Monday, January 14, 2019

U18 Girls Youth Soccer

This page is focused on Under 18 girls youth soccer, primarily in Region 1 and everyone is invited to post.

Teams face increased competition for the top players, (who are increasingly attending college showcases).

More teams consolidate and the best teams--academy soccer, club soccer and high school teams--battle to attract and retain the right player mix.

Stay tuned. This is bound to be good.

2,858 comments:

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Anonymous said...

429. No mention of it directly, but hints in camps

Anonymous said...

346.I dont believe that much development occurs in games. In games you apply what you feel you can. Playing without the very best players makes the development opportunities limited.

I have seen a lot of youth soccer and we can talk team all we want, but the gaps between the true elite player and the rest is big. The problem is there arent many. The way I judge these teams is this. if you rank the players from 1-20, and start removing them from 1 down..how nay do you remove before they become average.

Some teams its 2 or 3, others it may be 7 or 8, but either way, consistent average soccer is not the answer for the ECNL.

Anonymous said...

Most above average teams the answer is 1 to 2, excellent teams 3-4 and outstanding teams 5-8. What proportion of the difference makers are going DA? On my kid's team the answer is 100%

Anonymous said...

Good luck LDC Hurrincanes and PA Strikers at region 1 championships! great to have 2 EPA teams in VA this weekend.

Anonymous said...

aren't other EPA teams there as well? like Lower Merion U17, 1776 U16, PA classics & Philly Coppa U13, FC Bucks U12? Aren't all the state cup winners going to this (boys and girls)? Good luck to all of them.

Anonymous said...

The older 00s were part of the PA Striker era. There was a time when every top kid wanted to play for the Strikers (I have olders). Fully funded, perks and a collection of the best players in the tri-state won consistently in a non diluted system. They are kind of a demonstration of the ECNL affect. Not every great player came or stayed. Their current commitments are interesting: one Virginia (who is this kid?) and one South Carolina (was an FC Bucks kid until this year), otherwise lower level ACC/Big ten and lots of mid majors. We don't have many, but I think there are a few 99/00 EPA/NJ/MD kids who have been to national camp and the Strikers got none of them that I know of.
Will this be the story of the ECNL after the DA gets up and running. Doesn't matter to most on this forum unless they have younger kids, but I see the ECNL as clearly second tier in a few years. Next year and the year after at this age DA probably a sh** show.

Anonymous said...

Yep. They were the team to be on back in the day when USYS ruled. One team per every 4-5 yr cycle. But, ECNL took away that business model.
And even for free (as you said fully funded), a few yrs back my kid got a reach out, said no and went ECNL for the competition. Never regretted it. And, is now doing GDA.
Don't think it will be perfect, but what is? However, don't think it will be a sh#t show, either.

Anonymous said...

I don't think that any of the current Strikers went to YNT camps, but one kid that they cut after a few months was a one and done -not sure what that means. The others, I bet, declined the offer like your kid did. The only reasons a kid would do that would be a logistical issue or perceived lower quality in exposure and development. Not sure that's true, but that would have to be the perception.

Anonymous said...

A big congratulations to the stallions, good luck at nationals

Anonymous said...

what nationals? this weekend are the Region 1 championships. need a cheatsheet to keep up with all these leagues.

Anonymous said...

On a side note did any of you soccer fans catch the FCC vs Fire game last night on ESPN. it was a great 0-0 draw that went to PKs. The FCC goalie was fabulous, FCC played with 3 CBS and counter attacked as the Fire had possession for about 80% and chance after chance. But as the game went on that "kick and run" style had some really good opportunities also even though the Fire were much better. Last night the team that played possession soccer couldn't not break down a team that packed it in and lost on PKS this is what makes this game great. Last night david won.

Anonymous said...

9:49
US Club Soccer had their Mid-Atlantic Regionals these past several days to qualify for their Nat'l Cup. Congrats!!
But agree, need a cheat sheet.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

How were Stallions using players not rostered to them the entire year? Clearly the rules prohibit the use of any guests. I guess the rules dont apply for this team

Anonymous said...

6:53
thank you. wow. that's a lot of leagues.
btw - just rec'd this notification for your 2018 grads - re NCAA updates:
July 1 is the date when NCAA Division I coaches in most sports can start having face-to-face interaction with class of 2018 high school athletes (or their family members) at locations other than on their campus (as long as it occurs during a permissible off-campus contact period.)

These contacts include meetings with a prospect at:
Home Visits
Summer workouts
Before or after showcase events"

As of tomorrow, you can actually have a convo with your kid's coach as can she, if verbally committed, in public.

Anonymous said...

9:23
wow. is that true? i thought that stuff stopped after U15 or so. i would hope it isn't, true.

Anonymous said...

thank you 6:53
now, that's a lot of participation trophies.

not taking anything away from all the accomplishments, but it seems that ECNL teams have only 1 route. The other league teams can enter or apply for eligibility to get to a nat'l championship several other ways.

Anonymous said...

10:00 Not true - the ECNL has their own participation trophies for 80% of their clubs.

Champions league - 32 teams
North American - 16 teams
Showcase - 16 teams

that's 64 out of 74 I think playing for 3 titles, talk about participation trophies.

US Club national event is a joke - state champions go directly and if you are not a state champ - that's okay you can pay the ~$1,000 application fee and play in a regional.

USYS has the perfect set setup their top league the national league sends 4 division winners. The other 4 teams need to win their league or NCS cup to advance to regionals and only those 4 champions advance to nationals to play the 4 national league teams.

Going back to US Club their top league the ECNL doesn't play in their National Cup so how valid is that title. Remember the ECNL has a choice to play or not play. But they like the closed format to award 80% of their clubs. And of course the Coaches come to their games - ECNL players make up 60% of a graduation class so their is benefit or was benefit.

Many options for kids to be seen and play in meaningful games.

just my 2 cents

Anonymous said...

For all spouting, "looking for soccer money will take away from academics":

I give you SOCCER meets MEDICINE

equalizersoccer.com/2017/06/29/thursday-qa-sky-blue-fc-midfielder-daphne-corboz/

Anonymous said...

Well, "my two cents" i see participation trophies for the other leagues with an approach to get one by numerous ways for that alleged nat'l championships. I only say alleged because there are SOOOO many nat'l championships titles. I never realized.

ECNL has only 1 nat'l championship. And they can't participate for any others (like the other teams in the country). Only 1 team per age group can make that distinction. The other ECNL events are a North American Cup (for the next 20 or so teams) and then a showcase (no award given).

The other leagues seem to have participation trophies for nat'l championships; numerous ones. You get a nat'l championship; you get a nat'l championship. It's the Oprah of soccer.

And these are actual awards/trophies not just playing for the title. The amount of teams that actually get to play in those championship brackets for the titles are way more than ECNL.

I'm not an ECNL rah, rah, at all. It's flawed, too. But wow!

Anonymous said...

Agreed. I took a peek at the Region 1 championships going on right now in VA. There are 16 in the U17 age bracket. So 16 x 4 (4 total regions) = 64 teams. So, in this tournament alone, there are 64 teams playing to get to the nationals.

