I don't think of this forum as marginalized or relegated and I want it still to be a destination for people - we are going to have "Yedlin to ?" type threads here too so my hope is that it will be heavily trafficked. So, I probably would prefer to keep all coaching threads in one place, but FA and Bung may agree with you and can out vote me.
Junior Flores seems perfect for this new forum http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/junior-flores-signs-with-borussia-dortmund.1976030/
It seems like an enormous amount of work to shift probably thousands of youth threads from the main YA forum here. I imagine they are getting moved as they get bumped up from the depths of YA?
i think this is a good idea, but might i suggest subforums for history/alumni? discussing the history and what-if's of former first team players doesn't really fit on an 'academy' forum. i think it's an apt to let it stand on it's own and i'd love to have a centralized place to delve into the history, and i'm sure lots of posters would want to waste countless key strokes and energy debating the merits/demerits of bradley and demps and where and how they'd fit into the current iterations of their former teams (and how pirlo-esque they are, naturally: bradley is running pirlo, demps is snarling pirlo).
I have no problem with allowing (select) former YA players' threads a grace period. My suggestion would be that they stay in the forum they were in at the players' last point of YA-ness, though. Work generated for mods is not the issue I'm thinking of here, though. I just think it makes it easier for interested posters to find things when the things are where they're expected to be.
I would support Bshredder in dividing the coaches under his plan. They are high level coaches, just like the high level players. I think they should be in the main forum. I agree with him but just my .02 cents
Seems like a good idea here- will allow discussion to focus on development separate from current play. Really just clearing out the first pages of each forum to focus on these separate topics. I agree they tended to compete with each other on the other forum. Not sure this is a really radical change, but worth a try to see it if streamlines things- people tend not to look much at the second page, right? This should help keep the really current discussions on the first page. And, as always, thanks much for the thought and work you all put into maintaining and monitoring Yanks Abroad.
It does seem to be unavoidable that we are going to get debates and discussion about who belongs where in player threads which is something we were hoping to avoid, but I guess it's no worse than discussing thread titles or the other various tangents we go off on. But this is an argument for having set rules that are clear cut I guess, even though to me, a 2 minute stint in a cup match and then back down to the reserves shouldn't be enough for promotion. I guess that's in part why Bunga was advocating for 5 games - now it makes sense to me.
IMHO, there should be other such "graduation points." Green has already graduated via the alternative USMNT route and should be followable on the big boy page.
Meaning, if a player has played for the USMNT their thread graduates to the main forum? But we've always tried to distinguish between national team stuff and YA stuff.
Yes, and I agree with that principle. But, "graduation" should be based on a variety of possibilities and once achieved, the player is allowed to be seen on the big boy page, at least until reconsideration is due. Playing for the USMNT is a credential, not a cause for discussion in Yanks Abroad.
That's not an unreasonable argument. However, I'm one of the guys who's worried about the "if that counts, then why doesn't this also count?" slippery slope (and to be honest I'm worried about the work associated with it: I don't want the Academy vs regular forum calculus to be a constant source of discussion, nor to I want the move/not move decision to be a particularly nuanced one). I think we should start with a set of very simple criteria and stick with it. Discussion of Green's club performance won't be damaged by its presence in the Academy forum and frankly I think that the juxtaposition of his club thread in YA Academy against his having played for the US in Brazil is interesting. One of the reasons we distinguish between NT stuff and YA stuff is that the forum is an exercise in understanding how players related to the US and US soccer fare "out there" beyond the scope of soccer in the US. Selection to the NT is driven by a US based logic.
I'm assuming this is already set, but I think the Academy vs. "Regular" debate is going to be messy and require super mod involvement. I think it would be easiest to break it down by Gameday, UEFA-Based Yanks, CONCACAF/CONMEBOL-Based Yanks, and Rest of World-Based Yanks. With the current set up, I fear we will lose some of our foreign friends who drop in and provide valuable info about Yanks playing abroad. They may visit the "Regular" forum but miss the Academy one. I totally understand the sentiment behind this move. I was one of the people that was 100% behind the "Gameday" subforum a few years ago.
+1 to USvsIRELAND... not a fan of the split. Too confusing & 1 more forum to scan. Gameday vs. YA makes sense, this less so, especially with intraclub transitions being fairly smooth...
I'm confused about this (though according to my wife that's not a hard thing to do). What makes someone a youth player? U23 eligible or younger? If a guy is 25 yo but playing for a third division team in England or second division team in Denmark he would go to the main YA or here? Does that also mean once a guy in no longer a youth eligible player he goes to carousel and his thread is lifted up to YA main?
Some of the questions being raised here are discussed in this thread: http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/subforums-in-yanks-abroad.1934475/ But please continue the discussion in this thread rather than re-starting it in that one.