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Post by soccermaxx72 on Oct 14, 2019 9:00:33 GMT -5
So we all know the set of quality girls who smartly took their ball and went to the other ECNL clubs this summer when they didn’t make the DA cut. I recently talked to a U12 DPL tophat player’s parent who informed me of the absolute mess this season has been. This last weekend they had to travel to Texas, which the parents initially believed would be a DPL tournament but for the U12 bracket turned out to be merely friendlies. Travel to Texas for friendly, Geesh. Those parents are trying to bite their tongues as they are all assuming they will be the Tophat U13 ECNL team next season but wow what a wasted season.
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Post by mightydawg on Oct 14, 2019 10:05:39 GMT -5
How can they be the Tophat U13 ECNL team next year when Tophat does not have ECNL?
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Post by oraclesfriend on Oct 14, 2019 10:27:43 GMT -5
So we all know the set of quality girls who smartly took their ball and went to the other ECNL clubs this summer when they didn’t make the DA cut. I recently talked to a U12 DPL tophat player’s parent who informed me of the absolute mess this season has been. This last weekend they had to travel to Texas, which the parents initially believed would be a DPL tournament but for the U12 bracket turned out to be merely friendlies. Travel to Texas for friendly, Geesh. Those parents are trying to bite their tongues as they are all assuming they will be the Tophat U13 ECNL team next season but wow what a wasted season. There is no DPL for U12. That team should have been placed in SCCL. That is a Tophat mistake. Even the west coast clubs don't have DPL at U12. U12 is supposed to be academy. Play them in academy games which they easily could have scheduled against other clubs and/or play them in SCCL. That is where the other clubs have their top teams for girls. Even now I bet they could schedule academy games with other clubs (which are all friendlies anyway). The DPL decision for Tophat was not smart IMHO. If they had added other teams that were in close proximity like the other DA clubs in GA (only UFA now) and North Carolina then it wouldn't have been really any worse travel than ECNL and they would have had plenty of games. Now in the long run it may be a great thing for second teams, but right now it is not a great league on the east coast. |
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Post by atlfutboldad on Oct 14, 2019 10:35:53 GMT -5
Next year those girls would be U13 pre-DA. I've heard the U13 pre-DA is a mess, no actual league/games this fall, only friendlies and unhappy families. We have reached "peak horizontal league growth". Even if there was a league for them to compete, NTH hordes the majority of the top players, so its not like they would have worthwhile games, a whole lot of 10-1 wins, whee!
Tophat's not getting ECNL back. Either DPL expands (grabs UFA Forsyth Premier from NPL and others) and improves or families continue to suffer under the NTH moniker or they simply leave to CF/UFA/GSA/AFU. The problem is that Tophat want to be a part of another exclusive travel league with local competition but they don't want to be in a league that admits other local teams. Not even NTH can manage 2 regional travel leagues, not with the existence/option of SCCL with its majority local competition. If they were to drop out of SCCL (not going to happen), plenty of the the NTH girls would be clamoring to be in DPL. IMO their best option would be to try to get additional team slots within the SCCL-1 and SCCL-P framework and drop out of DPL.
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Post by hateallthesechanges on Oct 14, 2019 14:04:23 GMT -5
If a U12 team went to Texas for the DPL Showcase/Friendlies, that is the 08 2nd team. I believe the 08 top team won in WAGS this past weekend. So those DPL girls you refer to are on track to be U13 DPL next year. As far as I know both the 08 top team and the 07 top team (called Pre-DA) are not playing regular games in any league whatsoever. The 07 team can bite their tongues and say they will be U14 DA next year. But the 08 team has to bite their tongues for 2 years. Agree it was silly not to put them in SCCL with the other top 08 teams.
