# Strikers ECNL rumors



## Mom of 2

Rumor going around Stirkers boys are out the ECNL? Any truth?


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## NewUser27

Rumor may be true , they turned down MLS next first time around , but their teams are are walking thru clubs in ecnl.  Im not even sure MLS next would be any different.


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## 66 GTO

rumor is 
Golden state 
Pats
Strikers 
Are going to mls


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## YourFather

What I heard is Strikers is going to MLS Next, and there should be another OC team going to MLS Next. Don't think it is Pats or Golden State.


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## lafalafa

Maybe the applied but there's been no league announcements about additional local clubs joining or being accepted so will see.

Golden state is a noway, the owner has changed course and no longer wants to sink money into youth soccer after the whole DA money pit.

Pats is doubtful, strong support and statements from director and management for the ECxx platform.


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## futboldad1

Mom of 2 said:


> Rumor going around Stirkers boys are out the ECNL? Any truth?


True..... they chose MLS Next for 21//22 season.....I have not heard anything about Golden State or Pats boys....my source says they will stay ECNL......but I will add that another club has been removed from Boys ECNL S-W too for 21//22....... not my place to say who that club is.......


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## Dargle

When MLS Next announced 5 new clubs recently, it said it was part of its “early admissions” program and regular admissions would come out in May.  And there were rumors early in that a few of the SoCal Boys DA clubs were having remorse at jumping the gun for Boys ECNL before MLS Next was announced. The large gulf between some of the former DA clubs and the holdover Boys ECNL clubs during play this year only solidified those feelings. So, it wouldn’t be a surprise if there were a few defections.









						MLS NEXT adds five more clubs ahead of 2021-2022 season | MLSSoccer.com
					

MLS NEXT adds five more clubs ahead of 2021-2022 season




					www.mlssoccer.com


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## NewUser27

I’m not sure what is a good move anymore , as long as the competition is good and not too much travel


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## timbuck

lafalafa said:


> Maybe the applied but there's been no league announcements about additional local clubs joining or being accepted so will see.
> 
> Golden state is a noway, the owner has changed course and no longer wants to sink money into youth soccer after the whole DA money pit.
> 
> *Pats is doubtful, strong support and statements from director and management for the ECxx platform.*


I have no insight here-  But Pats wants ECNL for their female teams in a bad way.  I'd bet they don't want to upset the ECNL powers that be by taking their boys out.
OR - Pats comes to the realization that they are primarily a boys club and they go 100% in to getting their boys teams into the top program in the country.


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## watfly

That rumor has been going around for over a month.  Truth?


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## lafalafa

Dargle said:


> When MLS Next announced 5 new clubs recently, it said it was part of its “early admissions” program and regular admissions would come out in May.  And there were rumors early in that a few of the SoCal Boys DA clubs were having remorse at jumping the gun for Boys ECNL before MLS Next was announced. The large gulf between some of the former DA clubs and the holdover Boys ECNL clubs during play this year only solidified those feelings. So, it wouldn’t be a surprise if there were a few defections.
> 
> 
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> 
> MLS NEXT adds five more clubs ahead of 2021-2022 season | MLSSoccer.com
> 
> 
> MLS NEXT adds five more clubs ahead of 2021-2022 season
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.mlssoccer.com


"Prospective clubs must also demonstrate an ability to provide low or no-cost options for players to participate on MLS NEXT teams, creating opportunities for a more inclusive player pool"

Strikers have always been pay to play even within DA so that would have to change.  Are the owners really going to fit the bill for multiple teams & travel?   Lets see what happens if the applied ?


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## RedCard

If FCGS goes, it should just be the FCGS East teams which is where the former DA teams were. FCGS West is a hot mess right now.


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## lafalafa

timbuck said:


> I have no insight here-  But Pats wants ECNL for their female teams in a bad way.  I'd bet they don't want to upset the ECNL powers that be by taking their boys out.
> OR - Pats comes to the realization that they are primarily a boys club and they go 100% in to getting their boys teams into the top program in the country.


Strikers girls could possibly be asked to leave ECXx if the boys teams move over to NEXT.  That could open up a opportunities for Pats to get in like they want to for the girls.



RedCard said:


> If FCGS goes, it should just be the FCGS East teams which is where the former DA teams were. FCGS West is a hot mess right now.


Not happening the owner is not going to pay to sponsor teams to be in NEXT which is a requirement.


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## KR16

Reliable source - Strikers will be MLS Next for 2021-2022.  Other clubs not sure.  But I did hear Strikers is the only club in OC that will go to MLS Next.


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## futboldad1

KR16 said:


> Reliable source - Strikers will be MLS Next for 2021-2022.  Other clubs not sure.  But I did hear Strikers is the only club in OC that will go to MLS Next.


already confirmed about Strikers boys in posting #6..........


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## megnation

futboldad1 said:


> . not my place to say who that club is.......


How long before the club leaving is announced?


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## timbuck

lafalafa said:


> Strikers girls could possibly be asked to leave ECXx if the boys teams move over to NEXT.  *That could open up a opportunities for Pats to get in like they want to for the girls.*
> 
> 
> 
> Not happening the owner is not going to pay to sponsor teams to be in NEXT which is a requirement.


Would ECNL (girls) let in Pats or West Coast if a spot does open up?


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## NewUser27

Now multiple clubs have multiple team playing multiple leagues so Strikers A teams will be mls next right? Then their ECrl team can move up , and so forth right


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## Speed

Does this ECNL move to MLS apply to both boys and girls? So girls would no longer play ECNL?


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## futboldad1

NewUser27 said:


> Now multiple clubs have multiple team playing multiple leagues so Strikers A teams will be mls next right? Then their ECrl team can move up , and so forth right


I have been told Strikers will not have boys teams in the ECNL next season as a result of the decision to go MLS Next but I can not confirm this 100 percent



megnation said:


> How long before the club leaving is announced?


ECNL will not be announcing they kicked a club out..... the club in question will need to announce it themselves which is unlikely.....or we wait for for either the news to leak or ECNL to announce members of next year's conference......



Speed said:


> Does this ECNL move to MLS apply to both boys and girls? So girls would no longer play ECNL?


No it does not apply to girls.....boys only



timbuck said:


> Would ECNL (girls) let in Pats or West Coast if a spot does open up?


Doubtful for both but possible..... especially doubtful for Pats


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## Kante

lafalafa said:


> "Prospective clubs must also demonstrate an ability to provide low or no-cost options for players to participate on MLS NEXT teams, creating opportunities for a more inclusive player pool"
> 
> Strikers have always been pay to play even within DA so that would have to change.  Are the owners really going to fit the bill for multiple teams & travel?   Lets see what happens if the applied ?


Interesting on the low/no cost req from MLS Next. hadn't seen that before (doesn't mean it wasn't there, just hadn't seen it). 

In 2019-20, US Soccer gave about 650 players an average of about $1,500 per player to help with DA costs in 2019-20. 

Probably one of the biggest impact/least talked about items that went away when DA went away. Lot of kids left non-MLS clubs as a result when these clubs didn't cover the gap left by US Soccer.

But devil is in the details. How much will MLS Next stick to their guns on low/no cost for players if they want a big club like the Strikers (or Surf) to come back to MLS Next...?


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## happy9

timbuck said:


> Would ECNL (girls) let in Pats or West Coast if a spot does open up?


Do Pats and West Coast play their first team girls in ECRL?


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## KR16

NewUser27 said:


> Now multiple clubs have multiple team playing multiple leagues so Strikers A teams will be mls next right? Then their ECrl team can move up , and so forth right


From my understanding that’s the plan.


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## Speed

happy9 said:


> Do Pats and West Coast play their first team girls in ECRL?


I think WCFC plays first team in GAL and Pats is ECRL


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## Speed

KR16 said:


> From my understanding that’s the plan.


So the ECRL team stays in ECNL and now becomes the ECNL team?


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## ToonArmy

happy9 said:


> Do Pats and West Coast play their first team girls in ECRL?


No for west coast at least 06s and up the A teams play in GAL. Pats at some ages doesn't have enough players for GAL ECRL and DPL and have 1 team play in both GAL and ECRL so it's hard to say.


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## dad4

timbuck said:


> I have no insight here-  But Pats wants ECNL for their female teams in a bad way.  I'd bet they don't want to upset the ECNL powers that be by taking their boys out.
> OR - Pats comes to the realization that they are primarily a boys club and they go 100% in to getting their boys teams into the top program in the country.


It could just be that a guaranteed yes from MLS Next is better than getting strung along by girls ECNL.

Never mind whether the boys side is more important.  You have a good offer on the boys side.  Are you going to reject it in favor of an ECNL offer that may never come?


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## watfly

lafalafa said:


> "Prospective clubs must also demonstrate an ability to provide low or no-cost options for players to participate on MLS NEXT teams, creating opportunities for a more inclusive player pool"
> 
> Strikers have always been pay to play even within DA so that would have to change.  Are the owners really going to fit the bill for multiple teams & travel?   Lets see what happens if the applied ?


I believe they have to have "options" if needed, but that they don't have to have all players paying low or no-cost fees.  It is my understanding that its your typical scholarship opportunity for those that can't afford it.  If it is truly low or no cost for all players, I'm due a refund.


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## lafalafa

watfly said:


> I believe they have to have "options" if needed, but that they don't have to have all players paying low or no-cost fees.  It is my understanding that its your typical scholarship opportunity for those that can't afford it.  If it is truly low or no cost for all players, I'm due a refund.


Nah if you're paying regular club fees or close they are not providing no cost or low cost options. It's not meant to be a typical 3 kids or whatever a club might provide scholarships for like regular club teams.

Every player is either low cost or no cost. That's how it is @ several  mls next we know.


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## lafalafa

Kante said:


> Interesting on the low/no cost req from MLS Next. hadn't seen that before (doesn't mean it wasn't there, just hadn't seen it).
> 
> In 2019-20, US Soccer gave about 650 players an average of about $1,500 per player to help with DA costs in 2019-20.
> 
> Probably one of the biggest impact/least talked about items that went away when DA went away. Lot of kids left non-MLS clubs as a result when these clubs didn't cover the gap left by US Soccer.
> 
> But devil is in the details. How much will MLS Next stick to their guns on low/no cost for players if they want a big club like the Strikers (or Surf) to come back to MLS Next...?


DA gave out travel subsidies to clubs for players from families that could show low income or proverty.   Showcases and playoffs did not require entry or field fees.

League fees, field rentals, coaching salary's, travel accommodations, ref fees, training costs, etc where all  left to the clubs.  Hundreds of thousands spendt to millions for MLS clubs per year.

ECXx doesn't subsidize much of anything and they require at least ~ $1.2k entry per team for each national event.

To gain acceptance to NEXT pretty sure they look at prior history, finances, sponsors, affiliations, etc and don't want a bunch of regular pay to play clubs otherwise it's just another club league that's called something else. 

Several former DA clubs went to ECxx partly due economics and partly due to the fact they couldn't win championship and had trouble even qualiifing for the playoffs, surf, strikers, arsenal, nomads never did,  pats did win one year but the had to combine with another team force with the v brothers to do so.   Strikers where regulated to the 2nd tier as where others who didn't like that at all.

The economics of MLS-next is even tougher now since the USSF subsidies are gone,  clubs are expected to foot more of the bill.

For some clubs boys ECxx is a easier sell, competition is not as good so teams may appear like there doing better, they normally have showcases or national events that college types attend so customers (parents) are happier even if there paying more to be competitive.


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## lafalafa

NewUser27 said:


> Now multiple clubs have multiple team playing multiple leagues so Strikers A teams will be mls next right? Then their ECrl team can move up , and so forth right


The only clubs with teams in NEXT and ECxx are the MLS or USL clubs in the SW.    Solar is about the only non mls that has both from the texas conference but they have a track record of winning championship in DA & ECxx and big Tournaments for both the girls and boys plus the finances and membership to support that.


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## NewUser27

So your saying Striker pull out of ecnl entirely and just have MLS and SCSDL teams?


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## 66 GTO

FCGS 
Was told by one of the coaches 
Pats was from outside source 
I’ve also heard about Real So Cal but  not too sure
I’m usually not that wrong


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## 66 GTO

NewUser27 said:


> So your saying Striker pull out of ecnl entirely and just have MLS and SCSDL teams?


Usually A teams become mls next
b team becomes ecnl and so forth
On boys side


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## lafalafa

66 GTO said:


> Usually A teams become mls next
> b team becomes ecnl and so forth
> On boys side


That's never happen so what's usually?

FCGS coach might want to talk with Bob about that.

Real Socal which is now Socal Youth LAFC would be interesting,  so there going to compete directly vs their own parent affiliation? 

Pats doesn't add up at all but heck it's youth soccer anything is possible.


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## KR16

Speed said:


> So the ECRL team stays in ECNL and now becomes the ECNL team?


Yes. Based on my sources that is the plan.


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## KR16

NewUser27 said:


> So your saying Striker pull out of ecnl entirely and just have MLS and SCSDL teams?


No they will not pull out of ECNL unless ECNL does not allow them to stay.


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## BIGD

lafalafa said:


> Nah if you're paying regular club fees or close they are not providing no cost or low cost options. It's not meant to be a typical 3 kids or whatever a club might provide scholarships for like regular club teams.
> 
> Every player is either low cost or no cost. That's how it is @ several  mls next we know.


This is most definitely not the case at the San Diego MLS Next clubs.


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## watfly

BIGD said:


> This is most definitely not the case at the San Diego MLS Next clubs.


100% accurate.  Sounds like I need to move north to get low cost fees.


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## lafalafa

watfly said:


> 100% accurate.  Sounds like I need to move north to get low cost fees.


Yeah or remind them to review what they should be following when they applied





						MLS NEXT - Resources
					

MLS NEXT: Updates




					www.mlssoccer.com
				




Ability to reduce or eliminate costs to the player


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## 66 GTO

lafalafa said:


> That's never happen so what's usually?
> 
> FCGS coach might want to talk with Bob about that.
> 
> Real Socal which is now Socal Youth LAFC would be interesting,  so there going to compete directly vs their own parent affiliation?
> 
> Pats doesn't add up at all but heck it's youth soccer anything is possible.


RSL AZ has both mls next and ecnl teams
And so does Phoenix rising,LA surf 
LAG SD competed vs Galaxy in DA
Nothing new I’m sure you know since looks like
You been around a long time


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## lafalafa

66 GTO said:


> RSL AZ has both mls next and ecnl teams
> And so does Phoenix rising,LA surf
> LAG SD competed vs Galaxy in DA
> Nothing new I’m sure you know since looks like
> You been around a long time


Yeah already mentioned above mls or USL only

They  are not doing well in either, rising last in ECNL and rsl down a ways proving the point that even the better finance operations struggle when they try to field two many teams.   

