Despite the good intentions, this is a sad day for soccer in America.
The decision to preclude kids, even a small number of kids, from playing high school ball will only create animosity towards our Beautiful Game. This is counterproductive, because the biggest factor in fostering a competitive environment is a love of the sport.
The DA has effectively closed off an avenue of development by denigrating high school programs and the intangible benefits individual players receive from being part of a high school squad. The thinking is one dimensional, and if the European model is the objective, it really doesn't match up anyway.
There needs to be a truly American solution to the development problem, one that integrates our love for high school sports, and our values of family and community.
Sure, this decision will affect a very small number of individual players, and high schools as a whole, but certain high schools will feel it hard. This also means that a few more kids will be able to make their high school teams, which is great, but it also signals that those who play on high school teams are incapable of playing at a higher level. It makes achievement in soccer too elite, so elite, that it's offputting.
The DA has already had an effect on club soccer. Tournaments and showcase events are not as well attended by college coaches as they have been in the past. Coaches flock to the Academy events instead. Colleges recruit nearly entirely through club now, which has already drawn coaches away from high school teams. This has narrowed the pipeline, not increased it.
If the problem really is a lack of development in high school programs, why can't the solution be to improve the high school programs? Not cut them out of the picture? This looks more like a turf war instead of what's good for our players (code word "player development").
This is not a forward thinking solution to the problem. I predict that this will lead to a diminished number of "elite" players, not more. The reason is not because players are so dedicated to high school ball, it is because the attitude being cultivated about soccer is that a kid's future is so limited it is not worth trying anymore. This will lead kids to filter into other sports at the youngest ages. Nearly every kid that ever plays a sport always has a dream to play in the big leagues one day. We need every single one of those kids to keep at it in order to build our national program. Soccer in the US already has an elitist problem, it would be better to work on changing that attitude rather than to feed it.
The DA map of clubs is very interesting. How narrow a field this great nation explores for its elite players. It is actually quite illustrative of the reasoning behind this decision.
They need to open the flood gates, not sand bag them.