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Post by 04gparent on Oct 14, 2019 14:10:00 GMT -5
So we all know the set of quality girls who smartly took their ball and went to the other ECNL clubs this summer when they didn’t make the DA cut. I recently talked to a U12 DPL tophat player’s parent who informed me of the absolute mess this season has been. This last weekend they had to travel to Texas, which the parents initially believed would be a DPL tournament but for the U12 bracket turned out to be merely friendlies. Travel to Texas for friendly, Geesh. Those parents are trying to bite their tongues as they are all assuming they will be the Tophat U13 ECNL team next season but wow what a wasted season. I smell a troll... Bro at least tell the truth or get real facts. The Tophat top 08 team won WAGS over the weekend (check WAGS website). The top U13 team went to the DPL showcase to play/scrimmage 4 other DA clubs from Texas and Colorado. The hate is real! No one is saying the current TH approach is perfect but at least get the facts. No TH family thinks ECNL is coming back. Are you making stuff up? By the way they actually beat the top 08 teams from FCDallas, Solar, etc... Concorde and others have the ex ECNL players that wanted to leave. Go ask them if they are happy... See if that gives you an accurate story... |
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Post by 04gparent on Oct 14, 2019 14:14:59 GMT -5
How can they be the Tophat U13 ECNL team next year when Tophat does not have ECNL? Agreed so maybe the original poster made it up or was stirring the pot... |
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Post by soccermaxx72 on Oct 14, 2019 14:24:43 GMT -5
Apologize for the error.
Yes the team is actually u13 DPL and the girls are sticking around hoping to make the DA team next year. Still, they did go all the way to Texas for glorified friendly game this weekend also the parents have been unhappy in lack of games and structure of their season.
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Post by 04gparent on Oct 14, 2019 14:35:59 GMT -5
Apologize for the error. Yes the team is actually u13 DPL and the girls are sticking around hoping to make the DA team next year. Still, they did go all the way to Texas for glorified friendly game this weekend also the parents have been unhappy in lack of games and structure of their season. Thanks! Yes the U13 team this year has a real axe to grind. They are not playing in a league. I am sure there is a logical reason for it BUT unless some TH official gives the skinny we will never know why. However, they traveled to Texas with the DPL teams and played against the u13 DA clubs FC Dallas, Solar, Real Colorado (i think). Ideal? Heck no. Yes there are a few parents on that team that are pretty upset AND lets be honest, and this is a real tough one.... Does the U13 season really mean anything? In the grand scheme of things what you want from the u13 season is for your player to develop and get better. Clearly whatever they are doing (practices, scrimmages, etc) is working as they passed their first real test this past weekend. Also I agree with another poster that for the people that stayed, they are staying in hopes of making the DA team next year. Of course parents have the option to move and I am sure some may move. The REAL sad part is that most of the top Atlanta U13 teams will play each other. US Soccer and US Club Soccer shoulder the primary blame for that!!!! (stepping off soap box) |
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Post by fridge on Oct 15, 2019 9:20:15 GMT -5
So, going back 2 years ago, CF had a decision--DA with 3 combined age group teams (as DA refused to bend and had not added a U17 team) or 6 ECNL teams (one for each age group). There was a lot of blow back, but CF decided to be in a league where its top 18 kids per age group wouldn't have to try out for a combined team and then, 7 or 8 get cut each year with no viable/good option. And, in fact, CF leveraged the deal to get 2 teams in ECNL.
Now, it's TH turn to deal with the issue of choosing DA. It got lucky that DA did relent and create another age group. However, the second team/DPL issue is years from being resolved appropriately. I think the end result is that TH will continue to have good teams--but won't have as much depth because the kids on the bench won't get to play much and won't get to play high school either. (Which I predict DA will waive at some point as well--if not just for senior year.) As a result, they will lose a few kids each year to ECNL.
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Post by Soccerphreak on Oct 15, 2019 10:14:07 GMT -5
If you think DPL is a disaster, ask the TH DA parents how they are feeling about DA this year? The grass is not greener on the other side and if players on the current DPL team are "hoping" to make DA, they will be subjected to sitting the bench, playing the minimum time required by DA rules and being snuffed by the better players, afterall this IS the TH way. The only way a DPL player makes a DA team is to prove that they are better than anyone on the current team which is hard to do but based on some recent events, it may be easier when TH starts to lose their talent to ECNL next year due to bad decisions.
TH made some pretty significant changes to their program this year and it is causing some parents to rethink whether ECNL is the better option for them next year. The Director decided to change the coaching format to avoid some of the coaching issues that some of teams suffered last year and let’s just say, the parents aren’t very fond of the band aid. The club also had the grand idea to assign ONE team parent to all of the DA teams and it hasn't gone over well. If you are going to assign one person to manage all of the teams, make it a third party and not a parent who is a ticking time bomb and doesn’t know how to keep matters confidential.