The US Club Soccer had 16 more for mid-atlantic regionals (teams other than those playing this weekend in NCS regionals) also competing for a national championship. There are 5 regions here. So let's say 16 x 5 = 80 teams in addition to the Region 1 teams.

And, ECNL doesn't have showcase or NA Cup in U14 or U18/19 age groups.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting. Just in those two events (NCS and US Club Soccer), there are more teams participating for a nat'l championship then ECNL has member clubs in total. And, that isn't including the other national championships set out above @ 6:53 am (Turkey Hill, etc.).

Maybe that is why the college coaches flock to the ECNL nat'l events. One and done, you don't get to come at it from another approach.

Anonymous said...

122 I dont get your point, the Coach numbers are no different vs the Showcases.

Anonymous said...

1:28 what is your point? ECNL showcases or others?
ENCL showcase are national events, too, but are considered league games which count toward end of the year standings.
the point is ECNL teams are not able to play in multiple events/leagues to get a national championship title.

Anonymous said...

slow friday. i just took a peek at two ECNL nat'l events and coaches' attendance. It seems like there are more coaches at the ECNL Nat'l championship playoffs then at the TX event.

Anonymous said...

138 prior poster seemed to be correlating coaches attendance to one and done. I was simply saying they attend showcase so clearly its not the one and done aspect at all.

Showcase games are not league games per se, nor should they be. The ECNL counting then in any spot season event is utter stupidity. Just like the other leagues, they do it , to make up the numbers.

they should just take the league winners and play the Championship over 5 days

Anonymous said...

1:55 - well you are wrong. they are league games (they are not conference games) that count toward national standings and wild cards, etc. Shall I send you the link to the rules all knowing one?

Anonymous said...

1:55
the problem is that there are too many ways for teams not in ECNL to become league winners. That should be cleaned up first. Then, i agree, top what 12-16 in all the leagues in knock rounds for all the marbles.

Anonymous said...

@2:01 - yes, the final standings going into championship play/event includes the national event games. Your conference record determines your eligibility for which event. It's the entire record that determines the team's placement going into the event.

Anonymous said...


201 not sure i said anything different other than the semantics of calling them league games. Well aware of how it works thanks. Its still stupid. just take the team that wins each league and go play for a title.

207 There are no non ECNL teams in the ECNL

210 Yes, well understood. Point is its dumb. the non conference schedule is unbalances. Some teams play cupcakes, others dont. why should a team in my conference who beats me, then get penalized becasue we then play a very weak non conference schedule ?

Anonymous said...

2:25 - i hear ya, so what if they play a tougher team than you/your team in the non-league/showcase/national events and win?

what if some kids weren't available for the game they played against you/your team? kids have injuries and some need to get looks if their prospective coaches come to a league/conference game or were playing for a different team that weekend.

Many variables in the league & conference games. that is why they use them all to determine end of year stuff.

Anonymous said...

2:48
i think it's dumb that kids can switch teams within their own leagues and conference during the season (including until the end) even if they have permission from both teams. That should not happen, but it does.

Even after try-outs; unless the kid is new to the league or moved their residence, the roster should not change except for kids within that particular club that played all season.

But, who is going to agree to that?



Anonymous said...

248 those variable exist no matter what. The EoY stuff really has as much or a little significance you choose to attach to it. It is better test of relative strength where team finishes vs a common schedule than where they end up if half the games are vs non common opponents of significantly different standard. thats just a fact.

258 becasue the ECNL will trot out the showcase argument and/or the competitive argument depending on what suits more.

Anonymous said...

just adding, in other leagues, you see teams more than once at various events, including your league or other leagues if you are eligible or applied into those. in ECNL, you don't. Used to (home and then away), but now, you only see a conference team one time (home or away).

Anonymous said...

3:33
re ECNL - i think that depends on the conference and the size. they do try to make it so you don't play conference teams or repeats in nat'l events until post season.

Anonymous said...

2:58
that should be for all leagues re the team switching; unless going to another league. some teams bulk up for post season with kids that were not even in the club prior. that may force development to happen.

Anonymous said...

3:17
it's never going to be perfect. none of them are. some are less perfect than others, though.

i am in disbelief about the above and number of ways to get into play for a nat'l championship if you are not in ECNL. So, even if you were in one event and then didn't advance, you can still find one by way of another avenue. As one poster said, that should be addressed.
Probably won't though, it's more money poured into the soccer system. cha ching!

Anonymous said...

155 they do it to raise the itnesity for the coaches ataching. The games mean something for seeding and for wild cards.

Anonymous said...

How did Princeton do in their regional play?

Anonymous said...

Lost 2-1 it appears.

Anonymous said...

Stallions should be prevented from going to Indiana with other team's players.

Anonymous said...

1228 Honestly, who cares?

Anonymous said...

12:28 Why? This is a US Club event. They don't have a roster freeze and they allow new players being used as guest players since the event is at the end of July days before the new season.

National Cup is a joke anyway,no disrespect to the teams just the event.

1. top of the pyrmaid US Club league not represented (74 ECNL teams out of the mix)
2. State Cup Champions go direct instead of to Regional
3. Any team can apply for the Regional event.

They could of had the best event in the country.

For Example ECNL Division Champs, NPL league champs and State Cups who advance to Regionals to play for one grand prize. You could of had the best ECNL, NPL and National League teams in one event. But just like our Democrats and Republicans the party line is more important that what the right thing is.

Anonymous said...

828 I dont understand why people think that Club soccer is about identifying the best teams? Its clearly not. Its about protecting each individual franchise and league. People get all worked up about something that is so dependent on where you live relative to a decent Club. Parents embarrass themselves crowing about who won etc.

Most of these post season events are forced "vacations" to play mostly questionable competition on fields of random quality with bad referees.

Who cares ?

Anonymous said...

Incorrect, 8:28

Mid Atlantic Regional was a "no guest players" event.

Anonymous said...

Regional championship seems like a tournament for Rec league talent and nothing more .

Anonymous said...

HBC U17 champs. Princeton runner up. Congrats all.

Anonymous said...

And Beadling U18 Region 1 champs; Strikers runner up. Also congrats!

Anonymous said...

12:33am Until your kid is playing in College or is being paid as a professional they are all Recreational leagues. My daughter went from local town to travel club, to ECNL, to GDA. I still pay for her enjoyment of the game, so rec. it is. Show respect for all kids or shut your yap.

Anonymous said...

147 AMEN

Anonymous said...

There were quite a few lopsided scores at the region 1 championships. Even the semi-finals were out of balance??

Anonymous said...

Because there are onlya few decent teams left in usysa. Same was true in the "national" league. Diluted down so far that noncompetitive games are common.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately it seems every league is showing lopsided results. ECNL, National League, NPL, Region One,. Talented teams and players are so spread out it is difficult to measure the quality levels. Late season roster movement has become so prevalent that good teams can fall apart very quickly. At some point all the leagues need to enforce player movements during each given season. Nothing wrong with movement but a player should be tied to the club thru August 1 date. ECNL,NPL championships become comical when half the roster is new. Another option is to impose a roster freeze date at 6 months into the playing year.

Anonymous said...

Strikers roster has a Penn Fusion kid on it. That an example of the additions you mean? Did that kid go to Chicago and then right to VA?

