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Post by gaprospects on May 16, 2017 17:58:59 GMT -5
Shame about the time, but I'll be there. Benefits of having nothing to do on a Wednesday afternoon.
For all of the continuing issues with the Silverbacks they have put together a good, deep squad. They just played 3 games in 4 days and won them all. The Battery have been winning as well, they're top of the Eastern Conference in USL this season.
So, two old rivals, both in great form coming in. Throw in the usual US Open Cup madness, and this promises to be a great one.
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Post by gaprospects on May 8, 2017 21:59:43 GMT -5
Call ups? Does that mean a bunch of 18s quit in the spring to play high school etc? Or DPs etc? They lost several of their key players to high school, they've been using a lot of DP's and have also brought in several new players full time, even a couple of out of state kids.
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Post by gaprospects on May 8, 2017 19:28:04 GMT -5
I'm pleasantly surprised that Concorde held AU scoreless for an hour in the U18 game, even if they did lose 3-0. AU's U18s are ranked #1 in the nation and nearly half the kids playing for Concorde were callups from their RPL team. Says a lot about the depth of talent in this city.
As for the 03's, I know AU is bringing in multiple kids from out of state and I'm sure they'll pull in some new kids from in state as well. Plus, their current squad has four kids who have already been to national team camps, which is probably better than winning games for their purposes.
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 28, 2017 15:01:53 GMT -5
I used to strongly support the Silverbacks (season tickets for many years) until their ownership finally proved once and for all that they are not serious... not that I necessarily blame them this last time with Atlanta United opening up. And I'm an Atlanta United supporter now. But these kinds of games are no-win for the "stronger" side. It's like playing a team two years younger than you, or the club's third team scrimmaging the first team, or JV scrimmaging varsity, or a girls team playing in a boys bracket in a tournament -- if the "expected" team wins, it's expected... if not it makes them look bad, even if they play players out of position or give more playing time to normal bench players. Still, the NASL Silverbacks have done well in the US Open Cup in the past against MLS teams, so not to take anything away from them. I disagree that this has no benefit for the stronger side. The Silverbacks are a competent team with a bunch of former pros in the side. I mean, the guy who scored the offside goal, McCauley, led CONCACAF in goals during WC Qualifying last cycle (he plays for Belize but still, not bad). United's team was mostly guys who haven't played much this season in MLS with a handful of U18 kids mixed in. For the first teamers, this was a chance for a lot of them to get a run-out against a solid team and get some match fitness. For the academy kids, it's a chance to get more experience playing alongside the pros and to challenge themselves against better players than what they normally see in the DA. I see plenty of benefit all around in this scrimmage.
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 27, 2017 9:33:07 GMT -5
It's entirely up to the player and his level of ambition. There are tons of success stories on both sides. Getting a degree and a good education can be invaluable if the soccer career doesn't work out.
A great recent example was JJ Koval. He was a California kid who was four-year starter at Stanford and went top 10 in the MLS SuperDraft. He never stuck anywhere in MLS and rather than make a cheap salary in USL, he retired and went back to school to become a dentist. So, soccer didn't work out for him, but he still had that bachelor's degree from Stanford, and that gets you a long, long way in the real world.
Most of the guys on the national team had extensive experience in college. I wonder if that will change now that most of the top 25 players every year are usually either getting MLS Homegrown deals, USL deals or going abroad. It feels like a change in landscape and mentality for these young guys.
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 21, 2017 14:02:55 GMT -5
A couple of excellent potential matchups in the 2nd round on the boys side: Peachtree Ridge-Etowah, Walton-Collins Hill, and Pebblebrook-Rockdale County. Some other good potential 2nd rounders at other classifications: Clarkston-Star's Mill, McIntosh-Cross Keys, SE Whitfield-Woodward Academy
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 18, 2017 9:46:09 GMT -5
Based off of that page it looks like they could be planning to have an 02 roster beyond the 01-02 DA team. I wonder how that's going to work.