This was the first year of MLS-Next so will see what happens but Ecnl has not traditional been a place that takes 2nd teams and there is no indication or track record that any of the local clubs would fare any better than the above by splitting teams.


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## Kante

*MLS NEXT: Irvine Strikers and new Louisiana club will join for 2021-22 season*

by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, 5 hours ago
The Irvine Strikers, one of the oldest youth clubs in Southern California, and Louisiana Total Development Program will join MLS NEXT as members for the 2021-22 season, a source familiar with MLS Next's plans told Soccer America.

A full slate of expansion teams will be announced in May.

The Strikers, based in Orange County, have produced eight U.S. internationals, including *Jonathan Bornstein* and *Benny Feilhaber*, who played for the USA at the 2010 World Cup. *Matthew Hoppe*, who has scored five goals for Schalke 04 in 2021, played at Strikers FC before moving to the Barca Academy in Arizona.

Strikers FC was one of five founding members of the U.S. Soccer's Boys Development Academy from Southern California along with Arsenal, Pateadores, Real So Cal and San Diego Surf that signed up for the Boys ECNL for the 2020-2021 season following the DA's demise a year ago.

LATDP is a new club representing programs in Baton Rouge (Baton Rouge SC), Lafayette (Dynamo Juniors) and New Orleans (Louisiana Fire SC).

Five other new MLS NEXT members -- Hoover-Vestavia Soccer, Lou Fusz Athletic, Texas United, Tormenta FC and Wake Futbol Club -- were previously announced.

For the first season, 94 clubs were founding members, and 16 more added from a second wave of applicants.


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## NewUser27

So now that this is officially official and we dont need to act like we didnt know.  Whats next ...

Each striker team in ECNL is either first or a very close second. Except one..

Does that mean that the teams are much better than current ECNL team and need the MLS next or is MLS going to be more of the same because of the filler clubs? 

 LAG/LAFC will be fun games like they usually are.  Just wanting to get a grasp as too what really will MLS next offer , more travel meaning more $$$ out of my pocket..far off exotic location to visit like Portland (I'll bring the tear gas) 
Just curious , to me its another league with some pro teams and some local clubs.....?
As parents , were pretty happy with strikers and their club, their big enough to matter in the soccer world, but still small enough to care about the kids .

ECNL results
B13 6-0-1
B14 6-0-1
B15 6-1-0
B16 6-0-1
B17 2-3-2
B18/19 6-1-0


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## lafalafa

NewUser27 said:


> So now that this is officially official and we dont need to act like we didnt know.  Whats next ...
> 
> Each striker team in ECNL is either first or a very close second. Except one..
> 
> Does that mean that the teams are much better than current ECNL team and need the MLS next or is MLS going to be more of the same because of the filler clubs?
> 
> LAG/LAFC will be fun games like they usually are.  Just wanting to get a grasp as too what really will MLS next offer , more travel meaning more $$$ out of my pocket..far off exotic location to visit like Portland (I'll bring the tear gas)
> Just curious , to me its another league with some pro teams and some local clubs.....?
> As parents , were pretty happy with strikers and their club, their big enough to matter in the soccer world, but still small enough to care about the kids .
> 
> ECNL results
> B13 6-0-1
> B14 6-0-1
> B15 6-1-0
> B16 6-0-1
> B17 2-3-2
> B18/19 6-1-0


Good for the strikers.

Next play is mostly local, couple to 3 trips to AZ to play Barca, RSL, Phoenix rising.

Doubtfull they see the same results as ECNL but at least they should be competitive.

Now the question is will the other shoe drop?  Ecnl board knows what's up so they might say they can stay in ECRL next season or something else since they are not all in with first teams if strikers think they can field 2-3 teams per age group.


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## Kante

NewUser27 said:


> So now that this is officially official and we dont need to act like we didnt know.  Whats next ...
> 
> Each striker team in ECNL is either first or a very close second. Except one..
> 
> Does that mean that the teams are much better than current ECNL team and need the MLS next or is MLS going to be more of the same because of the filler clubs?
> 
> LAG/LAFC will be fun games like they usually are.  Just wanting to get a grasp as too what really will MLS next offer , more travel meaning more $$$ out of my pocket..far off exotic location to visit like Portland (I'll bring the tear gas)
> Just curious , to me its another league with some pro teams and some local clubs.....?
> As parents , were pretty happy with strikers and their club, their big enough to matter in the soccer world, but still small enough to care about the kids .
> 
> ECNL results
> B13 6-0-1
> B14 6-0-1
> B15 6-1-0
> B16 6-0-1
> B17 2-3-2
> B18/19 6-1-0


would argue that aside from LAG and LAFC, generally across age groups (i.e. exceptions exist), the level of competition in SW MLS Next is at or below ECNL, except now players have more of an opportunity to be scouted by LAG and LAFC (eg, VV)


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## lafalafa

Kante said:


> would argue that aside from LAG and LAFC, generally across age groups (i.e. exceptions exist), the level of competition in SW MLS Next is at or below ECNL, except now players have more of an opportunity to be scouted by LAG and LAFC (eg, VV)


Hard to say just yet, too few games have been played and if there is a NEXT postseason then you would have some better data.

Same with ECNL this year, hard to make judgements based on 6 local games or whatever.   ECNL will have a postseason and after will have some better indicators.   Decisions on who's is invited back for clubs that want multiple teams in or 2nds in a age group are often held off until all the results are known.  Win and your in, if not up to the jury.

Typical what's been happening is a club can be very competitive in certain leagues that maybe not quite as strong, they move up, players move around, come & go and the results are not neccassily the same.

Pay to play players are offered scholarships deals to leave, coaches more pay, etc and before you know it there former clubs are back to middle of the table or lower.    That's one of the reasons why NExt recommends low or no costs options to all players, without that teams have a hard time staying together and inevitably get raided or players what to play for bigger clubs, get into the playoffs, play or afford international Tournaments, etc.


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## watfly

lafalafa said:


> Nah if you're paying regular club fees or close they are not providing no cost or low cost options. It's not meant to be a typical 3 kids or whatever a club might provide scholarships for like regular club teams.
> 
> Every player is either low cost or no cost. That's how it is @ several  mls next we know.


I appreciate your point, and I'm not trying to defend what my club is charging which is not low cost, but relatively speaking less than most of the MLS Next clubs, at least in OC and SD.   I'm paying it voluntarily, they didn't put a gun to my head and its way cheaper than my daughter's dance.

I question how realistic it is for the independent clubs (ie non-MLS academies) to provide no cost soccer which on average for a full MLS Next program is going to be around 120 kids give or take.   If you assume average fees are about $3,000 for this program thats $360,000 annually.  How many sponsors are going to pony up even $50,000 to have their name on a youth soccer teams uniform?  The other option is to charge more to the non-MLS teams within the club, but that's a substantial cost to spread.  You can make money from tournaments, but that's still a big nut to crack and that takes resources away from the training effort.  You could have the kids fundraise, but personally I'd rather just right a check.  Our club does all of the above except having the non-MLS teams fund the MLS teams.  I can tell you its a big hill to climb, plus it requires expertise to raise money that quite frankly few if any have the time and qualified personnel to do so.  Surf is the only independent club that I'm aware of that has that ability, but even they don't fully fund their top teams.


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## Eagle33

No HS for those kids. Here we go....*AGAIN*


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## BIGD

watfly said:


> I appreciate your point, and I'm not trying to defend what my club is charging which is not low cost, but relatively speaking less than most of the MLS Next clubs, at least in OC and SD.   I'm paying it voluntarily, they didn't put a gun to my head and its way cheaper than my daughter's dance.
> 
> I question how realistic it is for the independent clubs (ie non-MLS academies) to provide no cost soccer which on average for a full MLS Next program is going to be around 120 kids give or take.   If you assume average fees are about $3,000 for this program thats $360,000 annually.  How many sponsors are going to pony up even $50,000 to have their name on a youth soccer teams uniform?  The other option is to charge more to the non-MLS teams within the club, but that's a substantial cost to spread.  You can make money from tournaments, but that's still a big nut to crack and that takes resources away from the training effort.  You could have the kids fundraise, but personally I'd rather just right a check.  Our club does all of the above except having the non-MLS teams fund the MLS teams.  I can tell you its a big hill to climb, plus it requires expertise to raise money that quite frankly few if any have the time and qualified personnel to do so.  Surf is the only independent club that I'm aware of that has that ability, but even they don't fully fund their top teams.


Totally agree.  And that estimate doesn't even capture league travel and tournament cost/travel which is another $1,000 - $10,000 depending on the team/club.  Waiving fees is one thing, but if the player's family can't afford time off work, hotel stays, tournament fees, and/or airfare that's an issue. That's already a factor with the few kids on "scholarship".  No way the non-MLS academies  can cover the travel costs as well as the fees.


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## BIGD

BIGD said:


> Totally agree.  And that estimate doesn't even capture league travel and tournament cost/travel which is another $1,000 - $10,000 depending on the team/club.  Waiving fees is one thing, but if the player's family can't afford time off work, hotel stays, tournament fees, and/or airfare that's an issue. That's already a factor with the few kids on "scholarship".  No way the non-MLS academies  can cover the travel costs as well as the fees.


It's a multi billion dollar industry that "we" the consumers are responsible for perpetuating.  Pay to play sports is here to stay unless 1) Enough consumers (parents) divest from the system 2) Regulations are created that completely change the youth sports industry









						Youth sports needs a reset. Child athletes are pushed to professionalize too early.
					

COVID-19 forced the multi-billion dollar youth sports industry to put be put on hold. Let's take advantage of this time to look at it with fresh eyes.



					www.usatoday.com


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## KR16

Eagle33 said:


> No HS for those kids. Here we go....*AGAIN*


It’s just like DA if your kid goes to a private school a waiver may be granted depending on the club.


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## SoccerFan4Life

I see the value of ECNL for the girls looking at development and college play.  For the boys side, they have to get closer to the MLS teams or go overseas.  That's fine if they want to go to college to play soccer but if they want to go to the highest level, they need to get closer to the professional teams.      Consolidate ECNL boys and MLS NExt into one.  All others just stick with the SCDSL/CSL Formats.   ECNL should only focus on the girls side,


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## Giesbock

happy9 said:


> Do Pats and West Coast play their first team girls in ECRL?


I think West Coast first team is GA. Second team in ECRL.  Not sure on Pats


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## Sike

Giesbock said:


> I think West Coast first team is GA. Second team in ECRL.  Not sure on Pats


On the girls side, West Coast played their 06 and older A teams in GA this year and their younger A teams in ECRL.  My understanding is they did so as ECRL wasn't planning on any showcase events and they wanted to get the older girls some exposure in those events.  I think ECRL is planning some showcase events next year, so not sure which way they will go next year.

As I think someone mentioned, Pats dual rostered a lot of girls on ECRL and GA this year.


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## Eagle33

KR16 said:


> It’s just like DA if your kid goes to a private school a waiver may be granted depending on the club.


Yes, prime example of inequality


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## Eagle33

watfly said:


> I appreciate your point, and I'm not trying to defend what my club is charging which is not low cost, but relatively speaking less than most of the MLS Next clubs, at least in OC and SD.   I'm paying it voluntarily, they didn't put a gun to my head and its way cheaper than my daughter's dance.
> 
> I question how realistic it is for the independent clubs (ie non-MLS academies) to provide no cost soccer which on average for a full MLS Next program is going to be around 120 kids give or take.   If you assume average fees are about $3,000 for this program thats $360,000 annually.  How many sponsors are going to pony up even $50,000 to have their name on a youth soccer teams uniform?  The other option is to charge more to the non-MLS teams within the club, but that's a substantial cost to spread.  You can make money from tournaments, but that's still a big nut to crack and that takes resources away from the training effort.  You could have the kids fundraise, but personally I'd rather just right a check.  Our club does all of the above except having the non-MLS teams fund the MLS teams.  I can tell you its a big hill to climb, plus it requires expertise to raise money that quite frankly few if any have the time and qualified personnel to do so.  Surf is the only independent club that I'm aware of that has that ability, but even they don't fully fund their top teams.


Pats done this recently by expanding and creating all those chapters to pay for DA.


----------



## espola

KR16 said:


> It’s just like DA if your kid goes to a private school a waiver may be granted depending on the club.


Why would private school students need or get a waiver?


----------



## Dargle

There’s a LOT less drama about HS soccer for the boys than girls.  Most boys in DA/MLS Next seem pretty comfortable giving up HS Soccer.  I only know one kid who received a waiver on my son’s team and he is a lower-end-of-the-bench player so it’s probably a way to get more playing time right now.  There are other kids at private/parochial schools and only one other kid even considered it and decided against.


----------



## Kante

Dargle said:


> There’s a LOT less drama about HS soccer for the boys than girls.  Most boys in DA/MLS Next seem pretty comfortable giving up HS Soccer.  I only know one kid who received a waiver on my son’s team and he is a lower-end-of-the-bench player so it’s probably a way to get more playing time right now.  There are other kids at private/parochial schools and only one other kid even considered it and decided against.


Fair point. Even in SoCal there's only a handful of high schools where the quality is meaningful, and even then a school is lucky to get more than one meaningful competitor in the regular season.


----------



## Yak

espola said:


> Why would private school students need or get a waiver?


In theory, the waivers are for boys who have soccer-based scholarships to private high schools.


----------



## crush

watfly said:


> I appreciate your point, and I'm not trying to defend what my club is charging which is not low cost, but relatively speaking less than most of the MLS Next clubs, at least in OC and SD.   I'm paying it voluntarily, they didn't put a gun to my head and its way cheaper than my daughter's dance.
> 
> I question how realistic it is for the independent clubs (ie non-MLS academies) to provide no cost soccer which on average for a full MLS Next program is going to be around 120 kids give or take.   If you assume average fees are about $3,000 for this program thats $360,000 annually.  How many sponsors are going to pony up even $50,000 to have their name on a youth soccer teams uniform?  The other option is to charge more to the non-MLS teams within the club, but that's a substantial cost to spread.  You can make money from tournaments, but that's still a big nut to crack and that takes resources away from the training effort.  You could have the kids fundraise, but personally I'd rather just right a check.  Our club does all of the above except having the non-MLS teams fund the MLS teams.  I can tell you its a big hill to climb, plus it requires expertise to raise money that quite frankly few if any have the time and qualified personnel to do so.  Surf is the only independent club that I'm aware of that has that ability, but even they don't fully fund their top teams.


I have a new money line for those who aren;t up to speed with the MLS players,  "Low Cost Soccer."


----------



## espola

Yak said:


> In theory, the waivers are for boys who have soccer-based scholarships to private high schools.


Are those legal anywhere in California?


----------



## lafalafa

Yak said:


> In theory, the waivers are for boys who have soccer-based scholarships to private high schools.


