# What's the deal with NPL West?



## mlx (Jun 8, 2020)

Is that played parallel to the regular leagues? (csl, scdsl, ecnl, mlsda) if so, do clubs have an exclusive NPL team or does a team playing somewhere else plays NPL?

For example, LA Surf will have teams in MLS, ECNL, ECRL, CSL. Will they have a separate NPL? or one of those will be "double dipping" so to speak?

Then we have FCGS with two teams in ECNL and two in ECRL.. 

If they have an exclusive NPL team, wouldn't the competition be super diluted already?


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## jpeter (Jun 8, 2020)

mlx said:


> Is that played parallel to the regular leagues? (csl, scdsl, ecnl, mlsda) if so, do clubs have an exclusive NPL team or does a team playing somewhere else plays NPL?
> 
> For example, LA Surf will have teams in MLS, ECNL, ECRL, CSL. Will they have a separate NPL? or one of those will be "double dipping" so to speak?
> 
> ...


They had fall league & planned spring this last season. 

last I heard there 2021 fall league is still going for u13-u18/19.   Youngers don't know?

NPLwest was only like ~ 10  clubs from certain da clubs.   Will they add more now? 

Just like any other leagues they all are diluted, is this one any more than CSL, DSL, or others?


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## lafalafa (Jun 8, 2020)

Just out today:


			SoCal Premier - June 2020 News
		


2020-21 NPL West
U11-U19

Clubs committed so far to participate:
LA Galaxy
LAFC
Arsenal FC
Beach SC
City FC Carlsbad
Chula Vista FC
FC Golden State
LA Breakers
LA Surf
LAUFA
Legends SC
Murrietta Surf
Pateadores
Real So Cal
San Diego SC
Slammers FC / CDA
Strikers FC
Surf San Diego
West Coast SC

If you would like your club to join the NPL West WE HAVE OPENINGS in certain divisions/age groups. Please contact one of our NPL West directors:
Tim Summiel - pdl@socalpremier.org (732) 921-3281
Blake George - nplwest@socalpremier.org (310) 308-1720
Matt Morse - president@socalpremier.org (714) 296-5888


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## jpeter (Jun 9, 2020)

lafalafa said:


> Just out today:
> 
> 
> SoCal Premier - June 2020 News
> ...


Yes timely received that last night night also.

In some cases clubs first team will be in this one at the younger ages.

This Ecnl juniors things I dunno maybe that was just a rumor?

Not sure for the olders if there will be a strict hierarchy besides maybe a clubs first team in ECNL.   The 2nd ECNL, RL, NPLwest all could be a mashup and depends on $$, geography, and travel in some cases.


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## SocalWestDad (Jun 9, 2020)

@jpeter this is the first time hearing about the NPL west coming back. As my so participated last year in the NPL west, but for this year we are going to be in ECNL juniors which consist of the the team in the southwest region having u11 and u12. The competition looks solid int the NPL west.


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## jpeter (Jun 9, 2020)

SocalWestDad said:


> @jpeter this is the first time hearing about the NPL west coming back. As my so participated last year in the NPL west, but for this year we are going to be in ECNL juniors which consist of the the team in the southwest region having u11 and u12. The competition looks solid int the NPL west.


Ah I see I guess this and juniors will both be going for fall.

Neither Galaxy or LAFC are in any of the ECxxx leagues and the MLS-EYSL has gaps for non-MLS  so this looks like it's trying to fill those.

What's now interesting is this might be the only league where you see clubs cross play each other in a league format.  clubs in a variety of different other leagues don't normally cross play or get a chance to play some clubs.


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## SocalWestDad (Jun 9, 2020)

Well, there are more teams this year in the NPL west. Last year the league consisted of 10 teams 5 from the north and 5 from the south. But never the less looks like the league is going to be great. Im curious if my sons club will be in the both or just stay in ECNL juniors. Keep me posted @jpeter. Is the MLS league not going to happen this year?