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 14, 2017 13:40:34 GMT -5
So the latest episode of MLS's weekly podcast ExtraTimeRadio includes an interview from the Generation adidas Cup with Tony Annan. The interview starts around the 30-minute mark and I would highly recommend giving it a listen. The MLS Technical Director of Youth Development Fred Lipka is also apart of the interview (he used to be a director with the academy at Le Havre AC in France, who have a world-renowned academy and several world-class products). It's an overarching interview about MLS player development as a whole. Among the biggest highlights for me was TA talking about his relationship with Tata, Bocanegra and the other club brass. Tata apparently brings 15-16 of the older academy kids into first team training every Thursday to play against the pros and get exposed to their tactics and training habits. He also says that Tata has been out to watch the academy matches and regularly asks for updates on several players. Tata has been a believer in young guys his entire career, so this isn't really a surprise, but it's still exciting to hear just how committed he is to development. www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/04/14/extratime-radio-next-big-homegrown-star-theyre-display-ga-cup
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 7, 2017 11:44:42 GMT -5
Barber isn't the only '03 they've signed from out of state, I've seen another one of these postings about a kid from Johnson City, TN. Looks like both kids played on a Regional ODP squad together back in November.
I get the feeling that these types of "signing day" announcements are more about the coaches and the clubs rather than the players. Mississippi Rush is probably very happy to have a player of theirs on an MLS team's radar.
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 3, 2017 10:05:24 GMT -5
I know of a kid that walked away from one of the older AU teams -- it was great and all being on a top team like that, but at the end of the day, being player 18 on an 18 man roster where you might be playing 10 minutes a game if your lucky is no fun for kid with aspirations of playing college soccer. I don't care what showcase and playoffs the DA team attends, if the kid isn't on the field he won't be seen. Its tough, but at the end of the day the other 17 players might just be better and thats it. Kids want to play in games, they don't want to be cheerleaders. Saw Atlanta Uniteds 13s lost to Triangle. Not even sure how thats possible given the talent they have. It will all get fixed by u16/u18 when it "matters", but still shocking. I know wins/losses do no really matter at u13 and u14, but I've seen many DA coaches think otherwise. Some are great, play all kids equally at these ages, and mix the squads up, others play their top 11 and everyone else on the roster get minimal minutes. And if you haven't seen Ga Uniteds 14s play, your missing out. Go watch one of their remaining games this season. Robin Dixon deserves coach of the Decade for the job he has done. Unreal, they play beautiful soccer, work hard, move the ball around and most importantly play as a team. Obviously with the 2 year age groups next season and probably some of their top players moving over to AU, the team will get split up, but its a shame. Probably best u14 team in the south. It just goes to show you what a difference a little heart and quality coaching can do. The 3 best players I ever played with in my life were so different - one thing they all had in common was when they stepped on the field, losing was not an option - most competitive 3 kids I've met in my life and all had extremely high soccer IQs. 1st went on to be one of if not the greatest players in US soccer history. He was no doubt an above average youth player. Even at 18, He was good, but you didn't look at him as a youth player and think one day he would become so smooth and silky and one of the best ever to play his position. 2nd - hardest working blue collar player I'd ever played with my life. Relentless offensively and on the defensive side. Back in the 4-4-2 days with a stop and sweeper, he played center mid and just out worked you. He ended up taking a duke team to a national title game and chose a career over soccer 3rd - the greatest soccer player I'd ever seen. Left footed player with size and speed, was built like a running back. Wasn't the most technical and didn't work hard at all, but kid was just a flat out athletic competitor and refused to lose. He would run circles around the future US soccer defender. Unfortunately, school really wasn't his thing, he went to a small school, received freshman player of the year in the conference and dropped out. Still to this date, I think he's the greatest player I've ever seen. Its fascinating given he probably could juggle maybe 50 times tops. Sorry, had to go back and edit -- left off my point, at the u13/u14, they really are still kids and their is no crystal ball still on what they will become. Yes there are a few standouts, typically just because of their physical presence, so at these ages teams that focus soley on their starting 11 are missing the boat. I understand this philosophy at the older age groups though, there you start to see a switch to playing for results and by results I mean wins. Some of the results with Atlanta United's younger teams have been surprising. You would expect the team who has the pick of their kids in the city (and really the Southeast) to be dominant at every level, but credit to GA United and Concorde for putting some really strong teams together. Hopefully I'll get to see the GA United 02s before the season ends, because they really do have some nice players. I will say this, if GA United's top 02s want to play for Atlanta United next year, they'll have to make TA's split-age U17 team. AU was actually pretty good about splitting their current U16s pretty evenly between 00 and 01, and they aren't shy about playing the younger guys over the 00s either. That being said, there will only be around 11-13 slots available for 02s on that roster, and a lot of those places will be filled by kids already at AU as well as kids that they recruit from somewhere else. I'm sure Atlanta United already has their eye on a couple of guys from that GAU 02 team, but it will be a difficult decision for them, especially with UFA now in the picture.