Anonymous said...

1:35 - no. she was on the 99/98 team. i heard she is not returning to PF as she wants to do high school.

Anonymous said...

agree with the roster change/switch stuff. and that is an example of the immediate discussion.
if a kid is not returning to a club then at the end of that team's season she should be able to go elsewhere.

Anonymous said...

What real difference does any of this stuff make ? if the Clubs dont care, then nor do I. If kids want to move, let them.

Anonymous said...

12:32
agree with your concept except if a player is moving within the club to other teams. that should always be allowable as this is what development is all about.
but the player should be prohibited from championship play unless played with that team (either as a guest [usys/npl] or discovery player [ecnl] for at least 3 league games) or ). then teams will stop picking up kids after 5/1 for championship play and kids/families will stop shopping around for championship play only teams.
all of the leagues will need to agree to it. but, will they?

Anonymous said...

208 I really dont see why it matters.

Anonymous said...

2:21
shouldn't a club pick and develop the players it chooses to carry the bulk of the load during the season? it's easy to pick the team to join after most of the season has been played already and also pick kids on other teams after watching them play. the kids at the end of the bench then see very little playing time after they attended all the practices, games, etc.

you can't do it in college. sometimes when you transfer you have to sit out an entire season.

Anonymous said...

250 My PoV is that people want to attach a significance to these games that really does not exist. Remember that yes , the Club chooses, but that parents also pay. Also remember that it is within the rules. If a Club wants to add players and it can, then honestly I dont care.

I probably think these games are a lot less important than you do.

College is a bad example becasue at that level, the games count.

Anonymous said...

The rosters for USYSA are fixed in the spring some time. How does a kid move from ECNL to USYSA? Was the kid a discovery player? I think these rules exist so a kid doesn't get added at the end of the season as a ringer.
Something doesn't smell right.

Anonymous said...

2:57
i am 2:50. i don't see these games as significant at all other than development for next level.

however, i feel sorry for the kids/parents paid to play and then get bumped as a result of an end of the season add. my kid plays a lot so this doesn't affect her or her role at all. i just think if there are limits on club jumping, it will make clubs use kids from within their own system.

and yes, college, the games count. they count now, too, toward various league honors/accolades.

Anonymous said...

3:44
maybe she joined the USYS team in time knowing she wasn't returning to her ECNL team. once PF went with GDA, some kids probably moved on if they wanted something else.

Anonymous said...

959
I don' think the ECNL allows a kid that is not a discovery player (maybe she was a discovery player with strikers and PF?) to be simultaneously rostered with the ECNL and USYSA teams. I don't now if she left PF this spring before the USYSA roster freeze to play full time for Strikers or was illegally double rostered.

It probably doesn't matter except that a kid who did not help the team "earn its place" is now potentially taking time away from a kid who did. That is the big picture issue. Striker dynamics are different now that everyone pays. Before when it was free then parents probably didn't really have any room to complain about PT positions etc. I also think this kid is a central midfielder. If she goes right in and takes time at a primo position some of the longer standing paying customers might object. I am thinking PF won't care about losing a kid unless she was an impact player because they aren't ECNL anymore, but that situation may have put their ECNL standing in jeopardy had the GDA not come along.

Anonymous said...

"If kids want to move, let them"

It's breaking the rules - and unfair to the other teams participating and vying for a spot at Nationals

The Mid Atlantic says NO GUEST PLAYERS.

I would consider an ECNL player from 2016-17 that plays with a team in the Mid Atlantic Regional at the end of 2016-17 to BE a "guest".

Yes, the August 1 rule makes sense - but there would be no oversight. It would always be up to an opponent to protest, which then looks like sour grapes, etc...

Anonymous said...

so if its breaking rules, report it and have the offending team removed - simple.

Anonymous said...

http://playthewhistle.com/game-day/ecnl-competition-rules-2016.pdf
here are the ECNL rules.

it doesn't really address a kid moving from ECNL to USYS as it's usually the opposite occuring (USYS to ECNL - a discovery player). I am sure all is good otherwise it would not have slipped past the region 1 officials prior to the competition.

Anonymous said...

doubtful this would have affected PF's standing for following year if they were in ECNL. ECNL cares about ECNL only (league ego centric, only). They don't want a player playing on another ECNL team; playing in another ECNL event at the same time frame.

Anonymous said...

The USYSA games that the player played in don't violate usysa rules if she was rostered before the freeze which I think its safe to assume. She probably didn't cheat the USYSA she probably cheated the ECNL and arguably the kids on the new teams and possibly even the old team.

More than likely the USYSA team violated the ECNL rules on double rostering by signing her up while she was still an ECNL player this spring. I haven't heard for sure if the kid switched teams in the spring- - -if she did no problem if she played ECNL while rostered to USYSA it was an ECNL violation.

The ECNL and PF wouldn't necessarily know when she was rostered to a USYSA team. If PF knew she was double rostered so that she could play in the post season with the USYSA team, there would be a serious problem for them if challenged. They have boys ECNL now so it really does matter still to them.

Anonymous said...

Well, kids in ECNL play ODP, too. So, that's USYS and allowable. Not sure you understand the rules, entirely. Not sure anyone does as they are very cryptic, intentionally. Also, what if she didn't get playing time in ECNL? You don't know. And the boys' ECNL and girls are two different animals and will not be run the same, either.

Anonymous said...

2:16
agreed. nothing in the rules in ECNL covers this. they don't care. they care about the transfers into ECNL not out of.

Anonymous said...

even more important (lol) - is there a girls' academy blog for Youth Soccer Talk? Is one being started?

Anonymous said...

Leave the stallions alone we won fair and square and are a national contenders

Anonymous said...

My daughter as well as a few other players did the same thing last year. Left an ECNL team after tryouts and joined a USYS team prior to PDA tournament. Played in the USYS events without issue. The ECNL does not care about players leaving and going outside the league and there is no recognition of an ECNL player having better credentials in a transfer. I believe the words from ECNL at the time were "You do not need a formal release as long as your payments are fulfilled" basically if the team is happy with your money you can leave.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, 8:32

But this has nothing to do with the tournament rule that Stallions seems to have broken.

Anonymous said...

10:33 AM
I am 8:32, what rule did Stallions break. I am not associated with the team/club. If they added a player prior to the National Cup Regional championship and a roster freeze date is not a stipulation I do not see the foul. if it is then shouldn't a formal complaint be made and have their win thrown out and their competitor be given the National spot for finals?

I think this is more a problem of multiple leagues with tryouts taking place before the season end. I realize that stretching the ECNL season from December to July leaves little time for tryouts and allowing needed downtime for players. having tryouts before the true end of the season causes these issues. A lot of clubs have teams in different leagues, the rule should be that tryouts cannot take place (or better yet rosters cannot be published) until the end of July. And maybe structure the leagues so that all games/championships are decided prior to July 4th. The one factor for stretching this out is $$$. I don't see why the ECNL needed Chicago and then another round for a national championship, settle it all in one week. The same with the State/Regional/National tournaments It should be scheduled in succession and be done prior to July 4th. Have tryouts for the next 2 weeks in July and then publish the teams and go on vacation. School starts up end of August.

