# Southern CA Clubs Are Blowing It



## Patandpats (Apr 15, 2020)

Yes US Soccer acted shady with the way they are handling the DA ending.  But for some reason southern CA clubs are taking an "every club for themselves" approach.

If you take away LAFC and Galaxy, you still have Surf, Real So Cal, FC Golden State, Pats, Nomads, Albion, Arsenal, Strikers, etc.

Why scramble to join some other national league?  Do these directors think that scouts won't come to watch the best teams in southern CA? Do they think sending their kids to AZ or NV and paying for hotels, travel, etc. in these uncertain times makes sense?  Do they not think that "top" teams won't come here to play our teams?

We are in power based on population and team quality.  We need to flex our muscles, but that only works if our clubs work collectively. We should continue the DA without the MLS clubs in our region and have the strongest league in the country.  We can still have showcases.  We can still do Dallas Cup, Vegas Cup, Surf Cup.  

This is a unique chance to do what's best for the players and their families and we are just blowing it.


----------



## jpeter (Apr 15, 2020)

Patandpats said:


> Yes US Soccer acted shady with the way they are handling the DA ending.  But for some reason southern CA clubs are taking an "every club for themselves" approach.
> 
> If you take away LAFC and Galaxy, you still have Surf, Real So Cal, FC Golden State, Pats, Nomads, Albion, Arsenal, Strikers, etc.
> 
> ...


No reason to have another private closed league,  plenty around to choose from including some open ones. Now if some of those where combined or open that would be nice.

Usclub offers nplwest, scnpl,and,swnpl not to mention  https://www.upsl.com/.

USL A leagues has planned to start in the fall and you hav the good ole' leagues: CSL, DSL, presidio.  

Pick one of the above you can play any of the tournament mentioned or any other comps like surf, Dallas, Vegas, Jefferson.

Agree with you on the travel thing the problem becomes as it gets boring and repetitious to play the same clubs 3-4xtimes a year and there's only six eight of them and that's already been done when there younger.

DA doesn't need to continue for the majority of players, you can train 4x a week with whatever club or teams and have the same things going on minus the FIFA sub rules, roster and HS restrictions. 

It's all about perceptions parents have to have their kids on the "top" team .  Find a good coach and program and let's get back to training & playing forget about all the noise and rumors.


----------



## RedDevilDad (Apr 18, 2020)

Patandpats said:


> Do they think sending their kids to AZ or NV and paying for hotels, travel, etc. in these uncertain times makes sense?  Do they not think that "top" teams won't come here to play our teams?


I feel like your opinion that clubs are failing is based on the premise that travel is bad. 
That is subjective. I love car rides with my kid. Team does a summer tournament... we add a week and make a family vacation out of it.
Families who can afford travel and enjoy travel, should have the option to play on a team. If we don’t want travel, as previous post mentions, there are plenty of local only options. 
Also, I enjoy seeing the differences in styles of play between regions. Interesting.
Travel isn’t bad. Closed, private, us 4 and no more systems are. Give parents access to both national leagues and local leagues.


----------



## jpeter (Apr 18, 2020)

While I guess MLS/USYS had to do something since DA blewup (2 weeks ago but they just announced this week) 

I'm sort of disappointed they didn't work with USclub (Ecnl & NPL) or USL and now they seem to be competitors although they did float the idea that there could be cross play but heard scheduling & travel will be a major roadblock.

Cal south, CSL, and DSL might be ones that see top flight teams leaving for these other offerings so have to wonder if there going to counter with something "new" from them also


----------



## RedDevilDad (Apr 18, 2020)

jpeter said:


> While I guess MLS/USYS had to do something since DA blewup (2 weeks ago but they just announced this week)


The USWNT lawsuit played a major role. 
Now funds needed. Easy cut of 9mil. 
Boys and Girls programs must be equal yet the Girls DA failing to the ECNL. Couple that with a lot of discontent on the boys side, like you alluded to, from major stakeholders in the MLS.
We can’t discount the lawsuit impact.


----------



## Patandpats (Apr 20, 2020)

RedDevilDad said:


> I feel like your opinion that clubs are failing is based on the premise that travel is bad.
> That is subjective. I love car rides with my kid. Team does a summer tournament... we add a week and make a family vacation out of it.
> Families who can afford travel and enjoy travel, should have the option to play on a team. If we don’t want travel, as previous post mentions, there are plenty of local only options.
> Also, I enjoy seeing the differences in styles of play between regions. Interesting.
> Travel isn’t bad. Closed, private, us 4 and no more systems are. Give parents access to both national leagues and local leagues.


I love car rides with my kid too.  Not talking about summer travel.  It's my opinion that playing in a league with AZ, NV and UT teams doesn't make sense when you have comparable options in closer range.  You can still play those out of state teams over the summer, in a showcase, etc, but IMO shouldn't go there seven to ten times which may happen with this new MLS league depending on how the schedule plays out.

And shutting out families who can't afford it is one reason our country sucks at soccer.


----------



## Dargle (Apr 20, 2020)

If we're really talking about rationalizing things in a sensible way, then it should be with crossover play between leagues as part of the league schedules.  If MLS League and Boys ECNL are the two elite leagues in SoCal, then designate some weekends in which teams in the same local area from the different leagues would play each other (you could tier or weight teams so you avoid having the top of one league play the bottom of the other).  That way, you reduce travel while still preserving the flexibility of clubs to affiliate with different leagues and get the benefits they might provide in terms of visibility/showcases, cost etc.  Clubs do this anyway when they enter tournaments and schedule friendlies, so this would just be formalizing it.  It might be especially valuable given that tournaments and showcases may no longer be possible for awhile, at least as they have been done in the past.


----------



## Frank (Apr 20, 2020)

My favorite moments with my son were Dallas Cup, National League and MIC (Spain).  These are fun and important experiences for players.  Traveling to play in Arizona for a league game is not something appealing to me.


----------



## kickingandscreaming (Apr 20, 2020)

RedDevilDad said:


> The USWNT lawsuit played a major role.
> Now funds needed. Easy cut of 9mil.
> Boys and Girls programs must be equal yet the Girls DA failing to the ECNL. Couple that with a lot of discontent on the boys side, like you alluded to, from major stakeholders in the MLS.
> We can’t discount the lawsuit impact.


I wonder if the USMNT not making the World Cup had any impact? I'm not sure how that money is directed, but it was a lot of money lost.


----------



## foreveryoung (Apr 20, 2020)

Dargle said:


> If we're really talking about rationalizing things in a sensible way, then it should be with crossover play between leagues as part of the league schedules.  If MLS League and Boys ECNL are the two elite leagues in SoCal, then designate some weekends in which teams in the same local area from the different leagues would play each other (you could tier or weight teams so you avoid having the top of one league play the bottom of the other).  That way, you reduce travel while still preserving the flexibility of clubs to affiliate with different leagues and get the benefits they might provide in terms of visibility/showcases, cost etc.  Clubs do this anyway when they enter tournaments and schedule friendlies, so this would just be formalizing it.  It might be especially valuable given that tournaments and showcases may no longer be possible for awhile, at least as they have been done in the past.


So I get that but then why do you need two leagues?  Wouldn’t all of that be doable and and easier if they are all in the same league?


----------



## Dargle (Apr 20, 2020)

foreveryoung said:


> So I get that but then why do you need two leagues?  Wouldn’t all of that be doable and and easier if they are all in the same league?


True, but I was suggesting what they could do given where they are now.


----------