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Post by gaprospects on Apr 2, 2017 9:35:31 GMT -5
02s: GA United 5-1 Concorde 03s: GA United 0-1 Concorde
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Post by gaprospects on Mar 28, 2017 10:38:37 GMT -5
However, now UFA can utilize the DP pool etc, so they stated they would roster 18 on the older teams. However, given the sub rules etc, I can't imagine a DP getting a lot of playing time unless he's a player they just absolutely missed on.. Again I'm sure there is examples of DPs getting good playing time, but from what I've seen, the top 11 play, everyone else are subs. It does come down to the coach and their philosophy, many do in fact embrace every player on their roster and if you make the roster, they pick you with the thought that every kid can play. others not so much. From what I've seen, the clubs have no standards and its up to the coach and the coach only. I've seen this actually with every level from u9 to DA, its the coaches call and the club DOCs, and other staff let the coaches coach their teams how they choose to. That UFA 01/02 age group should be interesting, because their are rumors of Atlanta United possibly also having an 02 team play in a separate league to retain players in the system. This could be complete BS. But clearly the top current 02 team is GA United, you have to figure a handful of those kids will make atlanta united, which leaves a ripple effect on the UFA. And those kids could have a touch decision, go to atlanta united and be player 12-24 or stay at UFA and compete for a starting spot. yes, maybe they can compete for a starting spot at Atlanta United, but you have to assume that roster will be loaded with giant athletic 01s. Athletic is the key, go watch their 18s, crazy athleticism on the pitch. This isn't much to go off of, but at least this season several DPs have gotten playing time with Concorde. They've been rotating through their RPL kids pretty evenly to fill in the gaps in the DA team, so individual players aren't necessarily playing for more than a weekend or 2, but the kids they pull up usually at least get on the field. This has been mostly used in the U18 age group, though, since several of their 2017 kids decided to bail on the spring season to play high school. As far as what Atlanta United could be for 01/02, there are certainly slots available. AU's current 00/01 team started the year with mostly 00s in the starting XI, but recently they've been playing the 01s and late-birthday 00s (class of 2019) a lot more. They also have a couple of 02s they've started to pull up to the U16s periodically. GA United's 02s are a better team than what AU has, but that could have more to do with coaching than necessarily having better players. AU doesn't really seem bothered if their younger teams don't win every game, that's not their goal in those age groups. You also have to assume AU will recruit some high-level players from out of state (they've already been doing this and have a few very good players at the club who aren't registered to play DA right now). It's all going to be very interesting to follow. I've long thought that with the talent that UFA already has playing on their RPL and National league squads that they could throw a pretty competitive DA team on the field, and now they'll presumably be pulling in a ton of top players from around the area for their 01/02s. I expect them to be a quality side.