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## OliveGroveHarrier (Jun 17, 2020)

I don’t know for certain, but I assume many of these teams in the now larger NPL West are the club’s second-best squad. I don’t think it is actually a place where MLS/MLS Elite teams play against ECNL teams. For example, City FC and Chula Vista are playing MLS-E, while San Diego Surf is playing ECNL, so all these listed NPL West teams are probably CV number 2, City number 2, Surf number 2, etc. Does that seem right?   But anyway, NPL West had two spots into the ECNL National Tourney last year, so it’s more like a separately-branded ECNL than anything else.  But looks like a nice way to get diverse competition and post-season opportunities (and showcases) without driving 200 miles every week. And HS eligible. Other comments?


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## jpeter (Jun 17, 2020)

OliveGroveHarrier said:


> I don’t know for certain, but I assume many of these teams in the now larger NPL West are the club’s second-best squad. I don’t think it is actually a place where MLS/MLS Elite teams play against ECNL teams. For example, City FC and Chula Vista are playing MLS-E, while San Diego Surf is playing ECNL, so all these listed NPL West teams are probably CV number 2, City number 2, Surf number 2, etc. Does that seem right?   But anyway, NPL West had two spots into the ECNL National Tourney last year, so it’s more like a separately-branded ECNL than anything else.  But looks like a nice way to get diverse competition and post-season opportunities (and showcases) without driving 200 miles every week. And HS eligible. Other comments?


Yes HS is fine and they build that into the schedules.  No league games between late Nov and later March in Socal normally just like ECxx broken up into fall & spring halfs.  No showcase like ECxx however.

Like I mentioned NPLwest will likely be a mashup of different players at most clubs called it what ever level you want but it's not a strict hierarchy like everyone wants to think.   Usclub league so clubs can and do share players among ECNL,RL, NPL's.   With the bigger rosters some players that don't travel could play local NPL and next week local ECNL and avoid the travel $$ demands if the club offers that.


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## northeastlafc (Jun 18, 2020)

jpeter said:


> Yes HS is fine and they build that into the schedules.  No league games between late Nov and later March in Socal normally just like ECxx broken up into fall & spring halfs.  No showcase like ECxx however.
> 
> Like I mentioned NPLwest will likely be a mashup of different players at most clubs called it what ever level you want but it's not a strict hierarchy like everyone wants to think.   Usclub league so clubs can and do share players among ECNL,RL, NPL's.   With the bigger rosters some players that don't travel could play local NPL and next week local ECNL and avoid the travel $$ demands if the club offers that.


I got en email if our club would be interested in the NPL West for the 2020-2021 season and also told me they plan on running a September-May league with a break for CIF Soccer play which sounds good to me in my opinion. A September-May is how So Cal Premier League (NPL West & So Cal Premier have partnered) runs its season with a league cup that runs concurrently with league play so it’s two competitions. ECNL also does that kind of calendar which is better honestly because that’s how they do it in Europe.


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## lafalafa (Jun 23, 2020)

The recent U13-U18 ECRL annocements for the SW is mixing things up now with several former NPLx teams looking to move or already committed to ECRL instead. 

New clubs likely in NPL but some of the older age groups may be smaller numbers of teams.


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## Toch (Jun 24, 2020)

NPL West has been revived? 
Lol why not just play in SCNPL? Interesting to see these Egos at work.


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## northeastlafc (Jun 25, 2020)

Toch said:


> NPL West has been revived?
> Lol why not just play in SCNPL? Interesting to see these Egos at work.


It always existed but it was made by ex USSDA clubs because they wanted their “B” teams to play each other because they think they’re the cream of the crop. Kinda like that bs how on the girls side the Girls DPL teams also played against each other in their own CRL division.


