# So Cal Soccer Leagues 2020-2021



## northeastlafc (Aug 9, 2020)

I took some time to make a de facto list of how the pyramid may look for the upcoming season. This is MY discretion and I’ll be explaining the reasons for why I picked it like this. I like to brag to people that I’m extremely knowledgeable when it comes to youth & adult soccer even though nobody knows who I am. US Soccer sanctions themselves, US Youth Soccer & US Club Soccer to run the sport in the country.US Soccer’s MLS-EYDP will in theory be the best league and under it will be the Elite Academy League where most of the MLS-EYDP B teams will go.US Club Soccer will have the ECNL at the top with the ECRL under it (don’t have to state why since it’s obvious). In think ECRL teams will not compete in the USCS National Championships, so the NPL West will be the tier below because the team list shows clubs who already have an ECNL/ECRL team. Other clubs in the NPL West will field their A or B team so this league is going to be mixed. The So Cal NPL & Southwest NPL leagues fall a tier below NPL West due to the number of slots each league offers to the USCS National Championships.
US Youth Soccer has their National League at the top with the Conferences falling a tier below. The Pacific Conference is the CRL (I know there are still parents who are confused about this). Cal South leagues are in the tiers below with Coast, SCDSL, & Presidio being the biggest 3 leagues in my opinion.
The list was with the tiers going down not sideways so for example I don’t think the EA League is the same level as the ECRL. Leagues are subjective and there will be good and bad teams in every single league, in every single bracket, and every season because that’s how the sport is, it’s unpredictable.


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## espola (Aug 9, 2020)

" I like to brag to people that I’m extremely knowledgeable"

So show it.


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## SoccerFan4Life (Aug 9, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> The list was with the tiers going down not sideways so for example I don’t think the EA League is the same level as the ECRL. Leagues are subjective and there will be good and bad teams in every single league, in every single bracket, and every season because that’s how the sport is, it’s unpredictable.


How many of these will survive after there's no soccer until Q1/2021?


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## northeastlafc (Aug 10, 2020)

espola said:


> " I like to brag to people that I’m extremely knowledgeable"
> 
> So show it.


You’re probably an angry parent who got mad that maybe your league isn’t where you thought it was on the pyramid lol. I’m only 24, grew up in the club system, run my own soccer club by my self so i actually DO know  also know well enough that I educate parents on not falling for marketing ploys. Like how Santa Monica Surf stated that the “EA League is the old version of the DA” for example. Or how a team in Coast called Academia Futbol Central LA brag about how they go to the MIC Cup in Spain every year but don’t tell people they’re a silver level club and they lose all 3 games in the group stage usually every year.


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## MSK357 (Aug 10, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> You’re probably an angry parent who got mad that maybe your league isn’t where you thought it was on the pyramid lol. I’m only 24, grew up in the club system, run my own soccer club by my self so i actually DO know  also know well enough that I educate parents on not falling for marketing ploys. Like how Santa Monica Surf stated that the “EA League is the old version of the DA” for example. Or how a team in Coast called Academia Futbol Central LA brag about how they go to the MIC Cup in Spain every year but don’t tell people they’re a silver level club and they lose all 3 games in the group stage usually every year.


Espola doesnt have a kid that plays youth soccer, he's just a creepy old dude that lurks in forums about kids. ignore him.


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## ginga (Aug 10, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> View attachment 8558I took some time to make a de facto list of how the pyramid may look for the upcoming season. This is MY discretion and I’ll be explaining the reasons for why I picked it like this. I like to brag to people that I’m extremely knowledgeable when it comes to youth & adult soccer even though nobody knows who I am. US Soccer sanctions themselves, US Youth Soccer & US Club Soccer to run the sport in the country.US Soccer’s MLS-EYDP will in theory be the best league and under it will be the Elite Academy League where most of the MLS-EYDP B teams will go.US Club Soccer will have the ECNL at the top with the ECRL under it (don’t have to state why since it’s obvious). In think ECRL teams will not compete in the USCS National Championships, so the NPL West will be the tier below because the team list shows clubs who already have an ECNL/ECRL team. Other clubs in the NPL West will field their A or B team so this league is going to be mixed. The So Cal NPL & Southwest NPL leagues fall a tier below NPL West due to the number of slots each league offers to the USCS National Championships.
> US Youth Soccer has their National League at the top with the Conferences falling a tier below. The Pacific Conference is the CRL (I know there are still parents who are confused about this). Cal South leagues are in the tiers below with Coast, SCDSL, & Presidio being the biggest 3 leagues in my opinion.
> The list was with the tiers going down not sideways so for example I don’t think the EA League is the same level as the ECRL. Leagues are subjective and there will be good and bad teams in every single league, in every single bracket, and every season because that’s how the sport is, it’s unpredictable.


someone who is extremely knowledgeable should know that there is a difference between boys leagues and girls leagues.  you have boys ecnl and girls ecrl under them. doesn’t seem like you are very good with details my friends.  i know it’s just your opinion but perhaps you can learn something from espola.