Anonymous said...

1051 $$ pure and simple. The Clubs have managed to convince people that development = a lot of games and elite = lots of travel.

Its a great way of keeping the cost high and has little impact on quality. The last topic on YST has been about another so called national event in another league. There are so many national events and championships that none of them are really significantto anyone outside of the samll group of kids playing in them.

Good luck to them, but its pointless analyzing the rules as there really only is one rule

PAY and we will find a way to allow you to PLAY

Anonymous said...

10:33 - know nothing about stallions and US Club soccer. this was about a kid on strikers that left an ECNL team to play in NCS. someone said ECNL would have a problem with it. and ECNL could care less if you leave the league; they care about transfers into it. that's what is being discussed. try to keep up.

Anonymous said...

a quick view of the Region 1 brackets, Stallions were not even in region 1 NCS tourney this past weekend.
Princeton SA was in it and lost in finals 2-1 to HBC Impact of NY.

Anonymous said...

832 they dont care about leaving but they care about having a double roster situation.The ECNL is very clear. A player cannot be simultaneously rostered to a USYSA team and an ECNL team unless she is a discovery player for the ECNL. A kid clearly played on the ECNL team while she had to have been rostered for a USYSA team. That had to have been the case because the roster freezes for USYSA post season occur in the spring when the kid was playing in the ECNL. No cross talk occurs so there is no way for the ECNL to know this is happening until its done.

I agree the ECNL could care less about a bottom roster kid moving to usysa programs after the season. They do care about the double roster situation.

Anonymous said...

10:51
and it's multiple leagues having various routes to multiple national championships. if you don't advance in one you can try to get there another way (except for ECNL who can't participate in any other than ECNL). that is what it should be.
1 USYS (pick the best one NCS or Nat'l League, but only 1); 1 NPL and 1 ECNL. That's it. But, it's a cash cow for soccer. they will never go for it.

Anonymous said...

11:48
surely USYS looked into it. ECNL doesn't care. The rules don't discuss. ODP is USYS and many regional kids (in all the regions) are/were ECNL as well (doubled rostered as you say). They are not considered discovery players and still play. Many Regional coaches in ODP are college coaches and/or ECNL coaches. It doesn't make a difference as long as there is no interference.
GDA won't allow it, but ECNL does.

Anonymous said...

10:51
i agree this is one of the only sports that have try-outs for the next season before the current season has finalized. kinda dumb.
and agree, all the major championships in one week for each league and be done with it. and then try outs.

the others champs (turkey hill; us club; super Y, and the rest can duke it out the rest of the summer).

Cheat Sheet from 6/30/17 at 6:53 am - thank you!!

"GDA League play >>>> Nationals
ECNL League play >>>> Nationals
USYS NL >>>> Nationals
US Club State Cup >>>> Nationals
US Club Regionals (open tournament) >>>> Nationals
NPL League play >>>> Nationals
ERL League play >>>> Regionals >>>> Nationals
USYS State Cup >>>> Regionals >>>> Nationals
USL Super Y league play >>>> Nationals
USYS President's State Cup >>>> Regionals >>>> Nationals
USYS Turkey Hill State Cup
USYS ODP Tournament >>>> Regionals >>>> Nationals"

Hopefully the next group of soccer people will fix and address this. We are heading out the door into the next arena. Not our fight anymore.

Anonymous said...

Don't kid yourself.

NCAA D1 is not the only college soccer national championship either!

Anonymous said...

yes, we know. NCAA (3 divisions), NAIA, NJCAA. One championship per league/division. DI plays for DI, DII plays for DII, DIII plays for DIII, NAIA plays for NAIA and NJCAA plays for NJCAA, etc.

But, once you are in a division (i.e., equivalent to youth soccer leagues), you don't play for other nat'l championships which is what happens now in youth soccer.

Anonymous said...

NJCAA, NAIA, NCAA, Div. I, II, II, ISFA - Who really cares

Anonymous said...

Unify the championships like in boxing. The more national championships you have the better you must be. Competition is good for the game. To block them out waters down the meaning.

Anonymous said...

most sports have only 1 championship per league. this isn't boxing or horseracing. it's soccer. the multiple championships in the same leagues are the equivalent of playing for participation trophies.

Anonymous said...

Soccer has Olympics, World Cup, Champions Cup and so on...

Anonymous said...

yes, thank you, but not really relevant to the discussion. these are not club teams or college teams which is what is being discussed.

Anonymous said...

right and WC, Olympics, etc. are international championships not national titles.
seems like some just want to keep the participation trophies relevant.

Anonymous said...

someone mentioned the absurdity of having championship events a week or so after the qualifiers in a different location (ECNL had qualifiers for teams other than U14 and U18 in Chicago area and finals are going on now in San Diego).
Wonder if ECNL will fix this in the new season? Just looked at the list of coaches attending, about 30+/- in total. Had several hundred in Chicago. Even the college coaches think this is stupid.

Anonymous said...

124..No the dont. It just shows you that there is very little random scouting going on at events. Coaches come to see specific players the majority of the time. If they cant see several then why bother to travel ? USSF has told you again that they place little value on this event. U20 U18 and U17 trips ongoing or scheduled

Anonymous said...

agreed. not many making the trip for 2 games for U15, 16 and 17 across the country. it doesn't matter how good the lunch boxes are for the coaches at the event.

Anonymous said...

oh saw this, too in the U18 loss to Canada 4-1 today.

"The USA out-shot Canada 13-12 and had more corner kicks, but the Canadians had more shots on goal and were the more efficient finishers on the day." Good stuff.

Didn't the U19's get clobbered recently too (not a win). International club play is the way to go, it seems.

Anonymous said...

Watched the NWSL games. Seems like the refs at all the levels need better education at their positions. How is GDA going to get better refs when NWSL can't?

Anonymous said...

https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/us-u17-wnt-roster-for-china-tournament_aid42065

Will the local GDAs add any names to this list for next cycle? I find it interesting that players made the roster from Mass and MD but no Jersey/PA names on the list. Is it bias, nepotism or skill level? I find it interesting that out of all the clubs served by this board not one player was identified???

Anonymous said...

https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2017/06/29/22/30/20170629-news-u17wnt-will-travel-to-china-for-tournament-that-features-japan-canada-china-pr

these are 2001 and 2002 kids. not on this blog, yet. Save your pennies re Topdrawer. Usually get better info at soccerwire or US Soccer sites and they are free.

Anonymous said...

11:45 AM

Not paying for top drawer. I just find it interesting that with all of the talk across the blended ages of the great soccer in the Mid-Atlantic region that we are woefully represented across the board for all NT ages. And the TD list is consistent with the USNT press release.

Anonymous said...

There is a clear Wet Coast bias to most of these teams becasue the lead ID person is based in Colorado and sees those players more often that she sees the rest. GDA may change that, but only time will tell

Anonymous said...

12:10 - not saying TD wouldn't be consistent. US soccer and Soccerwire stories tend to come out sooner and not as biased. Like everything, to each his/her own.

Anonymous said...

