What we need is more...

🙄

I know we have discussed this, but my search failed me....
eliteacademyleague.com/#s-home


goal is to expand in the south:
eliteacademyleague.com/expansion-plan/

i was scooped by footyfan


here is my tweet on it:

Ha! - its disgusting what has happened to youth soccer in 10 years. Flat our disturbing.

The only true positive is this -- kids have many options for sure.

I was extremely naïve, I thought an MLS academy would bring balance to youth soccer in Georgia and truly create a clear hierarchy and development strategy. I was naïve and envisioned a collaborative process similar to GA United and Concorde's old DA (concorde wasn't necessary collaborative, but was a huge destination club). I know I'm mixing multiple things together, but the MLS has driven much of this madness over the past few years. At the end of the day - US Soccer, US youth Soccer, US club are ripping the game apart. State organizations are basically irrelevant in the modern landscape.

With the introduction of MLS Next, GAL, the collaboration of with USYS, PRO, degradation of DPL, the eviscerations of NPL, ECNL getting revamped and new clubs like AFC and SSA going by way of the big boy/girl leagues now, this tryout season is going to be one big on-going cluster. Folks have a year of being unable to get their tryout fix and that includes Directors, Coaches, Parents, Players and everyone in-between. There will be big names returning to the local soccer landscape, there will be others leaving. I say sit back, strap in and enjoy the chaos that is coming. I for one will have my popcorn and wine ready. Before it begins I wish you all Good-luck and my ardent wish that all goes well for you this tryout season...

We as parents are the fools drinking the kool-aid with the belief that the formation of new leagues or joining new leagues is going to do anything other than make our pocketbooks a little lighter.. With each newly formed league the fees also increase as well- not to mention the travel expenses on top of that ..It's the same players playing in each age group just being recycled around and around at a greater expense to we the parents...In addition, how many players will jump ship from their current clubs for the possibility (no guarantee) for newly formed greener pastures? It's a gamble as the formation of all these new leagues dilutes the strength of all the existing leagues. At the end of the day does traveling to the Carolinas or FL create better competition that what exists in the metro ATL? Highly doubtful... Wish local talent could play against local talent and save the out of state travel for tournaments..

I speak from the position of having a boy-but I have always said that the competition around the state of Georgia, especially Atlanta, was as good as anywhere in the neighboring states. You could argue that point with SC/NC but those teams can be played in tournaments. It would cut the travel; and therefore, the expense down tremendously. Most boys will not get a scholarship for playing soccer. If they do, it will not be a full ride. Save your money...enjoy the ride.

BTW-the creation of all these leagues and the rebranding was the reason I used the poop emoji-cause that’s what these guys are marketing/selling...

Putting the soap box away now...😬

When they actually do, I will stop talking about it...but from what I’ve seen, colleges are dropping programs.

But...I do hope you are right.

Well, at the very least we know that D1 schools now have access to that nebulous monetary aid cloud without any of those funds counting against their 9.9 athletic scholarship allotment.

I don't understand the whole fascination with college sports scholarships. If the goal is to pay for college, it would be much better to take the $2,500+ (in some cases, $8,000 to $10,000) that is being spent on soccer each year and put it into a college scholarship fund and take the time that is being spent on soccer and use it to study on prepare for the SAT/ACT. Now, if a kid gets to U15 or so and is really good and wants to play in college, then the scholarship may enter the thought process but until that point, it is a waste of time, energy and resources.

Plus at this point not sure spending money on ACT/SAT prep is wise either. A lot of schools have dropped the requirements for 2022 grads. The feeling is it may go away entirely.

Right, that was kind of my point.  The reasons kids should play sports are to improve physical health; lifelong well being; social skills; teamwork; build self esteem and confidence; competition; learn life lessons; make new friends; time management; stay out of trouble; etc.

The reasons that parents should pay for it are the reasons listed above; create memories; spend time with your child; keep them out of trouble; etc.

Scholarships are not even part of the equation in my book.  If the end result is that some coach at some college wants my kid to play, that is really great and fits into all of the other reasons that sports are important but it not part of the reasons that we encourage sports. 

Wow - great points! But this $ access change has the potential to impact boys soccer a great deal - from a perception context. Great players might be less likely to drop soccer for other sports (at parents’ insistence, of course) if they knew the pipe dream exists for soccer as well as for the other sports. It might only lead to 1 or 2 additional National players and a handful of other players that end up playing professionally, but it’s a step in the right direction, IMO. As I always say, the fastest way U.S. soccer can improve on the men’s side is to do a better job of attracting and retaining the top talent at the critical decision point in an athlete’s career. Business school 101.