Announcing New Club Invites

I agree that 2 DA clubs would be perfect for Dallas. Just like we all know every top talent doesn’t play DA. ECNL will continue to roll out the players to college. Those 40 kids per 2 age groups isn’t even scratching on all of the talent in the DFW area unless those 40 are your DD’s. I guess if it makes you feel better to keep saying your the best then play the rest and prove it. DiGC will be a pretty good indicator. Once the ECNL kicks out the homers they can move on and rethink that so called 2nd league for the remaining kids that believe that ellusive national team spot is going to materialize.

Zizou wrote:

918soccer wrote:Sounds to me like a few DA parents on this forum might be overly optimistic about the league... at least in its current state. From an outside perspective, ECNL would appear to still have an advantage in several age groups, higher college signing numbers and more NWSL draft picks. A few are predicting this trend to reverse in the coming years but I believe there is a real possibility that ECNL could gain momentum with just a few changes.  

For example, ECNL is already stronger in STX with 3 quality clubs (Albion, Challenge, Classics Elite) compared to 1.5 for DA. There is talk of adding another DA club in STX but Albion reportedly turned it down and is staying ECNL. That leaves NTX. If the Texans drop DA, Liverpool is added and Solar stays ECNL (Solar's 2nd teams are often competitive with their top teams), that would give ECNL twice as many quality clubs in TX as DA. Admittedly, FCD, Solar and Lonestar will have great teams, but they won't be better than their ECNL counterparts in every age group and ECNL would simply have more quality teams to play in TX. Isn't that the definition of the "best" league? Out of respect for the Energy parents on this forum, I will not suggest which club is stronger in Oklahoma between TSC and Energy, but my point is, just a few changes can impact the overall quality of the league and I wouldn't be surprised if that trends in favor of ECNL next year.

Actually no, quality is not in the number of clubs in your league. Adding Liverpool and having 5 ECNL teams will water down the product. Two DA clubs taking the top players in the division and 5 ECNL clubs fighting over the others does not sound like a good recipe for the ECNL clubs. FCD and Solar being the only DA teams in Dallas would be perfect.

Dude! Where do you get your information from, a magic eight ball? You're always spoutin' off about what you know nothing about. You insinuating from your above comments that the Texans will not be a part of DA next season!?! How do you know? Your DD doesn't even play for them. So why don't you stick to commenting on things you know about, which is not much btw. Texans are not going anywhere. They will still have DA and ECNL next season.

Dude, never said Texans we’re leaving DA. Yeah , I feel sorry for you if your DD does play for Texans. Others have speculated Texans going straight ECNL. So shut the fu up.

TulsaFootballDad wrote:I agree that 2 DA clubs would be perfect for Dallas. Just like we all know every top talent doesn’t play DA. ECNL will  continue to roll out the players to college. Those 40 kids per 2 age groups isn’t even scratching  on all of the talent in the DFW area unless those 40 are your DD’s.  I guess if it makes you feel better to keep saying your the best then play the rest and prove it.  DiGC will be a pretty good indicator. Once the ECNL kicks out the homers they can move on and rethink that so called 2nd league for the remaining kids that believe that ellusive national team spot is going to materialize.

I’m pretty sure college coaches would love to recruit those players competing against national team talent day in and out.

I agree they will get recruited Zizou. But there are plenty of positions remaining to be filled in a recruiting class. I would just say DA is not the only avenue to recruitment. Coaches will take talent that helps their program best not just b/c they played DA. Also this same talent was competing and is still competing in ECNL nothings changed other than the new addition of an acronym.

I also would be very suprised if Lavers who is an Attorney after letting the DA have its inception year doesn’t meet with US Soccer Fed officials and ask them what their purpose was getting involved in the creation of GDA against current associated organization members Clubs. ECNL has provided the bulk of the youth national team without any previous year issues. Current national youth team selectees were also previous players of ECNL until the division. So why have the USSF been partial to one over the other when ECNL through US Club was already providing id2 camps and the USSF is supposed to be an impartial arbitor supporting growth in US soccer. Seems like a great lawsuit.

Just like the ECNL tag was the gold standard for the past three seasons for recruiting players. Those tags are a huge starting influence in the college recruiting process. Even more so with limited travel budget and coaches relying more and more on the recommendation of the club coaches.