For players @ the private, Catholic, religious schools that cost bank to attend.

The enforcement is NeXt is not like it was with da, leaving up to clubs to implement or not.



Dargle said:


> There’s a LOT less drama about HS soccer for the boys than girls.  Most boys in DA/MLS Next seem pretty comfortable giving up HS Soccer.  I only know one kid who received a waiver on my son’s team and he is a lower-end-of-the-bench player so it’s probably a way to get more playing time right now.  There are other kids at private/parochial schools and only one other kid even considered it and decided against.


Big enough deal that the mls academies don't allow it. Some players elected to go with ECNL because of that and the perceived game,  training, and scheduling.

In our CIF-SS  D1 to D3 are populated by primarily starting club players. Higher up in the chain more club players especially at the religious schools.

We normally had almost half the starting lineup on waivers in DA at different times and a good number this season but fewer starters.


----------



## lafalafa

watfly said:


> I appreciate your point, and I'm not trying to defend what my club is charging which is not low cost, but relatively speaking less than most of the MLS Next clubs, at least in OC and SD.   I'm paying it voluntarily, they didn't put a gun to my head and its way cheaper than my daughter's dance.
> 
> I question how realistic it is for the independent clubs (ie non-MLS academies) to provide no cost soccer which on average for a full MLS Next program is going to be around 120 kids give or take.   If you assume average fees are about $3,000 for this program thats $360,000 annually.  How many sponsors are going to pony up even $50,000 to have their name on a youth soccer teams uniform?  The other option is to charge more to the non-MLS teams within the club, but that's a substantial cost to spread.  You can make money from tournaments, but that's still a big nut to crack and that takes resources away from the training effort.  You could have the kids fundraise, but personally I'd rather just right a check.  Our club does all of the above except having the non-MLS teams fund the MLS teams.  I can tell you its a big hill to climb, plus it requires expertise to raise money that quite frankly few if any have the time and qualified personnel to do so.  Surf is the only independent club that I'm aware of that has that ability, but even they don't fully fund their top teams.


Yeah that's why I pointed that out twice now.

Having normal pay to play clubs trying to compete vs big name well financed ones is a uphill battle and inequities can exist just like they did in DA

NEXT is passively suggesting something different so we don't return to the top clubs domination once again and the inequities existing if we don't learn to do things differently

That's the rub with NEXT some clubs know it's will stretch them too thin so they opted for other options that can please more paying customer.  Trying to be a member of multiple (masters)  leagues that are highly demanding of $$, competition, fields, coaches, players makes things even tougher.

Better to participate in fewer high level leagues and show well or more leagues where there will be mediocre to poor in some of them.    So far it's been the ladder that have attempted that for regular clubs around socal especially the ones that are mostly pay to play.


----------



## Dargle

lafalafa said:


> Big enough deal that the mls academies don't allow it. Some players elected to go with ECNL because of that and the perceived game,  training, and scheduling.
> 
> In our CIF-SS  D1 to D3 are populated by primarily starting club players. Higher up in the chain more club players especially at the religious schools.
> 
> We normally had almost half the starting lineup on waivers in DA at different times and a good number this season but fewer starters.


By “not a big deal,” I meant to the players. The organizers of MLS Next obviously still considered it important. For boys, there are boys who care about HS Soccer (usually living in the places or going to the schools where it is a bigger deal) who were fine staying in club and not going to DA even before Boys ECNL and the boys in DA didn’t seem to have much regret or they moved back. They and their parents didn’t view it as particularly controversial or if they did they didn’t view the alternative as bad because there is so much good boys soccer in SoCal.  Girls was entirely different, partly because ECNL existed first as the top girls league and they felt something was taken from them and partly because girls seem to value the social aspect of playing with HS friends more.


----------



## lafalafa

Dargle said:


> By “not a big deal,” I meant to the players. The organizers of MLS Next obviously still considered it important. For boys, there are boys who care about HS Soccer (usually living in the places or going to the schools where it is a bigger deal) who were fine staying in club and not going to DA even before Boys ECNL and the boys in DA didn’t seem to have much regret or they moved back. They and their parents didn’t view it as particularly controversial or if they did they didn’t view the alternative as bad because there is so much good boys soccer in SoCal.  Girls was entirely different, partly because ECNL existed first as the top girls league and they felt something was taken from them and partly because girls seem to value the social aspect of playing with HS friends more.


Ah yeah some schools are big on sports, football Friday nights are huge, soccer league not a big fan draw but packs the house for payoffs and takes in some needed $$.

Both our girl & 2 boys love(d) HS sports so was happy for our youngest to play this spring + the  2 other sports he did in 4 years.  Having records and banners hanging representing your hometown in pretty special, mentions is media, newspaper, tv footage, being called a all American is fun for the kids.


----------



## NewUser27

does anyone really know of a boy that turned down DA because he couldn't play in HS?  I dont and I know alot of soccer kids...HS sports is where its at just for the community aspect, the play is not anywhere near club soccer (top flight ) of course.  Girls HS is horrendous , period.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

NewUser27 said:


> does anyone really know of a boy that turned down DA because he couldn't play in HS?  I dont and I know alot of soccer kids...HS sports is where its at just for the community aspect, the play is not anywhere near club soccer (top flight ) of course.  Girls HS is horrendous , period.


Some High school kids want to play with their friends.  My nieces played at the highest level at ECNL and us youth national teams but they loved playing high School soccer with their classmates.


----------



## espola

NewUser27 said:


> does anyone really know of a boy that turned down DA because he couldn't play in HS?  I dont and I know alot of soccer kids...HS sports is where its at just for the community aspect, the play is not anywhere near club soccer (top flight ) of course.  Girls HS is horrendous , period.


I know of a few that quit DA to play their Senior year in HS.


----------



## Raggamufin

NewUser27 said:


> does anyone really know of a boy that turned down DA because he couldn't play in HS?  I dont and I know alot of soccer kids...HS sports is where its at just for the community aspect, the play is not anywhere near club soccer (top flight ) of course.  Girls HS is horrendous , period.


Yes, I know more than a few .


----------



## crush

NewUser27 said:


> *does anyone really know of a boy that turned down DA because he couldn't play in HS?*  I dont and I know alot of soccer kids...HS sports is where its at just for the community aspect, the play is not anywhere near club soccer (top flight ) of course.  *Girls HS is horrendous , period.*


I know a girl that wanted to do both but was told under no circumstances can you play HHS and the GDA back in 2018-2019.  The little 14 year old girl so wanted to do both but the rich dads and the power players said, "no, that HSS was awful, horrible and dangerous even."  So she chose to play HSS ((followed the stupid GDA rules)) and was banned from GDA because she chose to play HSS at a public school, where the stars are targeted.... Well, a few months later and low and behold, waivers were created for the rich dads and their kids that attended private schools and his pals kids so they can do both GDA and HSS. Lastly New User 27, I must say your horrendous for being so ignorant to put down HSS like you just did, period!!!


----------



## NewUser27




----------



## timbuck

crush said:


> I know a girl that wanted to do both but was told under no circumstances can you play HHS and the GDA back in 2018-2019.  The little 14 year old girl so wanted to do both but the rich dads and the power players said, "no, that HSS was awful, horrible and dangerous even."  So she chose to play HSS ((followed the stupid GDA rules)) and was banned from GDA because she chose to play HSS at a public school, where the stars are targeted.... Well, a few months later and low and behold, waivers were created for the rich dads and their kids that attended private schools and his pals kids so they can do both GDA and HSS. Lastly New User 27, I must say your horrendous for being so ignorant to put down HSS like you just did, period!!!


Private school players got waivers for a few possible reasons:
1.  They were recruited to the private school to play soccer.  Possibly even given some sort of scholarship.  Limiting their ability to play HS soccer would knock out their scholarship.
2. The private schools are small and would struggle to field a soccer team if some players aren't able to play a HS sport.
3. Money talks.


----------



## espola

timbuck said:


> Private school players got waivers for a few possible reasons:
> 1.  They were recruited to the private school to play soccer.  Possibly even given some sort of scholarship.  Limiting their ability to play HS soccer would knock out their scholarship.
> 2. The private schools are small and would struggle to field a soccer team if some players aren't able to play a HS sport.
> 3. Money talks.


Recruiting is illegal also.

But money talks.


----------



## crush

timbuck said:


> Private school players got waivers for a few possible reasons:
> 1.  They were recruited to the private school to play soccer.  Possibly even given some sort of scholarship.  Limiting their ability to play HS soccer would knock out their scholarship.
> 2. The private schools are small and would struggle to field a soccer team if some players aren't able to play a HS sport.
> 3. Money talks.


I hear ya coach tim buck.  I wish the girls in public school got the waiver option as well.  Oh well, life is not fair and time to get living and stop being a big baby who only complains about this and that.


----------



## NewUser27

BIG BABY!!


----------



## Kante

espola said:


> I know of a few that quit DA to play their Senior year in HS.


Yup, know a number that, once they heard from colleges, quit da to play their senior on the high school team


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

Kante said:


> Yup, know a number that, once they heard from colleges, quit da to play their senior on the high school team


The Irony about soccer in this country as we try to grow the sport.   
The best youth athletes for most sports play in their high school teams.  Somehow soccer elitist believe that high school soccer is trash and kids should play Academy rather than high school.  If you are that good of a soccer player you will be discovered before high school and should be playing overseas in youth academies.  For all others just let them play high school soccer.


----------



## StrikerOC

lafalafa said:


> Yeah or remind them to review what they should be following when they applied
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MLS NEXT - Resources
> 
> 
> MLS NEXT: Updates
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.mlssoccer.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ability to reduce or eliminate costs to the player


Call me crazy but "Ability to reduce or eliminate cost to the player" isn't legal language that requires a club to provide discounted/lowered or free services to a "team". It is speaking specifically about a case by case (player by player) scenario. The word "Ability" does not mean "mandatory".


----------



## lafalafa

StrikerOC said:


> Call me crazy but "Ability to reduce or eliminate cost to the player" isn't legal language that requires a club to provide discounted/lowered or free services to a "team". It is speaking specifically about a case by case (player by player) scenario. The word "Ability" does not mean "mandatory".


They are recommending clubs provide low cost and no cost options for all players on teams.

You can read into what you want but if it's just normal pay to play that's not what NEXT wants otherwise it won't be mentioned or a criteria for acceptance. 

We allready discussioned previously why some are sponsored, low, no cost vs straight pay to play and why  NEXT recommends what they do.

If you want to pay to play there are plenty of leagues like ECNL where they don't care if you or your clubs does that.


----------



## StrikerOC

lafalafa said:


> They are recommending clubs provide low cost and no cost options for all players on teams.
> 
> You can read into what you want but if it's just normal pay to play that's not what NEXT wants otherwise it won't be mentioned or a criteria for acceptance.
> 
> We allready discussioned previously why some are sponsored, low, no cost vs straight pay to play and why  NEXT recommends what they do.
> 
> If you want to pay to play there are plenty of leagues like ECNL where they don't care if you or your clubs does that.


I don't know where you are seeing a "recommendation" on the link you provided. Unless you have another link or information that wasn't posted, it seems you you are interjecting your own desires (lower club fees) with which I agree with... with T&C's that aren't here.


----------



## lafalafa

StrikerOC said:


> I don't know where you are seeing a "recommendation" on the link you provided. Unless you have another link or information that wasn't posted, it seems you you are interjecting your own desires (lower club fees) with which I agree with... with T&C's that aren't here.
> 
> View attachment 10644


If you followed the thread it was already referenced

"Prospective clubs must also demonstrate an ability to provide low or no-cost options for players to participate on MLS NEXT teams, creating opportunities for a more inclusive player pool"

We don't have club fees and neither do most of the other NEXT clubs in our area or at least they are reduced.    I'm not injectioning anything and if you ask NExt personnel about this they will tell you the same thing, recommend low cost or no cost.

I asked that question previously and Strikers already went pay to play in DA and it really didn't turn out well, no championship, missed postseason many times, regulated to tier 2. Etc.  If they repeat that in NEXT well I guess they didn't really learn too much.


----------



## BIGD

lafalafa said:


> If you followed the thread it was already referenced
> 
> "Prospective clubs must also demonstrate an ability to provide low or no-cost options for players to participate on MLS NEXT teams, creating opportunities for a more inclusive player pool"
> 
> We don't have club fees and neither do most of the other NEXT clubs in our area or at least they are reduced.    I'm not injectioning anything and if you ask NExt personnel about this they will tell you the same thing, recommend low cost or no cost.
> 
> I asked that question previously and Strikers already went pay to play in DA and it really didn't turn out well, no championship, missed postseason many times, regulated to tier 2. Etc.  If they repeat that in NEXT well I guess they didn't really learn too much.


What about travel costs?  How does your club handle that? Is most of the team able to afford the cost to travel to an out of state game or tournament?  Curious because as I mentioned, there are players on teams that don't pay fees but they aren't able to travel with the team for anything that requires hotels or flights.


----------



## StrikerOC

lafalafa said:


> If you followed the thread it was already referenced
> 
> "Prospective clubs must also demonstrate an ability to provide low or no-cost options for players to participate on MLS NEXT teams, creating opportunities for a more inclusive player pool"
> 
> We don't have club fees and neither do most of the other NEXT clubs in our area or at least they are reduced.    I'm not injectioning anything and if you ask NExt personnel about this they will tell you the same thing, recommend low cost or no cost.
> 
> I asked that question previously and Strikers already went pay to play in DA and it really didn't turn out well, no championship, missed postseason many times, regulated to tier 2. Etc.  If they repeat that in NEXT well I guess they didn't really learn too much.


It seems like we are talking past each other... Demonstrating the ability to do something and requiring a club to do something are two very different things. Again, if you have some more information that you aren't posting, please share it because I am curious but nothing you keep replying with is any sort of legal language or binding bylaw for Next.

You mentioned that "most" Next clubs don't have fees... Can you share that information? I would be curious to see where that is tracked...

Strikers is a solid club that turns out good players and kids. They have also produced many kids that have gone on to LAFC and LAG academy, not sure why you are hating?


----------



## lafalafa

StrikerOC said:


> It seems like we are talking past each other... Demonstrating the ability to do something and requiring a club to do something are two very different things. Again, if you have some more information that you aren't posting, please share it because I am curious but nothing you keep replying with is any sort of legal language or binding bylaw for Next.
> 
> You mentioned that "most" Next clubs don't have fees... Can you share that information? I would be curious to see where that is tracked...
> 
> Strikers is a solid club that turns out good players and kids. They have also produced many kids that have gone on to LAFC and LAG academy, not sure why you are hating?


You can do your own research and searching to find the info. I live in LA so you can guess what clubs offer low cost and no costs options that follow the recommendations from Next. 

