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Post by alacrity174 on Oct 12, 2016 11:25:40 GMT -5
IMHO this is a mess, next year we get Boys ECNL so will ECNL give this to existing clubs that have ECNL already? If so Concord will have Boys and Girls DA and potentially Girls and Boys ECNL. Will ECNL pull out of clubs accepting Girls DA? As NTH has Girls DA now will they also get Boys DA?
How will GA soccer and other state affiliates survive as with 2 supposedly Elite programs now taking the again supposed top players out of the system RPL become a 3rd and 4th tier option and Clssic/Athena are 5th tier at best.
Instead of uniting Soccer in the US all we are doing is fragmenting it. Not the way to get ahead in the world.
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Post by alacrity174 on Oct 10, 2016 7:23:16 GMT -5
Good topic.
As a former coach as a small club I always knew my top players would end up on a bigger clubs teams. Obviously I had mixed feelings about this but for those that did make it onto top regional/ Classic teams I was always happy, I still see these players and will always speak with them and their parents to see how they are getting on. The only down side is the players that were left only ever had the option of CL III level as that is where GA Soccer puts small clubs.
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Post by alacrity174 on Oct 6, 2016 7:53:50 GMT -5
Was that last part targeting Pinoe? I'm guessing Rapinoe and Solo were high on the list for that part, but also it is a proverbial line in the sand about pulling for the team and not self gratification. Hope Jill sticks with this and doesn't cave as it can only help build the team. The rest of the world is catching up with women's soccer here in the US
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Post by alacrity174 on Oct 3, 2016 9:30:16 GMT -5
To be fair Soccerhouse don't we sat the same about foriegn managers (especially British), coming into the MLS.
I think Bob will find it a very different experience, my bigger concern is for the club as it seems the owners really don't know what they want and the fans will soon lose confidence in them. Which we have all seen is a bad thing for all involved, look at randy Learner and Aston Villa
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Post by alacrity174 on Oct 3, 2016 7:40:38 GMT -5
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 27, 2016 12:37:19 GMT -5
I remember back in the day, I thought screw ins were the coolest things on the planet. I'd wear them sometimes when the surface warranted them, they were the most uncomfortable things I had ever worn. I think they were nike tiempo's. painful as heck. But I didn't care, I thought I was so cool! Nice thing about screw ins is you can change the studs to suit the conditions, if ground is really wet you can go to a longer stud, hard and can go with a short soft plastic. They have come a long way in comfort now too
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 26, 2016 8:17:45 GMT -5
Good question and one which I don't see a definitive answer for. If you are an exceptional player (The only ones who realistically have a chance of going pro), then I would hope you are playing on an MLS DA team. If you are a good player and have a wish to play in college then DA of any flavor or NPL/RPL is still a good option, lots of exposure to college coaches and chances to play at a high level. You can still achieve college exposure at Classic 1 level but it takes a lot more work contacting college coaches and getting yourself infront of them.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 26, 2016 8:11:58 GMT -5
You can say it, but doesn't mean it hasn't happened and will continue to happen. Metal is metal and has no place on a youth soccer field outside of the goal posts. And about your cast posts, that's why you always call it a "brace" or "split" haha All due respect but it's not me "saying" it, under the laws of the game metal/aluminum screw in cleats are allowed provided they are not defective, that is without dispute. I was a certified ref and that's always been the case at least back in the early 2000's when I took my course and has been true since. If it has haopened unless the screw in's were damaged the referee's were wrong. What about the player that has a full knee brace after an ACL injury, that's allowed and had metal/aluminum parts and I was say it's more dangerous as it has more exposed surface area, going knee to knee with another player while wearing a full brace could injure a player as well, again that is allowed as well. Soccerfan is correct, as a currently certified ref metal studs are allowed as long as they do not have sharp edges or are worn to the screw in post etc, if they become dangerous they are out, same for the new plastic blades if they have a sharp edge on they are not allowed on the field.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 23, 2016 13:19:45 GMT -5
Hi Footy
In the main yes I believe an MLS DA is superior to GA UTD and Concord, the USL DA teams are a little in-between, it depends on if they offer a residential program. The MLS DA's have the advantage of true professional coaching and facilities plus the majority are residential so the players really do get quality time in practice with little to no travel from school to home to fields for a 90 minute practice. Compare this to let's say Concord DA where the field they practice on is a middle school and shared with multiple other teams per night, the players are travelling on average an hour to get to practice in rush hour and if it rains practice is called off.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 23, 2016 11:37:10 GMT -5
Great thread Zizou.