Sounds to me like all the families with ECNL DDs are just crossing their fingers that ECNL stays relevant and it doesn’t fall too far behind the DA. It’s the first year for girls DA, of course numbers for ECNL will be better. Give it a few years to see which league the best talent migrates to, which looks like will be the DA. Even if DA becomes the elite league, doesn’t mean ECNL can’t still be a good league. Sure there will still be great talent there, just not as much as DA. For everyone who has a daughter in the ECNL, don’t get your feelings hurt, if your DD is good enough and wants to join a DA club that option should be there.

Zizou wrote:Dude, never said Texans we’re leaving DA. Yeah , I feel sorry for you if your DD does play for Texans. Others have speculated Texans going straight ECNL. So shut the fu up.

You don't have to feel sorry for any of the DDs that play for the Texans. They will be just fine. If us parents have the means and ability to have our "less talented" DDs travel to showcases around the country, then that's on us. You and the Big Backtracker, he knows who he is, need to come down off your DA high horse from time to time.

TulsaFootballDad wrote:I agree they will get recruited Zizou. But there are plenty of positions remaining to be filled in a recruiting class. I would just say DA is not the only avenue to recruitment. Coaches will take talent that helps their program best not just b/c they played DA. Also this same talent was competing and is still competing in ECNL nothings changed other than the new addition of an acronym.

I also would be very suprised if Lavers who is an Attorney after letting the DA have its inception year doesn’t meet with US Soccer Fed officials and ask them what their purpose was getting involved in the creation of GDA against current associated organization members Clubs. ECNL has provided the bulk of the youth national team without any previous year issues. Current national youth team selectees were also previous players of ECNL until the division. So why have the USSF been partial to one over the other when ECNL through US Club was already providing id2 camps and the USSF is supposed to be an impartial arbitor supporting growth in US soccer. Seems like a great lawsuit.

Great lawsuit that you cannot win.

Maybe they do have bylaws to follow as well. Anson was right that this division does nothing to help future national team aspirations it just creates another barrier where none existed before.

Maybe,

Zizou wrote:Dude, never said Texans we’re leaving DA. Yeah , I feel sorry for you if your DD does play for Texans. Others have speculated Texans going straight ECNL. So shut the fu up.

Oh you should feel very sorry for me. What a condescending prick. The only one that needs to shut the eff up is you. I'm afraid that won't happen any time soon though. You will ramble on with your minutiae as usual.

Can we just stop and announce to the forum that Ziz has a hard on for DA. That way he doesn't have to repost his tired arguments and can get back to sucking at the DA teat.

Now, now child. You seem to be the one with a pole up his ass and a little prick.

Cleansheets wrote:

Zizou wrote:Dude, never said Texans we’re leaving DA. Yeah , I feel sorry for you if your DD does play for Texans. Others have speculated Texans going straight ECNL. So shut the fu up.

Oh you should feel very sorry for me. What a condescending prick. The only one that needs to shut the eff up is you. I'm afraid that won't happen any time soon though. You will ramble on with your minutiae as usual.

Ive heard the rumor, so its out there. No clue how true.

Zizou wrote:Now, now child. You seem to be the one with a pole up his ass and a little prick.

Don't know where that came from but ok.

NoSpinZone wrote:

Cleansheets wrote:

Zizou wrote:Dude, never said Texans we’re leaving DA. Yeah , I feel sorry for you if your DD does play for Texans. Others have speculated Texans going straight ECNL. So shut the fu up.

Oh you should feel very sorry for me. What a condescending prick. The only one that needs to shut the eff up is you. I'm afraid that won't happen any time soon though. You will ramble on with your minutiae as usual.

Ive heard the rumor, so its out there. No clue how true.

I can assure you Texans will not drop ECNL.

Cleansheets wrote:

NoSpinZone wrote:

Cleansheets wrote:

Zizou wrote:Dude, never said Texans we’re leaving DA. Yeah , I feel sorry for you if your DD does play for Texans. Others have speculated Texans going straight ECNL. So shut the fu up.

Oh you should feel very sorry for me. What a condescending prick. The only one that needs to shut the eff up is you. I'm afraid that won't happen any time soon though. You will ramble on with your minutiae as usual.

Ive heard the rumor, so its out there. No clue how true.

I can assure you Texans will not drop ECNL.

Sure... but stay in DA? Arguments Ive heard seem to favor ECNL and dropping DA. Could just be part of rumor. No dd there so really dont care.