Nobody is hating on the Strikers, your defending pay to play in NExt but referring to some ambiguous things about language saying it's all optional and you can just ignore it.


----------



## BIGD

lafalafa said:


> You can do your own research and searching to find the info. I live in LA so you can guess what clubs offer low cost and no costs options that follow the recommendations from Next.
> 
> Nobody is hating on the Strikers, your defending pay to play in NExt but referring to some ambiguous things about language saying it's all optional and you can just ignore it.


Well if it's not enforced, doesn't that make it optional?


----------



## crush

BIGD said:


> What about travel costs?  How does your club handle that? Is most of the team able to afford the cost to travel to an out of state game or tournament?  Curious because as I mentioned, there are players on teams that don't pay fees but they aren't able to travel with the team for anything that requires hotels or flights.


I was a poor dad going up against all the rich dads in this sport four years ago.  I didnt have any extra money to fly all over the country so my wife and i could watch the games and keep an eye on my goat.  The Doc wanted her goals so wise guy Doc told me to just let her fly alone and they will take good care of her.  I told him to fuck off and the rest is history....lol!!


----------



## Eagle33

NewUser27 said:


> does anyone really know of a boy that turned down DA because he couldn't play in HS?  I dont and I know alot of soccer kids...HS sports is where its at just for the community aspect, the play is not anywhere near club soccer (top flight ) of course.  Girls HS is horrendous , period.


My son quit DA to play senior year of HS


----------



## StrikerOC

lafalafa said:


> You can do your own research and searching to find the info. I live in LA so you can guess what clubs offer low cost and no costs options that follow the recommendations from Next.
> 
> Nobody is hating on the Strikers, your defending pay to play in NExt but referring to some ambiguous things about language saying it's all optional and you can just ignore it.


I'm not defending anything, I simply asked for you to back up and expand on a couple claims you made, that's all.


----------



## lafalafa

BIGD said:


> Well if it's not enforced, doesn't that make it optional?


Read your clubs mls next  agreement and the rules and regulations if you really want to know.

I can't share your clubs agreement but here are the rules and regulations


			https://bsbproduction.s3.amazonaws.com/portals/116/docs/mls%20next%20rules%20and%20regulations%202020-2021%20-%20final%20-%209.8.20.pdf


----------



## Eagle33

lafalafa said:


> Read your clubs mls next  agreement and the rules and regulations if you really want to know.
> 
> I can't share your clubs agreement but here are the rules and regulations
> 
> 
> https://bsbproduction.s3.amazonaws.com/portals/116/docs/mls%20next%20rules%20and%20regulations%202020-2021%20-%20final%20-%209.8.20.pdf


DE is great salesman, he can sell you anything.


----------



## lafalafa

StrikerOC said:


> I'm not defending anything, I simply asked for you to back up and expand on a couple claims you made, that's all.


See above post ask your club for there MLS agreement and review the rules and regulations if you want to really know.


----------



## watfly

lafalafa said:


> Read your clubs mls next  agreement and the rules and regulations if you really want to know.
> 
> I can't share your clubs agreement but here are the rules and regulations
> 
> 
> https://bsbproduction.s3.amazonaws.com/portals/116/docs/mls%20next%20rules%20and%20regulations%202020-2021%20-%20final%20-%209.8.20.pdf


The factor for membership of: "_Ability to reduce or eliminate costs to the player_" isn't an absolute in either in word, or practice.  Its one of many factors that MLS Next considers and according to the regulations "_it is expected that the following factors, among others, *may be* considered, with the *weight* of each factor to be decided by PDev in its sole and absolute discretion._"

I didn't see any other reference (correct me if I'm wrong) in the regulations that requires clubs to provide no or low cost fees to all players.  I suspect that any ability to provide some scholarship to some players is sufficient.

More power to those clubs that can provide low or no costs to the player, they should be commended (I'm going to assume LAG, LAFC and TFA).  However, for many clubs its just not a reality to cover the costs of 100+ players, they should be expected to cover some costs for those in need, but for all is unrealistic.  I seriously doubt that Strikers represented to MLS Next that all players would have no or low cost options.

Welcome aboard Strikers to MLS Next, you will be a huge asset to the league.   It's been a rough start due to Covid but hopefully it will work itself out.  Curious to see if there is any more fallout from ECNL.   Rumor on the street is that Surf is trying to create a Super League for boys.


----------



## lafalafa

watfly said:


> The factor for membership of: "_Ability to reduce or eliminate costs to the player_" isn't an absolute in either in word, or practice.  Its one of many factors that MLS Next considers and according to the regulations "_it is expected that the following factors, among others, *may be* considered, with the *weight* of each factor to be decided by PDev in its sole and absolute discretion._"
> 
> I didn't see any other reference (correct me if I'm wrong) in the regulations that requires clubs to provide no or low cost fees to all players.  I suspect that any ability to provide some scholarship to some players is sufficient.
> 
> More power to those clubs that can provide low or no costs to the player, they should be commended (I'm going to assume LAG, LAFC and TFA).  However, for many clubs its just not a reality to cover the costs of 100+ players, they should be expected to cover some costs for those in need, but for all is unrealistic.  I seriously doubt that Strikers represented to MLS Next that all players would have no or low cost options.
> 
> Welcome aboard Strikers to MLS Next, you will be a huge asset to the league.   It's been a rough start due to Covid but hopefully it will work itself out.  Curious to see if there is any more fallout from ECNL.   Rumor on the street is that Surf is trying to create a Super League for boys.


In the agreements if you read one. Specific language about low cost or no cost in a broad sense not a narrow focus.

Everyone applied under conditions and recommedations that are to be meant.   There are not mentioning it in every document, rules, and regulations so that its ignored or to provide some sort of mystery scholarships to a couple token players.  That is not the intention, clubs can ignore the recommendations or not implement them but like the agreements say there can be consequences of not following through.


----------



## StrikerOC

lafalafa said:


> See above post ask your club for there MLS agreement and review the rules and regulations if you want to really know.


Thanks for posting the link. I actually just got done reading the entire agreement and there is nothing covering the verbiage or concept which you keep saying is a requirement. I don't know who or where you are drawing these conclusions but there isn't anything to support them.


----------



## BIGD

StrikerOC said:


> Thanks for posting the link. I actually just got done reading the entire agreement and there is nothing covering the verbiage or concept which you keep saying is a requirement. I don't know who or where you are drawing these conclusions but there isn't anything to support them.


And the reason is because those three clubs would be left playing each other because our current youth soccer system isn't set up to work that way.  As has been pointed out, none of the other non-MLS academy clubs could not financially pull that off.   We have a pay to play system, and something would drastically need to change if MLS Next wants to make soccer no cost or low cost for all the youth players.


----------



## lafalafa

StrikerOC said:


> Thanks for posting the link. I actually just got done reading the entire agreement and there is nothing covering the verbiage or concept which you keep saying is a requirement. I don't know who or where you are drawing these conclusions but there isn't anything to support them.


Did you read your clubs agreement? Where did I say anything about a requirement?  Recommendations and conditions for acceptance is what I've been saying all along.  Section v in the rules say they same thing.


----------



## lafalafa

BIGD said:


> And the reason is because those three clubs would be left playing each other because our current youth soccer system isn't set up to work that way.  As has been pointed out, none of the other non-MLS academy clubs could not financially pull that off.   We have a pay to play system, and something would drastically need to change if MLS Next wants to make soccer no cost or low cost for all the youth players.


News for you some of the non mls are doing that and did that in DA also.


----------



## StrikerOC

lafalafa said:


> Did you read your clubs agreement? Where did I say anything about a requirement?  Recommendations and conditions for acceptance is what I've been saying all along.  Section v in the rules say they same thing.


The only requirement is that clubs have financial options available for players/families in order to be considered to join Next. Virtually every club that had a DA team has this  sort of option for families. 

You were insinuating that it is a league requirement which is false.


----------



## crush

Whose got Next?

Look, when GDA was announced as the new girls super elite developmental league and the age change came on top of that four years ago, my phone rang off the hook from most of the old Docs ((except from Beach...lol)) looking to see if my goat would have any interest to come to their club and play for FREE!!!  I mean free everything.  Like no dues, no team fees, no travel cost and much much more.........I was told by all of them that the GDA is mandating that you your team flies for free and no dues for the GDA team.  Come on folks, low cost anything is a dangerous phrase to use in the market place.   GDA club teams needed to fully fund all GDA teams ((3 teams at the beginning)) or at least offer up some help to the poor families who can't cough up $15,000 a year to try to make the YNT.


----------



## lafalafa

StrikerOC said:


> The only requirement is that clubs have financial options available for players/families in order to be considered to join Next. Virtually every club that had a DA team has this  sort of option for families.
> 
> You were insinuating that it is a league requirement which is false.


Nope thats not I said.  When a club applies they are asked to provide proof, track records of certain items, and agreement to follow recommedations. 

Your defending pay to play since you have some sort of financial stake in the matter.

Your insinuating that NExt is just a regular pay to play league but they tell you at every avenue that's it not. From the application process, club agreement, rules and regulations they are  specific mentions telling you that they want to be different.

The goal or recommendations are too provide many low or no cost options not a few token ones if a club wants to or not. 

Even on there main page says the same





						MLS NEXT - Programs
					

MLS NEXT is a new paradigm for player development. A platform that will transform the way players learn and grow.




					www.mlssoccer.com
				




"MLS NEXT will also aim to provide more opportunities to more players to broaden the pool of talent entering the elite youth landscape. No cost and low-cost programs will be introduced around the country to reduce barriers for new players to enter the pathway to professional soccer"

Ignore it all you want but obviously it's all there for good reasons to expand the pool not keep it like it is where only certain "demographics" are given the opportunity to participate due to there family economy situations.


----------



## NewUser27

Long time follower of the forums here and what I have come up with is that for some reason Lafalafa has always had a bone to pick with Strikers , he always has a opinion on their club. Never ever a positive one, and always slides in a negative comment. 
Perfectly fine to have a opinion.
I do agree with the the other posters, no where does it say what you are interpreting .
I personal TFA WAS a good club many moons ago, I liked their model of help kids (parents) afford to play.
I think some LA clubs are strong, and others aren't.  Just like OC, theres great clubs and not so great.
Strikers Irvine is a small club that has done well , and as of recently (last 2 years) has been on the up tick with quality of players......
something is going right there Too have that many teams in the ECNL league on top , is not by chance....
Id be curious as too what club you play for and at what age group (dont need to know either) it does feel like you have something against that club


----------



## Dargle

watfly said:


> More power to those clubs that can provide low or no costs to the player, they should be commended (I'm going to assume LAG, LAFC and TFA).  However, for many clubs its just not a reality to cover the costs of 100+ players, they should be expected to cover some costs for those in need, but for all is unrealistic.  I seriously doubt that Strikers represented to MLS Next that all players would have no or low cost options.


I can confirm that there are other clubs in the MLS Next league beyond the three mentioned that charge low (a few hundred dollars) or no club fees across-the-board for their MLS Next players (not just for those in financial need).  Of course, the MLS Next teams haven't been jetting all around the country for games this year, so that makes it easier right now.  Lost of clubs provided discounted fees this year in SoCal due to the pandemic.


----------



## watfly

lafalafa said:


> Nope thats not I said.  When a club applies they are asked to provide proof, track records of certain items, and agreement to follow recommedations.
> 
> Your defending pay to play since you have some sort of financial stake in the matter.
> 
> Your insinuating that NExt is just a regular pay to play league but they tell you at every avenue that's it not. From the application process, club agreement, rules and regulations they are  specific mentions telling you that they want to be different.
> 
> The goal or recommendations are too provide many low or no cost options not a few token ones if a club wants to or not.
> 
> Even on there main page says the same
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MLS NEXT - Programs
> 
> 
> MLS NEXT is a new paradigm for player development. A platform that will transform the way players learn and grow.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.mlssoccer.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "MLS NEXT will also aim to provide more opportunities to more players to broaden the pool of talent entering the elite youth landscape. No cost and low-cost programs will be introduced around the country to reduce barriers for new players to enter the pathway to professional soccer"
> 
> Ignore it all you want but obviously it's all there for good reasons to expand the pool not keep it like it is where only certain "demographics" are given the opportunity to participate due to there family economy situations.


Beating a dead horse, but I will indulge.  I don't think anyone is defending "pay to play".  We just don't believe its a requirement, or a reality, for all MLS Next teams, particulary non-MLS Academy teams, to fully fund, or have low cost for every player on their MLS Next teams.  The two links you provided are pretty soft references and/or just hopes for low cost options.  Now, I haven't seen the agreement between my Club and MLS Next so it could very well be a requirement as you claim...I can't dispute that.  I hope I'm wrong and I will soon be paying no or low cost fees, I just don't see it being possible with all teams.  Again I commend those clubs that can provide it, but I don't disparage those that can't.  It's parents choice to write a check and for whatever amount they are comfortable with.


----------



## lafalafa

crush said:


> Whose got Next?
> 
> Look, when GDA was announced as the new girls super elite developmental league and the age change came on top of that four years ago, my phone rang off the hook from most of the old Docs ((except from Beach...lol)) looking to see if my goat would have any interest to come to their club and play for FREE!!!  I mean free everything.  Like no dues, no team fees, no travel cost and much much more.........I was told by all of them that the GDA is mandating that you your team flies for free and no dues for the GDA team.  Come on folks, low cost anything is a dangerous phrase to use in the market place.   GDA club teams needed to fully fund all GDA teams ((3 teams at the beginning)) or at least offer up some help to the poor families who can't cough up $15,000 a year to try to make the YNT.


Same shit different name(s).

You think by now some would have learned the lessons but apparently not and a new set of parents a going to learn the hard way again.  Many Clubs are about collecting your $ first and worrying about if they are competitve later.


NewUser27 said:


> Long time follower of the forums here and what I have come up with is that for some reason Lafalafa has always had a bone to pick with Strikers , he always has a opinion on their club. Never ever a positive one, and always slides in a negative comment.
> Perfectly fine to have a opinion.
> I do agree with the the other posters, no where does it say what you are interpreting .
> I personal TFA WAS a good club many moons ago, I liked their model of help kids (parents) afford to play.
> I think some LA clubs are strong, and others aren't.  Just like OC, theres great clubs and not so great.
> Strikers Irvine is a small club that has done well , and as of recently (last 2 years) has been on the up tick with quality of players......
> something is going right there Too have that many teams in the ECNL league on top , is not by chance....
> Id be curious as too what club you play for and at what age group (dont need to know either) it does feel like you have something against that club


Ok "newUser" that's a positive post that includes some useful information

Do you any references to what your referring to?  What's negative about the facts?  I said "good" for the strikers when I heard they got in if you had been following along or read my earlier post.  I'm glad they are in the MLS-NEXT league and hope they do well for the record so there is no confusion.

