Well done Admin! DA vs ECNL on the horizon?

Big thanks to Admin for providing a more proper categorization to the forum ... well done!

On that note -- I thought I'd kick it off with what should be a heavily visited topic over the next few months if it comes to fruition ...

Anyone know if GDA will be grouped with ECNL at the upcoming DIGC? Looks like 9 GDA teams and 14 ECNL teams are set up in the U13-U15 groups this year. Might get some all too sought after answers if so -- gonna be fun to watch!

The little elves have been hard at work today.

Based on my conversations with DIGC it will be 20 teams all in one division for U14. We will see DA vs ECNL in pool play. Should be a fun tourney

Ahhhh yes, it's nice in here.

About time, year over half gone.

FriscoSoccer2004 wrote:Based on my conversations with DIGC it will be 20 teams all in one division for U14.  We will see DA vs ECNL in pool play.  Should be a fun tourney

I believe this will be a first for the entire country --

A shame that most don't know about this tourney yet.  Let's hope they will market it as one that encourages + allows competition between the two ... Maybe draw the MVLAs, Heats and GSAs of the ECNL realm next year!

Maybe we will hear the horns from the heavens and the second coming of Christ riding his chariot of fire will be the half time show.

What will be the DA age groups next year for Frontier division?
I have heard some will be mixed years/ 05/04
Any truth to it?

05DD wrote:What will be the DA age groups next year for Frontier division?
I have heard some will be mixed years/ 05/04
Any truth to it?

U13/14 ... I'd bet that the ratio of '06s to '05s will be close to 1:4

U15 ('04s)

U16 (pilot) ... Mostly for the '03s that don't make the U16/17 squad - no playoffs

U16/17 ... This year the ratio of '02s to '01s is 1:5 - Given the '03 talent here, I'd expect that to go to closer to 1:3 next year

U18/19 ('01s and '00s)

I thought the ratio was supposed to be 1:1. And I thought Frontier was doing U13 and U16.

https://ussoccer.app.box.com/s/mzlyw0ld7v1c0wkbojo8o7m5bfy54c69

Is that in addition or in lieu of the U13/14?

ForReal wrote:I thought the ratio was supposed to be 1:1. And I thought Frontier was doing U13 and U16.

https://ussoccer.app.box.com/s/mzlyw0ld7v1c0wkbojo8o7m5bfy54c69

Is that in addition or in lieu of the U13/14?

Maybe I missed something in that webinar, but I didn't see anything about 1:1 ratio requirement, and that certainly isn't the case this year for the mixed age groups.

And yessir -- As I mentioned, Frontier will have U13s joining the U14s and those U16s that don't make the U16/17 group will be given the opportunity to play on the U16 pilot program team.  

Maybe there will be an age pure U13 pilot program team for those that aren't selected for the U13/14 group as well ... if that's the case, scheduling 7 matches in one day is gonna be a neat trick.

Big Ern wrote:

ForReal wrote:I thought the ratio was supposed to be 1:1. And I thought Frontier was doing U13 and U16.

https://ussoccer.app.box.com/s/mzlyw0ld7v1c0wkbojo8o7m5bfy54c69

Is that in addition or in lieu of the U13/14?

Maybe I missed something in that webinar, but I didn't see anything about 1:1 ratio requirement, and that certainly isn't the case this year for the mixed age groups.

And yessir -- As I mentioned, Frontier will have U13s joining the U14s and those U16s that don't make the U16/17 group will be given the opportunity to play on the U16 pilot program team.  

Maybe there will be an age pure U13 pilot program team for those that aren't selected for the U13/14 group as well ... if that's the case, scheduling 7 matches in one day is gonna be a neat trick.

Is this an admission that U13 was not a success this year?

And the 1:1 ratio was what was pitched when GDA was announced.

ForReal wrote:

Big Ern wrote:

ForReal wrote:I thought the ratio was supposed to be 1:1. And I thought Frontier was doing U13 and U16.

https://ussoccer.app.box.com/s/mzlyw0ld7v1c0wkbojo8o7m5bfy54c69

Is that in addition or in lieu of the U13/14?

Maybe I missed something in that webinar, but I didn't see anything about 1:1 ratio requirement, and that certainly isn't the case this year for the mixed age groups.

And yessir -- As I mentioned, Frontier will have U13s joining the U14s and those U16s that don't make the U16/17 group will be given the opportunity to play on the U16 pilot program team.  