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## espola (Aug 10, 2020)

ginga said:


> someone who is extremely knowledgeable should know that there is a difference between boys leagues and girls leagues.  you have boys ecnl and girls ecrl under them. doesn’t seem like you are very good with details my friends.  i know it’s just your opinion but perhaps you can learn something from espola.


I'm still ready to learn something from someone who is "extremely knowledgable".

One thing I am sure we would all like to learn is what club he is from.


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## espola (Aug 10, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> You’re probably an angry parent who got mad that maybe your league isn’t where you thought it was on the pyramid lol. I’m only 24, grew up in the club system, run my own soccer club by my self so i actually DO know  also know well enough that I educate parents on not falling for marketing ploys. Like how Santa Monica Surf stated that the “EA League is the old version of the DA” for example. Or how a team in Coast called Academia Futbol Central LA brag about how they go to the MIC Cup in Spain every year but don’t tell people they’re a silver level club and they lose all 3 games in the group stage usually every year.


Was your playing time before the publication of all the warnings about concussions?


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## northeastlafc (Aug 10, 2020)

ginga said:


> someone who is extremely knowledgeable should know that there is a difference between boys leagues and girls leagues.  you have boys ecnl and girls ecrl under them. doesn’t seem like you are very good with details my friends.  i know it’s just your opinion but perhaps you can learn something from espola.


You do know there’s no Boys ECRL logo out at the moment right? So I thought folks were smart enough to see girls ECNL logo is just a placeholder, unfortunately you didn’t.


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## northeastlafc (Aug 10, 2020)

espola said:


> I'm still ready to learn something from someone who is "extremely knowledgable".
> 
> One thing I am sure we would all like to learn is what club he is from.


Don’t worry about what club I’m from all you should know is I started my own to avoid all the politics that go on with other organizations. Successful


SoccerFan4Life said:


> How many of these will survive after there's no soccer until Q1/2021?


I think the majority of them will stay afloat because for the most part they’re closed leagues so it’s easier to get organized with the DOCs and make something happen.


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## espola (Aug 10, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> You do know there’s no Boys ECRL logo out at the moment right? So I thought folks were smart enough to see girls ECNL logo is just a placeholder, unfortunately you didn’t.


I admit there is a lot of aggressive attitude expressed in this forum probably because many posters feel safe hiding behind anonymity, but you will go a lot further in building your reputation here if you don't look at every conversation as an argument.

I will withhold further judgments about you until I see your response.


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## northeastlafc (Aug 10, 2020)

espola said:


> I admit there is a lot of aggressive attitude expressed in this forum probably because many posters feel safe hiding behind anonymity, but you will go a lot further in building your reputation here if you don't look at every conversation as an argument.
> 
> I will withhold further judgments about you until I see your response.


I don’t get what you’re trying to say? You came at me first trying to make fun of me but when I’m rebutting and replying to why I made my list the way I did now I’m being aggressive? Lol Okay sounds legit


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## Dargle (Aug 10, 2020)

All of this is pretty speculative right now because of COVID, player movement (including out of soccer) and club shakeups.  Having said that, here are a few observations:

