RandomSoccerFan
GOLD
And it looks like it was a 2-2 draw for the 2011's. These teams are close.
2023-24 Season
- Thread starter CharlieMurfee
- Start date
Blues are far and away the team to beat. During the season 8 matches, 7 wins 1 draw 0 losses with 38 goals for and 0 against. At the showcase 3 wins with 10 goals for 0 against. Beat #2, #14, #21 nationally since September...
Koge, Eagles, Legends, Surf round out top 5 but none of those teams are consistent with results
Koge, Eagles, Legends, Surf round out top 5 but none of those teams are consistent with results
Surfer_dad
SILVER ELITE
Keep an eye on Surf. The improvement in the last 3 months has been very very observable. They have the director of coaching as their coach and been very successful recruiting.
rainbow_unicorn
PREMIER
Things can change pretty quickly. Look at the 2010's thread.
This Blues 11's team is solid all around in all positions especially defensively. The 10's team was not solid all around. 10's team had a few all star players that carried the team but lacked depth and did not have the strongest defense either. If this 11's team stays together, they have a shot at winning the national championship.
Shooting Star
SILVER
And the 09s - Koge falling to 5th and AZ in first undefeated. Surf losing to Ph Rising. Games tighten as kids age and talent moves around for playtime and grass is greener…
Soccerfan2011
BRONZE
Unfortunately the best part about soccer doesn’t consist of “consistent” results. All it takes is that simple mistake to cause the team a title. Blues records don’t lie! They are on top of the league but I do believe Koge and Surf are right behind them and they are hungry to beat the top team.
Don’t get me wrong, Blues are still the team to beat which places them on the #1 spot.
Soccerfan2011
BRONZE
Improvement and Successful Recruiting lol.
Met a dad at a local hotel bar and he was explaining how great the Surf training is. 3-4 training sess a week lasting over 4 hrs including reviewing footage! That’s great! Surf has always been a great time to watch. The possession is incredible. But! Why so deep on the bench! I mean holy cow! 19-21 players (ouch).
Soccerfan2011
BRONZE
Any Surf Cup predictions? Blues, Pats and Surf ready to battle! A surprise unknown team “Crowlar FC” which is quite strange for Surf Cup. Does anyone have any insight? Wondering why top teams are not joining surf this year? Would’ve been great to see Koge, Beach, Legends and Eagles.
The 10’s only had the #1 defense in the Nation heading into Virginia for the National Title.
Attachments
They did at the time. Last year's team was solid for the most part and lost a hard fought game in penalties vs SD Surf. The defense was vulnurable to teams playing possesion. The defense was solid versus teams playing a direct style of soccer.
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Surfer_dad
SILVER ELITE
I hear you. I would suggest it is not the best for players and not the best for team morale. It IS good for clubs trying to pay its bills. So it creates tension. My preference would be for teams to carry 16 field players and two goal keepers, but who asked me...... Older teams need more players because of injuries are more prevalent. However, a lot of players are willing to get less game playing time to get the quality training.
What are the thoughts on weekly trainings now. I've been hearing 2, 3, 4, video reviews. What are the expectations now for a ECNL team to compete for the top talent? My thoughts are 2 a week at 90 mins each just doesn't cut the mustard anymore.
Surfer_dad
SILVER ELITE
For the serious youth soccer players today that aspire to be a professional player or top collegiate player, kids Are training in one way or another everyday, with the caveat that rest and recovery is part of training. Probably too many parents think their kids will be on that track and they eventually will be told by their kids that they don’t aspire to that level and want to have fun doing something else. Surf and similar programs provide that on a partial basis, but there are so many other aspects that can enhance the organized programs depending on the individual needs of the player that is the players responsibility to integrate into their development. Only you can make those judgments because only you know your child and love them. However, most parents have parent goggles on when evaluating their child’s potential.
I think this is where the problem with Club Soccer in the US surfaces. Once kids enter the serious stages of soccer, there is less direction and training at the ECNL level and parents are expected to figure out what trainings their kids need. In America, where we are less knowledgeable about soccer, this is a serious problem. At the ECNL level, the team training is only 4.5 hours per week and there is no direction for individual training or recommendations for them, except goalies.
While speed and strength training are easy to obtain, the finishing, technical skills, speed dribbling and soccer IQ trainings are not advised or sufficiently worked on because the focus is on team play during practices. During Pre ECNL years, futsal or coerver was the training but once ECNL starts, there's no direction on how to continue their growth outside of 4.5 hours of team training.
There should be continued clinics and club focus on individual shooting/finishing, individual soccer IQ classes, individual skills and individual speed dribbling trainings or at the minimum, club recommendations.
Team trainings for 4.5 hours every week does not create "Elite" athletes. This may be why our girls are having difficulties competing on the international stage as female athletics gains global popularity, especially in European nations where they continue to develop girls individually through their teen years.
Our serious dance, gymnastics, tennis, and crew athletes train 12-25 hours per week.
In Europe its done by the Academies. In USA on the girls side it does not exist. Must be figured out by parents and done outside of club training. There isn't enough money to do this at a club level. I think the USA does not have a problem in developing good college atheletes but a problem developing elite pro athletes.
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It's also why the US needs a girls academy system. If you were to gear up training to 20 hours per week, everyone who is not on the pro/D1 recruited track would drop out, which is not enough athletes to support the girl's ECNL (or boys MLS Next) side. There's just simply no way to manage school work (let alone an honors or arts curriculum), maintain grades and do the other things which are required (fake charities), while at the same time also socializing to keep your social score up. The truly elite athletes that will compete on an international stage need to be separated from everyone else. There's also the expense issue, since someone has to pay for the field spaces (it's one of the reasons why most of the academies don't have U16 teams). In Los Angeles, we also have a traffic problem (which is why most of the older academy players need to rearrange their schooling).
One simple thing which athletes could do is simply watch more soccer, but even my kid, who adores watching the sport, has a hard time sitting down to watch more than 1 marquee game per week, aside from highlights. The girl's also need to be watching the top men's teams...while it is important they watch the women's side to see the game differences, their exposure will be limited if they watch only that for the simple reason that the men's game is more complex and creative.
I think the Clubs should add these types of quality trainings for athletes interested, an extra 8-12 hours a week and charge an extra 2K. It's cheaper than what most are doing and the quality would be better.
Most ECNL girls do want to train at 15-20 hours per week because once they start ECNL, they're pretty serious about soccer. The problem is, there is no known quality training program that does this. People just pick up trainings where they can and they're not sure if it's even helping.
Serious Swimmers, tennis players, dancers, gymnasts, crew teams - train at least 15-20 hours per week and they are able to manage their load.
The traffic problem is why I recommend the clubs put these programs together because it can be done at a local level. People are driving their kids all over southern California for quality soccer training because they don't know the local ones. Koge has the Baker brothers but that needs to be expanded, because it's too little. Surf doesn't have a program.
This might be something GA can have a leg up on ECNL clubs. If GA can create a serious development plan and allow high school soccer, they might be able to pull top soccer players over.
Soccerfan2011
BRONZE
Totally agree. I can’t imagine the tension between some of the parents whose DD only plays 10-15 minutes. Our current roster sits with 16 players and that alone brings drama.
Would be a good idea to sell the ECRL program to some of those benched players in order to create a stronger Surf RL team for the 11s. The RL program should allow players to receive the same type of quality training as the NL. Not only is this good for the players but also the club who can now potentially bring two national championship back to SD. My theory is parents are just too invested and want the “NL” title even if this means sacrificing playing time. That sucks for the DD’s