Do you even notice my user name?


----------



## lafalafa

watfly said:


> Beating a dead horse, but I will indulge.  I don't think anyone is defending "pay to play".  We just don't believe its a requirement, or a reality, for all MLS Next teams, particulary non-MLS Academy teams, to fully fund, or have low cost for every player on their MLS Next teams.  The two links you provided are pretty soft references and/or just hopes for low cost options.  Now, I haven't seen the agreement between my Club and MLS Next so it could very well be a requirement as you claim...I can't dispute that.  I hope I'm wrong and I will soon be paying no or low cost fees, I just don't see it being possible with all teams.  Again I commend those clubs that can provide it, but I don't disparage those that can't.  It's parents choice to write a check and for whatever amount they are comfortable with.


Yeah that's it in a nutshell no problems with any parents or club that does things they way they want to.  I wish they all could be on similar pages but guess that's not in the cards sometimes.

Im hoping for some change for the rest of you, our time is just about up with my  youngest son who's off to play college ball in the fall.  We have zero stake in NEXT or youth soccer in a few months so I hope that is better than what came beforehand.


----------



## crush

lafalafa said:


> Same shit different name(s).
> 
> You think by now some would have learned the lessons but apparently not and a new set of parents a going to learn the hard way again.  Many Clubs are about collecting your $ first and worrying about if they are competitve later.
> 
> 
> Ok "newUser" that's a positive post that includes some useful information
> 
> Do you any references to what your referring to?  What's negative about the facts?  I said "good" for the strikers when I heard they got in if you had been following along or read my earlier post.  I'm glad they are in the MLS-NEXT league and hope they do well for the record so there is no confusion.
> 
> Do you even notice my user name?


I thought it was la la la la.  Now I see it's lafa lafa.  Please share the meaning bro, thanks.  Go Strikers BTW too


----------



## crush

lafalafa said:


> Yeah that's it in a nutshell no problems with any parents or club that does things they way they want to.  I wish they all could be on similar pages but guess that's not in the cards sometimes.
> 
> Im hoping for some change for the rest of you, our time is just about up with my  youngest son who's off to play college ball in the fall.  We have zero stake in NEXT or youth soccer in a few months so I hope that is better than what came beforehand.


2021 had it so bad.  I mean that 100%.  DD or DS, it doesnt matter.  Im praying my DD can finish what she started and end on a real positive note in 2022.  Good luck to your son


----------



## whatithink

At the end of the day someone has to pay, either sponsorship (unlikely as someone pointed out), maybe tournaments can bridge the gap, or ultimately every other kid not on an "elite" program is paying an "elite" premium to subsidize the club.

I found this blog post interesting, The Corona Effect - Exposing The Insanity of "Elite" Leagues (developingthefuture.club) - basically "elite" is nothing more than a marketing message. The recent advent of the Elite Academy (for boys) seems to support that.

From what I can see locally in AZ, there are lots of announcements of girls going to college (ECNL has always been pay to play) but for the boys, there are very few college announcements and miniscule announcements of any boys "making it".

The soccerwire quote from the article is interesting (to me anyway), and I thought Pulisic didn't play DA as his dad figured he'd get more out of the team he was in but could be wrong on that.

"_The most efficient and useful response I can offer is, where? Where are the players? [Marc Seber] named four American players that are playing at a high level in a world class league. Let’s run them down: Tyler Adams, Christian Pulisic, DeAndre Yedlin, Weston McKennie… Gio Reyna is yet to make his first team debut, but he looks like he’s on a Pulisic-like trajectory, possibly. Tim Weah has been injury racked, but he puts us in the half-dozen range, and this is 12 years of Development Academy play. Is this the ROI, is this the norm? I reserve the right to be under-impressed by this ROI. It’s approaching a 9-figure overall investment, maybe already past 9-figures if we look at what everybody has spent, with all the players in the DA trying to grow elite players over the last 12 years. And this is our ROI?_” *- Charles Boehm, SoccerWire* "


----------



## focomoso

NewUser27 said:


> does anyone really know of a boy that turned down DA because he couldn't play in HS?  I dont and I know alot of soccer kids...HS sports is where its at just for the community aspect, the play is not anywhere near club soccer (top flight ) of course.  Girls HS is horrendous , period.


I know a lot of _dads_ who _say_ their kid turned down DA to play HS...


----------



## StrikerOC

lafalafa said:


> Nope thats not I said.  When a club applies they are asked to provide proof, track records of certain items, and agreement to follow recommedations.
> 
> Your defending pay to play since you have some sort of financial stake in the matter.
> 
> Your insinuating that NExt is just a regular pay to play league but they tell you at every avenue that's it not. From the application process, club agreement, rules and regulations they are  specific mentions telling you that they want to be different.
> 
> The goal or recommendations are too provide many low or no cost options not a few token ones if a club wants to or not.
> 
> Even on there main page says the same
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MLS NEXT - Programs
> 
> 
> MLS NEXT is a new paradigm for player development. A platform that will transform the way players learn and grow.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.mlssoccer.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "MLS NEXT will also aim to provide more opportunities to more players to broaden the pool of talent entering the elite youth landscape. No cost and low-cost programs will be introduced around the country to reduce barriers for new players to enter the pathway to professional soccer"
> 
> Ignore it all you want but obviously it's all there for good reasons to expand the pool not keep it like it is where only certain "demographics" are given the opportunity to participate due to there family economy situations.


I'm not going back and forth with what you said, anyone can go back and read for themselves if they have questions. I am a paying parent at Strikers so when you accuse me of having a financial stake in pay to play... I suppose I do, but I'm on the "paying" side so again your insinuation is wrong. 

I'm open to be proven wrong about the "reduce fee" Next program but I know specific clubs in Maryland that didn't receive much of a "discount" from original club fees when they made the move. Again, I'm open to looking at the numbers if you have something but unless they come out with a standard "fee" across the nation then IMO it's just talk...


----------



## lafalafa

StrikerOC said:


> I'm not going back and forth with what you said, anyone can go back and read for themselves if they have questions. I am a paying parent at Strikers so when you accuse me of having a financial stake in pay to play... I suppose I do, but I'm on the "paying" side so again your insinuation is wrong.
> 
> I'm open to be proven wrong about the "reduce fee" Next program but I know specific clubs in Maryland that didn't receive much of a "discount" from original club fees when they made the move. Again, I'm open to looking at the numbers if you have something but unless they come out with a standard "fee" across the nation then IMO it's just talk...


Real simple one of the corner stones of MLS and Next is lowing the cost of youth soccer participation at the higher levels.  Can you agree that is the case?

In 2020 this was the case:








						Audi will donate $1,000 for every goal scored during the MLS is Back Tournament - Your Test Driver
					

Sports are back! The PBR and NASCAR were among the first. Heck, even MLB finally got its act together. Now, MLS is ready to kick off their season with a little help from Audi. During the MLS is Back Tournament, the way the league is opening their abbreviated season this year, Audi will donate...




					automotivemap.com
				




In 2021 that is still going on








						Audi Goals Drive Progress | MLSsoccer.com
					

For every goal scored in the regular season, Audi will contribute money into the Audi Goals Drive Progress fund to directly support each MLS Club Youth Academy.




					www.mlssoccer.com
				




You can believe, participate or not in promotion or accepting lowering the cost of soccer and expanding the base to a bigger player pool or not.  Youth soccer reimagined hopes do some of that.  Agreeing on a mission or not.


----------



## lafalafa

Eagle33 said:


> DE is great salesman, he can sell you anything.


He's a smart business person and has contributed to advancing youth soccer for a number of years.

The idea of sharing the parking lot revenue at sliver lakes w/ the home teams that book fields seems like a good business decision for all parties.

Paying parents might not agree but youth soccer has various ways to redirecting or redistribution $ to keep those non profits turning over $$.


----------



## NewUser27

focomoso said:


> I know a lot of _dads_ who _say_ their kid turned down DA to play HS...


Exactly


----------



## crush

NewUser27 said:


> Exactly


Exactly what?


----------



## lafalafa

crush said:


> Exactly what?


MLS-NEXT forces a choice to either play high school or play NEXT for most participates as outlined in the rules and regulations that I posted earlier.

There are exceptions and waviers if you attend a private school, meet some of the other requirements.  Mostly this is for reglious or catholic schools that cost bank to attend who give out "scholarships" to students athletes who happen to excell at certain Sports.

With our team a decient number of kids play for the #1 ranked team in SS D1 boys soccer (catholic school) for HS on waviers from the NEXT team. 

The continuation on the prohibition of high school soccer players is really a silly one for NEXT seeing how they are all are non mls but a few.


----------



## Patandpats

lafalafa said:


> MLS-NEXT forces a choice to either play high school or play NEXT for most participates as outlined in the rules and regulations that I posted earlier.
> 
> There are exceptions and waviers if you attend a private school, meet some of the other requirements.  Mostly this is for reglious or catholic schools that cost bank to attend who give out "scholarships" to students athletes who happen to excell at certain Sports.
> 
> With our team a decient number of kids play for the #1 ranked team in SS D1 boys soccer (catholic school) for HS on waviers from the NEXT team.
> 
> The continuation on the prohibition of high school soccer players is really a silly one for NEXT seeing how they are all are non mls but a few.


Let's be honest, these "waivers" for the Saints kids aren't real waivers and Saints gives out scholarships based on financial need, not talent.  They might be given so kids can play both as Saints and the club both want them, but it's all b.s.

And yes, the prohibition on HS is dumb. Somehow it's ok for GA girls to play, but not for MLS boys to play.


----------



## crush

lafalafa said:


> MLS-NEXT forces a choice to either play high school or play NEXT for most participates as outlined in the rules and regulations that I posted earlier.
> 
> There are exceptions and waviers if you attend a private school, meet some of the other requirements.  Mostly this is for reglious or catholic schools that cost bank to attend who give out "scholarships" to students athletes who happen to excell at certain Sports.
> 
> With our team a decient number of kids play for the #1 ranked team in SS D1 boys soccer (catholic school) for HS on waviers from the NEXT team.
> 
> The continuation on the prohibition of high school soccer players is really a silly one for NEXT seeing how they are all are non mls but a few.


Either or except for thee


----------



## lafalafa

Patandpats said:


> Let's be honest, these "waivers" for the Saints kids aren't real waivers and Saints gives out scholarships based on financial need, not talent.  They might be given so kids can play both as Saints and the club both want them, but it's all b.s.
> 
> And yes, the prohibition on HS is dumb. Somehow it's ok for GA girls to play, but not for MLS boys to play.


I not sure which "Saint's" your referring to but financial need can be a consideration on some private school acceptance. 

 Some players that attend these school  can afford them but won't neccassily be selected for acceptance unless they have some other redeeming qualities, high marks, referrals, etc.   

Whatever the methods are the coaches and Schools have a habit of attraction a demographic or skill sets they are looking for. 

MLS-next is a perfect example of high school public vs closed private schools inequities that try to compete with one and other. 

If the private schools only accepted people that could afford the fees they would not be the powehouses they are now.   The MLS-NEXT people reconciled or reckon this and promote lower cost or no cost soccer so more people can participate but at the same time prohibit HS except for a certain privilege class which is contrary to that mission.


----------



## Patandpats

lafalafa said:


> I not sure which "Saint's" your referring to but financial need can be a consideration on some private school acceptance.
> 
> Some players that attend these school  can afford them but won't neccassily be selected for acceptance unless they have some other redeeming qualities, high marks, referrals, etc.
> 
> Whatever the methods are the coaches and Schools have a habit of attraction a demographic or skill sets they are looking for.
> 
> MLS-next is a perfect example of high school public vs closed private schools inequities that try to compete with one and other.
> 
> If the private schools only accepted people that could afford the fees they would not be the powehouses they are now.   The MLS-NEXT people reconciled or reckon this and promote lower cost or no cost soccer so more people can participate but at the same time prohibit HS except for a certain privilege class which is contrary to that mission.


I'm saying they aren't given financial aid b/c of soccer abilities which means there shouldn't be a waiver.


----------



## crush

Waivers suck and super unfair and for the super rich.  Let each child have a waiver of his and her choosing and let each family have the same choice of doing both and, just like the rich folks with all the connections.  This is BS and Next is going to be the next league to fail.  Dont go against or bet against HSS.  I think it's just bad karma to do so and I wouldn't push bad luck like that.  Heed the warning is, my MOO for the day!!!!!!  The attack on a silly little High School Sport is insane and I'm quite alarmed with all the chips on folks shoulders lately.  Nothing like a "chip off the old block" or "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."


----------



## lafalafa

Patandpats said:


> I'm saying they aren't given financial aid b/c of soccer abilities which means there shouldn't be a waiver.


Ah I get you in a roundabout way and all players should be given equal opportunities for education and sports. 

 Some organizations preach that but in reality they using finances to leverage or influence behind the scenes.


----------



## 3leches

Interesting conversation... Having 3 kids involved in soccer (Academy/Elite, etc), if your kid is not playing up an age or two on an actual MLS team, remove the chip from the shoulder and enjoy the ride wherever your kid plays.


----------



## dad4

3leches said:


> Interesting conversation... Having 3 kids involved in soccer (Academy/Elite, etc), if your kid is not playing up an age or two on an actual MLS team, remove the chip from the shoulder and enjoy the ride wherever your kid plays.


Even if your kid is playing up three years at Ajax, there is no need for the chip on the shoulder.  The kid did it, not you.  Enjoy the games.


----------



## 3leches

Yes I agree with you. After bring involved with an actual MLS academy for so long and seeing parents bash HS soccer and other leagues as if the MLS Next is a superior league when it's not and my kid plays in the league.
The current 2006 US Soccer Training center roster is made up of LAFC and Galaxy with a small sprinkle of non mls clubs. The national teams will always  be MLS academy kids with one or two here or there. If your kid is U15 and up, playing with their age enjoy it and let the labels go.


----------



## NewUser27

3leches said:


> Yes I agree with you. After bring involved with an actual MLS academy for so long and seeing parents bash HS soccer and other leagues as if the MLS Next is a superior league when it's not and my kid plays in the league.
> The current 2006 US Soccer Training center roster is made up of LAFC and Galaxy with a small sprinkle of non mls clubs. The national teams will always  be MLS academy kids with one or two here or there. If your kid is U15 and up, playing with their age enjoy it and let the labels go.


exactly!


----------



## 66 GTO

focomoso said:


> I know a lot of _dads_ who _say_ their kid turned down DA to play HS...