I'm not sure where we go either, the pay to play mantra for US soccer is part of our problem, add in all the travelling at such young ages and as you pointed out no options to earn a living playing the sport and the current model is just not sustainable.
I would like to see some how the players that don't "make it" stay in the sport, become coaches possibly as we need more higher level coaches especially for the younger ages. Find positions in MLS/ USL/ NWSL clubs and expand the base so more and more boys and girls want to play.
There will inevitably be only a very small number of players both men and women who get to play at the very top, but we really need to work at retaining the players as they age out of youth and college and keep them involved in the game at some level.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 23, 2016 11:27:48 GMT -5
Zizou would rather see club players get a chance before they are ruined by the college game. At least most successful clubs try to play an attractive and effective game whereas the college teams go back to neanderthal tactics and hard tackles to intimidate skilled players. This whole ruined by the college game narrative has to account for things like this: Internationals coming to USA for college soccerOur college game is good enough for players from other countries to come and use. On the women's side, there are top shelf internationals that come here to play college soccer. In addition, I saw a statistic recently that 5% of all MLS minutes go to internationals that played college in the states. That same figure for homegrowns was 7%. So if we say that the college pathway is bad, then what does that say about the Academy systems these teams are running? Read this the other way round, a player who couldn't make it in Derby County (Bottom of the Championship division), has an opportunity to come to the US and get a scholarship and education. Good for him, I'm glad he found a way to keep playing and get a degree which doesn't happen in the UK. Next look at the length of the college season, all 3 months of it, there is no way players can defectively develop in this structure, MLS DA is in my opinion, the only true development path for Mens professional soccer. On the women's side as the sport is still really in its infancy outside the US and again taking into account girls can come to the US get a scholarship, education and play soccer it's a win, win, win for them. Now add in the style of play in college, which is predominately kick and run with some level of possession, i will give you there are some schools which are trying to do better but most play to win only. I did read somewhere the other day that MLS academies are worried about where their players go after playing DA and move on to college as they believe the progress made during the time at the DA is negated by college tactics and we may soon see that certain DA's encourage their players to attend specific colleges. Now while this will be great for the college chosen I'm not sure how this will be handled by NCAA. I would prefer to see College soccer go to a longer season (8-10 months), spread out the games more and give the coaches time to really work with the players, help their development in a true sense and also get them used to playing over a longer period, which if they are looking to become professionals will only benefit them in the long run.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 21, 2016 17:49:39 GMT -5
My question - where's the line between agressive play and foul? That is much more difficult to define. I hate hearing from the sideline get/ play aggressively as it sends the wrong message to the player. The level of play and age really defines what is overly aggressive a foul is a foul regardless of age or level of play
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 21, 2016 14:19:48 GMT -5
The biggest problem is how it affects the teams, 1 unruly parent can disrupt how players play and get them into the wrong frame of mind. For me is is annoying but does not change any of my calls.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 20, 2016 14:12:05 GMT -5
"Having said that there is a real disparity especially looking at the most recent events where a wanted terrorist was shot but not killed by law enforcement but an man was shot and killed for no apparent reason by the Tulsa police" I think that is the point I was trying to make etc. and I'm a terrible shot and really only have shot skeet! My assumption is though in some of these cases, just firing a weapon in any direction, would scare the "suspect" enough to fear they will be killed that they would cooperate. Alot of these cases though are close range, suspect is not moving and is stationary and is no 'perceived' threat (like the videos we've seen) And what I've always heard is exactly what folks have said, if police officer discharges a weapon its exactly like what is stated above. Not sure I like the idea of a police officer firing a shot into the air either really, remember that bullet has to come back down to earth somewhere and could well be over a mile away into a kids playground. The better option, in my opinion and I am not a law enforcement officer, is better training for Police on when and how to use their weapon. it seems that this is only a recent event as there were never this many cases of "negligent discharge" so where did it all start to go wrong? I did see a story the other day, can't remember where now, but it was an example of an ex military who was now a police officer was trying to talk a suspect with a gun down and another officer (non military), turned up, drew their weapon and shot the suspect. I suppose this was to do with the way the different officers had been trained, the military training evidently was not to shoot on sight, maybe the typical law enforcement training is the opposite. Whatever the reasoning I would prefer the first officers approach as it seems a lot more level headed.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 20, 2016 14:04:59 GMT -5
