LAFC Slammers Leaving DA

timbuck said:
DAs saving grace will be if the clubs in it can support fully funded programs while also being able to afford the “best” coaches.
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I don't think I agree with this. Pats is fully-funded and that hasn't improved their DA teams by bringing better players.
I think players would pay to play on good teams, be able to play high school and get the college exposure they need while not having to practice 4-days per week. I know that's what my preference would be. Free doesn't mean better. It just means free.
 
dreamz said:
Let's think this through even more. LAFC Slammers pulling out of DA, puts pressure on OC Surf and Blues to do the same. Which in turn puts pressure on Surf and Real So Cal to follow. Eagles probably jumps in just because and then all of a sudden, what happens to Legends, Beach, Albion, Pats, Carlsbad and LAP who are left in DA with no ECNL option to jump to? GDA isn't going to add more DA teams in SoCal just to add them. Obviously the market wants ECNL or this shift wouldn't be happening. That puts those clubs back where they started. With the exodus of the DA clubs in the east and now the potential for more clubs to leave in SoCal, GDA takes a massive hit which could potentially damage the program. Who follows after SoCal if more than LAFC Slammers leaves?
If clubs get back to ECNL with the guarantee of two teams in each age group then that means clubs like RSC, Blues and OC Surf have two ECNL teams. That impacts DPL because players would be better off playing on ECNL teams with their format than DPL with theirs.

The initial news of LAFC Slammers pulling out is just the tip of the iceberg about what's coming in SoCal. I don't think we are done seeing clubs jump back to ECNL and the next week will be interesting. Even the fence sitter clubs may may to climb back over to ECNL. Who knows what ECNL is saying. Last chance? Do it this year or the door is closed? Those must be interesting conversations being had with CL and SoCal DOC's right now.

This thread is going to be really interesting as things develop.
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The only problem with this is that Eagles and RSC don’t have ECNL. Unless your saying they go crawling back and reapply?

I wouldn’t be surprised if FRAM doesn’t make some bold Coaching moves in an effort to get ECNL in the SouthBay.
 
Kicker4Life said:
The only problem with this is that Eagles and RSC don’t have ECNL. Unless your saying they go crawling back and reapply?

I wouldn’t be surprised if FRAM doesn’t make some bold Coaching moves in an effort to get ECNL in the SouthBay.
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Would ECNL open up tbeir system to put a nail in the DA coffin on the west coast?
 
timbuck said:
Would ECNL open up tbeir system to put a nail in the DA coffin on the west coast?
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They easily could. A league could look like:

Slammers
Blues
Strikers
Arsenal
OC Surf
Surf
LA Breakers
Sharks
RSC
Eagles
LAFC Slammers
Legends
Beach
Heat FC

Play each team once. Not twice.

Watch the Texas clubs drop DA, nail in coffin.

Albion, LAPFC, LA G and Pat’s could have their DA and DPL. With the Arizona clubs.
 
Soccer said:
They easily could. A league could look like:

Slammers
Blues
Strikers
Arsenal
OC Surf
Surf
LA Breakers
Sharks
RSC
Eagles
LAFC Slammers
Legends
Beach
Heat FC

Play each team once. Not twice.

Watch the Texas clubs drop DA, nail in coffin.

Albion, LAPFC, LA G and Pat’s could have their DA and DPL. With the Arizona clubs.
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Or they could just all play in scdsl flight 1.
 
Kicker4Life said:
The only problem with this is that Eagles and RSC don’t have ECNL. Unless your saying they go crawling back and reapply?

I wouldn’t be surprised if FRAM doesn’t make some bold Coaching moves in an effort to get ECNL in the SouthBay.
Click to expand...
ECNL would take them back. They were ECNL once before and it helps the ECNL cause in SoCal. Rumour has it those conversations have already taken place. If ECNL wanted to put the proverbial nail in the DA coffin they would take Legends and Beach along with the others that come back and that would be that. FRAM doesn't get in no matter what they do. LA Breakers has ECNL now and his filled in the area between OC and the valley. FRAM not needed. Beach and Legends getting in to ECNL would leave no competition in SoCal in the DA and ECNL is back on top. ECNL needs to put the politics aside and take Beach and Legends (if they want in) and then they would have the best clubs in SoCal.
So many directions this could go.
 