Zizou wrote:

918soccer wrote:Sounds to me like a few DA parents on this forum might be overly optimistic about the league... at least in its current state. From an outside perspective, ECNL would appear to still have an advantage in several age groups, higher college signing numbers and more NWSL draft picks. A few are predicting this trend to reverse in the coming years but I believe there is a real possibility that ECNL could gain momentum with just a few changes.  

For example, ECNL is already stronger in STX with 3 quality clubs (Albion, Challenge, Classics Elite) compared to 1.5 for DA. There is talk of adding another DA club in STX but Albion reportedly turned it down and is staying ECNL. That leaves NTX. If the Texans drop DA, Liverpool is added and Solar stays ECNL (Solar's 2nd teams are often competitive with their top teams), that would give ECNL twice as many quality clubs in TX as DA. Admittedly, FCD, Solar and Lonestar will have great teams, but they won't be better than their ECNL counterparts in every age group and ECNL would simply have more quality teams to play in TX. Isn't that the definition of the "best" league? Out of respect for the Energy parents on this forum, I will not suggest which club is stronger in Oklahoma between TSC and Energy, but my point is, just a few changes can impact the overall quality of the league and I wouldn't be surprised if that trends in favor of ECNL next year.

Actually no, quality is not in the number of clubs in your league. Adding Liverpool and having 5 ECNL teams will water down the product. Two DA clubs taking the top players in the division and 5 ECNL clubs fighting over the others does not sound like a good recipe for the ECNL clubs. FCD and Solar being the only DA teams in Dallas would be perfect.

Everything can seem to water down an area of competition at anytime. Even when JDL was formed and they said it was to keep the quality of competition high there was always a bottom team getting kicked around. Same as LH had and same as ECNL has. As we have found out this first year, same as DA. 5 top teams play each other and more than likely at the end of the year there will be a bottom team with a losing record. It’s called mathematics.

NoSpinZone wrote:

Cleansheets wrote:

Zizou wrote:Dude, never said Texans we’re leaving DA. Yeah , I feel sorry for you if your DD does play for Texans. Others have speculated Texans going straight ECNL. So shut the fu up.

Oh you should feel very sorry for me. What a condescending prick. The only one that needs to shut the eff up is you. I'm afraid that won't happen any time soon though. You will ramble on with your minutiae as usual.

Ive heard the rumor, so its out there. No clue how true.

I've heard a number of rumors, so let's just get them out there so they are out there:

Zuzi and BigE are the DA Corsican Brothers, and their real names are Lloyd and Harry

Foxy has the clap and got it from SoapBoxMom

FCD will leave ECNL after a miserable season. They will start their own league that will only have FCD teams. They will sell the league as a DA feeder league, increase their fees, and throw in FC Dallas season tickets. They will advertise as having the most top teams in DFW.

Girls are already deciding to leave DA because they want to play high school soccer. DA coaches are concerned about the lack of talent and will begin recruiting from PPL. The DA draw will be the new sales pitch "We are #1 because we say we are, no need to prove it on the field!"

GDA representatives not only monitor practices and games, but soccer boards. They are concerned about the asshats who represent DA teams and are considering sanctions against their club.

SickofStupidity wrote:

NoSpinZone wrote:

Cleansheets wrote:

Zizou wrote:Dude, never said Texans we’re leaving DA. Yeah , I feel sorry for you if your DD does play for Texans. Others have speculated Texans going straight ECNL. So shut the fu up.

Oh you should feel very sorry for me. What a condescending prick. The only one that needs to shut the eff up is you. I'm afraid that won't happen any time soon though. You will ramble on with your minutiae as usual.

Ive heard the rumor, so its out there. No clue how true.

I've heard a number of rumors, so let's just get them out there so they are out there:

Zuzi and BigE are the DA Corsican Brothers, and their real names are Lloyd and Harry

Foxy has the clap and got it from SoapBoxMom

FCD will leave ECNL after a miserable season.  They will start their own league that will only have FCD teams.  They will sell the league as a DA feeder league, increase their fees, and throw in FC Dallas season tickets.  They will advertise as having the most top teams in DFW.

Girls are already deciding to leave DA because they want to play high school soccer.  DA coaches are concerned about the lack of talent and will begin recruiting from PPL.  The DA draw will be the new sales pitch "We are #1 because we say we are, no need to prove it on the field!"

GDA representatives not only monitor practices and games, but soccer boards.  They are concerned about the asshats who represent DA teams and are considering sanctions against their club.