Difficult to compare the two, if you are in the top divisions at Disney you will get a lot of exposure to college coaches (which is why we go right), there are also International teams to watch and possibly play against which is a good experience. CASL is a good tournament with many levels to play at, you won't see many coaches unless you are in the top division unfortunately, unless your coach has an in with some and can get them to come and watch a particular player
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 20, 2016 14:02:29 GMT -5
Zizou would rather see club players get a chance before they are ruined by the college game. At least most successful clubs try to play an attractive and effective game whereas the college teams go back to neanderthal tactics and hard tackles to intimidate skilled players.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 20, 2016 8:28:22 GMT -5
I Don't get the shoot to kill mentality, can't you shoot someone in the leg or carry a 2nd weapon with non deadly ammo. I probably watch too many movies. It's terrible. Soccerhouse have you ever fired a weapon? Hitting a target is easy enough, hitting a moving target is much harder, add in the in a real life situation there are other people around which you definitely don't want to hit and then shooting someone moving in the arm/leg which is a very small moving target becomes very difficult, all members of the military and law enforcement are taught to shoot for center of mass, IE the chest area as it is normally your biggest target. Sorry Die Hard movies and video games aside it is almost impossible to shoot and hit with reliable accuracy someones arm as they raise a weapon to shoot. Having said that there is a real disparity especially looking at the most recent events where a wanted terrorist was shot but not killed by law enforcement but an man was shot and killed for no apparent reason by the Tulsa police.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 20, 2016 8:19:23 GMT -5
Not threatened at all. She's on the USA NATIONAL TEAM. Right? Am I missing something? Red white and blue kits? "National Team" right there? It's one thing to be a spoiled millionaire brat in the NFL and a bad one at that. It's another entirely to be playing FOR YOUR COUNTRY and refusing to respect the flag of said country. Do this for your pro team, maybe less people care. Yeah yeah yeah. 1st amendment blah blah. My 1st amendment rights allow me to say you are a POS. Let's be respectful. I would submit, and ask everyone to consider, the level of vitriol this issue engenders indicates that rationality is not always the overarching consideration. As a result, a moment's reflection is probably a good idea. There is a great Galileo quote that works here: "He who amidst the struggle of opinion calls upon authority works with his memory and not with his reason." Just as another point for reflection. USSF is a nonprofit organization that is given authority by FIFA, a genuinely corrupt organization, to construct all star teams to compete against all star teams from other federations. They are not the same as the US of A. Not even close. Sunil Gulati is not Imperial Overlord of the USA. He is a businessman doing a job. For a variety reasons, the USSF is not entitled to this level of moral authority. Nor respect. A lot of what they do could hardly be called "the best of America." They are a goofball organization. Kind of an embarrassing group in a lot of ways. Players on these USSF all star teams are not being paid by the federal government. They are not in the military. Let's not get confused about what these teams really represent. The President of the United States, who does have some right to be a moral compass for the country, regardless of who you voted for, was in support of the NFL protest. Rapinoe did it to support Kaepernick. Even if you would do it a different way the very basis of our country is we can have respectful discussions about the underlying issues. None of us have all the answers. None of us understand all of the issues in sufficient depth to provide some sort of declaration of ultimate justice. The very essence of our country provides that waving the flag deserves no more respect than taking a knee. With all due respect when an athlete is selected to "represent" their country, be it soccer, the Olympics, tennis, whatever then they are defacto representing their country in all its forms. Now we could easily argue that North Korea athletes do not purposefully represent a dictator however they are representing the country and official government of DPRK. My personal opinion is that here in the US it is not mandatory for you to accept the call up to National duty so if you want to protest then to refuse the invitation would be the higher moral ground. Also for Ms Rapinoe to purposefully take away from her team mates time in the spotlight is at best selfish. If she wants to protest whatever it is she is unhappy about carry right on with your club team but again in my opinion, if you with to represent the USA and wear the National Teams jersey then you should stand for the National Anthem and do your best to be a team player and represent ALL that is GOOD about this country.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 19, 2016 12:23:43 GMT -5
Problem is this rule came in half way through the ref certification season. Most refs get re-certified after Christmas and before the new season starts (This is when your badge is valid for). Once all refs have been through recert you will see this called more. Not defending the ref's who haven't kept up with the new LOTG though as I bet they have already implemented the Kick off change, will be interesting to see if these guys have read up on DOGSO and Red cards too.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 19, 2016 12:16:31 GMT -5