12:47
agreed. TDS didn't even cover the U19 losses or the recent U18 loss. And, my friend's kid plays on an ECNL team where one game in a recent tourney had like 7 US Soccer scouts at their U17 ECNL game. Not one kid from either team got a shout-out from TDS. And, it was a great game.

I know many that stopped following TDS after the over the top coverage of the U17 WC players last year and they didn't get out of their bracket.

Anonymous said...

12:47 and 12:58

I was more interested in what the thoughts were on lack of Mid-Atlantic participation, and by way of a greater conspiracy theory you confirmed my thoughts. I have had 2 kids in soccer spanning the last 20 years, an older boy and younger girl. Both have played in higher levels and I actually thought with my son that showing up at ODP on his club coaches suggestion was enough. But apparently my son was not with the right club at the time. This was a bit before the whole DA craze started. Then with my daughter we went through the same process, even thought she may be at one of the right clubs but again, names on sheets at first tryouts already highlighted. Also found that highlighted girls were "randomly" assigned to the same teams at the tryout, also noticed that's where the attention of the scouts were. Now I am seeing the bias in reporting through the different TDS like websites. One supports ECNL, one supports USYS, etc. I am sure some players get recognized on talent but it looks like it is still a pay to play, who you know system. There are also some undercurrent trends that are happening to prove other social points. Youth soccer is now becoming a socio/political organization as well.

Anonymous said...

110 USSF do not particularly like TDS and everyone gets what USSF give them, no more. There was a time when TDS attended training camps and got inside info, no more. You will get the same article if you simply go to the US Soccer website.

TDS coverage was never great, but is now seemingly focused on hyping the same kids over and over. It has little real balance or credibility. The writing styles of the contributors range from some attempt at balance (TC), to pure PT Barnum (WP). TDS sells becasue of one thing - Rankings. This concept is and of itself is utterly stupid. To rank kids, many of whom you have never seen play is beyond dumb. But to then rank kids from differing positions and extend it to 14 year olds is just asinine. However, parents lap it up. To sell subscriptions, they cannot afford to be anything bu hype men.

Youth soccer always was what you claim, but social media has just thrust it more in out faces.

Anonymous said...

Agreed re TDS. I see kids that were ranked when they were 14 and may not even get much playing time now or are just not the same players. But, they are still ranked. Years ago, these mattered. Now, the TDS rankings seems to have fallen out of favor with most college coaches just as Got Soccer Points.
And, the camps are a joke anymore. Years ago, they had merit (older child attended). Now, it seems they hype coaches from certain schools will be there and mysteriously the day before or at the time of check in, those lure coaches no longer showing up (had emergencies). Went to one and would never go to another. Actually paid for several, but got my money back. It was an absolute waste of time and money. Better off going directly to whatever college you want to attend.

Anonymous said...

2 u15 pda and 1 wc top XI 1 stars u16 midfielder
At our kids' u17 age 2 kids made the top XI. Centerback for McLean and Midfilder at Penn Fusion. Region 1 argueably didn't see its fair share of the love from TDS. Centerback from McLean was picked in part because their dominant midfielder/forward is in Australia with the 18s (congrats on the call up) Penn Fusion midfielder arguably not even the best player on her team. But they only see part of a game it's the kid who does something that catches the eye that gets noticed. The TDS garbage doesn't matter at all anymore.

Anonymous said...

Hahahaha. I have a friend from another office in California. Kid on his team was mentioned. She is one of the younger YNT kids. Another kid on their team actually scored multiple goals and had an assist. THAT kid not mentioned at all. Another kid was mentioned that wasn't even playing due to injury. Word is out even on the west coast about TDS. Part of the ebbs and flows of the soccer world.

Anonymous said...

U17 player made Best XI at a TDS "Unsigned" Showcase - then committed to a D1 school prior to this, her junior year.

3:09 is bitter but inaccurate

Anonymous said...

Is it also possible that TDS ups ranking and mentions based on who has spent $$ with TDS in the way of attending a camp or paying for a subscription? Honestly, my daughter has 2 stars next to her name but I have no idea how they got there. She never attended a TDS event so either they did in fact see her play of it's a case of mistaken identity. Not to say that she does not deserve the ranking locally. I just found it odd when a fellow parent from her team mentioned she was ranked.

Anonymous said...

Thoughts??

CONTINENTAL FC AND PHILADELPHIA SOCCER CLUB ANNOUNCE THEIR NEWLY FORMED PARTNER AFFILIATION

Anonymous said...

Nothing really. It's a soccer club team in Philly. Makes sense.
PF just joined with another chester county soccer club; Brandywine i think.

Anonymous said...

7:50
yep, it's very random and i agree with 3:09. we attended one and it was not run very well. it was in a public park and the bathrooms were overflowing (and baking in the 90 degree weather), they didn't have gatorade for kids, ran out of water, and some of the posted coaches were no shows. i was quite surprised.
my kid did well, but i would never go to another or recommend one, either. and my kid committed before jr yr as well in no part, whatsoever to TDS or it's camp.

Anonymous said...

oh and she has no stars next to her name, either (i paid for a subscription prior to the camp as it came with the registration). i did not renew nor have i added anything to her profile in about a year. but, better than the stars, she is known as being an impact player. that is what matters most; what the kids do with their abilities and how they use it to help their team be successful.

Anonymous said...

8:19am
This affiliation with Philadelphia Soccer Club is more about boys soccer. The Union have total control
over the Continental DA. To increase and control the player pool it's beneficial for the Union and to have Continental working with PSC players. The player pool is still deep in NE Philly. The new U13 and younger teams at Union DA have many Philly players, but not enough space for all of them. This deal allows for the Union to move players around. The Continental DA is getting serious funding from the Union and will so as they are told.

Continental doesn't have a feeder system for anymore for girls soccer, so this could be potentially attractive for families from Philadelphia Soccer Club. Neighborhood and club politics run deep in NE Philly so it's hard to say if Continental will yeild many female players. Girls that have quality from NE Philly have traditionally gone to FC Bucks, which makes sense for a number of reasons. There is a huge cost difference between the two clubs. Everything about the cost of playing ECNL is high. Not having funding on the girls side at Continental will make it challenging for the middle to lower middle class families at PSC. I see this arrangement as having very temporary benefits for girls soccer at Continental.

Anonymous said...

459 the PF kid stands out. Can't deny it. However they do have several other outstanding kids too. Sometimes it's just luck when they happen by and one kid has a good run or scored a goal or makes a great defensive play. My issue is they imply they saw every team play by deckaring a top XI for an event. Usually they only see a very small percentage of kids play so how can they legitimately declare the top players for an entire event? I think it's very misleading.

Anonymous said...

1237 its in the fine print. If you take a step back and just consider the sheer stupidity in ranking young kids you realize how deluded the Soccer parent population really must be to subscribe .

Anonymous said...

Agreed. i think it worked when ECNL had a small percentage of teams in it the league, but now? And it had all the events going on at the same time; same place. That's a lot of soccer and teams to watch. We checked out a few games and teams too, but as someone mentioned, could only stay and watch a small sampling.
No mention though about the sucky fields with the high grass and no nets to catch the balls when they head into the gullies behind the fields or across the high way. THAT should have been the story. Horrible.