Don’t say much anymore...this is funny. ????

918soccer wrote:Sounds to me like a few DA parents on this forum might be overly optimistic about the league... at least in its current state. From an outside perspective, ECNL would appear to still have an advantage in several age groups, higher college signing numbers and more NWSL draft picks. A few are predicting this trend to reverse in the coming years but I believe there is a real possibility that ECNL could gain momentum with just a few changes.  

For example, ECNL is already stronger in STX with 3 quality clubs (Albion, Challenge, Classics Elite) compared to 1.5 for DA. There is talk of adding another DA club in STX but Albion reportedly turned it down and is staying ECNL. That leaves NTX. If the Texans drop DA, Liverpool is added and Solar stays ECNL (Solar's 2nd teams are often competitive with their top teams), that would give ECNL twice as many quality clubs in TX as DA. Admittedly, FCD, Solar and Lonestar will have great teams, but they won't be better than their ECNL counterparts in every age group and ECNL would simply have more quality teams to play in TX. Isn't that the definition of the "best" league? Out of respect for the Energy parents on this forum, I will not suggest which club is stronger in Oklahoma between TSC and Energy, but my point is, just a few changes can impact the overall quality of the league and I wouldn't be surprised if that trends in favor of ECNL next year.

You are way off regarding STX. Lonestar and Dash are now the two top teams. Dash had some problems recruiting players at U17-U19, but they dominate at all the younger age groups, which will soon form the core. And Lonestar is Lonestar.
For ECNL, Sting Austin is a joke and Classics Elite, Albion, and Challenge are all decent but are a clear step behind the two STX DA teams.
Your contention that STX ECNL is stronger than DA is way off.

918soccer wrote:Sounds to me like a few DA parents on this forum might be overly optimistic about the league... at least in its current state. From an outside perspective, ECNL would appear to still have an advantage in several age groups, higher college signing numbers and more NWSL draft picks. A few are predicting this trend to reverse in the coming years but I believe there is a real possibility that ECNL could gain momentum with just a few changes.  

For example, ECNL is already stronger in STX with 3 quality clubs (Albion, Challenge, Classics Elite) compared to 1.5 for DA. There is talk of adding another DA club in STX but Albion reportedly turned it down and is staying ECNL. That leaves NTX. If the Texans drop DA, Liverpool is added and Solar stays ECNL (Solar's 2nd teams are often competitive with their top teams), that would give ECNL twice as many quality clubs in TX as DA. Admittedly, FCD, Solar and Lonestar will have great teams, but they won't be better than their ECNL counterparts in every age group and ECNL would simply have more quality teams to play in TX. Isn't that the definition of the "best" league? Out of respect for the Energy parents on this forum, I will not suggest which club is stronger in Oklahoma between TSC and Energy, but my point is, just a few changes can impact the overall quality of the league and I wouldn't be surprised if that trends in favor of ECNL next year.

Sheish ... some rough stuff going on today.

I'll be honest, it's getting tough to side with Ziz lately given some of the stuff he throws up here, but he's absolutely correct when he says that having the quality of clubs/teams far outweighs having the numbers.  I've mentioned this before, and it's pretty clear, but it seems some of you either can't wrap your heads around it, or flat out don't believe me (just because) ...

(I think it silly that I need to do this, but based on the recent history of many of you jumping to the wrong conclusion and being unreasonably judgemental, let me preface by saying I am an ECNL fan.  It is certainly a fantastic option for many kids and I hope it will continue to be a viable avenue for kids to play college soccer in the long term.)

Here we go again ...

When the initial GDA invites went out, they were generally given by those clubs that have had the most success both historically and recently in the ECNL -- Hawks, Blues, Eclipse, PDA, Tophat, Solar, FC Dallas, FC Stars, Slammers, Real CO, Surf, Crossfire among others ... This is literally fact and is inarguable.  These same clubs are now amongst the top performing in GDA as well.  It's no secret that at every one of these clubs, that generally the top players/teams (ECNL last year) are now participating in the GDA program (GDA is not a "league"), making the ECNL groups at those clubs, "second tier".  This is clearly why the stigma already exists out there that the ECNL doesn't offer the quality of GDA any longer.  This has been recognized by many of the coaches at the larger D1 programs out there and when faced with the decision on where to spend their recruiting budget -- GDA Showcases vs ECNL Showcase ... I'm afraid the writing is already on the wall.  