TH is not what it used to be and frankly it is evident based on the events from this past weekend when their DA teams competed in the DA cup in CT and couldn’t pull out a win. The 05 “dream” team got a rude awakening losing 0 to 6. I was SHOCKED and inquired as to what happened and all I got was “we got outcoached!” The 04 team couldn’t pull out a win either with a 0-0 tie. Aren’t these two teams supposed to be the best teams in our region?
CF, AFU, and GSA’s ECNL teams are going to benefit next year from their mistakes unless they make some significant changes.
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Post by atv on Oct 15, 2019 10:37:10 GMT -5
Thanks for your post. Can you elaborate on this? “The Director decided to change the coaching format to avoid some of the coaching issues that some of teams suffered last year...”
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Post by Strikeorkeep on Oct 15, 2019 10:41:15 GMT -5
If you think DPL is a disaster, ask the TH DA parents how they are feeling about DA this year? The grass is not greener on the other side and if players on the current DPL team are "hoping" to make DA, they will be subjected to sitting the bench, playing the minimum time required by DA rules and being snuffed by the better players, afterall this IS the TH way. The only way a DPL player makes a DA team is to prove that they are better than anyone on the current team which is hard to do but based on some recent events, it may be easier when TH starts to lose their talent to ECNL next year due to bad decisions. TH made some pretty significant changes to their program this year and it is causing some parents to rethink whether ECNL is the better option for them next year. The Director decided to change the coaching format to avoid some of the coaching issues that some of teams suffered last year and let’s just say, the parents aren’t very fond of the band aid. The club also had the grand idea to assign ONE team parent to all of the DA teams and it hasn't gone over well. If you are going to assign one person to manage all of the teams, make it a third party and not a parent who is a ticking time bomb and doesn’t know how to keep matters confidential. TH is not what it used to be and frankly it is evident based on the events from this past weekend when their DA teams competed in the DA cup in CT and couldn’t pull out a win. The 05 “dream” team got a rude awakening losing 0 to 6. I was SHOCKED and inquired as to what happened and all I got was “we got outcoached!” The 04 team couldn’t pull out a win either with a 0-0 tie. Aren’t these two teams supposed to be the best teams in our region? CF, AFU, and GSA’s ECNL teams are going to benefit next year from their mistakes unless they make some significant changes. We know a handful that left TH DA to play elsewhere bc the new shared coaching format. They were really surprised a couple of the current DPL coaches didnt get their own DA teams. |
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Post by atv on Oct 15, 2019 10:51:39 GMT -5
What is the new shared coaching format?
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Post by Strikeorkeep on Oct 15, 2019 10:53:28 GMT -5
What is the new shared coaching format? I believe what I was told is TG is the head coach of all the teams and has 2 assistants that help. I dont know how they divide up between games/practices? Perhaps someone can clarifty that knows more than me? |
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Post by soccerdad456 on Oct 15, 2019 14:20:50 GMT -5
TG is the head coach and there are 2 "assistant" coaches. That way all games are covered.