Maybe there will be an age pure U13 pilot program team for those that aren't selected for the U13/14 group as well ... if that's the case, scheduling 7 matches in one day is gonna be a neat trick.

Is this an admission that U13 was not a success this year?

And the 1:1 ratio was what was pitched when GDA was announced.

Love this!  If you aren't joking here, it'd be more of an admission of absurdity wouldn't it FoReal?  I mean ... those kids are only a few months in aren't they?  Sheish.

And please tell us who "pitched" you the 1:1 ratio? GDA? GA?  Who?

Big Ern wrote:

ForReal wrote:I thought the ratio was supposed to be 1:1. And I thought Frontier was doing U13 and U16.

https://ussoccer.app.box.com/s/mzlyw0ld7v1c0wkbojo8o7m5bfy54c69

Is that in addition or in lieu of the U13/14?

Maybe I missed something in that webinar, but I didn't see anything about 1:1 ratio requirement, and that certainly isn't the case this year for the mixed age groups.

And yessir -- As I mentioned, Frontier will have U13s joining the U14s and those U16s that don't make the U16/17 group will be given the opportunity to play on the U16 pilot program team.  

Maybe there will be an age pure U13 pilot program team for those that aren't selected for the U13/14 group as well ... if that's the case, scheduling 7 matches in one day is gonna be a neat trick.

The way I read it, Frontier is doing  u13. So why the u13/14 mix as well?

Those pure age teams are the beginning of DA2. The younger players , good players, but the first year being the younger if good enough will make the DA team. Those that are on the fence will be placed on the DA2 team developing for the following year when the are the oldest in the division. DA teams will be mostly built with the older players within the age division. Of course you will see some of the top younger players make the team but to keep the pipeline rich with talent they will need the DA2 for more games and area for the younger players to play.

Big Ern wrote:

ForReal wrote:

Big Ern wrote:

ForReal wrote:I thought the ratio was supposed to be 1:1. And I thought Frontier was doing U13 and U16.

https://ussoccer.app.box.com/s/mzlyw0ld7v1c0wkbojo8o7m5bfy54c69

Is that in addition or in lieu of the U13/14?

Maybe I missed something in that webinar, but I didn't see anything about 1:1 ratio requirement, and that certainly isn't the case this year for the mixed age groups.

And yessir -- As I mentioned, Frontier will have U13s joining the U14s and those U16s that don't make the U16/17 group will be given the opportunity to play on the U16 pilot program team.  

Maybe there will be an age pure U13 pilot program team for those that aren't selected for the U13/14 group as well ... if that's the case, scheduling 7 matches in one day is gonna be a neat trick.

Is this an admission that U13 was not a success this year?

And the 1:1 ratio was what was pitched when GDA was announced.

Love this!  If you aren't joking here, it'd be more of an admission of absurdity wouldn't it FoReal?  I mean ... those kids are only a few months in aren't they?  Sheish.

And please tell us who "pitched" you the 1:1 ratio?  GDA?  GA?  Who?

Nobody pitched me anything. US Soccer pitched everyone this:

The use of combined age groups will require clubs to form teams with a balanced roster of players from two distinct birth years.

http://www.ussoccerda.com/USSoccer-to-Launch-Girls-Development-Academy-Fall-2017

You are so defensive of GDA that you can’t admit that U13 is too early for GDA. Those deserving of national attention played up and deservingly so. But U13 as a whole was unnecessary, which explains why, after a pilot year in the Frontier league, they aren’t going national with a U13 league. Most 7th graders aren’t ready. If they add a U13 division in Frontier in addition to U13/14, they’ve all but admitted their desire to destroy ECNL.

Quit defending GDA on its infancy.  Some ideas are just ill-conceived and should be abandoned.

Please explain how absurd my thoughts are. Thanks.

Well yeah, you think it was any different when ECNL was in its infancy willing to squash anyone in its way to their dominance. Ask USYSA what they think.

Zizou wrote:Well yeah, you think it was any different when ECNL was in its infancy willing to squash anyone in its way.

Apples and oranges. Who was in ECNL’s way? Nobody. And ECNL wasn’t marketed as the pipeline to the USWNT team. Good try though, Zizou.

Apples and oranges may have some differences but are both from fruit trees. That making them not so different.

It’s funny how similiar the conversations are now compared to four years ago when ECNL was on the rise.