- This is only about boys soccer. It's pretty obvious, but you don't say that explicitly. For girls, ECNL would be at the top and the Girls Academy would be the only possible competitor, but it's brand new and hard to say how many of the former DA players it retained.  DPL is the league below GA.
- For most clubs, ECRL is a LOT weaker in boys than the original poster seemed to suggest.  That's because Boys ECNL wasn't necessarily strong in some of these clubs last year and their second teams could be Flight 2 or Silver-level teams in some clubs.
- on the other hand, Boys ECNL generally will have wide variation in quality this year if we have any games.  That's because some of the Boys ECNL teams are former DA teams (although some will be losing players to MLS league teams), while returning Boys ECNL teams have a wide range of quality depending upon age group, with the worst teams pretty weak, relatively speaking.  From top to bottom the gap could be large.
- The Elite Academy teams could also have a pretty wide degree of quality. The ones that are not associated with a club that has an existing MLS team may actually be better than the second teams of the MLS clubs.  It will likely be a wider degree of quality in EA than in ECRL. The top EA teams could be competitive in ECNL, but just weren't granted access as a club, while the bottom could be lower-tier ECRL quality.
- The Premier, Discovery, and even Gold/Championship levels of CSL and SCDSL will likely have teams that could beat teams in any of these leagues.  This is particularly true for Premier, since CSL has some smaller clubs in LA and Southeast LA where the boys are very strong.  Some or most of those teams could be in CRL too. Some of these teams (e.g., Paramount. Kickers, Laguna etc) are just as likely to feed players to LAFC/Galaxy as they are to any of the teams in-between and they can re-load when they lose players because their coaches are dedicated recruiters and know their neighborhoods better than anyone.  There are also strong teams popping up from these areas all the time that are strong, often with an affiliation to a larger brand like TFA.


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## DOGSO (Aug 10, 2020)

I'm happy people are back to arguing about knowing more about soccer at least


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## northeastlafc (Aug 10, 2020)

Dargle said:


> All of this is pretty speculative right now because of COVID, player movement (including out of soccer) and club shakeups.  Having said that, here are a few observations:
> 
> - This is only about boys soccer. It's pretty obvious, but you don't say that explicitly. For girls, ECNL would be at the top and the Girls Academy would be the only possible competitor, but it's brand new and hard to say how many of the former DA players it retained.  DPL is the league below GA.
> - For most clubs, ECRL is a LOT weaker in boys than the original poster seemed to suggest.  That's because Boys ECNL wasn't necessarily strong in some of these clubs last year and their second teams could be Flight 2 or Silver-level teams in some clubs.
> ...


Very nice comprehensive summary. Yes this is just boys leagues I should’ve specified that. I’m not concerned about the girls that’s why since I dedicate my time to the boys & men’s side of the game but the girl’s pyramid is probably even more crazy than this!!


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## ginga (Aug 10, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> You do know there’s no Boys ECRL logo out at the moment right? So I thought folks were smart enough to see girls ECNL logo is just a placeholder, unfortunately you didn’t.


 ok if that’s the only way your extremely knowledgeable mind could come up with to show that then you do you, my friend. i’m sure you’ll go far with that.  how is your club doing by the way?  are you at the top of the pyramid yet?  you do know that’s not a pyramid that you’re showing, right?  of course you do, my extremely knowledgeable friend.


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## northeastlafc (Aug 10, 2020)

ginga said:


> ok if that’s the only way your extremely knowledgeable mind could come up with to show that then you do you, my friend. i’m sure you’ll go far with that.  how is your club doing by the way?  are you at the top of the pyramid yet?  you do know that’s not a pyramid that you’re showing, right?  of course you do, my extremely knowledgeable friend.


Lmao you’re actually making me laugh . My club is good by the way thanks for asking. We’re not looking to climb the pyramid we just play for fun, hopefully make a deep US Open Cup run when things go back to normal. It obviously isn’t a pyramid but you’re over here trolling by trying to be too literal it’s okay tho I guess people don’t have better things to do lol.


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## Banana Hammock (Aug 11, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> I don’t get what you’re trying to say? You came at me first trying to make fun of me but when I’m rebutting and replying to why I made my list the way I did now I’m being aggressive? Lol Okay sounds legit


This sounds like the response I get from my teenage son.  Maybe its how they teach them the debate is HS these days.


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## lafalafa (Aug 11, 2020)

The only pyramid in youth soccer is a marketing one,  all the League are jumbled and go sideways for the most part.   All illusions and marketing for the most parts to make the parents feel better and open their checkbooks.  Kids just want to play.

Doesn't matter what league, school, or program name you call it what matters is the coaching, training, playing, and development that each player should be getting.  A development pyramid would be more appropriate.  Leagues don't develop players.

If you want to talk pro or semi yeah there is some resemblance of a pyramid but it has more to do with economics vs level of comptance.  When there is true promotion/regulation maybe us soccer will have a real pyramid until they we have closed self serving leagues where economics drives the bus.


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## SoccerFan4Life (Aug 11, 2020)

Conclusión: someone  puts the list of all the youth organizations with some form of unscientific ranking and others get their feelings hurt because their club is at the bottom?   Just put your ranking to see how it stacks up.