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Post by mistergrinch on Oct 16, 2019 9:06:22 GMT -5
The 05 “dream” team got a rude awakening losing 0 to 6. I was SHOCKED and inquired as to what happened and all I got was “we got outcoached!” They also lost arguably their best player from last year (I believe she moved out of state). |
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Post by soccerloafer on Oct 16, 2019 9:54:36 GMT -5
So we all know the set of quality girls who smartly took their ball and went to the other ECNL clubs this summer when they didn’t make the DA cut. I recently talked to a U12 DPL tophat player’s parent who informed me of the absolute mess this season has been. This last weekend they had to travel to Texas, which the parents initially believed would be a DPL tournament but for the U12 bracket turned out to be merely friendlies. Travel to Texas for friendly, Geesh. Those parents are trying to bite their tongues as they are all assuming they will be the Tophat U13 ECNL team next season but wow what a wasted season. It's called a Showcase, not friendlies. Same for all age brackets and pretty standard across the top tier alphabet leagues. I assure you the games my daughter played were pretty far from friendly. |
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Post by soccermonster on Oct 16, 2019 11:32:03 GMT -5
The 05 “dream” team got a rude awakening losing 0 to 6. I was SHOCKED and inquired as to what happened and all I got was “we got outcoached!” They also lost arguably their best player from last year (I believe she moved out of state). One person can't make a whole team win or lose a game. A loss of that magnitude tells me that either 1. the team was missing some key player(s) <-note it is plural 2. They had a coaching issue or 3. They aren't as good as they thought they were. |
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Post by Soccerphreak on Oct 16, 2019 11:48:09 GMT -5
The 05 “dream” team got a rude awakening losing 0 to 6. I was SHOCKED and inquired as to what happened and all I got was “we got outcoached!” They also lost arguably their best player from last year (I believe she moved out of state). HAHAHAHA! Their best players ARE still on the team, what are you talking about??? They only lost one player and she was a decent player but definitely NOT the best player. Stop drinking the koolaid dude, its messing up your brain cells. |
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Post by oraclesfriend on Oct 16, 2019 16:35:02 GMT -5
They also lost arguably their best player from last year (I believe she moved out of state). HAHAHAHA! Their best players ARE still on the team, what are you talking about??? They only lost one player and she was a decent player but definitely NOT the best player. Stop drinking the koolaid dude, its messing up your brain cells. We can argue who is the best or not, but she scored over 20 goals and played almost every minute of every game. She made NTC every single time they had it and she was getting lots of love from D1 coaches before she started the 7th grade. They still have A LOT of really good players on that team! They have some that are not superb, but still darn good. If I remember correctly they lost to that same Oakwood team last year in the Spring showcase, but it wasn't a beat down like this game's score suggests that this year was. Regardless I don't know if it is a "disaster" that the team lost badly to another team this season despite losing only once or twice all last season. These things happen...even to pro teams. Look at Man City or Barca or many others this year having an off game here and there. It is ridiculous to put a lot of weight on one game that was played between 14 year old teams. |
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Post by soccermonster on Oct 16, 2019 17:48:32 GMT -5
I love it when a post gets hijacked by another poster. What started out as a DPL issue turned into a DA issue.
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Oct 16, 2019 19:42:47 GMT -5
So let me get this straight.
@u12
- Pre-Pre-X(no real league) tournaments & internal scrimmages/games
- SCCL
- Academy
@u13
- Pre-DA(not a real thing) tournaments & internal scrimmages/games
- DPL + tournaments/games
- SCCL
- Academy
@u14
- DA
- DPL + tournaments/games
- SCCL
- Athena
So to clarify, the top U12s & U13s don't have any real defined league/play of consistency throughout the year. Other than to just play internal scrimmages against other TH teams? Is that a wise use of the thousands of $$$ you spend to just continue scrimmaging within your club throughout the year and still pay extra for high level tournaments that are as far as Texas and Virginia, invoking even more $$$? What are the costs at TH, i'm guessing upwards of $2k + uniform + tournament fees + travel, etc. Sorry, but I know it's TH and they have a good rep for producing great players, but....
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Post by 4theloveofsoccer on Oct 17, 2019 7:20:37 GMT -5
So let me get this straight. @u12 - Pre-Pre-X(no real league) tournaments & internal scrimmages/games - SCCL - Academy @u13 - Pre-DA(not a real thing) tournaments & internal scrimmages/games - DPL + tournaments/games - SCCL - Academy @u14 - DA - DPL + tournaments/games - SCCL - Athena So to clarify, the top U12s & U13s don't have any real defined league/play of consistency throughout the year. Other than to just play internal scrimmages against other TH teams? Is that a wise use of the thousands of $$$ you spend to just continue scrimmaging within your club throughout the year and still pay extra for high level tournaments that are as far as Texas and Virginia, invoking even more $$$? What are the costs at TH, i'm guessing upwards of $2k + uniform + tournament fees + travel, etc. Sorry, but I know it's TH and they have a good rep for producing great players, but.... One of the many issues with youth soccer in America. Too many times for too many changes, too many leagues etc. |
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Post by Soccerphreak on Oct 17, 2019 8:47:35 GMT -5
mistergrinch HAHAHAHA! Their best players ARE still on the team, what are you talking about??? They only lost one player and she was a decent player but definitely NOT the best player. Stop drinking the koolaid dude, its messing up your brain cells. We can argue who is the best or not, but she scored over 20 goals and played almost every minute of every game. She made NTC every single time they had it and she was getting lots of love from D1 coaches before she started the 7th grade. They still have A LOT of really good players on that team! If I didn't know any better, I would say that only a parent could give us those types of stats but this can't be the case because her own parents would know that she didn't start every game and sat the bench for quite some time last season and she was NOT the leading scorer (she was third behind the two best players) so although I'm impressed by your knowledge, your facts are incorrect. She is indeed a good player and will do great on the west coast but to insinuate that their loss may have to do with her absence was just false. |
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Post by mistergrinch on Oct 17, 2019 10:48:59 GMT -5
We can argue who is the best or not, but she scored over 20 goals and played almost every minute of every game. She made NTC every single time they had it and she was getting lots of love from D1 coaches before she started the 7th grade. They still have A LOT of really good players on that team! If I didn't know any better, I would say that only a parent could give us those types of stats but this can't be the case because her own parents would know that she didn't start every game and sat the bench for quite some time last season and she was NOT the leading scorer (she was third behind the two best players) so although I'm impressed by your knowledge, your facts are incorrect. She is indeed a good player and will do great on the west coast but to insinuate that their loss may have to do with her absence was just false. Boy, do you sound bitter! Did she steal your kid's lunch money?
