Was the topic of high school soccer brought up?

 

Most on the board know the answer regarding participation. Curious if anyone asked and how the subject was addressed if at all.

I think it's pretty much a given that if you make the development academy, then you're not playing high school.

The CDA team is exclusively for year round club soccer players - They have a pre-CDA team for the girls that want to play high school soccer.

Good insight. Pleased to hear about the pre-CDA option.

The 2nd CDA team will play NL and MRL after HS season is complete. Coaches are already trying to talk these young ladies into not playing HS and joining CDA. HS soccer in NKY and Cincy is about to get a lot weaker IMO.

I think "a lot" is a bit of an overstatement. The reality will likely be minimal impact if you simply look at the numbers. The CDA teams which will roster around 20 players are pulling from the entire tri-state area and somewhat beyond (e.g. Dayton player have registered). I venture to guess you would be looking at 1-3 players max from NKY making a CDA top team and thus not playing HS. You span that over 4-5 teams (depending on birth year and of course the whole 8th grade playing HS debate I see often here) you are again max looking at 12-14 players in total not playing HS soccer. Of course it will affect the HS they attend but across the board impact other than for missing out on seeing quality players at those HS' games I don't see it being a huge impact. Yes, it's sad to see the loss in terms of quality players, will cause responses like "well, if we had player x we would have won state", along with a myriad of other fall outs but I don't think it's doom and gloom. It will be interesting to see how it does play out however. Just watch for this to come up on the boys side as it's coming down the pipe on that side as well in the not too distant future.

I'm with Allamerican21 on this one. If they roster 20 players, on each squad, you are now talking about 40 HS players not participating next year. From my perspective, if you consider that these are some of the best players in the area, the level of play for HS soccer will have a considerable drop-off.

Just to clarify - It was my understanding that there will be 4 CDA teams for the 2017/2018 season - these player will train and play year round:

 

U14 Girls/2004 players

U15 Girls/2003 players

U16/17 - 2002/2001 players

U18/19 - 2000/1999 players

 

There will be another layer to the program which will consist of six pre-DA teams:

This is geared towards players who want to continue to play in high school.

 

U14 Girls/2004

U15 Girls/2003

U16 Girls/2002

U17 Girls/2001

U18 Girls/2000

U19 Girls/1999

 

The girls are pulled form the tri-state area with families from Cincinnati, Lexington, Louisville, Dayton, Columbus and everywhere in-between.

 

I think most of the girls for CDA team may actually come from Ohio (with the majority from CUP) with a few players from the other clubs.

 

I do think it will hurt the other clubs highest level team (such as the KHA Red teams) as it is foreseeable that they each could lose 6-7 high level players (even more at the U14/U15 level) to one of the two DA teams.

 

Here is a map of the clubs in the DA:

 

U.S. Soccer Development Academy

Edited February 8, 20179 yr by Cfuddy
ADD MAP

I would agree with Allamerican21 and YC, I look for this to have a large impact on the quality of play on the NKY Girls HS game. And I think it could lead to more local dominance for the elite HS programs. Your programs with more depth, a NDA and HHS as example can likely still field competitive teams. The next level programs will feel the effect of the CDA more IMO. A program that relies on one or two high level players to carry them could be in real trouble maintaining their past success without having these one or two players.

 

One additional thought, in then end this could really swing the Girls KY State Championship back to favor of the Louisville area schools once again. Until the CDA can draw an equal number of quality players away from a Sacred Heart, etc, (I just don't see this happening), NDA will still likely dominate the NKY area but their success in the State Championship will be impacted by the CDA.

I think "considerable" is a bit of an overstatement.I do see it dropping in terms of quality of play as those players that are lost are the ones that add high level soccer skill and IQ of game but i guess my point is that in an 80 min HS game how much time does the one impact player have on the play and you average that out over a year I don't see you will a "considerable drop-off". Will we see less moments of exception play? of course so. But, those on average are in terms of time are very few. So, I'm basing my counter opinion purely on statistics.

The rare case would be a HS that has more than on player lost due to DA and the rest of the team skillet is a huge drop off. For those rare teams I would whole heartily agree will have a major drop off for them but my contention is that those situations will be minimal if the expectations DA has in terms of the geographical area they will be pulling players.