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## Soccer43 (Aug 11, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> I don’t get what you’re trying to say? You came at me first trying to make fun of me but when I’m rebutting and replying to why I made my list the way I did now I’m being aggressive? Lol Okay sounds legit


To be honest, when you start out by sounding like a young arrogant ass you invite a negative response


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## lafalafa (Aug 11, 2020)




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## Soccer43 (Aug 11, 2020)

You know there is a thread about ranking boys leagues?  This should have been added there.  Many of the regular posters here are interested in the girls/women’s game so to not even know the difference or the importance of that difference shows you know nothing about the game


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## JumboJack (Aug 11, 2020)




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## northeastlafc (Aug 11, 2020)

Soccer43 said:


> You know there is a thread about ranking boys leagues?  This should have been added there.  Many of the regular posters here are interested in the girls/women’s game so to not even know the difference or the importance of that difference shows you know nothing about the game


Makes no sense for you to say I know nothing about the game just because the people on the forum are more concerned with women’s soccer lol. But carry on? By the way there actually isn’t a thread regarding the new leagues and stuff which is why I made this list. All I said was that within each organization exists it’s own hierarchy of leagues but if it was blown out of proportion then I do not know what to say honestly. I had been reading the forum for the last 2 years before I finally decided to make an account last December so I know that sometimes people here have a superiority complex so it’s fine really. Take my list with a grain of salt because that’s how it was meant to be portrayed.


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## espola (Aug 11, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> Makes no sense for you to say I know nothing about the game just because the people on the forum are more concerned with women’s soccer lol. But carry on? By the way there actually isn’t a thread regarding the new leagues and stuff which is why I made this list. All I said was that within each organization exists it’s own hierarchy of leagues but if it was blown out of proportion then I do not know what to say honestly. I had been reading the forum for the last 2 years before I finally decided to make an account last December so I know that sometimes people here have a superiority complex so it’s fine really. Take my list with a grain of salt because that’s how it was meant to be portrayed.


Your first post in this thread includes " I like to brag to people that I’m extremely knowledgeable".  

So show it.


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## Y_T (Aug 11, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> I took some time to make a de facto list...





northeastlafc said:


> Take my list with a grain of salt because that’s how it was meant to be portrayed.


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## northeastlafc (Aug 11, 2020)

I


espola said:


> Your first post in this thread includes " I like to brag to people that I’m extremely knowledgeable".
> 
> So show it.


I literally did it for publicity and it worked; got some follows on our social media & interested parents already emailed me and some players themselves sent me messages through Instagram DM. Unfortunately I haven’t worked with anything ages U19 & younger since last season started. But now I get the privilege to thank those folks for their interest and will get back to them when I have something to offer.


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## Ellejustus (Aug 11, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> You do know there’s no Boys ECRL logo out at the moment right? So I thought folks were smart enough to see girls ECNL logo is just a placeholder, unfortunately you didn’t.


I'm impressed. I'm a 53 year old wise man now.  I wish I met someone like you 9 years ago.  I see a great future for honest and ethical coaches.  Kids need good coaches who model the roll one young girl or boy would look up to.  Espy put me on super ignore and I think he has multiple personalities or avatars or both so don;t mind him.  He asked me questions early on and then started hating my answers so he let everyone know to ignore.


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## espola (Aug 11, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> I
> 
> I literally did it for publicity and it worked; got some follows on our social media & interested parents already emailed me and some players themselves sent me messages through Instagram DM. Unfortunately I haven’t worked with anything ages U19 & younger since last season started. But now I get the privilege to thank those folks for their interest and will get back to them when I have something to offer.


You have nothing to offer now?


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## northeastlafc (Aug 11, 2020)

espola said:


> You have nothing to offer now?


Nope my boys aged out last season so I took them to the SCPL & UPSL. Same principles,  different kind of competition. I am privileged to have some under 18 kids who would rather play against men than boys their own age. It’s something I believe other clubs should do. The Barca Residency Academy in Arizona (former DA) is putting a team in the UPSL too. I will be back to coach youth again but the pandemic set us all back. I got invited to enter my club in the NPL West but that’s not feasible at the moment, perhaps next season.


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## Soccer43 (Aug 13, 2020)

so basically, you got nothing


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## northeastlafc (Aug 14, 2020)

Soccer43 said:


> so basically, you got nothing


If that’s how you want to look at it sure I don’t even know who you are so I really don’t care if you’re trying to throw shots


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## The Outlaw *BANNED* (Aug 14, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> You’re probably an angry parent who got mad that maybe your league isn’t where you thought it was on the pyramid lol. I’m only 24, grew up in the club system, run my own soccer club by my self so i actually DO know  also know well enough that I educate parents on not falling for marketing ploys. Like how Santa Monica Surf stated that the “EA League is the old version of the DA” for example. Or how a team in Coast called Academia Futbol Central LA brag about how they go to the MIC Cup in Spain every year but don’t tell people they’re a silver level club and they lose all 3 games in the group stage usually every year.


