The partnership was between Seattle United and Eastside. Seattle United left for ECNL last year. Eastside is leaving for ECNL this year. Reign may continue, but their two sources supplying their players are gone. And I never trust anonymous people on the internet.
New ECNL Clubs
- Thread starter Desert Hound
- Start date
So, you acknowledge I wasn't "very wrong" that Reign GDA continues - thanks. This anonymous person on the internet knows a lot more about what I speak on this topic than you do.
You said "Reign GDA is independent of Eastside". You were very wrong about that. Give it up. And you're welcome.
So Reign GDA is not currently independent of Eastside? I thought the partnership had ended.
With the partnership ended, Reign GDA is independent of Eastside. Davin just doesn't want to admit he was "very wrong", which is fine.
Here is Eastside's list of teams for 2018/2019.: https://www.eastsidefc.org/2018-2019-teams
The top team are listed as Reign GDA teams. The partnership with Seattle United ended last year. Maybe that's the partnership you were thinking of.
How is Reign independent of Eastside, when Eastside supplies the players and coaches for Reign? Explain that, please.
https://www.eastsidefc.org/2018-2019-teams
The partnerships with both clubs was for 5 years. Seattle United pulled out. So has Eastside FC.
The coaches are Reign coaches - former Eastside coaches. Reign operates the academy teams. Eastside operates pre-academy teams following Reign's curriculum. Eastside kids end up on the Reign Academy team, but the Reign academy players can come from anywhere - best players make the team.
One observation - no "All-In" press release from ECNL.
There is a thread on the Washington board discussing Reign academy. A lot of the discussion there is on the Eastside/Reign partnership.: http://talking-soccer.com/TS4/showthread.php?t=155594. The Eastside webpage lists their top teams as the Reign GDA teams, and their programs page lists GDA as one of their programs. The partnership is in effect until the end of this soccer year.
Well, a topic a lurker can speak to.
It is true that Reign Academy is "alive",
but without money and troops, it is a
paper tiger. Reign FC the first team
doesn't have two nickels to rub together,
let alone support an academy system.
Only possibility however improbable
is Washington Premier who has ECNL
will switch to GDA, since they are close
by to the new home of Reign FC in
Tacoma. If that happens, PacNW ECNL
should send them flowers thanking them
for the new players.
@Savage is probably a Reign parent
pissed off that the Reign was a dead end.
Reign Dad, Reign is dead. Figure out where your
DD will land for tryouts in May.
Once again, Go Dawgs!
It is true that Reign Academy is "alive",
but without money and troops, it is a
paper tiger. Reign FC the first team
doesn't have two nickels to rub together,
let alone support an academy system.
Only possibility however improbable
is Washington Premier who has ECNL
will switch to GDA, since they are close
by to the new home of Reign FC in
Tacoma. If that happens, PacNW ECNL
should send them flowers thanking them
for the new players.
@Savage is probably a Reign parent
pissed off that the Reign was a dead end.
Reign Dad, Reign is dead. Figure out where your
DD will land for tryouts in May.
Once again, Go Dawgs!
Not sure how any of that makes Reign "independent". Everything you said there shows Reign's dependency on Eastside.
We have a different understanding of independent. My wife and I do a lot of things to support each other, but I consider my wife independent of me. If I die tomorrow, she will survive and move on. She doesn't depend on me to survive - she depends on me for convenience. Same goes with Reign.
You presented Reign as the same thing as Eastside. It's not. It operates independently of Eastside - even Eastside's website states that Reign operates the academy teams. Reign, in fact, had tryouts last weekend despite Eastside joining and committing its top teams to ECNL.
Up North
BRONZE
Who is left for GDA to add in Seattle? Also, WPFC isn't quite Seattle, or first rung suburb.
That's a horrible analogy, so not even going to touch that one.
Parse words and meanings all you want, but Reign currently, at a minimum, is dependent on Eastside for players and for infrastructure as of now. They may survive, but it looks likely their survival will be dependent on another partnership with another club.
Up North
BRONZE
The geography makes sense, but WPFC are pretty diehard supporters of ECNL.
Surf Zombie
GOLD
Thought this was interesting:
The US Soccer Girls Development Academy recently announced the arrival of six new clubs into the Girls’ DA program. While clubs are joining the Girls’s DA, more than a few clubs have decided to leave and have all of their top girls’ teams compete in the ECNL (Elite Clubs National League). One of those clubs is Crossfire Premier based just outside Seattle, Washington.
ECNL HAS MORE TO OFFER OUR GIRLS
Bernie James is the Director of Coaching at Crossfire Premier. When I spoke with James about how Crossfire Premier is able to provide so much funding for their top teams, we also spoke at length about the club’s decision to leave the Girls’ DA. Crossfire Premier has been very successful in the Girls’ DA. This season, Crossfire Premier teams are in the top three of the standings in all age divisions. SEE STANDINGS HERE. Last year, in the DA’s inaugural season, Crossfire had one team reach the National Semifinals and another the Quarterfinals. However, even with all the success, James simply said, “ECNL offers more of what our girls are looking for in a soccer program.” James continued, “We had ECNL teams and DA teams. The club fully-funded the DA, and still paid for all travel costs for two of the ECNL age groups. Yet, we had elite-level girls—players chosen for our DA teams—coming to us saying ‘We’ll pay. We want to play ECNL.’ That’s huge. We’re talking thousands of dollars these families were willing to sacrifice to play ECNL.”
THESE GIRLS WANT TO PLAY HIGH SCHOOL.
