# BOYS ECNL NEW MEMBERS (3/20)



## zags77 (Mar 20, 2019)

http://www.boysecnl.com/2019/03/boys-ecnl-announces-impressive-list-of-new-memer-clubs-for-2019-2020/

Interesting for So Cal, FC Goldenstate and LA Breakers,


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## jpeter (Mar 20, 2019)

Yeah Crossfire Premier (WA) also, the girls dropped out of DA so I guess there all in now.

age groups (U14, U15, U16, U17, and U18/19) and collegiate exposure through multiple Boys ECNL National Events.  Looks like they split u16/17 so that maybe attractive to some. 

There showcases are well run and attended but it's the manadtory travel that can be killer expensive for some: Florida & Oklahoma,etc showcases plus trips to AZ, NV for league games and it can really add up to some serious $$$ especially if some family members attend also.


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## RedCard (Mar 20, 2019)

So I wonder if FC Golden State is leaving DA.... Hmmmmmmmm


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## NOVA.Dad (Mar 21, 2019)

Loudoun was in DA, but left for boys ECNL.


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## El Clasico (Mar 21, 2019)

RedCard said:


> So I wonder if FC Golden State is leaving DA.... Hmmmmmmmm


No


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## Up North (Mar 21, 2019)

jpeter said:


> Yeah Crossfire Premier (WA) also, the girls dropped out of DA so I guess there all in now.
> 
> age groups (U14, U15, U16, U17, and U18/19) and collegiate exposure through multiple Boys ECNL National Events.  Looks like they split u16/17 so that maybe attractive to some.
> 
> There showcases are well run and attended but it's the manadtory travel that can be killer expensive for some: Florida & Oklahoma,etc showcases plus trips to AZ, NV for league games and it can really add up to some serious $$$ especially if some family members attend also.


DA (boys and girls) is going through a death by a thousands cuts up here, at least that is how it feels.  However, in a best case you still have Reign, Sounders, Timbers, and Thorns at HS ages. Not sure what is left below HS, but at least those pros presumably have some money to pay for all that travel. 

Unknowns -
Does Crossfire keep it a HS presence at boys DA? 
Can Reign continue to draw talent in an unsubsidized academy with all that travel?
Do the Timbers cut bait on the whole DA thing, if MLS lets them?
As for Thorns, is the Cali girl going to play for the first team?


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## focomoso (Mar 22, 2019)

El Clasico said:


> No


So this means that both Golden State and Premier will have both DA and ECNL. Spreading the talent thin on the East Side...


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## mirage (Mar 28, 2019)

focomoso said:


> So this means that both Golden State and Premier will have both DA and ECNL. Spreading the talent thin on the East Side...


Its important to keep this in perspective.

For the boys side (its too new on girls side and many are failing to understand the difference between the two), DA focus is to find youth national team players.  The focus has never been on getting kids recruited to college, like it is on the girls ECNL.  College recruiting for DA is a windfall for those players - though most do not make the national team so its the primary goal, which is why it gets confusing and muddy quickly.

Having had a kid go though the DA system, now playing in college, the top talent will want to always want to play on DA club, especially if its MLS DA.  There's absolutely no chance that talent will be spread thin for clubs with both DA and ECNL.  Priority is DA (USSF) and not ECNL (USClub Soccer).  ECNL is a way for these clubs to attract more paying players.


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## focomoso (Mar 28, 2019)

mirage said:


> There's absolutely no chance that talent will be spread thin for clubs with both DA and ECNL.  Priority is DA (USSF) and not ECNL (USClub Soccer).  ECNL is a way for these clubs to attract more paying players.


Sure, but Premier can barely field a competitive DA team. Their ECNL teams are trying to pull kids from flight 1 / gold, but aren't having much success.


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## mirage (Mar 29, 2019)

focomoso said:


> Sure, but Premier can barely field a competitive DA team. Their ECNL teams are trying to pull kids from flight 1 / gold, but aren't having much success.


You're talking about Youngers and I was talking about olders.  I don't believe Premier has olders.

It starts to really matter at U16+, though U14/15 are a keen interest to them too.

Frankly, my observation is that there is no dilution in DA at U16/17 and U18/19 because USSF limits the number of clubs much more stringently.  The Youngers has bigger pool because they are casting the net wider.  Regardless of the skill and ability levels, life happens to all kids and many great young players quit for various reasons.  So the younger pool is intentionally larger than older pool.