Like i said, time will tell and it will be interesting to see final rosters for all 4 DA teams and the schools/leagues that are impacted and then we can revisit what I think is a very interesting and valid discussion for this forum and will grow over time as the DA situation evolves over time.

I would agree with Allamerican21 and YC, I look for this to have a large impact on the quality of play on the NKY Girls HS game. And I think it could lead to more local dominance for the elite HS programs. Your programs with more depth, a NDA and HHS as example can likely still field competitive teams. The next level programs will feel the effect of the CDA more IMO. A program that relies on one or two high level players to carry them could be in real trouble maintaining their past success without having these one or two players.

 

One additional thought, in then end this could really swing the Girls KY State Championship back to favor of the Louisville area schools once again. Until the CDA can draw an equal number of quality players away from a Sacred Heart, etc, (I just don't see this happening), NDA will still likely dominate the NKY area but their success in the State Championship will be impacted by the CDA.

 

Completely agree on the point about NKY struggling to win a state championship going forward. So many of the games between top teams are decided by a single goal, and it is the elite players who typically make that happen. Lexington and Louisville area schools are going to have a big advantage unless another DA pops up down state.

 

Losing 5-8 players from KY to the DA sounds about right based on the current structure.

To put numbers in perspective regarding the overall impact on girls HS soccer in greater Cincinnati...

 

Some of the top 40 or so high school players in the Region will be missing from a pool of 175 or more HS Varsity teams(see numbers below). Based on demographics I'd expect 8 or so players from NKY - fewer if more players travel to DA from Louisville, Lexington or beyond. On 175 teams there are 1,925 "starting 11" players (if my math is right), so you will lose, on average, about one out of every 50 starters who would have otherwise been playing HS soccer if not for DA. Teams with traditionally a lot of depth/talent could lose 2 or 3, but most teams won't lose a single player to DA.

 

No doubt we'll miss out on seing some of the very best players that we might have otherwise gotten to see. But given the overall upward trend in quality of play on the girls side, I wouldn't expect the soccer to be too greatly diminished. Regionally, it likely levels the playing field a bit. Statewide I agree it may hurt NKY relative to areas distant from a DA option. It'll be interesting if/when a group of players from a single NKY team who could have played DA decides to forego DA to play HS.

 

Notes on (rough) numbers. Grls HS teams in OH Southwest = 135. Girls HS teams in KY Regions 8/9/10 = 39. Based on listing of teams in Maher OH/KY top 700 girls HS teams.

 

Total population of Hamilton/Warren/Butler counties around 1.4 million. Total population of Campbell/Boone/Kenton counties around 380,000. Ohio side has a distinct population advantage.

From my count there are 70 DAs on the girls side, I think around 100 on the boys side, and I assume both adding clubs each year. And how many of the DAs have multiple teams per age group? On this thread it was mentioned the CDA will have two teams per age group, is this truly more about development or making money? Is this another attempt by US Soccer to help the MNT and WNT become more competitive or is it more about the (making) money? Clearly both national teams are struggling, the MNT may not even qualify for the 2018 WC, the WNT is nowhere as dominate on the world stage as they once were. Years ago US Soccer came up with ODP, IMO it has failed with regard to developing (high quality) players (that can get results when it counts) for the full national teams. Has it been successful in generating money, likely. It seems US Soccer comes up with a new idea every decade or so at an attempt to produce a World Cup (Championship) contender, will this latest idea, the DAs finally be the answer?

Are the DAs the answer to player development in the US? Not sure, but it does appear to be a common path to NT roster.

 

On February 9, 2017 Tab Ramos announced the U20 MNT roster for the U20 WC qualifiers. 17 of the 20 players spent time with a DA; 11 of the 20 are currently signed with MLS.

 

U20 WNT lost in semifinals of U20 WC in December to Japan. It'll be interesting to see in a few years the percentage of WNT players coming through the DA system.

IMO the DA model is good for the national teams. Fewer games and more training for the best of the best who are going to play the sport for a living makes sense.

 

My question has always been whether its good for the 2700 kids who won't get a chance to play high school OR become a part of the national team OR earn a living playing the sport. From what I am hearing, the DA is selling the program as a necessary path to D1 colleges. Athletes don't have to give up high school to play D1 football, basketball, or baseball. I personally don't like the fact soccer is moving in that direction.

 

Apparently interest in the DA is high, which means many disagree with me.