Very philosophical, Zizou.  But ECNL is 9+ years old, right?  No national platform existed. But I’m not trying to create or further engage in a GDA v. ECNL debate. My point was simply that GDA is simply trying to squash ECNL and what it does at the U13 or U13/14 level is Exhibit 1. And it is further evidenced by its initial position of calling for “balanced” rosters in combined years, which was never once adhered to and has since been totally abandoned. Big E admits as much. It’s to create a pipeline or, implicitly, to recruit girls away from what were otherwise good options for 95% of most girls.

The wizard has all the answers behind the curtain.

ForReal wrote:Very philosophical, Zizou.  But ECNL is 9+ years old, right?  No national platform existed. But I’m not trying to create or further engage in a GDA v. ECNL debate. My point was simply that GDA is simply trying to squash ECNL and what it does at the U13 or U13/14 level is Exhibit 1. And it is further evidenced by its initial position of calling for “balanced” rosters in combined years, which was never once adhered to and has since been totally abandoned. Big E admits as much. It’s to create a pipeline or, implicitly, to recruit girls away from what were otherwise good options for 95% of most girls.

I totally agree that this has been a power move, but ECNL would have already known even back four years ago when the ECNL flight took off that this was coming from USSF. The recruiting of players away from ECNL was never going to be the issue. Unfortunately the big dog has finally taken interest in women’s soccer “like it or not” it’s here to stay.

ForReal wrote:

Big Ern wrote:

ForReal wrote:

Big Ern wrote:

ForReal wrote:I thought the ratio was supposed to be 1:1. And I thought Frontier was doing U13 and U16.

https://ussoccer.app.box.com/s/mzlyw0ld7v1c0wkbojo8o7m5bfy54c69

Is that in addition or in lieu of the U13/14?

Maybe I missed something in that webinar, but I didn't see anything about 1:1 ratio requirement, and that certainly isn't the case this year for the mixed age groups.

And yessir -- As I mentioned, Frontier will have U13s joining the U14s and those U16s that don't make the U16/17 group will be given the opportunity to play on the U16 pilot program team.  

Maybe there will be an age pure U13 pilot program team for those that aren't selected for the U13/14 group as well ... if that's the case, scheduling 7 matches in one day is gonna be a neat trick.

Is this an admission that U13 was not a success this year?

And the 1:1 ratio was what was pitched when GDA was announced.

Love this!  If you aren't joking here, it'd be more of an admission of absurdity wouldn't it FoReal?  I mean ... those kids are only a few months in aren't they?  Sheish.

And please tell us who "pitched" you the 1:1 ratio?  GDA?  GA?  Who?

Nobody pitched me anything. US Soccer pitched everyone this:

The use of combined age groups will require clubs to form teams with a balanced roster of players from two distinct birth years.

http://www.ussoccerda.com/USSoccer-to-Launch-Girls-Development-Academy-Fall-2017

You are so defensive of GDA that you can’t admit that U13 is too early for GDA. Those deserving of national attention played up and deservingly so. But U13 as a whole was unnecessary, which explains why, after a pilot year in the Frontier league, they aren’t going national with a U13 league. Most 7th graders aren’t ready. If they add a U13 division in Frontier in addition to U13/14, they’ve all but admitted their desire to destroy ECNL.

Quit defending GDA on its infancy.  Some ideas are just ill-conceived and should be abandoned.

Please explain how absurd my thoughts are. Thanks.

Sure FoReal --

The absurd part was your notion that anything I said here is an "admission that U13 was not a success this year" ... especially after just a few months and a dozen or so matches.  How (and why) could we call the U13 group a failure (or success for that matter) at this point?  Are the ECNL U13s a failure too?  Having a tough time with the logic here -- Lemme know if you can help us out.

And I'm sorry that I must not have been clear enough, but the GDA are adding U13s nationally next year.  

And yes ... It could easily be argued (and I don't necessarily disagree) that U13 is a bit young for the GDA level.  That is, if your argument was based on the fierce competitive atmosphere and taxing amount of travel that come with participation.  But couldn't the same be said for the ECNL?  I recall a few years ago in our pre ECNL meeting it was announced that they had plans to expand down to U11, and I sure you know that the DA boys have had U12 going for a couple years now, so ...

I realize it may seem that I am in bed with GDA because I'm forced to defend it due of all of the nonsense being spewed out there, but as I've mentioned many times, I support and respect all levels.  Rather than be so concerned with conspiracies (i.e. GDAs master plan and "desire to destroy ECNL"), how 'bout we shift focus to the more concrete things such as product.  Those of us that have kids participating in it don't seem to be doing any grumbling of any kind.  Funny how that works isn't it?