No, Ebola is actually someone whose kid graduated from college many years ago and hasn't been able to find a hobby.


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## The Outlaw *BANNED* (Aug 14, 2020)

espola said:


> I admit there is a lot of aggressive attitude expressed in this forum probably because many posters feel safe hiding behind anonymity, but you will go a lot further in building your reputation here if you don't look at every conversation as an argument.
> 
> I will withhold further judgments about you until I see your response.


Yet you were the dick that started an argument.


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## Soccer43 (Aug 15, 2020)

northeastlafc said:


> If that’s how you want to look at it sure I don’t even know who you are so I really don’t care if you’re trying to throw shots


You came on this site, saying you are an expert on all things soccer - then we find out you are only 24?, only coached one boys team that has already aged out, you are posting on a forum that is primarily for youth, you have no other teams right now, and you know nothing about the women's game.  All of this puts people off dude, all are welcome to post opinions and comments and engage in a discussion but if you come on like all of that it isn't going to be received well.


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## northeastlafc (Aug 16, 2020)

Soccer43 said:


> You came on this site, saying you are an expert on all things soccer - then we find out you are only 24?, only coached one boys team that has already aged out, you are posting on a forum that is primarily for youth, you have no other teams right now, and you know nothing about the women's game.  All of this puts people off dude, all are welcome to post opinions and comments and engage in a discussion but if you come on like all of that it isn't going to be received well.


I didn’t say I was an expert I said I was knowledgeable and you saying all things soccer is a bigger reach than Michael Jordan’s dunk in Space Jam because one can scroll up and see I never said that. I’ve coached 4 different boys teams but only have one right now because they’re aged out so I’m doing what I can to keep them going. The previous teams were under the Anahuak Academy name before the 2 teams we had under their name were dissolved because the main booster moved upstate. Me being 24 is irrelevant, I don’t have to be a grown ass man like Ted Lasso to have experience especially since I started when I was 16 lol. You got a manager like Julian Nagelsmann who is younger than Ronaldo and he’s out there making moves with RB Leipzig. Also, how can you say I know nothing about the women’s game just because I would rather work with boys (I don’t think girls would take me serious). And it’s obvious this is a youth forum hence why I’m here; to hopefully put teams in Coast again or NPL West, or provide the alternative and give them the opportunity to play against adults and maybe even a chance against the pros (we’re doing Lamar Hunt US Open Cup). Anything else you’d like to add or question or berate?


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## Giesbock (Aug 16, 2020)

I’m with @Soccer43 on this. The swagger and big talk that comes from young know it all guys can off putting.  Turn the volume down a bit.  Earn respect.


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## Soccer43 (Aug 16, 2020)

It is your inexperience and immaturity that is causing you to miss how you are presenting yourself.  I agree with G- turn the volume down a bit and earn respect.


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## SoccerFan4Life (Aug 16, 2020)

We now have less than 45 days before the new season for scdsl/csl begins.    San Diego County  is close to coming out of the watch list and hopefully OC will follow.   I don’t think we are starting on October 1st but so far no new date delays.   I do t know how the rest of the counties can play unless they move all games to San Diego.


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## Ellejustus (Aug 16, 2020)

Soccer43 said:


> You came on this site, saying you are an expert on all things soccer - then we find out you are only 24?, only coached one boys team that has already aged out, you are posting on a forum that is primarily for youth, you have no other teams right now, and you know nothing about the women's game.  All of this puts people off dude, all are welcome to post opinions and comments and engage in a discussion but if you come on like all of that it isn't going to be received well.


Hey 43, he never said he was an expert.  Expert is someone like Tad Bobak, with over 40 years teaching and coaching females.  He said was he has experience.  He started at 16 so 8 years in socal is a lot.


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## Ellejustus (Aug 16, 2020)

Giesbock said:


> I’m with @Soccer43 on this. The swagger and big talk that comes from young know it all guys can off putting.  Turn the volume down a bit.  Earn respect.


I like the young lad.  First, for coming on here to give his take is awesome.  Josh McDaniels took sh*t from the old crusty coaches that were stuck in their old crusty ways.  Bill was humble enough to hire the kid. We need fresh ideas in soccer and only this 24 and younger generation can save us.


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