Soccer said:
They easily could. A league could look like:

Slammers
Blues
Strikers
Arsenal
OC Surf
Surf
LA Breakers
Sharks
RSC
Eagles
LAFC Slammers
Legends
Beach
Heat FC

Play each team once. Not twice.

Watch the Texas clubs drop DA, nail in coffin.

Albion, LAPFC, LA G and Pat’s could have their DA and DPL. With the Arizona clubs.
Click to expand...

If you take away the OC from Surf, split LAFC and Slammers into two separate teams and change the LA Breakers to LA Rampage and I would think that I was looking at an old CSL Premier League or Far West Regional League division back in 2006 when my player started playing club.
 
Soccer said:
They easily could. A league could look like:

Slammers
Blues
Strikers
Arsenal
OC Surf
Surf
LA Breakers
Sharks
RSC
Eagles
LAFC Slammers
Legends
Beach
Heat FC

Play each team once. Not twice.

Watch the Texas clubs drop DA, nail in coffin.

Albion, LAPFC, LA G and Pat’s could have their DA and DPL. With the Arizona clubs.
Click to expand...

Dreaming?? Or is it your nightmare?
 
Long time, no post......here is my 2 cents. How many girls played DA? How many of those girls play national team....maybe 0.1%? So 99.9 % of all girls at this level have one thing in mind....use soccer to get into college. Having a daughter that played both, ECNL was great. DA removed the high school piece, threatened that DA was the way to national team (not true because if you are good enough they will find you), made college coaches go all over the place (choose between Phoenix or North Carolina for example), choose poor sites for showcases (Phoenix has stable weather, California has stable weather, Vegas has stable weather...it was 35 and sleeting at my daughter's NC game), do not play EVERY u16/17 game at the same time all over the complex, just use the same fields spread out all day, let the girls sub so if college coaches come later and your daughter has a chance to get back into the game (maybe follow GIRLS COLLEGE rules). I hope that the big clubs look at what 99.9% of what their players want which is good college exposure and development. I hope that the other clubs save face and follow the LAFC move. ECNL would do anything to get those clubs back. Have 2 ECNL at each age group this year. DA has to be more flexible. If the big name clubs do leave DA, college coaches will not be following DA like they are now.
 
dreamz said:
ECNL would take them back. They were ECNL once before and it helps the ECNL cause in SoCal. Rumour has it those conversations have already taken place. If ECNL wanted to put the proverbial nail in the DA coffin they would take Legends and Beach along with the others that come back and that would be that. FRAM doesn't get in no matter what they do. LA Breakers has ECNL now and his filled in the area between OC and the valley. FRAM not needed. Beach and Legends getting in to ECNL would leave no competition in SoCal in the DA and ECNL is back on top. ECNL needs to put the politics aside and take Beach and Legends (if they want in) and then they would have the best clubs in SoCal.
So many directions this could go.
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Seems a bit inconsistent -- if Breakers filled the South Bay need, making FRAM unnecessary, why would Beach be invited to ECNL? Not saying they do not merit inclusion, but you cannot have it both ways. If FRAM's recent performance is just not worthy, that is a better argument.

However, for those with insight into the inner workings of ECNL, or who have paid attention to their growth strategy in the past, for good or bad, ECNL prioritizes relationships with DOC's and Techinical Directors when choosing clubs. So any addition of a Legends or a Beach (or an invite for FRAM) likely comes down to relationships. Call it politics -- its the game they need to play, if they want into ECNL.

Forgotten in all of this is the power US Soccer still holds. While their recent DA league additions are suspect, and the defections noteworthy, US Soccer could always go the route of a smaller DA league, with more financial and technical support per club from US Soccer. Make DA more unique from ECNL, as it should always have been, and resist the temptation and calls to make it more of a mirror image. If I were Legends and Beach, I would be advocating that to US Soccer right now. I have outlined how that might work before, so will forgo repeating it now. One can dream.
 
Dos Equis said:
Seems a bit inconsistent -- if Breakers filled the South Bay need, making FRAM unnecessary, why would Beach be invited to ECNL? Not saying they do not merit inclusion, but you cannot have it both ways. If FRAM's recent performance is just not worthy, that is a better argument.