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Post by gaprospects on Mar 19, 2017 18:45:02 GMT -5
Watched the 02's and thought much the same. Confire looked better prepared. AU has tons of individual talent, but I saw no apparent tactical plan. AU was easily broken down by the organized CF defense. AU 02's game plan resembled a track meet. AU defenders also appear to be learning on the fly - like the staff selected a bunch of CM who are now adapting to an unfamiliar role. Sadly, I imagine AU staff was salivating at inviting some new recruits from CF for next year, to improve by taking rather than by training. The comment about defenders learning on the fly is spot on. I know some of those AU boys were midfielders or strikers for their club teams before being selected by Atlanta United. When you pick the cream of the crop, you probably selected a bunch of players who were used to playing offense and not defense. You have to have a solid back line before you can even think about offense. A good center back/right back/left back who doesn't mind playing the position is worth his/her weight in gold at the youth level. All the skilled players want to do is score goals but somebody has to play defense and it is hard to convert a 13-year-old used to playing striker and scoring goals with all the attending glory to play in the back. There's a couple ways to explain this: first, these are the best kids in the area, and they were likely the best or one of the best players on their former teams. Their former coach likely recognized their talent and played them farther forward. For an example, AU has an 01 who, as a HS freshman, was the starting #9 for his state championship-winning squad, but for AU (and the Jamaican national team) he plays center back. I would doubt that TA and his staff are just picking kids and forcing them to play defense against their will. If they're playing a kid in the back it's because they see that as his best position. And if it looks like they're still learning defending, it's because they ARE, and that's not a bad thing either.
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Post by gaprospects on Mar 10, 2017 12:56:33 GMT -5
In North Carolina - CASL and TFC Alliance have merged to become North Carolina FC Youth. CASL was already closely associated with the Railhawks (now NCFC) in the Development Academy and had 3 DA programs at the U12 level this season, and was adding a second at U13 and U14 next year. TFCA already plays DA at those ages and has several high level RPL teams already going at higher age groups. Of course, NCFC also owns and operates NWSL club NC Courage, who were starting a DA club this fall. This move creates the nation's largest youth club with a direct path to a professional side. www.northcarolinafc.com/news/2017/03/10/casl-and-tfca-enter-historic-strategic-collaboration-with-north-carolina-fcThen down in Florida, Chargers SC have partnered strategically with Orlando City and Orlando Pride. Chargers have multiple club locations in Clearwater and Tampa and have played DA on the men's side for years, while also operating a successful women's program that has produced professional players in the past. Now, the best players from the Chargers program will be funneling into the DA programs in Orlando, which of course directly links to MLS and NWSL. www.orlandocitysc.com/post/2017/03/10/orlando-city-sc-partners-chargers-soccer-club
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Post by gaprospects on Mar 6, 2017 22:18:46 GMT -5
It was an incredible atmosphere and a really entertaining match. I was in the midst of the supporters section about 6 rows up. I don't think the supporters groups necessarily expected the volume of people who were participating in the chants, so it was all a bit disjointed, but I'm sure everyone learned a lot and will be better prepared for the next game.
I thought the team showed a ton of promise, but also a ton of inexperience. It was clear why the Red Bulls are perennial contenders in MLS. They spent nearly 70 minutes on the back foot, but as soon as they sensed United was fading they switched it into high gear. As soon as they had the lead, they killed the game with silly fouls and exaggerated injuries. It was a very professional performance from a good team on short rest.
Atlanta showed they have no fear, though, and they are clearly very confident in their own identity. They have already adapted to Tata's tactics pretty well for only having played 5 games. The high press, high energy style will make them a joy to watch for neutrals, and combining that with the massive crowds will make Atlanta United one of the most recognizable teams in the league very quickly.
Next game against Minnesota will be a tough test. It's the first true road game this team has ever faced, and it will be in front of 40k+ in sub-freezing temperatures. Minnesota looks like the more "expansion-y" of the expansion teams but they should be helped by their crowd. I can't wait to see how the guys respond, especially the South Americans.
