Surf Zombie
GOLD
Veteran Scout: College coaches growing frustrated with ECNL-GA duel
Perspective from college coaches on the ECNL-GA rivalry.
www.soccerwire.com
GA & ECNL need to merge, or play nice.
- Thread starter Surf Zombie
- Start date
www.soccerwire.com
RandomSoccerFan
GOLD
I think that's certainly a decent answer, and would move things in the right direction - but I'm not sure if it's going to happen in a reasonable timeframe. Another possibility is that one of the leagues continues to get more momentum in college recruiting & being seen as having the top clubs nationwide, and it starts becoming harder to justify sending scouts to showcases for the other league. Once that becomes obvious, the amount of scouts would be expected to drop for that league as the recruiting ability for local top talent of the clubs drops, and it's a death spiral as it accelerates. I don't believe we're near there, or maybe will ever get there, but I think it's about as likely as setting up yet another successful league in the same time frame.
From the Spot
SILVER
100%. It's also ironic that the op-ed is authored by the head of a for hire recruiting service whose website homepage says in large lettering "Get A Scholarship" and "Get Noticed". What a mess.
That would be great for girls wanting to go pro... but not for college recruiting. MLS Next isn't for college its for pro. Maybe in a decade or so when an entry level NWSL player or lower professional league will get paid more than a cashier at Panda Express but not until then.
If the top talent was playing in something like "NWSL Next" it won't stop ECNL or GA from showcasing talent for college recruiters. Also just because someone is playing in NWSL Next doesn't mean they can't play in college.
However NWSL Next would seriously kneecap clubs ability to collect talent while not developing them to the highest levels at the youngest age. All the crazy age bound rivalries between clubs and teams would go away. Once this happens you'll see groups like GA and ECNL and whatever become more willing to work together because their mutual "enemy" would be NWSL Next not each other.
I am not sure that is the case. The goal of GA and ECNL has always been college. NWSL next would be to get players ready for play professionally for the parent clubs and potentially sell them to other clubs when they are developed. Sure NWSL players could go to college but why would a NWSL team fork out the money to subsidize and or claim the talent as homegrown when they will lose them when they go to college? If the club is using resources to provide a path to the pros ... college isn't the objective. This is what separates the girls vs the boys. The men's leagues are far more advanced in player development and use of the academy system as developed players are an asset that can generate revenue. Really hasn't been this way for girls so that is why objective for girls top league has always been college.
whatithink
GOLD
From my readingVeteran Scout: College coaches growing frustrated with ECNL-GA duel
Perspective from college coaches on the ECNL-GA rivalry.
- the exodus to ECNL of the top GA clubs, as outlined in the article, makes the reference to two "top" leagues redundant. Its ECNL, and everyone knows it.
- if the college coaches are pissed about competing showcases (or whatever), they can just pick one or boycott both, with the latter being a far stronger statement to ECNL/GA and neither are relevant without the college coaches. Either way, in a conflict, they'll pick ECNL I'd have thought, esp. now.
- the battle of attrition has expanded the number of clubs with the ECNL/GA label substantially, which ultimately is a race to the bottom and not setting up an "elite" league. If I were a college coach, that would piss me off far more. Now talent is more widely dispersed than ever, making my job much harder.
- if I were in charge of college coaching, I'd tell ECNL/GA that both coexisting is fine by me, but I want 2-3 combined showcases annually where I can roll up and see the best from both. If not, and remember I am all powerful, I'd tell them we're pulling all college coaches from every showcase and we are not speaking to any ECNL/GA coach in any club until they sort their shit out. I'd announce it publicly and watch the parents eat the clubs and ECNL/GA alive.
The transfer market is a big difference. You can afford to train 100 kids if 1 of them generates multi-million dollar transfer fees.
It’s different on the women’s side. The highest ever transfer fee is still less than 1 million.
Despite this, Europe has academies on the girls side. It‘s possible because it comes with a heavy dose of pay to play. 80K per year to be a training cone.
I think Europe has girls academies as they already have the infrastructure both physically and organizationally to pull it off. They can share a lot of resources between the girls and the boys so the cost of entry is low. Plus the women's game in Europe is starting to generate some revenue. A bit to early to tell but it may end up being profitable.
SoCalGirlsSoccer
BRONZE
That article comes out and this weekend we literally have another two events at two separate locations.
GA at Great Park and ECNL at Silverlakes.
GA at Great Park and ECNL at Silverlakes.
I'd say 20% intentional and 80% there's probably a 3 week window for every different big event to occur. ECNL and GA dont coordinate on dates so you end up with overlap.
Soccerjunkie24
BRONZE
With different states HS schedules and leagues running, it actually creates a very small window where by these showcases can happen. Its actually not that bad from a college stand point as they only have so much money for recruiting trips so if for example they can go to a ECNL Showcase at Silverlakes and a GA one at Oceanside in the same 4-5 day period it actually helps there budget. Throw in Vegas and other major showcases/tournaments around the country you see my point about small windows unfortunately. Thats why players need to be proactive emailing schools and getting themselves out there.
I can confirm US and College scouts at Silverlakes even though the weather was super shitty. I doubt they would ever chose GA over ECNL unless they are "sponsored"That article comes out and this weekend we literally have another two events at two separate locations.
GA at Great Park and ECNL at Silverlakes.
Scouts were at Great Park as well. ;-)I can confirm US and College scouts at Silverlakes even though the weather was super shitty. I doubt they would ever chose GA over ECNL unless they are "sponsored"
Not sure if anyone was "Sponsored". But what's the difference? Whatever it takes to get recruiters to attend games. There's no rules or morality involved.
Sorry bad joke. There's definitely talent at GA and they have a good product that's for sure. I heard the finals at IGM were top notch. I cant say the same for ECNL Finals. Extremely underwhelming for how hard it is to make it there. Extremely underwhelming.
Anyone else notice the new SD Wave player was GA and not ECNL? Florida United.
San Diego Wave FC Sign U.S. Women’s Youth National Team Midfielder Kimmi Ascanio - San Diego Wave Fútbol Club
SAN DIEGO (March 22, 2024) – San Diego Wave FC […]
sandiegowavefc.com
Supposedly she was a standout USWYNT player.Anyone else notice the new SD Wave player was GA and not ECNL? Florida United.
San Diego Wave FC Sign U.S. Women’s Youth National Team Midfielder Kimmi Ascanio - San Diego Wave Fútbol Club
SAN DIEGO (March 22, 2024) – San Diego Wave FC […]
Will be interesting watching how she integrates into SD Wave. Starting to look more and more like SD Wave and SD Surf are becoming a single pathway.