At no point did anyone say that she was clearly the best player.. nor did they say she was the top scorer. I did say 'arguably', because I know plenty of people who would, in fact, argue just that. The fact that she was the 3rd leading scorer as a midfielder is impressive (I'd expect the forwards to lead in scoring). I've spoken to a couple of college coaches - and when they watched that team, wanna guess who they were looking at?
As for your 'just false' comment.. perhaps you have some magic knowledge as to how a team would or would not play with different central mids? Especially one that accounts for >20 goals (and who knows how many assists?).
Sorry.. did I mention that you sound bitter?
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Post by Soccerphreak on Oct 17, 2019 11:16:20 GMT -5
If I didn't know any better, I would say that only a parent could give us those types of stats but this can't be the case because her own parents would know that she didn't start every game and sat the bench for quite some time last season and she was NOT the leading scorer (she was third behind the two best players) so although I'm impressed by your knowledge, your facts are incorrect. She is indeed a good player and will do great on the west coast but to insinuate that their loss may have to do with her absence was just false. Boy, do you sound bitter! Did she steal your kid's lunch money?
At no point did anyone say that she was clearly the best player.. nor did they say she was the top scorer. I did say 'arguably', because I know plenty of people who would, in fact, argue just that. The fact that she was the 3rd leading scorer as a midfielder is impressive (I'd expect the forwards to lead in scoring). I've spoken to a couple of college coaches - and when they watched that team, wanna guess who they were looking at?
As for your 'just false' comment.. perhaps you have some magic knowledge as to how a team would or would not play with different central mids? Especially one that accounts for >20 goals (and who knows how many assists?).
Sorry.. did I mention that you sound bitter?
Me? Bitter? That is laughable because I'm not the one bragging on my kid, and trust me - I COULD brag. I just think its funny when parents come on the board and claim that their kid is "arguably" the best on the team and puts up stats that no one else but a parent would know. |
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Post by soccergurl on Oct 17, 2019 11:34:02 GMT -5
Me thinks this thread is called [DPL disaster for tophat] hmmm
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Post by Goalkeeper Dad on Oct 17, 2019 11:50:17 GMT -5
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Post by mistergrinch on Oct 17, 2019 13:23:50 GMT -5
Boy, do you sound bitter! Did she steal your kid's lunch money?
At no point did anyone say that she was clearly the best player.. nor did they say she was the top scorer. I did say 'arguably', because I know plenty of people who would, in fact, argue just that. The fact that she was the 3rd leading scorer as a midfielder is impressive (I'd expect the forwards to lead in scoring). I've spoken to a couple of college coaches - and when they watched that team, wanna guess who they were looking at?
As for your 'just false' comment.. perhaps you have some magic knowledge as to how a team would or would not play with different central mids? Especially one that accounts for >20 goals (and who knows how many assists?).
Sorry.. did I mention that you sound bitter?
Me? Bitter? That is laughable because I'm not the one bragging on my kid, and trust me - I COULD brag. I just think its funny when parents come on the board and claim that their kid is "arguably" the best on the team and puts up stats that no one else but a parent would know. Hate to burst your bubble.. she's not my kid. |
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