I asked James what ECNL offers. Why were families willing to pay thousands of dollars, give up the DA season, and play ECNL? He answered, “There are big gaps in the DA schedule, for one thing, playing around 30 games spread across 10 months. Our girls this season didn’t have a game between early December and late February, for instance, and in other cases, we have only one game in a month. The DA tells us to take those gaps and set up other games with teams around the region, but that’s not a good solution for us due to our geographic isolation in the Pacific Northwest. We keep training at the high level, but there are these huge gaps where we’re not playing competitive games. Then you can add to that a bigger hurdle: These girls want to play for their high schools. They want to play in front of their friends and with their friends. They want to play for their schools. [When the Girls DA started] we thought the girls would eventually not mind giving up the social aspect of high school soccer, like what happened on the boys’ DA side. That didn’t happen. They know they can still be in a very competitive league [ECNL] and be able to play high school soccer at the same time, and that’s a very attractive proposition to our players.”
“SOCCER BRINGS COMMUNITIES TOGETHER”
Many high school teams play a high level of soccer with professional coaches and top training, but many do not. This is one of the main reasons US Soccer prohibits their players from playing for their high school teams. I asked James about the competitive level of high school soccer in the Seattle area. “Honestly, I don’t have a problem with it, no matter the level. Most of these girls, in both the DA and the ECNL, are not going to be professional soccer players. They’re in it because they love this game. The vast majority of them are not going to have careers playing soccer, and we were taking away some of the best soccer experiences from them during their high school years. It’s a beautiful game. Soccer brings communities together. First and foremost, we listened to our customers our players and families, and we recognized just how important high school soccer was to them. Then we came together as a club and decided that we are going to have our top girls teams in the ECNL. Our families are all in. We’re very happy with our decision. We know it’s the right direction for our girls’ teams.”
The US Soccer Girls Development Academy recently announced the arrival of six new clubs into the Girls’ DA program. While clubs are joining the Girls’s DA, more than a few clubs have decided to leave and have all of their top girls’ teams compete in the ECNL (Elite Clubs National League). One of those clubs is Crossfire Premier based just outside Seattle, Washington.
ECNL HAS MORE TO OFFER OUR GIRLS
Bernie James is the Director of Coaching at Crossfire Premier. When I spoke with James about how Crossfire Premier is able to provide so much funding for their top teams, we also spoke at length about the club’s decision to leave the Girls’ DA. Crossfire Premier has been very successful in the Girls’ DA. This season, Crossfire Premier teams are in the top three of the standings in all age divisions. SEE STANDINGS HERE. Last year, in the DA’s inaugural season, Crossfire had one team reach the National Semifinals and another the Quarterfinals. However, even with all the success, James simply said, “ECNL offers more of what our girls are looking for in a soccer program.” James continued, “We had ECNL teams and DA teams. The club fully-funded the DA, and still paid for all travel costs for two of the ECNL age groups. Yet, we had elite-level girls—players chosen for our DA teams—coming to us saying ‘We’ll pay. We want to play ECNL.’ That’s huge. We’re talking thousands of dollars these families were willing to sacrifice to play ECNL.”
THESE GIRLS WANT TO PLAY HIGH SCHOOL.
I asked James what ECNL offers. Why were families willing to pay thousands of dollars, give up the DA season, and play ECNL? He answered, “There are big gaps in the DA schedule, for one thing, playing around 30 games spread across 10 months. Our girls this season didn’t have a game between early December and late February, for instance, and in other cases, we have only one game in a month. The DA tells us to take those gaps and set up other games with teams around the region, but that’s not a good solution for us due to our geographic isolation in the Pacific Northwest. We keep training at the high level, but there are these huge gaps where we’re not playing competitive games. Then you can add to that a bigger hurdle: These girls want to play for their high schools. They want to play in front of their friends and with their friends. They want to play for their schools. [When the Girls DA started] we thought the girls would eventually not mind giving up the social aspect of high school soccer, like what happened on the boys’ DA side. That didn’t happen. They know they can still be in a very competitive league [ECNL] and be able to play high school soccer at the same time, and that’s a very attractive proposition to our players.”
“SOCCER BRINGS COMMUNITIES TOGETHER”
Many high school teams play a high level of soccer with professional coaches and top training, but many do not. This is one of the main reasons US Soccer prohibits their players from playing for their high school teams. I asked James about the competitive level of high school soccer in the Seattle area. “Honestly, I don’t have a problem with it, no matter the level. Most of these girls, in both the DA and the ECNL, are not going to be professional soccer players. They’re in it because they love this game. The vast majority of them are not going to have careers playing soccer, and we were taking away some of the best soccer experiences from them during their high school years. It’s a beautiful game. Soccer brings communities together. First and foremost, we listened to our customers our players and families, and we recognized just how important high school soccer was to them. Then we came together as a club and decided that we are going to have our top girls teams in the ECNL. Our families are all in. We’re very happy with our decision. We know it’s the right direction for our girls’ teams.”
Pretty good stuff. The week after announcing the move from DA to ECNL, Bernie's Crossfire sent an email to the players and parents in their Girls program threatening immediate expulsion from the club if they attended any Discovery sessions with the Reign, a DA club. If Bernie just wants what is best for the girls, why the concern if the girls check out a club that is staying in the DA?
NYCFC, probably the top GDA team in Northeast, has announced that they are all-in ECNL in a partnership with World Class FC. Outside of SoCal and Texas, GDA seems to be struggling.
https://www.nycfc.com/post/2019/03/...ounce-new-strategic-partnership-girls-academy
https://www.nycfc.com/post/2019/03/...ounce-new-strategic-partnership-girls-academy