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## jpeter (Mar 29, 2019)

mirage said:


> You're talking about Youngers and I was talking about olders.  I don't believe Premier has olders.
> 
> It starts to really matter at U16+, though U14/15 are a keen interest to them too.
> 
> Frankly, my observation is that there is no dilution in DA at U16/17 and U18/19 because USSF limits the number of clubs much more stringently.  The Youngers has bigger pool because they are casting the net wider.  Regardless of the skill and ability levels, life happens to all kids and many great young players quit for various reasons.  So the younger pool is intentionally larger than older pool.


There is dulition in ever league nowadays, DA is no different.   3-4yrs ago u16/17 was much different, fewer clubs in the league, fewer players, fewer leagues.  Players who have choices don't necessarily gravitate towards DA nearly as much any more, sure the (2) MLS ones have a strong draw but that's not that many players and the regular clubs now have other offerings that work with High School players.

College recuitment with the right coaches, coordinators for high level teams with standout players with good grades happens in all leagues just about for the boys so hard to say there is much advantage.  Play enough high level tournments and there is plenty of exposure IMO.  The Oklahoma ecnl showcase or the DA one in Florida had a decent amt of coaches but the majority weren't from colleges people are interested in so is fun to travel & play but the bang of your bucks is often greater at other places such as Dallas Cup, Man City, etc.


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## timbuck (Mar 29, 2019)

I saw the other day that Boys ECNL is sponsored by Puma.  
And girls is Nike.  

I’m no marketing genius, but that seems a bit strange.


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## jpeter (Mar 29, 2019)

timbuck said:


> I saw the other day that Boys ECNL is sponsored by Puma.
> And girls is Nike.
> 
> I’m no marketing genius, but that seems a bit strange.


$$$ Boys ECNL signed with PUMA recently as the official league sponsor.
http://www.boysecnl.com/2019/03/boys-ecnl-signs-with-puma/

"The Boys ECNL is the only American youth soccer league sponsored by PUMA". 

Puma has been making a push and some clubs maybe making a switch, some newer ones have went with Puma as of late.


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## timbuck (Mar 29, 2019)

And today, I saw that Girls ECNL announced they extended a long term partnership with Nike.


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## mirage (Mar 29, 2019)

jpeter said:


> There is dulition in ever league nowadays, DA is no different.   3-4yrs ago u16/17 was much different, fewer clubs in the league, fewer players, fewer leagues........


Yeah I know what your saying, but from USSF perspective, there's little dilution.  The concentration of those with serious intent and talent is in DA (not to say that there isn't outside of it - of course there are but heavy concentration is in DA).  Your comment applies from players perspective.



jpeter said:


> College recuitment with the right coaches, coordinators for high level teams with standout players with good grades happens in all leagues just about for the boys so hard to say there is much advantage.  Play enough high level tournments and there is plenty of exposure IMO.  The Oklahoma ecnl showcase or the DA one in Florida had a decent amt of coaches but the majority weren't from colleges people are interested in so is fun to travel & play but the bang of your bucks is often greater at other places such as Dallas Cup, Man City, etc.


I have to disagree with this statement.  Yes there are kids getting recruited everywhere outside of DA.  That said, DA playoffs and showcases are very cost effective, focused source of player viewing for college coaches.  It allows them to multiplex their travel budget significantly by attending the DA events.  The fact that the clubs and USSF has already done the first level filtering to provide DA roster is a huge advantage in terms of leg work for college coaches.  While Dallas Cup, Disney, Surf do attract lots of coaches, its in addition to, and not instead of DA playoffs and showcases.

As for colleges people aren't interested in at these events, that's a totally subjective comment from your perspective.  The last DA playoff games our older kid played at had over 60 coaches watching along the sidelines from D1 to NAIA, Ivys to local universities (we know because the list was provided after the games).  Besides, if you are interested in a particular school, clearly the best approach is to have direct contact so I suppose both of our points are moot.


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## Up North (Apr 6, 2019)

Up North said:


> DA (boys and girls) is going through a death by a thousands cuts up here, at least that is how it feels.  However, in a best case you still have Reign, Sounders, Timbers, and Thorns at HS ages. Not sure what is left below HS, but at least those pros presumably have some money to pay for all that travel.
> 
> Unknowns -
> Does Crossfire keep it a HS presence at boys DA?
> ...


Bummer in Oregon, but it looks like boys DA has totally exited below u15.  Lost 1 club last year, another announced this year they were discontinuing, and DA pulled plug for lack of interest.  Washington seems less certain, but also on life support at those ages.

I genuinely think the region will miss the DA at these ages - standards and quality of matches were relatively higher.  Obviously the control and perceived lack of fun (no cups to play for) were deterrents for some clubs.