My sophomore quit MLS Next to go play HS 
He is having a real good time and playing vs mostly seniors 
His team is young and he is carrying the weight for the team
 At u15 he was at Galaxy DA and training 5days a week not much of social life with his  school friends that live around our neighborhood. So When he asked me for my opinion about HS Soccer 
I told him go ahead and enjoy it. We know the lévelos not that gear  but seeing him out there 
And having a great time can’t beat that 
Plus my freshman son just got moved to varsity so he’ll be playing with his brother next 3 games. Priceless


----------



## espola

Patandpats said:


> Let's be honest, these "waivers" for the Saints kids aren't real waivers and Saints gives out scholarships based on financial need, not talent.  They might be given so kids can play both as Saints and the club both want them, but it's all b.s.
> 
> And yes, the prohibition on HS is dumb. Somehow it's ok for GA girls to play, but not for MLS boys to play.


In my view, obtaining a waiver in order to play at a private school is evidence of an illegal athletic scholarship.


----------



## MijoPlumber

Mom of 2 said:


> Rumor going around Stirkers boys are out the ECNL? Any truth?


Strikers girls ECNL should be dropped from the program Mijo. Never bring your dd to that club. 
Rumors the program is a joke, players fed up with the lies, money grubbing taking as many players as they can get and politics. Bad coaching by C level clown cant even get his HS program right.
Pats or West Coast should take their place!


----------



## eric

MijoPlumber said:


> Strikers girls ECNL should be dropped from the program Mijo. Never bring your dd to that club.
> Rumors the program is a joke, players fed up with the lies, money grubbing taking as many players as they can get and politics. Bad coaching by C level clown cant even get his HS program right.
> Pats or West Coast should take their place!


are you talking about 08?


----------



## eric

went through the roster of all the age groups of their ECNL girls team. Almost all of them have around 22 players. How does that work when you can only roster 18 players for each game?


----------



## soccer dude

eric said:


> went through the roster of all the age groups of their ECNL girls team. Almost all of them have around 22 players. How does that work when you can only roster 18 players for each game?


I heard the 04 Strikers ECNL team has at least 22 players and yes, 4 girls have to sit out every game.  Not sure how any parent would be ok with this.  I had both of my daughters play for Legends and the 02 team last year had 18 players and my 04 team has 17 players.  Lots of play time.  That's what important at this age, play time.  I have yet to see any Legends (main branch) that has more than 18 or so players.   We played for West Coast ECNL a few years ago and it was 18 as well.  I would assume anything more than 19 players is all about money.


----------



## Speed

slammers oldest team has 21 and LAFC slammers 24. what's the right number especially for kids prepping for college?


----------



## eric

This is strikers first year in ECNL for girls. Their boys ECNL teams have around 18 players. Is it possible that the girls program can still improve?


----------



## Kicker4Life

eric said:


> This is strikers first year in ECNL for girls. Their boys ECNL teams have around 18 players. Is it possible that the girls program can still improve?


What do you mean by, “this is the Strikers first year in ECNL for girls?”  The Club has been ECNL for years.


----------



## eric

Kicker4Life said:


> What do you mean by, “this is the Strikers first year in ECNL for girls?”  The Club has been ECNL for years.


I am not too familiar with the ECNL history.  But this is on their website: 
In 2020, Strikers FC announced it will join the ECNL program for both boys and girls for the 2020-2021 along with other youth soccer clubs that were part of the former USSDA program.


----------



## soccer5210

eric said:


> I am not too familiar with the ECNL history.  But this is on their website:
> In 2020, Strikers FC announced it will join the ECNL program for both boys and girls for the 2020-2021 along with other youth soccer clubs that were part of the former USSDA program.


That is a poorly worded announcement on the website. Easy to see how you could have read it the way that you did. Strikers has been a member of ECNL on the girls’ side for several years.


----------



## Kicker4Life

eric said:


> I am not too familiar with the ECNL history.  But this is on their website:
> In 2020, Strikers FC announced it will join the ECNL program for both boys and girls for the 2020-2021 along with other youth soccer clubs that were part of the former USSDA program.


I see where you’re coming from and agree with soccer5210 that the announcement was misleading.


----------



## vegasguy

whatithink said:


> At the end of the day someone has to pay, either sponsorship (unlikely as someone pointed out), maybe tournaments can bridge the gap, or ultimately every other kid not on an "elite" program is paying an "elite" premium to subsidize the club.
> 
> I found this blog post interesting, The Corona Effect - Exposing The Insanity of "Elite" Leagues (developingthefuture.club) - basically "elite" is nothing more than a marketing message. The recent advent of the Elite Academy (for boys) seems to support that.
> 
> From what I can see locally in AZ, there are lots of announcements of girls going to college (ECNL has always been pay to play) but for the boys, there are very few college announcements and miniscule announcements of any boys "making it".
> 
> The soccerwire quote from the article is interesting (to me anyway), and I thought Pulisic didn't play DA as his dad figured he'd get more out of the team he was in but could be wrong on that.
> 
> "_The most efficient and useful response I can offer is, where? Where are the players? [Marc Seber] named four American players that are playing at a high level in a world class league. Let’s run them down: Tyler Adams, Christian Pulisic, DeAndre Yedlin, Weston McKennie… Gio Reyna is yet to make his first team debut, but he looks like he’s on a Pulisic-like trajectory, possibly. Tim Weah has been injury racked, but he puts us in the half-dozen range, and this is 12 years of Development Academy play. Is this the ROI, is this the norm? I reserve the right to be under-impressed by this ROI. It’s approaching a 9-figure overall investment, maybe already past 9-figures if we look at what everybody has spent, with all the players in the DA trying to grow elite players over the last 12 years. And this is our ROI?_” *- Charles Boehm, SoccerWire* "



Every 2021 player but 1 who wants to play college on my son's u19ECNL team has there school commitments.  They may not be the first choice and recruiting for 2021 boys was difficult with the limited number of scholarships, C19, dark period and the fifth year eligibility.  We changed course early on and my son can not wait to move on.


----------



## Speed

vegasguy said:


> Every 2021 player but 1 who wants to play college on my son's u19ECNL team has there school commitments.  They may not be the first choice and recruiting for 2021 boys was difficult with the limited number of scholarships, C19, dark period and the fifth year eligibility.  We changed course early on and my son can not wait to move on.


what do you mean changed course early on?


----------



## Palmcina

Strikers girls ECNL teams were reconfigured this past season because of the shared resources with LASC. I’m sure it left a lot of families feeling lied to. The two clubs had/ have slightly better than average talent and hoped that bringing them together would produce better results.  I think they were disappointed this season.


----------



## RedCard

Palmcina said:


> Strikers girls ECNL teams were reconfigured this past season because of the shared resources with LASC. I’m sure it left a lot of families feeling lied to. The two clubs had/ have slightly better than average talent and hoped that bringing them together would produce better results.  I think they were disappointed this season.


Most of the LASC/Strikers team are ECRL. Only the ECNL U18/19 Composite team has LASC/LA Surf DA/So Cal Academy players and the LASC coach on it...But players can move back and forth from NL and RL teams


----------



## Lodan36

The 06 ecnl team got the strikers/lasc players and coach...the ecrl team is same as last year


----------



## LASTMAN14

Question--If Strikers Boys are leaving ECNL and going to MLS Next then does this affect the Strikers girls? Especially if MLS has a relationship to GA. If someone stated or asked this earlier my apologizes.


----------



## futboldad1

Lodan36 said:


> The 06 ecnl team got the strikers/lasc players and coach...the ecrl team is same as last year


My DDs team has not played Strikers 06 ECNL team yet this season....and never have played them as we are coming from the DA........but it looks like whatever changes they made to it did not work..... looking through the schedule shows big losses of 0-8 to Surf, 0-8 to Blues, and then 1-5 and 0-4 losses to the two Slammers teams (A and B) this past weekend...... I will see when we finally get to play as results often do not tell the whole story..

to answer the above.....no I am pretty sure that Strikers girls ECNL status will be unaffected...... but I did not know GA and MLA had a link so there is that.......


----------



## crush




----------



## lafalafa

LASTMAN14 said:


> Question--If Strikers Boys are leaving ECNL and going to MLS Next then does this affect the Strikers girls? Especially if MLS has a relationship to GA. If someone stated or asked this earlier my apologizes.


In the past "all in" has been a factor if you don't win ECNL championship's or not with a big name MLS type club.    Just look at Surf which is much bigger vs Strikers.

The resources and players pool required to participate in both leagues successful are pretty demanding and even those with better finances have had mixed results so far with the boys. Pay to play is yet another challenge in that regard.

I won't be surprised if ECRL is offered instead of ECNL for non-mls clubs that are in MLS-NEXT.


----------



## Eagle33

LASTMAN14 said:


> Question--If Strikers Boys are leaving ECNL and going to MLS Next then does this affect the Strikers girls? Especially if MLS has a relationship to GA. If someone stated or asked this earlier my apologizes.


My understanding is they are NOT leaving ECNL boys. From what I hear, they will be moving their current ECNL teams to MLS Next and they ECRL teams will be ECNL.


----------



## LASTMAN14

Eagle33 said:


> My understanding is they are NOT leaving ECNL boys. From what I hear, they will be moving their current ECNL teams to MLS Next and they ECRL teams will be ECNL.


Follow up question-How does ECNL feel about Strikers moving their top boys team to MLS Next?


----------



## Eagle33

LASTMAN14 said:


> Follow up question-How does ECNL feel about Strikers moving their top boys team to MLS Next?


That is the question!


----------



## Dargle

LASTMAN14 said:


> Follow up question-How does ECNL feel about Strikers moving their top boys team to MLS Next?


Boys ECNL either hasn't cared or hasn't had the same leverage as Girls ECNL to force the issue in the past.  Even before MLS Next, Boys ECNL had a number of clubs nationwide with both DA and ECNL (although in some cases there wasn't an overlap in all age groups) and they continue to permit that currently.  In the Socal/Southwest area, LA Surf, Phoenix Rising, and RSL-AZ all have both, and nationally there a bunch of top clubs with both, including Vardar, Real Colorado, PDA, Orlando City Youth, FC Delco, and Boston Bolts. That may change, but I suspect that right now Boys ECNL would rather have the additional clubs and wait to see how things shakeout with elite boys leagues over time than to cut ties with them altogether.


----------



## lafalafa

Dargle said:


> Boys ECNL either hasn't cared or hasn't had the same leverage as Girls ECNL to force the issue in the past.  Even before MLS Next, Boys ECNL had a number of clubs nationwide with both DA and ECNL (although in some cases there wasn't an overlap in all age groups) and they continue to permit that currently.  In the Socal/Southwest area, LA Surf, Phoenix Rising, and RSL-AZ all have both, and nationally there a bunch of top clubs with both, including Vardar, Real Colorado, PDA, Orlando City Youth, FC Delco, and Boston Bolts. That may change, but I suspect that right now Boys ECNL would rather have the additional clubs and wait to see how things shakeout with elite boys leagues over time than to cut ties with them altogether.


This past year ECNL boys expanded exponentially to try to capture some of the former DA clubs.

The terms of joining ECNL include the requirement to enter the clubs top team in each age group. There are standards and guidelines and competition that clubs must participate in.  You can bet they will look at that for new clubs or those jumping into other leagues after the fact.

Obviously when you look at Phoenix and RSL that didn't happen and they are either looking to leave for MLS-next, other leagues or know they won't be asked back sooner or later.

For the boys ECNL there is going to be a reconfigution of the SW division since there are basically too many teams and the competition is not closed to balanced.  Teams ~ 6-12 are < 2 ppg and the bottom 4-5 can hardly get a win in a season. If they keep 20 teams which I have some doubts they will likely they go back to multiple flights each age group like what was originally planned.  Either that or drop 4-5 and keep one bracket per age.


----------



## socalsoccercoach

Eagle33 said:


> That is the question!


That is the question..and any new teams being added? Any more teams leaving Boys ECNL?


----------



## lafalafa

socalsoccercoach said:


> That is the question..and any new teams being added? Any more teams leaving Boys ECNL?


Only been around for 3 years or so on the boys side and yes so far there has been clubs moving around every year.  Will this new 2021-2 season be any different?

May time frame is normally when new clubs are annouced but could be delayed this season and drops could be more on the down low or not until the playoffs are over until the new maps are published.


----------



## whatithink

socalsoccercoach said:


> That is the question..and any new teams being added? Any more teams leaving Boys ECNL?


RSL-AZ are leaving ECNL for EA SW-Desert division (they get two teams in EA). The reasons seem odd and there are some rumors floating over on the AZ forum.


----------



## hugyourkids

LASTMAN14 said:


> Question--If Strikers Boys are leaving ECNL and going to MLS Next then does this affect the Strikers girls? Especially if MLS has a relationship to GA. If someone stated or asked this earlier my apologizes.


Did this question get definitively answered? Does anyone know if the Strikers girls will continue to play ECNL in the 2021-2022 season? Or, when that would be officially decided/announced?


----------



## Kicker4Life

hugyourkids said:


> Did this question get definitively answered? Does anyone know if the Strikers girls will continue to play ECNL in the 2021-2022 season? Or, when that would be officially decided/announced?


Girls have nothing to worry about…they will be ECNL this fall.


----------



## crush

Kicker4Life said:


> *Girls have nothing to worry about*…*they will be ECNL this fall.*


Well, I remember back when my dd _________________________________________________________________________________________________ and the Doc said the same thing you just said.  The next day, it was called DPL.  I teach my little one to always be prepared for the worst but hope for the best when it comes to soccer.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

Kicker4Life said:


> Girls have nothing to worry about…they will be ECNL this fall.


They are having tryouts last week and this week.  They will have an ECNL program for girls.


----------



## LASTMAN14

hugyourkids said:


> Did this question get definitively answered? Does anyone know if the Strikers girls will continue to play ECNL in the 2021-2022 season? Or, when that would be officially decided/announced?


It was a round about response focusing more on the boys. I was inquiring because it seemed conflictive.


----------



## 46n2

yes the girls side of Strikers is a different animal from the boys.  All Boys team are leaving


----------



## mlx

66 GTO said:


> I’ve also heard about Real So Cal but  not too sure
> I’m usually not that wrong


Any news on this Real Socal, now Socal Youth LAFC rumor?


----------



## mlx

futboldad1 said:


> but I will add that another club has been removed from Boys ECNL S-W too for 21//22....... not my place to say who that club is.......


LA Breakers?


----------



## futboldad1

mlx said:


> LA Breakers?


no...........


----------



## zags77

My guess is going to be LA Surf.....


----------



## crush

zags77 said:


> My guess is going to be LA Surf.....


Great guess.  Futbol dad 1 knows his soccer.  Let's see if the second guess wins   Well, were waiting....lol.


----------



## futboldad1

zags77 said:


> My guess is going to be LA Surf.....





crush said:


> Great guess.  Futbol dad 1 knows his soccer.  Let's see if the second guess wins   Well, were waiting....lol.


No comment LOL......


