You may be correct that ultimately FCU and Magic are to blame, but don't summarily dismiss any responsibility on the part of the DA. You yourself said their job is to oversee the clubs, so what is their role when they oversee unethical behavior and they don't do anything?
Slowly, maybe…not even knowing what the standards exactly are, I am under no illusions my club, and many clubs like (small/mid-sized, non-major market) are probably a long way away from meeting them…in terms, of finance, facilities, infrastructure, coaching credentials, etc…
On August 31st, the DA added 7 players to the Fire roster published on the USSDA website. At that time, these 7 players had already been training with Magic/FCU Academy for 3 weeks. In September, those 7 players were switched over to the Magic/FCU roster. Why would Fire ask the DA to add 7 players to their roster when those players had been practicing with another Academy for weeks? And if Fire didn’t request to have those players added to their roster, who did? I believe that FCU asked the Fire or the DA to add those players to an official roster because they knew there would be fewer questions if they simply replaced Academy players with other Academy players. However, there was no place to add those players to the Magic Academy roster because it was already full and published on the USSDA website. The only other place to add them was the Fire Academy roster, which had yet to add any players. By August 31st, the DA knew what had happened at FCU; multiple parents whose kids had committed to the Magic Academy for the Fall had complained and had shared detailed information. The DA could have easily told FCU that they would not allow a group of players to switch academies en masse. Those players had been developed at the Fire, were rostered on the Fire, and Magic already had a full roster of players who had been chosen and positively evaluated by Academy staff. But the DA did not do this. Why? For this reason and others, I believe the DA knew what was happening and they willingly went along with it. The DA does not typically allow groups of players to switch academies en masse. Why did they make an exception for FCU, especially after they knew all of the facts?
This might give you an idea of the standards: https://ussoccer.app.box.com/s/9ihcqb1bn71d0lnhj594wuwivayyy4d1
Yeah, according to our club's directors it was a hell of a lot of work getting it all together. And ours only participates up through the U-14 level, above that it's even more stringent. I talked to a parent from another DA club who said they've been trying for years but haven't been approved. Our club didn't even try because we don't have the resources.
Wasn't a rant at all. .whoops, sorry. this was just in reply to someone asking about small clubs / AYSO etc. Forgot who it was. I will quote them next time.