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Post by gaprospects on Mar 1, 2017 16:08:28 GMT -5
ASA and Fusion becoming UFA was a pretty big deal in retrospect. I don't think anyone could have predicted what UFA would become at the time
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 28, 2017 20:30:43 GMT -5
Where did you get that from? DA rules require that a DP be registered at the same club as the DA team. Supposedly GU can have DP players but they would have been required to select one, and only one, of the alliance clubs as their base club. Imagine those politics, if UFA kids, or SSA kids, were the only kids allowed to DP with other alliance clubs shut out. DP players also could not register until October 15 of last year, and are limited to 6 games. Thats the point, they were not allowed to use the entire player pool, but never heard the details that they had to choose one club if they wanted to use DPs, so that is very interesting!! So are we to assume atlanta united has to follow the same rules then? Atlanta United has players training with them who haven't played in a single match. They have also added players who aren't considered DPs to their rosters, but they have also had players who left the team after realizing where they stood in terms of getting playing time.
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 27, 2017 17:56:54 GMT -5
I wish they would implement one weekend in the fall and spring where the u12s travel to play north carolina teams and then maybe one weekend when they got to florida. Some of that has happened organically. Some teams arranged friendlies for the weekend of the Futsal Showcase. I know AtlUtd played Charlotte SA.
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 23, 2017 17:36:20 GMT -5
The move would be USL and NWSL. NASL i think is going to be a dead league. USL- AtlUTD could move into this space. This will provide them with D2 and complete soccer real estate trifacta. Youth Academy DA (U12-U18/19), USL, and MLS NWSL- Again this could be a move for AtlUTD. Not sure if it will happen. But for sure NWSL to draw in the huge demo of girl/women players. All indications are that this is a separate ownership group not affiliated with AtlUtd. I seem to be more optimistic about NASL's future than most, but I'm not sure about another NASL team in a difficult to reach suburb (no MARTA connection) is smart, especially if Boris is at all involved. I expect AtlUtd to go the USL reserve route soon, hopefully for next season. USL allows teams to register up to 5 players who aren't on pro deals, and there are already a number of kids in their academy who could be benefiting from that level of competition. I also expect an AtlUtd U-23 team to join the PDL in the next couple of years, just to give the academy products in college a team to play with each other.
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 17, 2017 9:56:06 GMT -5
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 17, 2017 9:42:31 GMT -5
I'm not sure why he took that tweet so out of context. I didn't think this had anything to do with training compensation, it's just a ticket promotion. Atlanta United knows a good portion of their fan base will come from youth soccer families, so they're just making it more appealing for those families to buy tickets.
I have said before that we need training compensation to help end pay for play, but in a hypothetical situation where training compensation did exist, Atlanta United would have to develop the player into a contributing first team player and then sell him before any compensation would be paid to his former club. Most of the players in the Atlanta United youth academy that have come from Atlanta area clubs are middle school aged or younger, no money is going to change hands because a 12 year old switched youth teams.
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 11, 2017 22:02:58 GMT -5
He played great, may have even been the best player on the field in the second half. Several times he was able to create something dangerous, either by beating his man 1v1 or picking out a pass.
Chris Goslin also came on for the final 15 minutes and looked pretty solid as well.
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 8, 2017 17:32:10 GMT -5
www.atlutd.com/post/2017/02/08/sixteen-and-pro-homegrowns-chris-goslin-and-andrew-carletonI found it interesting to read the quotes from both these young players on their pro experiences thus far, but this quote about their new coach especially caught my eye: "The two 16-year-olds have been nothing short of impressed by [Tata] Martino’s methods. “Andrew and I were talking about it the other day,” Goslin mentioned. “His drills, just his normal passing drills that he has are like nothing we’ve ever seen growing up.” “The littlest things for him challenge you,” Carleton said. “So it progressively, even in the smallest drills, gets you better and better and working on the technical and tactical side of your game. It’s great to be able to play for a guy that’s been at the highest level and knows what it takes to be able to get there.”" It's not exactly surprising (this is Tata freaking Martino we're talking about) but it is interesting hearing that from two local products, especially considering that both these kids played multiple seasons for Tony Annan.
