2018-2019 SW ECNL Conference Discussion

Question for @Desert Hound and any other AZ forum members... I saw the discussions that with 2 DA clubs and 2 ECNL clubs now in AZ, the elite talent in has been diluted or spread thin. What is the consensus on which clubs consolidated the most of that talent? Are the Phoenix Rising and AZ Arsenal teams mostly similar to their ECNL teams from last year or was there a lot of player movement in the offseason to the DA sides?
 
Mystery Train said:
Question for @Desert Hound and any other AZ forum members... I saw the discussions that with 2 DA clubs and 2 ECNL clubs now in AZ, the elite talent in has been diluted or spread thin. What is the consensus on which clubs consolidated the most of that talent? Are the Phoenix Rising and AZ Arsenal teams mostly similar to their ECNL teams from last year or was there a lot of player movement in the offseason to the DA sides?
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It is early...

I think however del Sol DA has the best talent overall. Then you go RSL DA. Why do I think del Sol is in the best spot now? They were the better ECNL club (when there was just del Sol and Sereno) to start with, and when they got DA last year, garnered even more interest.

Neither Rising or Arsenal had ECNL last year. Sereno (who is now RSL) had ECNL and lost it when they got DA. So those ECNL players that did not make DA tended to move to RSL DPL, del Sol (DPL or DA) and Phx Rising ECNL. Arsenal is tucked away in a corner of Phoenix, so for most the drive is too far to go out there.

So the best talent are on the DA teams. Then you have del Sol DPL, RSL DPL, Rising ECNL and Arsenal ECNL. How well those non DA options stack up vs each other has yet to be seen.

I think we are spread thin with the various options listed above.
 
To expand further. And I cannot say this is true for all age groups...but I think it is.

Those former ECNL girls from Sereno that are now on the various DPL teams or the new ECNL teams will tell you that their respective team is not as good as last year. A step down quality wise.

On the other hand...the girls NEW to the DPL or ECNL all think they have upgraded (and they have relative to last year).
 
Desert Hound said:
It is early...

I think however del Sol DA has the best talent overall. Then you go RSL DA. Why do I think del Sol is in the best spot now? They were the better ECNL club (when there was just del Sol and Sereno) to start with, and when they got DA last year, garnered even more interest.

Neither Rising or Arsenal had ECNL last year. Sereno (who is now RSL) had ECNL and lost it when they got DA. So those ECNL players that did not make DA tended to move to RSL DPL, del Sol (DPL or DA) and Phx Rising ECNL. Arsenal is tucked away in a corner of Phoenix, so for most the drive is too far to go out there.

So the best talent are on the DA teams. Then you have del Sol DPL, RSL DPL, Rising ECNL and Arsenal ECNL. How well those non DA options stack up vs each other has yet to be seen.

I think we are spread thin with the various options listed above.
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Interesting. From that, I would gather that DA is the clear top choice over ECNL at least in your state. Also, it doesn't sound like you think many kids who were in ECNL with Del Sol and Sereno switched to Phx Rising or Arsenal in order to stay in ECNL. Is that correct? Also, who was Phoenix Rising before?
 
Mystery Train said:
Interesting. From that, I would gather that DA is the clear top choice over ECNL at least in your state. Also, it doesn't sound like you think many kids who were in ECNL with Del Sol and Sereno switched to Phx Rising or Arsenal in order to stay in ECNL. Is that correct? Also, who was Phoenix Rising before?
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Scottsdale Blackhawks Chapman. They just got smashed 3-0 in ECNL league play by So Cal Blues ECNL who struggle against the top Southern Cali teams so doesn't look like they're too strong, but in all previous years they were rated highly.
 
Mystery Train said:
Interesting. From that, I would gather that DA is the clear top choice over ECNL at least in your state. Also, it doesn't sound like you think many kids who were in ECNL with Del Sol and Sereno switched to Phx Rising or Arsenal in order to stay in ECNL. Is that correct? Also, who was Phoenix Rising before?
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Right now DA be it del Sol or RSL has the best talent.

Will that continue to be the case? Who knows. ECNL does offer something very attractive.

In years past when girls got to a certain age they moved to del Sol or Sereno. Blackhawks was a club that lost many of those players (many of the top players right now on del Sol are former Blackhawks). Blackhawks by the way at the end of last season changed their name to Phx Rising (which is the local USL pro team). The have an affiliation or partnership agreement of some sort.

Going forward there is less reason for kids on Rising or Arsenal to jump ship to del Sol and RSL vs years past. And for kids from other clubs? Well now they have options be it DA or ECNL. Both offer a good platform and both offer much better competition and exposure vs staying in AZ and playing in one of the local leagues.
 