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## Soccer1234 (Jun 26, 2020)

NPL West has grown rapidly during the lockdown. Many clubs have jumped from SCDSL discovery and top CSL brackets to compete on a full season calendar. I think there are about 20 or so clubs involved from what a club director has told me. Alot of clubs have quality teams but are politically blocked out of ECNL and MLS Academy. Should be a good competitor for sure and will provide a national pathway that plays in the same regionals and nationals as ECNL teams as per US Club Soccer


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## Soccer1234 (Jun 26, 2020)

'ECNL Juniors' is just the U11 and U12 age groups of the NPL West


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## OliveGroveHarrier (Jun 26, 2020)

Hi. I don't think there's anything wrong with those (former) USSDA "B" teams thinking they should play against each other instead of in already existing leagues, northeastlfc. Seems like a good way for them to scout or develop future potential DA first teamers. And it's clear that NPL West is reasonably competitive, as they have multiple slots into the ECNL National Tournament. For soccer1234, I don't know how many clubs are "frozen out" politically from MLS or ECNL, but it looks like NPL West is mostly comprised of MLS/ECNL club's "second teams", but I don't mind playing against good clubs who didn't play ball with the dominant leagues, if that's what happened. For my dollar, I really like that the "second tier" MLS West has some exposure at showcases and a path to the MLS/ECNL first teams, while not requiring the rigorous travel schedules or high school sacrifices. Seems like a good option for my kid, anyway, and I'm glad (relieved!) he didn't opt to ride the bench at the faraway MLS-E club. ECNL wasn't an option at the other places he considered, only ECRL was. It looked like ECRL was similar to NPL West, at least in So Cal. I figure that if he is destined to greatness, the NPL West coaches will figure that out. No need to torture the rest of the family with weekly 3h drives or 8-1 losses to LAFC Academy.


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## northeastlafc (Jun 27, 2020)

OliveGroveHarrier said:


> Hi. I don't think there's anything wrong with those (former) USSDA "B" teams thinking they should play against each other instead of in already existing leagues, northeastlfc. Seems like a good way for them to scout or develop future potential DA first teamers. And it's clear that NPL West is reasonably competitive, as they have multiple slots into the ECNL National Tournament. For soccer1234, I don't know how many clubs are "frozen out" politically from MLS or ECNL, but it looks like NPL West is mostly comprised of MLS/ECNL club's "second teams", but I don't mind playing against good clubs who didn't play ball with the dominant leagues, if that's what happened. For my dollar, I really like that the "second tier" MLS West has some exposure at showcases and a path to the MLS/ECNL first teams, while not requiring the rigorous travel schedules or high school sacrifices. Seems like a good option for my kid, anyway, and I'm glad (relieved!) he didn't opt to ride the bench at the faraway MLS-E club. ECNL wasn't an option at the other places he considered, only ECRL was. It looked like ECRL was similar to NPL West, at least in So Cal. I figure that if he is destined to greatness, the NPL West coaches will figure that out. No need to torture the rest of the family with weekly 3h drives or 8-1 losses to LAFC Academy.


It just doesn’t make sense that the “B” teams play each other again they already have their own league why do they need to play each other 1-2 more times in CRL? The CRL in essence is supposed to be like the Champions League where the best teams from CSL, SCDSL, and clubs who qualify from other Cal South leagues may come to see who’s actually the best club. It defeats the purpose when clubs from another league demand their own group when in reality the clubs who earned a berth to the CRL Can most likely put up a challenge against these DA “B” teams and maybe even defeat them!


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## mlx (Jun 27, 2020)

I guess I'm curious on the clubs that have teams in all the leagues. 

For example:

GSFC has 2 ecnl, 2 ecrl. Will they play NPL West with their 5th team?

LA Surf has 1 MLSDA, 1 ecnl, 1 ecrl. Will they play NPL west with their 4th team? 

Or will they mix and match players from all the teams, including their gold/silver team? 

Or will they have their 5th/4th teams playing NPL West and their 6th/7th teams be their gold/silver CSL team?


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## Dargle (Jun 27, 2020)

mlx said:


> I guess I'm curious on the clubs that have teams in all the leagues.
> 
> For example:
> 
> ...


My guess is that the teams in NPL West will be in the pre-ECNL and pre-MLS league age groups.