Anonymous said...

123 agree
The venue was no better than San Diego the year before and the ECNL issued an apology for that. The gras was outrageously long and thick. It absolutely precluded a reliable possession oriented technical game. The lack of nets turned 90 minute games into 75 minutes. The ECNL didn't help themselves in the eyes of the USSF.

Anonymous said...

Bye bye ECNL. Glad to see GDA come along. Let's hope they get it right for the girls. That story starts soon.

Anonymous said...

the ECNL seem to be more in bed with TDS than ever and that makes no sense. TDS are reliant on UNBIASED opinions on players they dont know/see. The current state of the game means agendas galore.

Players who play for coaches with USSF influence or coaches who are keen on self promotion/marketing seem to benefit .

An interesting local example would be to go look at where the PDA 00 players are ranked. Many on here think they are great. They won an ECNL title last year. Or NEFC. Then compare to FC Stars.

Anonymous said...

The crazy part is that a true ranking would reflect the ECNL ranking. ECNL has their teams already ranked (not sure if they re suffle after the post season), but TDS should be substantially similar. It isn't. It just shows the wheel spinning that goes on in the TDS office and the flavor of the day.
It should be very interesting if GDA shuts them out which may happen as they will likely just use US Soccer as it's site.

Anonymous said...

2:40 i think 2:34 is talking about the player rankings and disparities. which i agree along with the others that have no ranking and are known throughout the league as top players. makes no sense.
you 2:40 are talking about team rankings, which i agree is also out of wack.
Well, this blog agrees with something, TDS is a thing of the past.

Anonymous said...

*others on those teams and other teams without rankings that are known top players but not ranked.

Anonymous said...

i understand that you cannot correlate team results directly to individual player, but if you believe TDS, FC Stars have better players and more of them than the other teams in our region .

So either the teamwork/coaching is a lot worse or ......

Anonymous said...

part of TDS' problem is once they rank a kid, it's there forever. So, if the kid was outstanding at age 14 or 15 and TDS gaves them a star or two, they remain as such even if as they get older and others around them get better. Kids that come into the high level soccer system later on tend to get lost.

And some clubs are better at promoting their players than others. My kid plays as a GK. Her club is great at promoting/marketing it's field players, but not so much with GK's. Other clubs/academies that have reached out would have done a much better job. But, she isn't in it for individual accolades. She wants to contribute to the success of her team. She does.

Anonymous said...

"It is nice to feel the love from everyone, but the team deserves this more than me.” - @samkerr1

It's the team that gets the credit. That's what TDS forgets. I have yet to see it (TDS) credit a team with great team play.

Anonymous said...

427 to be fair, I have. Im also of the view that good team play is exceedingly rare. The TDS guys are decent folks, but they also know rankings is why people subscribe. Ranking accuracy is more cost and not necessarily more reward.

Anonymous said...

sorry. i saw kids get rankings for good play that was good team play/a good team goal; not necessarily theirs.

and i hear ya re the subscriptions, but i think that the people on here and others out there are saying, not worth it.

And don't think anyone is saying the writers aren't good people, but, like most, I get paid to be accurate in my job. I am not a weather person or journalist. As the pulse of the country is showing, people aren't happy with fake news.

Anonymous said...

4:44
love it. ranking accuracy is more cost not more reward? this is TDS' thing. why do it if not going to do it correctly or even well?

if they want to highlight certain kids, teams, play, that would be better then the ranking system that is obviously flawed and has become a joke (at least at this age).

go to an event knowing you are going to watch these teams (make it a prelude article). And then report those findings. Each week or event, pick different teams and ages. That would have more validity and may even increase membership/subscriptions if that is the name of the game.

Then maybe USSF may let them have some inside intel, again. Just a suggestion.

Anonymous said...

Subscription is plenty worth it at TDS. Chock full of information to help in collegiate search. Rankings aside.

But if you are counting pennies, maybe stay away. And staya way from that trip to the movies, which is about what it cost for a year.

Anonymous said...

5:00
sounds like a good idea. they should do club/team previews; highlights like they did with the U17 WC team last year for the various teams/clubs. Impact players and their commits; rising stars and where they may be looking; coaches views. similar to what local newspapers do before each sport season with the various teams/schools. people gobble that up.

I would rethink the ranking system or redo it every year. Just because a player was good one year doesn't mean they are the same player the following year or they could be even better. Track the development that way.

That is a useful tool that coaches would like; not just babble for the sake of babble.

Anonymous said...

5:09
chock full of information? did you use when your kid was making her decision? I don't know many that have. There are other sites out there with more inside information (i.e., blogs).
You can peek at the scores and that stuff is for free.

Plus, NCAA does a very good job as well.

Anonymous said...

The turf fields were great at ECNL Chicago. The grass fields were fine too and nothing to cry about. The teams from PA and NJ playing on grass were simply not good enough and the results were fair. The grass fields at the PDA Complex play exactly the same as Rockford, just as slow.

As for DA being better, the fields in Indy for the boys event were good, but aren't Bermuda grass and play slower too. The facility in Indy is very similar to Rockford. Both are fine for holding a national events.

Cry babies.

Anonymous said...

5:22
i don't think anyone is crying or complaining about the results. just saying the grass sucked and better facilities were expected. better fields were the reason for the move, allegedly, from SD from ILL.

I disagree. I thought the grass at PDA was much better than Rockford. But played at main complex so not going to comment about the other facilities as I don't know.
but you played on turf apparently in ILL. How can you comment then?

Love these people that didn't experience it firsthand, but have expert opinion. #tool

Anonymous said...

yeah, and when you have to retrieve balls that go out, over a fence (no net to catch them) and across a highway, how is that helpful in championship level league play? what a joke!

Anonymous said...

turf fields were used by NA Cup and Showcase; not championship level.
would have loved to have been on turf over that horrible grass. my kid's team loves turf too.
how did the NA Cup and Showcase get the better fields?

Anonymous said...

1. Accurate ? It's all subjective. You can see obvious errors but the rest ...
2. Cost is a factor. To make the rankings better how many additional staff would you need and how much travel ?
3. How many additional subscribers are you going to add from making it more "accurate"
4. I'm pretty sure that if you went to th coaches and removed agendas they can tell you who the best players are. But differentiating between say a cb and a striker ?


The best ranking is how many of the very best coaches tried to recruit a player. If Stanford etc were in early then the player is probably pretty good no matter the TDS ranking

Anonymous said...

Are you with TDS? Why do you care?

TDS ranking doesn't matter re college. NCAA does. Go to that bracket.

And, agree, remove the rankings and the good players are still known in the league, by their peers, coaches and US Soccer (who go to watch those players with or without a star from TDS).

As someone noted above, there was a game at a recent ECNL tourney (not the nat'ls) where 7 US Soccer scouts were at one game. Two very good teams with very good players. It was a great game.

Not one kid from either team even got a shout-out from TDS. Not even a hey great game going on. Nothing. US Soccer must have thought so, though.

Anonymous said...

619 which teams?

Anonymous said...

I have older kids and years ago, TDS helped with getting kids noticed by the top schools long before the digital age. Like other things that were big as far as soccer exposure years ago, they have lost some of their footing.