Am I missing something here - it's U12 Academy not Select, right? When we were in Academy you paid by the season and had people quit mid season and not have to pay for Spring. We had people join mid season as well - I don't have first hand knowledge of the process or what they did but I do remember it happening a few times from U10 - U12. My two cents for the OP - don't leave now. Use Spring Season to get additional coaching or training at another club - it'll give you an idea of what is out there. You'll be paying for privates but you can do it someewhere other than where you are now. I think at Academy, you can ask to practice with another team too. If that's an option do it. Then - for U13 Classic - go try out at a new club. You're player will be the new shiny one and more likely to get a look than those who have been at Academy there for years. Sad but true - you have a better chance of getting on a higher team at another club than moving up at your own. But no, I wouldn't move mid season at U12. This is the answer you should be listening too. Unless your child is being bullied or mistreated stick it out for the season. Try to address specifics with the coach, in a friendly non confrontational manner and let him develop where he is. Trust me the roller coaster of U13 is coming up and that's enough to make you flip out all on it's own. Take this year to scope out teams and clubs, figure out what is a good fit for you and then attend try outs there.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 19, 2016 12:09:54 GMT -5
What to expect and where to go from here? Anyone have any experience? Boys side. Thanks. Good experience, you normally get three invites, and from there possibly get more. Don't get hung up on it, don't go bragging about it just enjoy it and let your son get out of it what he can.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 8, 2016 12:20:52 GMT -5
Pulisic is a very talented player, I just hope all the pressure and plaudits heaped upon him don't get to him as they have other players who look ready to break out. Remember he is still young but with the right guidace can really be a World Class player, which unfortunately is a term thrown around far too much today
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 8, 2016 12:09:48 GMT -5
My take is that it is not a mess. Just that a metro area the size of atlanta can support 3 DA clubs U13 and up. U12 really only has 3 clubs - it's just that GU splits geographically into 5 programs with UFA being the class of the lot. Pity GU doesn't have the older ages because GA could handle it - hopefully that will change. U12 looks to be simply a long tryout for the next level - that will become clear next year when DA aligns age groups. My 2005 made one of the big 3 U12 (2004) DA clubs but elected to stay with his academy U12 (2005) elite team & coach for one more season so he could play at least one year of school ball and participate in ODP. He is the only 6th grader on the "A" team, starts, and plays the whole game on a powerhouse team he says is the best he's played on. Part of me wishes he'd have opted for DA a year early as a 2005 this year but he is getting a diverse experience and playing with and against better players than can be found on any U12 DA team this year. But because of the lack of area coach/scouting exposure he's rolling the dice regarding making a U13 DA club next year. I guess time will tell if he made the right choice. Plus, the 2005s will have to enter the DA program at U13, missing an entire year of training at that level. Ugh, first world problems, right? Having seen a lot of this age group I can't really see that there is anywhere near the talent for 3 DA teams in ATL. As the teams age up I think you will find that less and less is local players and more will be from other parts of the South East and further afield. ATL UTD will be the destination for serious players who want to be professional and CF will get the college bound players
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 7, 2016 7:31:33 GMT -5
There were plenty of college coaches around in Greenville this past weekend, look for the quiet ones with a funny looking stool thing and a notebook
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 7, 2016 7:29:42 GMT -5
I thought Sasha Klijestan had a great game last night, hell even Josey did well in the 2nd half. Pulisic was really unlucky a few times especially the 2 poster. Not convinced about Bradley any more, used to think he was the best passer we had but since coming back from Europe his game has regressed. I would rather see Klijestan and another mid sitting in if I had to chose between Bradly or him.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 6, 2016 11:59:50 GMT -5
Bad assigning, wonder how many other teams had similar experience
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 2, 2016 10:23:54 GMT -5
The Rush organisation is just a franchise, same as McD's etc but without the standard end product. CO Rush is definitely the gold standard, FL Rush does well. You don't here much about other affiliates and they are non players in CA and TX 2 of the largest soccer markets in the US. GA Rush has never been able to get off the ground, location is probably one factor.
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 1, 2016 16:05:27 GMT -5
Can't seem to find it, but this week I saw a story from I think it was dirty south soccer that they expect to have a manager hired in the next 2 months. found it as I typed, it was the ajc www.ajc.com/news/sports/atlanta-united-manager-may-be-announced-within-2-m/nsNfp/Eales, while being interviewed on GPB on Monday, said the team may announce the manager within a couple of months. Two months would coincide within the end of MLS regular season, which points to the possibility that the hire will be someone already working for a team in the league. Thanks for the link. Interesting, after all the conjecture around the end of European season it looked like we were getting a European manager, now we might be getting an existing MLS face. He wont have much time to put a team together
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Post by alacrity174 on Sept 1, 2016 15:13:01 GMT -5
Has there been any news on ATL UTD getting a Manager?
Team is signing players and moving forward with stadium etc but still no news on who is going to be the First team manager, seems a very strange way of doing things
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Post by alacrity174 on Aug 31, 2016 14:37:00 GMT -5
Is there a checks and balances policy? I would hate for a small but vocal group to ambush good clubs/coaches because of a personal vendetta.
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