----------



## Dargle

My guess is that the rumored or previously announced departures from Boys ECNL have little to nothing to do (at least directly) with performance in league this year or recent years and more to do with the requirements in both MLS Next and Boys ECNL rules and regulations that member clubs must put their top team in their league.  Boys ECNL hasn't enforced it for the past few years (which is why so many DA clubs had both), but it appears that they are trying to do so now.  Indirectly, this is where performance comes in because second teams have gotten so much worse with the decline of players and the proliferation of other competition circuits and that helps explain the wide gaps in Boys ECNL this year in Socal.  Any club with an MLS Next team that has been putting their second teams in Boys ECNL will likely withdraw from Boys ECNL and keep their MLS Next teams, while any club in Boys ECNL that has applied to MLS Next is doing so under the condition that it switches its top teams to MLS Next.  The winner from this in Socal would be Elite Academy League, which already have the second teams of a bunch of MLS Next clubs and could get more of them.

If you check the Arizona forums, they are saying the same thing about their dual registered clubs (at least RSL-AZ) and, based on talk in other forums, it appears that at least Atlanta United, which put its developmental players in Boys ECNL just to get extra games, will be withdrawing to focus on MLS Next only.

That doesn't mean lower performing Boys ECNL clubs like LA Breakers couldn't be asked to leave, but I suspect that the league is focused now on clubs that have a structural impediment to success that breaks the member contract, since that's a more objective mechanism.


----------



## lafalafa

Strikers Irvine joined the EA league for boys.

That's a indication that they moved on from ECNL/RL or have been reminded of the ECNL 1st team requirement after they Joined MLS-NEXT.

 Some movement in the ECxx space for the SW but not like last year. +- couple of clubs.


----------



## socalsoccercoach

lafalafa said:


> Strikers Irvine joined the EA league for boys.
> 
> That's a indication that they moved on from ECNL/RL or have been reminded of the ECNL 1st team requirement after they Joined MLS-NEXT.
> 
> Some movement in the ECxx space for the SW but not like last year. +- couple of clubs.


Any rumors on the movement who will added? I have heard same rumor about LA Surf being out...was curious what Strikers were going to do.


----------



## VegasParent

Heard there could be a conference realignment coming. SoCal may become its own conference.


----------



## Desert Hound

VegasParent said:


> Heard there could be a conference realignment coming. SoCal may become its own conference.


Are you referring to the boys side?

Our club (AZ) for the girls side just notified us that we will be in the SW conference for next year.


----------



## VegasParent

Desert Hound said:


> Are you referring to the boys side?
> 
> Our club (AZ) for the girls side just notified us that we will be in the SW conference for next year.


 The person who told me didn't say which side. Just ECNL


----------



## lafalafa

VegasParent said:


> Heard there could be a conference realignment coming. SoCal may become its own conference.


The two brackets per age group was implemented for a couple age groups for the boys in the latter part of the 19-20 season and was initially announced that the 20-21 season would have more of that across the board.

Covid or other things changed that it was not implemented for 20-21 but for 21-22 I would think with 18-20 per age groups some re-alignment or changes are going to be coming.

Could be still called SW division but two different flights like: White,  Socal, inter division, or however they split things up or name the groupings.


----------



## lafalafa

Strikers boys tryouts flyers are out... MLS-NEXT, EA, SoCal flight 1 (SCDSL) listed by no ECNL/RL noted so that's seems like a wrap for the boys in that league, one and done.


----------



## ginga

lafalafa said:


> Strikers boys tryouts flyers are out... MLS-NEXT, EA, SoCal flight 1 (SCDSL) listed by no ECNL/RL noted so that's seems like a wrap for the boys in that league, one and done.


damn dude do you work? You’re all over everyone’s business. Wish I had time like you.


----------



## lafalafa

ginga said:


> damn dude do you work? You’re all over everyone’s business. Wish I had time like you.


Have own business, work in the field that provide services and just came across the info.

Well you had time to comment.


----------



## ginga

lafalafa said:


> Nope I work in the field that provide services and just came across the info.


lucky then that you come across everyone’s information lol thanks for the tea


----------



## lafalafa

ginga said:


> lucky then that you come across everyone’s information lol thanks for the tea


Sent to me.

 You're welcome need some sugar with that tea or a spot of milk?


----------



## NewUser27

ECNL's CL said it was your top teams or nothing.  Strikers tried to give him alternatives but he wasn't having it.  Rumor is multiple other clubs with teams in ecnl (boys) will have to exit as well.  Im indifferent between ECNl and MLS next, their too new on the boys side to see what competition is better.  Its a shame CL was not interested in working with clubs.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

NewUser27 said:


> ECNL's CL said it was your top teams or nothing.  Strikers tried to give him alternatives but he wasn't having it.  Rumor is multiple other clubs with teams in ecnl (boys) will have to exit as well.  Im indifferent between ECNl and MLS next, their too new on the boys side to see what competition is better.  Its a shame CL was not interested in working with clubs.


a few years back, ECNLfor boys didn’t exist. Call it whatever you want but there needs to be one program for the elite players on the boys side.

Also, it’s time to get rid of ECRL and discovery.   These are useless programs only designed to make money for the clubs.


----------



## crush

I only got one more year of club fellas.  When I was a young father like some of you are now, it was ECNL for the girls and DA for the boys and that's it.  Today, it's a mess.  Good luck sorting all this out.  I know a really good coach looking for Tier 1 ((not ECNL)) players for 04 & 05.  Healthy environment and a focus on playing local and having fun with a gr8t chance of getting recruited to a good college.  PM me if this fits you.  Only two or three spots available with plenty of play time to boot   South OC area over by Ladera.


----------



## Speed

SoccerFan4Life said:


> a few years back, ECNLfor boys didn’t exist. Call it whatever you want but there needs to be one program for the elite players on the boys side.
> 
> Also, it’s time to get rid of ECRL and discovery.   These are useless programs only designed to make money for the clubs.


So then what is your suggestion for a higher level player that isn't playing MLS or ECNL?


----------



## socalsoccercoach

NewUser27 said:


> ECNL's CL said it was your top teams or nothing.  Strikers tried to give him alternatives but he wasn't having it.  Rumor is multiple other clubs with teams in ecnl (boys) will have to exit as well.  Im indifferent between ECNl and MLS next, their too new on the boys side to see what competition is better.  Its a shame CL was not interested in working with clubs.


Good intel so will there be replacement clubs for those departing?


----------



## NewUser27

I would imagine so, but who, liverpool?  When Strikers leave , and any other clubs that has one team in MLS next and one in ecnl , they will have to pick one or the other can't do both.  *So if Real is truly part of lafc now and not some license bullshit , then they can't play ecnl and MLS, same with RSL, you can't have both according to CL*.  
SW for ecnl had some really poor performing clubs West Coast LA surf ,slammers, Pat, couple of AZ teams, BUT they have alot of teams left in the division, when strikers leave , their going to lose some of the best teams they have right now.  
Obviously theres politics, but on the boys side, I think MLS next just scored with adding strikers and ecnl got another strike against them.  If they have other clubs drop like RSL and Real, ecnl will still have 16-18 teams left.
I dont know if MLS next is better , we will find out..but I would plan on seeing more changes before the season starts...


----------



## megnation

NewUser27 said:


> I would imagine so, but who, liverpool?  When Strikers leave , and any other clubs that has one team in MLS next and one in ecnl , they will have to pick one or the other can't do both.  *So if Real is truly part of lafc now and not some license bullshit , then they can't play ecnl and MLS, same with RSL, you can't have both according to CL*.
> SW for ecnl had some really poor performing clubs West Coast LA surf ,slammers, Pat, couple of AZ teams, BUT they have alot of teams left in the division, when strikers leave , their going to lose some of the best teams they have right now.
> Obviously theres politics, but on the boys side, I think MLS next just scored with adding strikers and ecnl got another strike against them.  If they have other clubs drop like RSL and Real, ecnl will still have 16-18 teams left.
> I dont know if MLS next is better , we will find out..but I would plan on seeing more changes before the season starts...


RSL-AZ is already out of ECNL. They moved their teams to EA for next season.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

Speed said:


> So then what is your suggestion for a higher level player that isn't playing MLS or ECNL?


Girls Side:  1. ECNL/DA    2. FLight 1 Champion/Premier CSL    3.  Flight 1 Europa/Gold CSL    4. Flight 2 /Silver Elite & Silver   5. Flight 3 /Bronze 

Boys Side:  1. MLS Next/Academy    2.  Flight 1 Champion/Premier CSL     3 Fight 1 Europa/Gold CSL,   and the flight 2, and flght 3


This is an old article from 2014 but it shows the probability to make it to college soccer and to the pro's.  I would assume that if you use 2020 numbers, the odds are even more challenging. 

*Soccer for Men: 412,351 boys play high school soccer in the US*
*1* in *11* high school players will play in college

*1* in *5,355* high school players will be drafted to the MLS

*1* in *447* college players will be drafted in the MLS

*Mike Stobe/Getty Images
Soccer for Women: 373,391 girls play high school soccer in the US*

*1* in *10* high school players will play in college

*1* in *10,316* high school players will be drafted to the NWSL

*1* in *986* college players will be drafted in the NWSL





__





						The Statistical Breakdown Of Becoming A Professional Athlete Will Make You Keep Your Day Job
					

Hate what you do and have a passion for athletics? Well, don't quit your day job; you probably suck at sports. Being a professional athlete is much more than just loving to play the game and trying hard. It requires a level of dedication, sacrifice…




					www.elitedaily.com


----------



## futboldad1

Real So Cal / LAFC Youth are staying all-in ECNL..........

No comment on Strikers.............


----------



## vegasguy

SoccerFan4Life said:


> Girls Side:  1. ECNL/DA    2. FLight 1 Champion/Premier CSL    3.  Flight 1 Europa/Gold CSL    4. Flight 2 /Silver Elite & Silver   5. Flight 3 /Bronze
> 
> Boys Side:  1. MLS Next/Academy    2.  Flight 1 Champion/Premier CSL     3 Fight 1 Europa/Gold CSL,   and the flight 2, and flght 3
> 
> 
> This is an old article from 2014 but it shows the probability to make it to college soccer and to the pro's.  I would assume that if you use 2020 numbers, the odds are even more challenging.
> 
> *Soccer for Men: 412,351 boys play high school soccer in the US*
> *1* in *11* high school players will play in college
> 
> *1* in *5,355* high school players will be drafted to the MLS
> 
> *1* in *447* college players will be drafted in the MLS
> 
> *Mike Stobe/Getty Images
> Soccer for Women: 373,391 girls play high school soccer in the US*
> 
> *1* in *10* high school players will play in college
> 
> *1* in *10,316* high school players will be drafted to the NWSL
> 
> *1* in *986* college players will be drafted in the NWSL
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Statistical Breakdown Of Becoming A Professional Athlete Will Make You Keep Your Day Job
> 
> 
> Hate what you do and have a passion for athletics? Well, don't quit your day job; you probably suck at sports. Being a professional athlete is much more than just loving to play the game and trying hard. It requires a level of dedication, sacrifice…
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.elitedaily.com



Are you saying ECNL does not compete?  What is EA?


----------



## Carlsbad7

vegasguy said:


> Are you saying ECNL does not compete?  What is EA?


I dont understand the logic behind trying to get boys into a Pro or Olympic funnel at age 14 potentially bypassing college. Average MLS player makes between 50k-200k per year. This is assuming you make it a year in the league. If you dont make it a year you're done, go find a "real" job now. Or try getting into college and paying for it yourself. Just doesnt seem to make sense.

At least with playing for and attending a college you have something to fall back on even if its a communications or hotel/motel management degree.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

vegasguy said:


> Are you saying ECNL does not compete?  What is EA?


For girls, ECNL/DPL is the top of the pyramid.    ECNL for the boys doesnt make sense if there is a more direct path to MLS.    I expect to see more boys teams drop ECNL to go to MLS Next.


----------



## NewUser27

futboldad1 said:


> Real So Cal / LAFC Youth are staying all-in ECNL..........
> 
> No comment on Strikers.............


Interesting , is Real choosing to not go to MLS?


----------



## Dargle

NewUser27 said:


> Interesting , is Real choosing to not go to MLS?


I think Real Socal/LAFC Socal Youth is a completely separate entity from LAFC the MLS club/Academy.  Just an affiliation/license.  If that's true, then there would be no problem with one being in ECNL and the other in MLS Next.


----------



## lafalafa

Dargle said:


> I think Real Socal/LAFC Socal Youth is a completely separate entity from LAFC the MLS club/Academy. Just an affiliation/license. If that's true, then there would be no problem with one being in ECNL and the other in MLS Next.


Yes I mentioned that pages ago when somebody posted that Socal youth was rumored to be going to MLS-NEXT.   Posted that don't make any sense since they would be competing with the main club LAFC.

Socal Youth can put there top team in ECNL, 2nd is ECRL, 3rd in SoCal (DSL) league, etc.  LAFC can pickup some of their player's for MLS-NEXT teams if they think they might be a good fit.


----------



## lafalafa

As far as who's dropping from Boys ECNL SW:
RSL-AZ
Strikers

Probable but not confirmed;
Phoenix rising
LA surf

The probables don't have 1st teams in ECNL and or not doing that great overall in the league. Lots of big - GD


----------



## Palmcina

Unconfirmed but reliable source, Striker girls discussing moving to GA.  They’re looking for more control but also feel their girls can look better for scouts.  GA working hard to get them.


----------



## Speed

Palmcina said:


> Unconfirmed but reliable source, Striker girls discussing moving to GA.  They’re looking for more control but also feel their girls can look better for scouts.  GA working hard to get them.


 ECNL tryouts are occurring now


----------



## GT45

SoccerFan4Life said:


> For girls, ECNL/DPL is the top of the pyramid.    ECNL for the boys doesnt make sense if there is a more direct path to MLS.    I expect to see more boys teams drop ECNL to go to MLS Next.


YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING?! DPL??? It barely exists. It was the B league for DA clubs, and DA no longer exists. So it just floats out there on its own as a random league. ECRL and GA are competing for #2 behind ECNL in California.


