California Blog Chatter - DA Speculation

US youth Soccer is already in a difficult spot, but man give US Club Soccer 75% of the top non MLS DA teams, and US youth soccer is in big big trouble.
When one organization has the top boys teams and then also their 2nd/3rd teams under their umbrella...Yikes.


One umbrella is probably good, like how it was back in the day -- US Youth Soccer and State Organizations were king.
Difference was everyone could essentially join the party -- play in your state system, earn your way up the ladder.
But -- man, if your a small club now, and can't get into the US Club system -- your definitely on the outside looking in? Probably more than now.
The KSAs, inters (new mega alliance not announced), Ambushes, who else? Exclusivity will still be a huge problem and might be worse.

I'd still be very surprised to see the feds give up boys DA -- that is relinquishing a lot of control and then also 100% throwing in the towel.
Now girls DA is a different story --- the feds were foolish and never should have even attempted to get in that game. It would have taken a miracle to have overthrown girls ECNL.

The major question is who is driving this -- MLS or the Federation?
I'd personally say let MLS go do what they want, the problem occurs when MLS says OK, and we are going to start our own MLS league and also ask the top 25 youth clubs in america to join us. DA can't function with what is left over, at that point your selling stale bread.
I also think a separate MLS only youth academy league is a bad idea -- not enough clubs and too many players.

One thing that is obvious -- an MLS teams goals and interests do not align with US Soccer's interest. MLS teams have one major goal- identify players that can play on their first team and/or sell players for $.


Back to the post:
if we have tryouts yes, will be chaos.
if this does go down, you figure most DA teams will just become ecnl teams. The major question is for boys, does ECNL have the cache to attract players from a far to a team.
For example the UFA u19s -- kids are from all over the Atl map, I'd argue without DA, that team is never ever put together in its current state from back in the day. Those kids would have stayed with their current clubs etc --- Is this good or bad ? I'm not totally sure, I do know that these kids accomplished something incredible, and look at the list of colleges they are attending -- major exposure was earned from being a collective combined team from different clubs.

This will be very very interesting....

Much of the post is gibberish, but this part especially makes no sense...

"There will be an ECNL RL2 division for the A teams of the top clubs and the A teams from the current bottom dwellers but no one is getting kicked out of ECNL, just demoted to a lower level. "

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 ENPL National Playoffs and 2020 ENPL National Finals have been canceled.
Canceled along with others.

www.elitenationalpremierleague.com/news_article/show/1100909

Top DrawrerThere was plenty of chatter last week about the future of the Development Academy, the league run by the U.S. Soccer Federation. It started with buzz among coaches, and then spiraled into a hive of chitter chatter when a tweet was posted by an ECNL coach about the league folding.

Glen Crooks, a reporter and coach from New Jersey, tweeted that an announcement may come over the weekend about the future of the league. SoccerWire posted an opinion piece about the timing of canceling the league and the season.

Easter Weekend came and went, with no official word or announcement from U.S. Soccer. TopDrawerSoccer reached out to the Federation for comment and had not heard back as of time of publishing (on Tuesday morning). The reliable Buzz Carrick, who covers FC Dallas and its Academy on 3rddegree.net, reported that a decision could be coming down on Tuesday.

TopDrawerSoccer spent the past weekend on the phone with coaches, directors, and others involved with the league. There has been no definitive answer to the question on everyone’s mind, but many seem to believe the fate of the league is sealed. Below is some of the information we’ve gathered from those conversations.

Speculation about the future of MLS academy sides within the Development Academy have played a role. Sources haven’t confirmed rumors that MLS is planning on starting its own youth development league, and withdrawing its teams from the DA. During the 2019/20 season, DA officials tried to appease MLS with the tier approach, but the professional academies always seemed more eager to forge a path alone. Whether or not the wheels are in motion for this remains to be seen, but it is more than likely at least partially related to the DA’s future.

With uncertainty swirling about MLS academies' place in the league during the pandemic outbreak, some original member clubs began to submit paperwork to withdraw from the Boys Development Academy for the 2020/2021 season, according to a source close to the league.

On the girls side, Dallas Texans, Real Colorado, NC Courage, and United Futbol Academy (UFA) all announced their intention to move to (or rejoin) ECNL for the 2020/2021 season. Those four are some of the most respected and successful clubs in U.S. soccer history. Texans and Real Colorado are also two major Nike-sponsored clubs in the youth game.

It has been common for clubs to jump back to ECNL over the last couple of years, as they sort out whether the Development Academy was the right place or not for the club. And the Development Academy usually has plenty of applicants waiting in the wings to fill spots. This year was no different with the Development Academy announcing club membership for the 2020/2021 season in March.

So what changed between March and April?

Sports stopped. With no soccer, there was no money coming in for U.S. Soccer. The new leadership could look at the books and see the Development Academy was a heavy ticket on the annual budget. With lawsuits pending and no revenue in the immediate future, it does not seem outlandish to cut that type of heavy burden from the books for the future.

Sources have told TopDrawerSoccer that Dan Flynn was considering cutting both programs before he left his role as CEO of U.S. Soccer in September. Perhaps his successor was not afraid to pull the trigger on the idea during this period.

We have a strong feeling the Girls DA will be eliminated not only due to the pandemic but also other factors that have played part over the season,” one club director wrote in an email to parents that TopDrawerSoccer obtained last week. “The Boys DA has also been brought into question due to the financial commitment that the US Soccer Federation has set forth and a decision will be made over the next few days on whether the Boys DA is to continue to operate as usual or a change will be made.”

Even with all of this evidence, nothing seems final. Everyone that TopDrawerSoccer spoke with over the weekend used the term “seem,” which suggests that U.S. Soccer has not decided and is not sure. Or academies are being kept in the dark about what has actually been decided.

With the uncertainty, many club directors have begun reaching out to other leagues (ECNL, Boys ECNL, NPL, etc.) to establish a plan in case U.S. Soccer’s leagues do fold and they need a back-up plan for 2020/2021. ECNL’s President Christian Lavers told TopDrawerSoccer last month that he felt like the ECNL was close to full for the 2020/2021 season, which could leave a number of storied clubs in the cold for the upcoming season.

This article will be updated with more information when available.

lol. Soccer in the US cant even get rumors right. Such a cluster

Yeah, USSF picked a VERY inopportune time to do this. DPL will likely be the defacto DA for a year until things can come together.

I'm hoping this could mean a GA/FL split in ECNL. Would be so nice!

Pretty ironic if the big six make ECNL and then don’t have to travel as much

Just heard boys ecnl is thinking now of offering a 10 month boys program that would be voluntary by each club.

The 10-month program sounds like a good idea. I think this is probably most critical in the oldest age groups because of college scouting. Where did you hear this?

Specifically in Georgia in the “older age groups”. The loss of DA affects 3 teams per age group Top Hat girls, Concorde Fire boys, and UFA boys.

10 Month might work, so long as they don't pull a DA and mandate no HS soccer.

San Diego Surf is now ECNL. Second team ECRL. Guess there will be a lot of Cali teams in ECNL.

Yes, it's true for both boys and girls. 

I'm sure ECNL wanted to get those big names in the SW before some other league started and snatched them all up at once.

As for Tophat...