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## ChrisD (Jun 28, 2020)

mlx said:


> I guess I'm curious on the clubs that have teams in all the leagues.
> 
> For example:
> 
> ...


when ENCL has their break in q4, almost guarantee clubs will mix and match players, last year in NPL plenty of team had DA player that were playing up in again , play their age in NPl.  

In order for NPL to be great they need to have 1 ref's and 2 linesman not just one ref in the center.  NPL almost felt like fun scrimmages  , 1 Ref couldn't handle the pace of the game themselves when it came to the top tier teams .  Hope the kids get to play soon


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## northeastlafc (Jun 28, 2020)

In the end I believe it all comes down to the clubs. I feel like it’s gonna be a mix of all 3 (ABC) teams like how the pyramid works in Mexico or Spain where you have a teams A team, a teams B team, and a teams C team all in one group. The email I received regarding our interest in participating in the NPL West states that clubs from the new MLS Academy League were participating so they’d probably put their B teams. If some ECNL teams put their B teams in ECRL then the NPL West will probably house their C teams. If our club was to be accepted into the NPL then that’s where our A team would go.
I believe leagues are just leagues and every league has its good & bad teams whether you’re playing at the recreational, club, or elite levels.
Here in SoCal for example at the U18 bracket you have Coast SL, SCDSL, Presidio SL each with individual flights, CRL, USYS National League, the 3 NPLs (NPLW,SCNPL,NPLSW), the ECNL and the now upcoming ECRL, and even the UPSL is running it’s own U18 program. It’s so hectic that it’s easy for parents to be fooled but to each their own.


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## SoCal23 (Jun 29, 2020)

Here is another league....MLS Reserve League....






						Elite Academy League
					






					eliteacademyleague.com


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## northeastlafc (Jun 29, 2020)

SoCal23 said:


> Here is another league....MLS Reserve League....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How useless is this lol


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## lafalafa (Jun 29, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> How useless is this lol


Just more dilution or options depending on your POV not much difference vs NPLwest or ECRL but for Non-MLS who are in MLS-EYDP.  Just like clubs who are ECNL who have other players and teams looking for year round leagues.

The only questions are where are all players going to come by to fill 5-6 teams per age group for all these leagues.  At the older age groups this will be tough and it's some of these are not going to have 12 teams per or whatever? 

Cal South seems like the odd person out since the traditional leagues like CSL, DSL, presidio now appear to be less attractive to many clubs since there are so many more options.


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## multisportson (Jun 29, 2020)

ChrisD said:


> when ENCL has their break in q4, almost guarantee clubs will mix and match players, last year in NPL plenty of team had DA player that were playing up in again , play their age in NPl.
> 
> In order for NPL to be great they need to have 1 ref's and 2 linesman not just one ref in the center.  NPL almost felt like fun scrimmages  , 1 Ref couldn't handle the pace of the game themselves when it came to the top tier teams .  Hope the kids get to play soon


at least you HAD refs.  More than one NPL game last season had ZERO refs show up.


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## funkedrumma (Jun 29, 2020)

multisportson said:


> at least you HAD refs.  More than one NPL game last season had ZERO refs show up.


Exactly we almost had 2 cancelled games against the same team!! One game we had zero refs, the 2nd game they showed up at halftime, and a third they showed up 5 min before the game.


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## jpeter (Jun 29, 2020)

funkedrumma said:


> Exactly we almost had 2 cancelled games against the same team!! One game we had zero refs, the 2nd game they showed up at halftime, and a third they showed up 5 min before the game.


How do you play a league game without a ref?  Wouldn't that just be a scrimmage? That doesn't get recorded in the results?


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## ChrisD (Jun 29, 2020)

multisportson said:


> at least you HAD refs.  More than one NPL game last season had ZERO refs show up.


or you had one teams "uncle grandpa"  reffing the game the whole time cause they didnt have ref's only calling fouls on your team , and handing yellow out like candy to only your team.  Honest I thought of them like scrimmages , we can go on and on .....