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## Soccer43 (Apr 7, 2019)

mirage said:


> Yeah I know what your saying, but from USSF perspective, there's little dilution.  The concentration of those with serious intent and talent is in DA (not to say that there isn't outside of it - of course there are but heavy concentration is in DA).  Your comment applies from players perspective.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This debate is definitely getting old.  Everything you said about the DA is true for ECNL (at least for the girls side).  Tons of college coaches at showcases,  top D1 colleges,  Ivys,  local universities, etc.  When DA started we fell for the press releases that said if you want to be in the top league then DA is where you need to be.  We found out that was not the case.  There are top players in both leagues, there is some excellent competition in both leagues but only with the top half of each conference.  The bottom half, whether DA or ECNL are just ok.   It would be great if, after DA and ECNL championships they would have the final four play against each other for a true national championship - that would end the debate.


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## mirage (Apr 8, 2019)

Soccer43 said:


> This debate is definitely getting old.  Everything you said about the DA is true for ECNL (at least for the girls side)........   It would be great if, after DA and ECNL championships they would have the final four play against each other for a true national championship - that would end the debate.


Just a reminder that the subject is BOYS ECNL, and not girls.  It is very, very different.  The ECNL on the girls side became similar to boys DA because there was no girls DA then.  Perhaps your experience in the girls side is not allowing you to recognize just how different boys side is.

I have boys playing and one of them played DA in the last two years of age groups.  Its not a debate on the boys side.  Its just a fact and it is what it is.

As for playing a championship between the two, I would argue that there are strong teams in SCDSL, CSL and ECNL.  That's not the point.

The point is its USSF that runs DA and its USSF that picks the national team, not ECNL or US Club Soccer (who is sanction by USSF, like USY Soccer is).  For the boys  youth national team selection, vast majority come from DA teams and not from ECNL or other (not to say that there isn't handful from here and there).  The whole purpose of DA is to find youth players for the national team pool.


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## Zvezdas (Apr 8, 2019)

From what i heard LA Premier and Golden State will use ecnl teams to basically move their DP players together with those who do not play much on DA teams. Essentially, keeping those who are not ready/able to play DA in their system. Now, if they leave DA thats another story, but these two clubs will firmly stay in the DA circuit. Same goes for Legends.


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## mirage (Apr 8, 2019)

Up North said:


> Bummer in Oregon, but it looks like boys DA has totally exited below u15.  Lost 1 club last year, another announced this year they were discontinuing, and DA pulled plug for lack of interest.  Washington seems less certain, but also on life support at those ages.
> 
> I genuinely think the region will miss the DA at these ages - standards and quality of matches were relatively higher.  Obviously the control and perceived lack of fun (no cups to play for) were deterrents for some clubs.


The last time our older son player against the Timbers DA team (two~three years ago), the roster was made up of almost all non-Oregonions. Only 5 players, we were told, were from Oregon U16 and up.  Most were from south east US and boarded in Portland.  I don't know about the Sounders DA but I suspect much of the same and the Whitecaps DA are selected from all over Canada and not just BC.

Not sure what that says about the talent base in the Pacific NW but based on what you're saying, what little there is will have much harder time getting the proper exposure than it already was....


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## RocketFile (Apr 8, 2019)

~10% of Sounders DA are from out of state, but many of the top Sounders DA kids come from that 10%.


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## Soccer43 (Apr 8, 2019)

mirage said:


> Just a reminder that the subject is BOYS ECNL, and not girls.  It is very, very different.  The ECNL on the girls side became similar to boys DA because there was no girls DA then.  Perhaps your experience in the girls side is not allowing you to recognize just how different boys side is.
> 
> I have boys playing and one of them played DA in the last two years of age groups.  Its not a debate on the boys side.  Its just a fact and it is what it is.
> 
> ...


I know boys vs girls is definitely different - the conversation was confusing because I didn’t think LA Premier had boys DA, only ECNL - but maybe that has changed


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## mirage (Apr 8, 2019)

Soccer43 said:


> I know boys vs girls is definitely different - the conversation was confusing because I didn’t think LA Premier had boys DA, only ECNL - but maybe that has changed


Have no idea what LA Premier is doing or how they enter this conversation if they don't have both.  I was simply replying to the general subject of having ECNL in addition to DA mean clubs on the boys side.  

One of the post said FCSG DA DP/Bench players will play ECNL and that makes lot of sense to give them more playing time.


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## focomoso (Apr 9, 2019)

Soccer43 said:


> I know boys vs girls is definitely different - the conversation was confusing because I didn’t think LA Premier had boys DA, only ECNL - but maybe that has changed


Next year, Premier will have boys ECNL for 07, 06 and 05 and DA for 07 and 06. And my understanding matches @*Zvezdas *- the ECNLs will be "b" teams to the DA (except in 05 where there is no DA). There's lots of talk of movement between the two using the developmental program, but that remains to be seen.


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