Kids self-promote now. Some have their own websites with their own videos, clips, etc. And, the clubs are better at getting info out there too. TDS isn't necessarily the go to by college coaches anymore.

Anonymous said...

PF and CASL at the PDA tourney. Friend's kid plays on one of the teams. Happened to catch it on my way out. It was worth the stop.

Anonymous said...

652 there are several kids on the. CASL team that have been to u17 NT camp and one going to China. There were two PF kids who have been to 00 camps, but not recently. Probably watching the CASL 01s.

Anonymous said...

Of course they were there for the CASL team, too. That team is loaded with power 5 commits, but also for the PF kids that are on their radar as well (some that have been out to camps and some being evaluated). Yes, kids with and without stars. this isn't something new for this team.

But, that many at one game, I've never seen it. Have been to other PF games and seen 1 or 2 scouts; maybe 3 at one time, but 7 scouts. And no Top Drawer reporter even mentioning it? That is the moral of this story.

Anonymous said...

And they did choose GDA over ECNL so US Soccer clearly interested, too.

Anonymous said...

very interesting. that CASL club is stacked. Didn't their U17 USYS team just win Region III and are headed to nationals? must be nice to have great weather to play all season.

Anonymous said...

How do you know there were 7 "scouts". What does a scout look like? I can't see which college coaches are seated across a 60 yard field, much less see which are USSF associated. BTW the only "scout" that matter is the actual head coach. Was Mark Carr or Jaime Frias over there?

They were definitely watching at least one of the 01 play-ups on CASL since she is about the receive additional caps. Personally I can see them watching maybe one of the Penn Fusion kids who was a one and done. The same kid that TDS ID'd not surprisingly. USSF/TDS love the head down dribblers. So TDS seemed to think PF was worth watching in Chicago if they weren't interested in PDA.

Anonymous said...

so ...CASL , an ECNL/GDA Club - in the state of Carolina ..Hmm i wonder of NC schools recruit them to make $$ go further. Its not rocket science . They are no more stacked as a Club than several we could name. Well located for good soccer schools.

Having the Nahas guys involved (YNT coaches and a UNC Assistant) does not hurt re scouts as does telling people you helped "develop" B Pinto .

Trust me, a good Club with the right connections looks great from the outside, but the actual players are no better than many out there.

Just saying

Anonymous said...

10:47
if i could chime in, they wear US Soccer id's. guess you have never had one at your games. they also identify themselves to the people handing out the brochures and the coaches.
10:48
why the jealousy? They aren't going to just UNC. And B Pinto also credits UNC where her father would take her to work out as a child.
They are a good team. That is all the poster said. And, they are.

Anonymous said...

PF1 CASL0

Anonymous said...

10:47
i wasn't talking about TDS watching or not watching PF. I was talking about a game that had multiple US Soccer scouts and not one TDS shout out for either team.
i think it's good that they gave a PF gal a shout out at nat'ls. she is a good player. As someone noted, there were others that could have rec'd it as well from PF and from other Region 1 ECNL teams.

To bring the discussion around to it's original topic, TDS and their arbitrary picks for anything. Someone posted about a younger kid getting a shout out from TDS that didn't even play due to injury. Shame. Used to be a good source.

Anonymous said...

10:48 - i think it says something about their club to have a U17 ECNL team in the champions league at ECNL nat'ls and for their U17 USYS team (Triangle FCA) to win Regional III and also go to nationals. Clearly they have the numbers to have strong teams in their various leagues. That's pretty good.

Anonymous said...

I think this may fall flat but I see the same bias in local reporting on teams (high school). There always seems to be a lot of press for the preps and specific suburban schools, across all sports. You will see the same schools with feature articles for all 3 seasons, their players showing up in fluff pieces and certain awards given. Yeah a bit of sour grapes on my part as our school gets absolutely no press.

Anonymous said...

7:55
instead of griping on an anonymous blog about kids who are taking an active part in something, take your grip up with your athletic director. have him/her do their job as far as promoting the school's programs.
But you'll have to do that in person not anonymously. time to grow a pair.

Anonymous said...

8:12 AM

Maybe you need to get some coffee before you post. AD has indicated that he has requested coverage of certain athletes (Olympic hopefuls) as well as some multiple first team all league athletes but our district is too small to garner attention. I also see this with other leagues, seems like a cross between lazy reporting and numbers. Just like TDS the limited number of people covering a wide range of teams. And seriously "Grow a pair" on a board focused on girls soccer.

Anonymous said...

No coffee needed. You fail to post fully. But maybe your head said otherwise. And, that sounds like an excuse.
And grow a pair, yes. Sorry snowflake. Girls soccer. They call themselves ballers, right. btw - i'm a girl. Grow a pair...get tough for your daughter's sake.

Anonymous said...

http://www.empireofsoccer.com/sky-blues-kerr-leads-the-way-to-victory-62285/

Another wonderful Sam Kerr interview. While she is on fire with her goals, her real goal is to help her team win; even if that means getting the assist and not the goal.

“I grew up watching Kate Gill in Australia and she always was more proud of her assists,” she said. “That’s what I want to be like. I love scoring but I love setting up my teammates, too. Whoever scores is okay as long as we win.”

Anonymous said...

PF - 0 Matchfit - 3

Anonymous said...

9:14 AM

Do you hover or stand?!? Wow someone got up on the wrong side of the bed. I'm good! Daughter committed and we are hoping for a good year Senior year. I think I may have seen you or your caricature on many sidelines. I have a pair, I think you may carry your husbands in your purse.

Anonymous said...

12:08
wow, you're petty. so what? it was a loss, they had several, owned them and overcame them. it's called development.
did your coach play his entire roster a lot of games? PF did. and from what i am reading, most teams don't get that opportunity.

Anonymous said...

12:28
hover, thanks for asking. i'm sure you need assistance to wipe.
btw - you brought this on by griping instead of just addressing it. oh, sorry. you probably need to go to your safe place now.

on a serious note, glad your kid is committed. good for her. hope she has a wonderful senior year.

Anonymous said...

hahaha 2:05

what are the freudian steps of personality development:
id, ego and super ego, i think.

seems like that 12:28 is stuck, in id. Example: A toddler who wanted another helping of dessert whined incessantly until given another serving.

who comes onto a blog, in particular this one, and expects sympathy for their kid not getting newspaper coverage? and admittedly, "gripes" about it and then gets saucy when someone calls them out. And, the best is indignant about the use of grow a pair, but discusses bathroom habits. #hypocrite

12:28 - gotta progress, man. get over it. fill your scrapbook with photos instead.

Anonymous said...

@:05 and 2:46

I should call you guys the double standard twins (or someone has a case of double posting). Love to be anonymous! I wasn't butt hurt about coverage, she has plenty. I was following the thread related to TDS and selective reporting, you know fake news!. Safe places don't exist. I bet My daughter played on at least one of your teams. Look I have Wikipedia too: (wrong order by the way and you may want to look at what the id drives)

According to Freud, the ego is the psychological component of our personality that is represented by our conscious decision making process. There are three parts to the personality according to Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory. These are the ego, id, and superego. The ego consists of your conscious decision making.

Anonymous said...