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## ChrisD (Jun 29, 2020)

jpeter said:


> How do you play a league game without a ref?  Wouldn't that just be a scrimmage? That doesn't get recorded in the results?


Thats a questions for the home team to answer.


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## ChrisD (Jun 29, 2020)

funkedrumma said:


> Exactly we almost had 2 cancelled games against the same team!! One game we had zero refs, the 2nd game they showed up at halftime, and a third they showed up 5 min before the game.


prob the same team.


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## jpeter (Jun 29, 2020)

ChrisD said:


> or you had one teams "uncle grandpa"  reffing the game the whole time cause they didnt have ref's only calling fouls on your team , and handing yellow out like candy to only your team.  Honest I thought of them like scrimmages , we can go on and on .....


With the ref shortages more leagues don't seem to help that so have to wonder if costs might  be going up?  or will there really be adequate coverage for all?


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## SoCal23 (Jun 29, 2020)

Most clubs will have their 2nd teams play in this league while their top teams play in the MLS league.


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## funkedrumma (Jun 29, 2020)

jpeter said:


> How do you play a league game without a ref?  Wouldn't that just be a scrimmage? That doesn't get recorded in the results?


that's what happened. we ended up scrimmaging and replaying later in the year. trip to corona for nothing.


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## jpeter (Jun 29, 2020)

SoCal23 said:


> Most clubs will have their 2nd teams play in this league while their top teams play in the MLS league.


Depends Non-MLS  u11, u12 clubs say Elite academy is there choice and u13, U15,u17 in MLS League so depend on age groups & club.


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## Soccer1234 (Jul 1, 2020)

Looks like there was an expansion announcement today. Looks like the league has grown to around 30 clubs


Anaheim FC
Arsenal FC
Atletico So Cal
Beach FC
CDA Slammers
Conejo Valley United SC
Culver City FC
Elite SC
FC Golden State East
FC Golden State West
LA Breakers
LA Monsters FC
LA Surf
Laguna United
Legends FC
Mission Viejo FC
OC Surf North
Olympiacos CA
Paramount FC
Pateadores
PSC Soccer
Real So Cal
San Diego SC
San Diego Surf
Sand and Surf
SoCal Elite FC
Steel United
Strikers FC
UIFC Laguna
West Coast FC


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## OliveGroveHarrier (Jul 2, 2020)

Soccer1234 said:


> Looks like there was an expansion announcement today. Looks like the league has grown to around 30 clubs
> 
> 
> Anaheim FC
> ...


What happened to City FC (Carlsbad)? Typo or change of plans?


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## northeastlafc (Jul 2, 2020)

Soccer1234 said:


> Looks like there was an expansion announcement today. Looks like the league has grown to around 30 clubs
> 
> 
> Anaheim FC
> ...


What league is this for


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## Soccer1234 (Jul 2, 2020)

The MLS Academy clubs that have second teams went to the EA league i believe 


OliveGroveHarrier said:


> What happened to City FC (Carlsbad)? Typo or change of plans?


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## Soccer1234 (Jul 2, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> What league is this for


NPL West


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## jpeter (Jul 2, 2020)

Soccer1234 said:


> Looks like there was an expansion announcement today. Looks like the league has grown to around 30 clubs
> 
> 
> Anaheim FC
> ...


So no Galaxy and LAFC anymore at u11-u12? 

NPL's are a US club league competing for teams and players from Cal South leagues and the ECxx platforms. 

Good thing about this league is it appears to be more open, apply in time and your in if you meet the basics (pay and register with USclub)


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## northeastlafc (Jan 3, 2021)

Any word with what happened here? Seemed like a good thing going.


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## lafalafa (Jan 3, 2021)

northeastlafc said:


> Any word with what happened here? Seemed like a good thing going.


No fields to play at  and no way to play with current guidance

 When/if stay at home is lifted and soccer counties get into orange tier there could be games but when that is remains to be seen.


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