Yes ... Some of those ECNL kids will continue to be invited to NT camps.
Yes ... Thousands of kids participating in the ECNL will continue to receive soccer scholarships for the foreseeable future.
Yes ... The sky is blue.

All I'm saying (and this has always been the case) is that the majority/highest concentration of elite talent across the country is now (all will continue to be) participating in GDA.

DefDad --
I really wish you'd pull your head out and read my posts before putting me on a "DA High horse" just because I believe (see above).  And please ... please show me where I "backtracked" with you.

Tulsa --
Surely you know this but if not, it's screamingly clear why you post what you post (Big Olg Balls is on the right track).  So ...
Where is this "barrier" you mention now exists?  
How will DIGC be a "good indicator", given that about 1% of GDA teams will be competing in it?
And lawsuit!?  C'mon man.

I have no skin in this game.  While my middle is on an ECNL roster, she's a college freshman so it remains to be seen if she plays ECNL this year.  I also don't care which entity "wins" or which will be stronger in the long run.

Having said that, I know for a FACT that more than half the GDA clubs Big Ern referenced hate what GDA has done and there are many other big name GDA clubs he didn't mention who feel the same. What does that mean in the long run, I don't know. What I do know is that options are being considered and those options have big name college coaches involved.

If asked to speculate, I would guess that in the long run there will be one local GDA club (FCD) who sticks around and possibly two (Solar). The others will move back to ECNL and similar things happening around the nation.

In the long run, though, 99.99% of the girls won't play in the pros (beyond possibly Europe) and 99.999% will not see a national team. So when we all look back in 4-7 years when their careers are over, we can chuckle to ourselves at the amount of time we spent discussing this stuff. Myself very much including in this.

I just stated an opinion its not legal fact or advice and wasn’t meant as such. You can read USSF bylaws. I am just saying that GDA is now an arm of USSF which had previously used ECNL id camps as a way to get on the national team through identification through US CLUB member. When GDA was created was it done at the expense of US CLUB I would say yes. So why would that not be acting as a partial participant in favor of GDA over a active member. Also if you look at the bylaws there are specific participation rates of players required for membership based on designation. When these kids were removed from US CLUB and ECNL it affects those participation numbers even though the participating GDA Clubs are also still for the majority ECNL member clubs as well. There are various options open if US CLUB should choose to pursue this. I never said they would pursue a lawsuit just that USSF should be a honest broker to improve the state of the game.

Since there are no other available games between the leagues DIGC would be a good indicator of what those 4 days a week practices and 1 sub rules are doing for development verses what development is occuring in ECNL. GDA should win hands down right. Its not the end of the world either way.

DeltaTauChi wrote:

ForReal wrote:
I don't disagree with you to a large extent.  My point and question is simply: where are the players going to go/play if the Big 3 drop ECNL?  A few might make it on D'Feeters or Sting ECNL teams.  But let's say those Big 3 ECNL teams want to stay largely intact.  Perhaps they become the TCL teams (still a fair amount of travel and expense, and can you imagine if the Big 3 are excluded from TCL?).  What happens to the TCL players?  They have to find spots on LH teams?  18 girls.

Let me clue you in on something.  Outside of the Texans U13 ECNL (DTS '05) team, the Texans, FCD, and Solar teams playing in ECNL this year were the clubs' TCL teams last year, and frankly, the majority of the Texans and FCD teams would be better served playing TCL instead of ECNL.  With the exception of the aforementioned DTS '05 team, Texans and FCD don't have a single team above 7th place in the conference standings.  Solar has at least been able to keep most of their teams around the center of table in all age groups.

You can argue about whether the travel associated with TCL is worth it, but at least there, you are only talking about regional travel by car, and you are covering the region where the majority of those kids are going to go to college (whether or not they play soccer).  Also, the TCL team generally attend the regional showcases I mentioned in my original post, which again, is where most of the regional small D1-D3 coaches are going to be scouting for players, and that's the caliber of player most of those TCL kids are.  That makes a helluva lot more sense then going to Orlando, or Phoenix for an ECNL showcase for most of those players - emphasis on most, there are always exceptions to the rule.

That's what I'm talking about Bluto. FCD and DT can't seem to field two good teams and the money is in all the next level teams. Solar seems to have done pretty well, Bige must be consulting over there. Foxy says DA is gonna cost the big dummys more than they gained if they lose ECNL. To make matters worse they will still be stuck with shitzou and bigego.