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 4, 2017 15:45:18 GMT -5
Looks like the GA and NC clubs will be grouped together in the U13 and U14 ages. By my count, its a 13-team league, 7 in GA and 6 in NC. At U15, U17, and U19, it will be GA, NC and FL together. 15 teams in the U15 level, 14 at U17, and 12 at U19. The new teams besides UFA are Jacksonville Armada and Tampa Bay United (U15 only). Have you seen a new club map for next year? Do you know if any teams got dropped? (I thought I heard a rumor that one of the NC DA teams was going away.) That would be news to me. I only looked at the divisions that were listed next to the teams on the press release. Theoretically, since there aren't any NC teams being added to the older age groups, they could be in a different region, but it would be very surprising.
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 3, 2017 15:30:47 GMT -5
Looks like the GA and NC clubs will be grouped together in the U13 and U14 ages. By my count, its a 13-team league, 7 in GA and 6 in NC.
At U15, U17, and U19, it will be GA, NC and FL together. 15 teams in the U15 level, 14 at U17, and 12 at U19. The new teams besides UFA are Jacksonville Armada and Tampa Bay United (U15 only).
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Post by gaprospects on Feb 3, 2017 12:10:43 GMT -5
Is there a particular reason why girls typically commit to schools years in advance? Boys recruiting is usually much more up in the air; many top boys recruits for 2017 haven't signed anywhere.
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DA
Jan 27, 2017 12:21:27 GMT -5
footy likes this
Post by gaprospects on Jan 27, 2017 12:21:27 GMT -5
Tony and AtlUtd are in the perfect situation. By all these clubs having DA, they see these players 4 times a year plus showcases. The only downside that I see... are the Clubs that dont see AtlUtd as the destination club and will do what ever it takes to make sure AtlUtd doesnt take the top players. Example would be that AtlUtd see's a player on Concorde and would like to invite them for a few practice sessions or whatever. AtlUtd reaches out to club and the club says no. The main reason they would say no is that they don't want to loose the $$ in the future. However, they are only hurting themselves and ITS NOT THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PLAYER if they do this. I really want to see how this plays out, because AtlUtd don't have to play ball with the other local DA clubs to get the players they want since they have such an advantage in scouting and recruiting. Already we're seeing this; they just added a '98 to their academy who was last playing for a team in the IVORY COAST. Another club denying a player the chance to move to AtlUtd only hurts that player, because the demand for spots in the AtlUtd academy is going to be sky high and they can look wherever they want to fill those spots.
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DA
Jan 27, 2017 11:05:14 GMT -5
footy likes this
Post by gaprospects on Jan 27, 2017 11:05:14 GMT -5
Where this all would make sense is if Atlanta United said they wanted to get out of the u12, u13, u14 game and let the local clubs manage and handle. Then just have the older age groups. I doubt TA would trust the local clubs with that. A big part of Atlanta United's development plan is a mentoring system that trickles down through the club. The players on the older teams each will have a mentor from the senior team to learn from, the younger teams are mentored by the older DA players, etc. This is the reason why they built their training facility the way that they did, the architecture of the building literally breeds inclusion, or so they say.
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DA
Jan 24, 2017 16:53:55 GMT -5
Post by gaprospects on Jan 24, 2017 16:53:55 GMT -5
Having played in England and Brasil they recommend to play as many games as you want to play. Street ball every day and night. Thousands and thousands of touches a day. I just think US Soccer is missing the boat by limiting the amount of touches for 11, 12 and 13 year olds. At these ages they should be touching the ball as many times as they can. Not disagreeing with your overall point, but you can still get touches on the ball without extra training. You said it yourself, street ball day and night. None of those Brazilian kids are paying for 1 on 1 professional training sessions. I guess it's different for your case since goalkeeping takes a certain amount of special training attention as opposed to field players.
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DA
Jan 24, 2017 10:15:04 GMT -5
Post by gaprospects on Jan 24, 2017 10:15:04 GMT -5
Unfortunately to be competitive at the regional level at the older age groups I think the DA teams need to be an alliance like GA united. However - it's clear the concept doesn't work because no Single club truly invests in the alliance any more. It's too bad. DA teams should have a minimum of 2 coaches at every training session. Should be required by US soccer. I'm sure the clubs know now. My gut is GA united goes away and UFA gets full DA. UFA could probably field a competitive DA team today with just the guys they already have playing NL/RPL
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