However, for those with insight into the inner workings of ECNL, or who have paid attention to their growth strategy in the past, for good or bad, ECNL prioritizes relationships with DOC's and Techinical Directors when choosing clubs. So any addition of a Legends or a Beach (or an invite for FRAM) likely comes down to relationships. Call it politics -- its the game they need to play, if they want into ECNL.

Forgotten in all of this is the power US Soccer still holds. While their recent DA league additions are suspect, and the defections noteworthy, US Soccer could always go the route of a smaller DA league, with more financial and technical support per club from US Soccer. Make DA more unique from ECNL, as it should always have been, and resist the temptation and calls to make it more of a mirror image. If I were Legends and Beach, I would be advocating that to US Soccer right now. I have outlined how that might work before, so will forgo repeating it now. One can dream.
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One DA club in SoCal. One DA club in NorCal. On and on, replicated in each major market....then % can go to their hearts content!
 
I can't speak to ecnl vs da since this will be my daughter's first year playing da. However, I can say that the players that she will be practicing and playing with this upcoming season will be top notch.


I've only really gotten to watch trainings at 2 DA clubs, Pats and Galaxy. Both training programs were excellent, regardless of the clubs' results as far as wins and losses. If my daughter and I judged the programs on record alone, then our decision would have been different. Luckily, we actually went to check out the product instead of just looking at the packaging.


I was hoping that she would be able to play against Slammers since one of her old teammates will be on that team. Playing against her old teammate would be an excellent gauge of how far my kid has come and how far she needs to go. Because that's what it's really about, my daughter's individual journey. But it is what it is.


My daughter and I are going to let this all play out. I'm sure that for the time being, she will get the best possible exposure that our time, money and effort can afford. We will see what this year has to offer and then re-evaluate at the end of the season, which is what we do every year anyway.


I will say though that, yes, free may not necessarily be better as far as the program, but for our family, free is empirically $7500 to $10,000 better. As far as driving distance and time, free is also 1 to 2 hours better per day. We don't have the financial privilege to be able to look a gift horse in the mouth.
 
T1k1Taka24 said:
I can't speak to ecnl vs da since this will be my daughter's first year playing da. However, I can say that the players that she will be practicing and playing with this upcoming season will be top notch.


I've only really gotten to watch trainings at 2 DA clubs, Pats and Galaxy. Both training programs were excellent, regardless of the clubs' results as far as wins and losses. If my daughter and I judged the programs on record alone, then our decision would have been different. Luckily, we actually went to check out the product instead of just looking at the packaging.


I was hoping that she would be able to play against Slammers since one of her old teammates will be on that team. Playing against her old teammate would be an excellent gauge of how far my kid has come and how far she needs to go. Because that's what it's really about, my daughter's individual journey. But it is what it is.


My daughter and I are going to let this all play out. I'm sure that for the time being, she will get the best possible exposure that our time, money and effort can afford. We will see what this year has to offer and then re-evaluate at the end of the season, which is what we do every year anyway.


I will say though that, yes, free may not necessarily be better as far as the program, but for our family, free is empirically $7500 to $10,000 better. As far as driving distance and time, free is also 1 to 2 hours better per day. We don't have the financial privilege to be able to look a gift horse in the mouth.
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Sometimes it is worth it when you get what you pay for. I invested $32k into my kids 9 years of club soccer and I got it back the first year of college soccer.... it’s not what you pay it is what you get for what you pay (value) that matters. Also coaching matters. You can have all the fancy drills in practice that impress the parents that you wNt but the true test is what schools does your coach/club consistently get his players committed to with significant financial packages AND most importantly how do those players do at those schools.
 
SoccerFan said:
Oh! Sounds like your nightmare is the missing high level competition in ECNL!
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Yes! Competition has been sketchy without doubt. I've rambled a bit already about the 'soft 2017-2018 ECNL season' so won't continue it here [or did I already do that :) ] Someone already mentioned this on this thread or another but college coaches (and even parents like myself) want to see matches between premier programs / players / teams. My player gets better against players that challenge her, players that are crafty, quick, high soccer IQ, etc. Depending upon how things unfold in the next weeks, it will at least be enticing to know my DD will play top level talent @least 4-6 times in league. Plus, the return of the 6 or so premier clubs / teams in other parts of the country (see Michigan Hawks, etc) will make national showcases better worth the players time and the college coaches efforts as they are recruiting....not to mention US Soccer scouts. IMHO it's win-win.
 
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