There are girls that left del Sol and RSL for ECNL at Rising and Arsenal. Not large #s, but there still was some movement. The ones that left where not getting a lot of playing time at del Sol DA or didn't make RSL DA.
 
futboldad1 said:
Scottsdale Blackhawks Chapman. They just got smashed 3-0 in ECNL league play by So Cal Blues ECNL who struggle against the top Southern Cali teams so doesn't look like they're too strong, but in all previous years they were rated highly.
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Just an FYI the score of that game was not a good indication of how that game played out. The Blackhawk/Rising team was definitely more skilled than my DD team. I would say the game was pretty even. Rising probably had more shots on goal but none of them went in. Sometimes that happens. My DD team has struggled all year to put the ball in the net and surprisingly on that day they converted at a higher rate than normal.
 
If you look at Del sol DPL teams record in State league last year you will see they are not better then the 2 ECNL teams and below many other non ECNL teams in some age groups in AZ. Del Sol DPL only had 1 team make it to state finals and they lost.
 
futboldad1 said:
Scottsdale Blackhawks Chapman. They just got smashed 3-0 in ECNL league play by So Cal Blues ECNL who struggle against the top Southern Cali teams so doesn't look like they're too strong, but in all previous years they were rated highly.
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This team lost players to Del Sol DA, its a little different than in the past.
 
Just A Dad said:
If you look at Del sol DPL teams record in State league last year you will see they are not better then the 2 ECNL teams and below many other non ECNL teams in some age groups in AZ. Del Sol DPL only had 1 team make it to state finals and they lost.
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I don't think you can say that for this year. A lot of movement this year at the ECNL and DPL level. To say that del Sol DPL is not better vs the ECNL teams this year is a stretch. And I certainly would not say it the other way as well. I think it is far to early to make that determination.
 
are we still discussing which is better ECNL vs DPL? It comes across as DA fans trying to make themselves feel good about their choice to leave ECNL. Many top players did not go to DA or left the DA to return to ECNL. DA and ECNL are fairly evenly matched and DPL is their second team. It doesn't matter how much you try to say it isn't so. There are some strong DA and ECNL teams and some weak ones just like in any league.
 
Soccer43 said:
are we still discussing which is better ECNL vs DPL? It comes across as DA fans trying to make themselves feel good about their choice to leave ECNL. Many top players did not go to DA or left the DA to return to ECNL. DA and ECNL are fairly evenly matched and DPL is their second team. It doesn't matter how much you try to say it isn't so. There are some strong DA and ECNL teams and some weak ones just like in any league.
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You're 100% correct for the scene in SoCal. But this particular discussion is shedding some light on the scene in AZ, where there are now 4 teams at the DA/ECNL level in a geography where the player population could probably only field 1.5 or 2 elite level teams in any given age group. Theoretically, there will be more parity below the top couple of teams. My initial question was about the balance of talent between DA and ECNL in those 4 clubs.

With regards to DPL, I don't think it's much worth any discussion for the simple fact that, as you've said, the DPL teams are always the 2nd team at the club. No matter what league a club competes in, when your team is the 2nd team (b-team) there is almost no stability from season to season. This is true of the EGSL or "ECNL II" teams that we used to see all over the place, and true for all the 2nd teams playing Flight 2 or Silver Elite here in SoCal. What you get is a few players that are good enough to play at the next level and for some reason or other haven't been selected for the top team at that club (politics, inept coaching, "too small" for the A team coach). Rarely, some of them stick with the club and keep grinding until they get pulled up, but most of those players leave for the top team at another club. The rest of the team stays only as long as their parents continue to buy the idea that they will eventually get promoted, which is usually only one or two seasons. This is not a DPL problem, it's a "b-team" problem, and you see it at all clubs, at all levels. Managing your player's growth is a balance between ambition and satisfaction, and the DPL teams are doomed to always have too much of the first with too little of the second.
 
Desert Hound said:
I don't think you can say that for this year. A lot of movement this year at the ECNL and DPL level. To say that del Sol DPL is not better vs the ECNL teams this year is a stretch. And I certainly would not say it the other way as well. I think it is far to early to make that determination.
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Del sol DPL already has 2 losses to Arizona Thunder, 1 tie against AZ Inferno in state league 2 and tied Arsenals second team.
 
Soccer43 said:
are we still discussing which is better ECNL vs DPL? It comes across as DA fans trying to make themselves feel good about their choice to leave ECNL. Many top players did not go to DA or left the DA to return to ECNL.
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Same could be said about players leaving clubs that went All In for ECNL to stay DA. Let’s all stop the nonsense about DA and ECNL.
 
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