3;30 nope, sherlock. i can only take responsibility for the freud post. sorry.
and i was going by memory. so i apologize if the stages weren't correct. i didn't wiki it; i was always directed away from wiki; not accurate i've heard. Oh, is this getting back to the TDS thing? clever.

anyway, doubtful about our kids have played together. i think i would remember someone on the sidelines having "sour grapes" about their school not getting any newspaper coverage. Keep fighting your fight.





Anonymous said...

Match Fit and Cedar Stars the best development clubs around.
Period

Anonymous said...

PF 00 team has no national level talent. Maybe a couple girls fit that bill when they were 14, but that ship sailed.

Anonymous said...

622 fair , so who does ?

Anonymous said...

6:22
hahahaha. you probably thought they were sticking with ECNL too.

Anonymous said...

5:57
MF is a good team, but didn't they get an infusion of girls from PDA girls that transferred during the season?
Saw them playing in a PDA uniform earlier in the season and then, voila', there they are in MF uniforms.

Anonymous said...

Now THAT's called double rostering.

I just went to the boxscores. seems like a few of the same kids are actually listed on both teams in the FL Nationals. And i just saw it too. And, then when they played PDA, they are on MF only. Don't worry. I printed out copies. Hey Commish what do you think of this?

Anonymous said...

I see at least one. How can this gal be on both rosters at the same event?
She is on 12/29 MF vs. Dallas Sting & also listed same day 12/29 PDA vs. Solar Chelsea.
Cousins in the same state, with the same (exact same), name and position?
Wow. Whoopsey!

Anonymous said...

622 actually two went to u16NT camps soooo...
Time will tell whether those or others are "national level" when it actually counts -in college. But clearly a couple at least are currently "national level" assuming that definition means of interest to the current national scouts because they clearly are that.

Anonymous said...

wonderfully put. some think that the evaluation process is a one and done or hey they just show up and make a determination that day. it's a process.

Anonymous said...

857 It counts all the time. It is a great achievement to make an International roster and put on the USA shirt in a game whether in HS or College.

1213 The evaluation can be one and done. Its only a process IF you mange to stay relevant. That does not mean they dont come back to kids who have not been in camps for a while, but if your kid has been involved, you know that its a seminal moment for some when they get overlooked having been regulars. Some kids see it as fuel and others are really affected by it. They dont come back

Anonymous said...

You know they are interested when the head coach of the u whatever team is watching your kid at an event.

Anonymous said...

It's such a political process. Hopefully getting ECNL out of the mix will help.
But, the international play has opened up for our girls as well. Better to go abroad.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately the politics, and I agree they are rampant, will continue. They are related to the locations of those who influence the selectors and explain the huge geographic biases present. While I agree that putting on the shield is an honor at any age the politics sours the sweetness for many.

Anonymous said...

do we need to move our zingers to the next age group? U18/19? I'm gonna miss this. love the banter.

Anonymous said...

Houston and KC got fined for calling out officials.
http://equalizersoccer.com/2017/07/13/thursday-roundup-ordega-on-45-day-disabled-list-two-nwsl-teams-fined/

It's not like they called them cowards. Then THAT would be over the top and warrant a fine or suspension or termination of contract, right? Seriously??
Since when did refs become a protected group?

Anonymous said...

Some refs are the new snowflakes. I have reffed in the past and saw a lot of interesting things from that perspective. Like any role associated with the kids game you as a parent/adult need to realize the players are your focus. I also have a very thick skin, at the time was in decent shape (still am) and had a perspective of keeping the game flowing and protect the players. As the CR I spoke to both coaches at the same time and explained what I considered yellow/red based on LOG and some other guidelines, also when working 3 man crews made sure we were all on the same page with AR and CR in game communication. I worked with some refs that when they were CR would not want to run too much, were only there for the $ and did not really have a grasp of the flow of the game. Some PIAA guys are horrible and you will not see too many reffing travel and HS (thank God). I agree with adding a bit of refresher for ability an knowledge and scheduling the older guys for smaller sided games. And as always the best refs are recently graduated college players!

Anonymous said...

Congrats Copa,big win

Anonymous said...

Lets go copa bring back another national championship to nj you are the class at this age

Anonymous said...

What nat'l championship is being played now? Are they in NPL or USYS (NCS or President's Cup)? Good luck.

Anonymous said...

Stallions new National Champs.
Congrats on a great season.

Anonymous said...

Question to all NJ Stallions parents. in a North East league of all the u-17 teams. Where do you think you finish?

Anonymous said...

Depends. Can they bring ECNL players with them?

Anonymous said...

6:50
congrats! Not trying to be a smart aleck, but nat'l champs of what? NPL? Just trying to keep everything straight re the various leagues and events. thank you.

Anonymous said...

1049 Im assuming all players play for the teams they represent IN season.

Anonymous said...

Stallions dont follow rules. Havent you heard?

Anonymous said...

your kid could not make the stallions.....now tell us how she is ECNL star playing DA next year

Anonymous said...

Stallions should attend Nationals with their own players

Anonymous said...

What nat'ls are you referencing for Stallions? I only see HBC (NY) in USYS Nat'l Championships for Region 1 which are going on now.

Anonymous said...

Good for Stallions players, half of the regular roster players did not even attend. One can only guess who was on the roster for this US Club Nationals. Only 6 teams in the country bothered to attend. SC will do anything to add to his resume. Such a shame that US CLub allows rostering of players that do not play for team during the season nor will they play next year on the team.

Anonymous said...

Youth soccer is a business. To support the $$ teams charge there needs to be a Championship. The bigger sounding, the better.Its the parents that drive this and the industry creates teh products to satisfy the demand.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you in the fact that they do a relatively poor job.



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Anonymous said...

US Club national's?? what is that? agree with above poster if the parents say stop the money train, the clubs will stop spending OUR money on events that aren't worth it.

Anonymous said...

kids would have been better off going to an id camp or two instead for those not committed.

Anonymous said...

HBC had a tie yesterday. Still in it as no one in their bracket had a win; they all had ties.
Unfortunately Beadling and Strikers had losses in their brackets yesterday; they need to get to 2nd in bracket for get into playoff.
YMS had a win and ASA Coyotes (MD) had a loss.
Pulling for the Region 1 teams at USYS Nat'ls.

Anonymous said...

With his history, how any parent can let there daughter play for him has a serious problem. But most soccer parents are living there kids dream...sad

Anonymous said...

1033 .. 803 here. Its all part of the same issue. Parents are willing to PAY for their kids to either witness or be the subject of verbal abuse all in the name of justifying the journey. If you spoke to your children the supermarket within earshot of others the way he does, someone would call the police.

He collects players who are usually mid level on better teams, coaches them up (aka bullies them thru fear and intimidation) to do well in events that are National, but not necessarily top quality. If this team played in an open league with all the other U-17 teams from the other leagues, they would be mid table. They are a good team and have talent. I would put them on a similar level to World Class, a team that was not in the ECNL Nationals picture.

If the team played in a better league and lost more games, I think more parents would ask questions. Its so sad how winning can make people blind to what is going on. Not on the same level, but (Joe Pa, Bob Knight and countless others spring to mind)

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