----------



## Speed

SoccerFan4Life said:


> Girls Side:  1. ECNL/DA    2. FLight 1 Champion/Premier CSL    3.  Flight 1 Europa/Gold CSL    4. Flight 2 /Silver Elite & Silver   5. Flight 3 /Bronze
> 
> Boys Side:  1. MLS Next/Academy    2.  Flight 1 Champion/Premier CSL     3 Fight 1 Europa/Gold CSL,   and the flight 2, and flght 3
> 
> 
> This is an old article from 2014 but it shows the probability to make it to college soccer and to the pro's.  I would assume that if you use 2020 numbers, the odds are even more challenging.
> 
> *Soccer for Men: 412,351 boys play high school soccer in the US*
> *1* in *11* high school players will play in college
> 
> *1* in *5,355* high school players will be drafted to the MLS
> 
> *1* in *447* college players will be drafted in the MLS
> 
> *Mike Stobe/Getty Images
> Soccer for Women: 373,391 girls play high school soccer in the US*
> 
> *1* in *10* high school players will play in college
> 
> *1* in *10,316* high school players will be drafted to the NWSL
> 
> *1* in *986* college players will be drafted in the NWSL
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> __
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Statistical Breakdown Of Becoming A Professional Athlete Will Make You Keep Your Day Job
> 
> 
> Hate what you do and have a passion for athletics? Well, don't quit your day job; you probably suck at sports. Being a professional athlete is much more than just loving to play the game and trying hard. It requires a level of dedication, sacrifice…
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.elitedaily.com


not looking to go pro or even play in college. college desire may come later. Not sure if its due to COVID but champions this year was very good or very bad. very hit or miss with the teams. And discovery looked the same for this year.


----------



## Palmcina

Speed said:


> ECNL tryouts are occurring now


Change can happen fast and without notice. It’s not public info.


----------



## FernandoFromNationalCity

Palmcina said:


> Unconfirmed but reliable source, Striker girls discussing moving to GA.  They’re looking for more control but also feel their girls can look better for scouts.  GA working hard to get them.


Not true. My daughter just joined the 05’s team and there already in for next seasons Ecnl


----------



## crush

Palmcina said:


> Unconfirmed but reliable source, Striker girls discussing moving to GA.  They’re looking for more control but also feel their girls can look better for scouts.  GA working hard to get them.


Thanks for your unconfirmed and reliable source.  Look, GAL is always working hard behind the scenes trying to get clubs over.  Strikers took a big hit with the toxic war the last few years.  They had to start from scratch on the girls side because AR took his teams over to Blues two years ago.  Not easy having to start all over.  I did hear that a club came up with a bag of cash to buy many clubs in OC.  One did and it shows.  I dont know much about anything, but this much I do know, your source and my source are not the same.  I believe my reliable source is telling the truth.  We shall see....


----------



## YNWA 96

vegasguy said:


> Are you saying ECNL does not compete?  What is EA?


EA is Elite Academy League, https://eliteacademyleague.com/#s-home

It is a new league that started at the same time as MLS Next.  Several MLS Next teams are using this league for their second team if you will.  It is quickly becoming an alternative to ECNL for the boys side.


----------



## crush

Palmcina said:


> Change can happen fast and without notice. It’s not public info.


That's why I feel I am 99% right.  I was sold ECNL back in 2018-2019 season and then the next day it was switched to DPL, just like that so anything can happen in the youth soccer in socal.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

GT45 said:


> YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING?! DPL??? It barely exists. It was the B league for DA clubs, and DA no longer exists. So it just floats out there on its own as a random league. ECRL and GA are competing for #2 behind ECNL in California.


Socal yes ECNL is tops.  I dont know enough of the DPL in other parts of the country but you do see several teams in the top 20 YSR ranking that come from DPL..  For example, the 2003 age group, Las vegas sports academy (DPL) beat SoCal Blues ECRL 5-1  and Arsenal FC ECNL 2-0.


----------



## crush

SoccerFan4Life said:


> Socal yes ECNL is tops.  I dont know enough of the DPL in other parts of the country but you do see several teams in the top 20 YSR ranking that come from DPL..  For example, the 2003 age group, Las vegas sports academy (DPL) beat SoCal Blues ECRL 5-1  and Arsenal FC ECNL 2-0.


This year I would toss all wins and loses bro.  It's a complete mess and after SW Girls ECNL being the #1 Girls league in socal, it's  impossible to know who truly is worthy of "Next Best League" outside of Girls ECNL.  With Legends FC and Beach FC pledging their loyalty to Girls ECNL ((Girls Rule)), the rest have some arguments.  I do like GAL in socal as option #2 and they have teams that can beat ECNL teams on any given night.


----------



## Speed

Palmcina said:


> Change can happen fast and without notice. It’s not public info.


Yep I have been around for far too long and have seen way too much. I don't believe it will happen.


----------



## watfly

lafalafa said:


> Sent to me.
> 
> You're welcome need some sugar with that tea or a spot of milk?


Sounds like he doesn't need a pot, or kettle.


----------



## timbuck

crush said:


> That's why I feel I am 99% right.  I was sold ECNL back in 2018-2019 season and then the next day it was switched to DPL, just like that so anything can happen in the youth soccer in socal.


Slammers did the same thing a few years ago when there was the DA/ECNL debate.  Told players "We are playing DA and it will be fully funded"
A few days later, came back and said "Never mind.  We are going all ECNL.  Please send your check for $5k in the next few days."


----------



## crush

Speed said:


> Yep I have been around for far too long and have seen way too much. I don't believe it will happen.


If a club gets the boot then it hurts the kids this year and the adult men need to be held accountable for being asshats and held accountable if the bait & switch was at play.  MOO, I think my source is telling me the truth, what that he/she knows the truth to be.  I know for a fact back in the day it was a bait & switch and that was wrong.  I dudged that bullet but others did not.  Why lie is my point.  Tell the truth and all will go well for you and your team.  It's about team now and playing soccer.  If GAL it is, then it will be super funny for me and Kicker and me and Giesbock will be seeing each other at the fields.  I will buy you the first cold one bro   I actually came to peace with whatever the higher ups decide.  I will trsut the process and take my soccer discipline like the man that I am.  12 more months and its all over.  BTW, Advertising one thing and telling a dd/parent what they want to hear ((ECNL)) and then the switch a roo is bad and weak and bad things will come to those who pull this stunt again.   I will also say if your a Doc or parent spreading false lies, well then bad things will come your way too.  Stop it and just be honest for goodness sakes everyone.  Please do it for the kids.  15 months taken away and now they need to worry about what letter of league their in.  I dont think many actually care to be honest.


----------



## crush

timbuck said:


> Slammers did the same thing a few years ago when there was the DA/ECNL debate.  Told players "We are playing DA and it will be fully funded"
> A few days later, came back and said "Never mind.  We are going all ECNL.  Please send your check for $5k in the next few days."


Yesw, that happen to me.  Don't forget Mia and Magic tim buck.  Anything can happen in the wide world of socal girls soccer.  Fully funded was preached as the right to enter in the league.  Plus, you better have your own fields or your really toast.  Who gets hurt beside the parents ego for being sold a lie?  Yes, that's right.  Our dd daughters.  If you hate me, find.  Let's all come together so this doesnt happen every year.


----------



## hugyourkids

Speed said:


> Yep I have been around for far too long and have seen way too much. I don't believe it will happen.


I have to agree it doesn't seem logical. In the SW and with the addition of the top Beach and Legends teams, there is no doubt that ECNL is the top league and it would a big mistake for the Strikers to give up their girls ECNL spot. They have made a solid coaching addition and signing players to actual ECNL contracts (not just "selling" ECNL and changing it up when the contracts go out). It is a sharp drop off to ECRL in our experience. GA was better but a decline from DA and will never be able to compete for the top level after this year's consolidation into ECNL. I think it would make sense for a 2nd team to play GA instead of ECRL for better competition and maybe that is where the rumors lie.


----------



## timbuck

Would be great to have a time machine.  Go back about 7 years and tell everyone what is going to happen with youth soccer in So Cal.  Nobody would believe it.


----------



## crush

hugyourkids said:


> I have to agree it doesn't seem logical. In the SW and with the addition of the top Beach and Legends teams, there is no doubt that ECNL is the top league and it would a big mistake for the Strikers to give up their girls ECNL spot. They have made a solid coaching addition and signing players to actual ECNL contracts (not just "selling" ECNL and changing it up when the contracts go out). It is a sharp drop off to ECRL in our experience. GA was better but a decline from DA and will never be able to compete for the top level after this year's consolidation into ECNL. I think it would make sense for a 2nd team to play GA instead of ECRL for better competition and maybe that is where the rumors lie.


Excellent take.  I hugged myself today and will look to give both my kids a hug when I see them


----------



## crush

I was thinking in my brain just now and had this thought.  Maybe some clubs are spreading some misinformation because coaches are moving around as well.  ECNL is the stronger draw and some ecnl clubs in socal could use some help.  Or, your dd is 13 and you want her in a good position for the loyalty card of staying at the same club.


----------



## futboldad1

hugyourkids said:


> I have to agree it doesn't seem logical. In the SW and with the addition of the top Beach and Legends teams, there is no doubt that ECNL is the top league and it would a big mistake for the Strikers to give up their girls ECNL spot. They have made a solid coaching addition and signing players to actual ECNL contracts (not just "selling" ECNL and changing it up when the contracts go out). It is a sharp drop off to ECRL in our experience. GA was better but a decline from DA and will never be able to compete for the top level after this year's consolidation into ECNL. I think it would make sense for a 2nd team to play GA instead of ECRL for better competition and maybe that is where the rumors lie.


It not being strikers choice is the issue.......But I am sure it wont be framed that way if they do go GAL because you know club soccer marketing.......we parents get treated like we have no eyes or brains......


----------



## Speed

For us we are at the clubs we want to be at and where those teams land will be where they kids will play. I have a DD and a DS


----------



## crush

futboldad1 said:


> It not being strikers choice is the issue.......But I am sure it wont be framed that way if they do go GAL because you know club soccer marketing.......we parents get treated like we have no eyes or brains......


----------



## ToonArmy

Good choice Fernando. I know a couple families happy on that team. Very solid team too.


----------



## FernandoFromNationalCity

ToonArmy said:


> Good choice Fernando. I know a couple families happy on that team. Very solid team too.


Thanks.. my daughter is very happy and the coach is great too. First game for my daughter will be this weekend at great park and hopefully she see can be on the winning side for once lol.


----------



## crush

FernandoFromNationalCity said:


> Thanks.. my daughter is very happy and the coach is great too. First game for my daughter will be this weekend at great park and hopefully she see can be on the winning side for once lol.


Please do come by and introduce yourself if you get the chance.  I will be in the corner all alone with duct tape over my mouth.  I promised my wife I would stfu this last year and this is the only way....lol.  All kidding aside, I like forward to having a beer with you


----------



## FernandoFromNationalCity

crush said:


> Please do come by and introduce yourself if you get the chance.  I will be in the corner all alone with duct tape over my mouth.  I promised my wife I would stfu this last year and this is the only way....lol.  All kidding aside, I like forward to having a beer with you
> View attachment 10773


Will do brotha


----------



## El Clasico

hugyourkids said:


> it would a big mistake for the Strikers to give up their girls ECNL spot. They have made a solid coaching addition


What "solid" coaching addition?


----------



## GT45

SoccerFan4Life said:


> Socal yes ECNL is tops.  I dont know enough of the DPL in other parts of the country but you do see several teams in the top 20 YSR ranking that come from DPL..  For example, the 2003 age group, Las vegas sports academy (DPL) beat SoCal Blues ECRL 5-1  and Arsenal FC ECNL 2-0.


So you picked one team that won games at a SHOWCASE. That Vegas team is good. They are a random one-off team. They are not representative of DPL.


----------



## GT45

futboldad1 said:


> It not being strikers choice is the issue.......But I am sure it wont be framed that way if they do go GAL because you know club soccer marketing.......we parents get treated like we have no eyes or brains......


Why would Strikers get kicked out? They are typically in the middle if the conference. Their U19's are top 3. There are other clubs who are regularly at the bottom in most/all age groups. Strikers are a long way from one of them.


----------



## crush

GT45 said:


> Why would Strikers get kicked out? They are typically in the middle if the conference. Their U19's are top 3. There are other clubs who are regularly at the bottom in most/all age groups. Strikers are a long way from one of them.


I agree 45.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

GT45 said:


> So you picked one team that won games at a SHOWCASE. That Vegas team is good. They are a random one-off team. They are not representative of DPL.


I just glanced at the top 20 ysr teams del. 2008 to 2002.  Ecnl is clearly leading with teams in the top 20.  DPL has about 40 of the 140 teams in the top 20.   Ecnl has about 95.    ECRL has less than 5 teams in the top 20  

DPL has significantly more teams than ECRL in the top 20 girls from 2008 to 2002. 


conclusion: ECNL is top, DPL is 2nd and ECRL is way way behind in 3rd.


----------



## GT45

SoccerFan4Life said:


> I just glanced at the top 20 ysr teams del. 2008 to 2002.  Ecnl is clearly leading with teams in the top 20.  DPL has about 40 of the 140 teams in the top 20.   Ecnl has about 95.    ECRL has less than 5 teams in the top 20
> 
> DPL has significantly more teams than ECRL in the top 20 girls from 2008 to 2002.
> 
> 
> conclusion: ECNL is top, DPL is 2nd and ECRL is way way behind in 3rd.


Do you realize ECRL is just finishing its second season (the latter in which fewer games were played due to covid)? They have no history. And, how many real games did ECRL play against DPL? I am going to guess close to zero.

Those rankings are meaningless when many teams change rosters significantly year after year. And, I assume your dates are off so I won't even argue that. Ask a college coach what DPL is and they will tell you they have no idea.

I would bet that DPL will not exist in a couple of years. They are B teams to the GA clubs, yet you place them ahead of GA.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

GT45 said:


> Do you realize ECRL is just finishing its second season (the latter in which fewer games were played due to covid)? They have no history. And, how many real games did ECRL play against DPL? I am going to guess close to zero.
> 
> Those rankings are meaningless when many teams change rosters significantly year after year. And, I assume your dates are off so I won't even argue that. Ask a college coach what DPL is and they will tell you they have no idea.
> 
> I would bet that DPL will not exist in a couple of years. They are B teams to the GA clubs, yet you place them ahead of GA.


That’s my mistake and I will own it. I meant to say GA all along.  I had no clue DPL was a different tier.

Here’s a ranking of the top players from last year.  Plenty of GA players on this list.  ECNL is still better but ga is way better than ECRL.    








						Top 50 Girls Academy and ECNL players so far this season
					

Top-ranked players in the InStat Index.




					www.soccerwire.com


----------



## GT45

SoccerFan4Life said:


> That’s my mistake and I will own it. I meant to say GA all along.  I had no clue DPL was a different tier.
> 
> Here’s a ranking of the top players from last year.  Plenty of GA players on this list.  ECNL is still better but ga is way better than ECRL.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Top 50 Girls Academy and ECNL players so far this season
> 
> 
> Top-ranked players in the InStat Index.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.soccerwire.com


Again, how can you say GA is way better than ECRL when they have not even played each other? GA teams are basically riding on their DA records. But the majority of top players at many of those DA clubs are now on ECNL teams. So they are not the same GA teams as they were as DA teams. ECRL teams are generally brand new too. They don't play each other. So it would be silly after half a season for either side (GA or ECRL) to claim superiority.


----------



## sdb

SoccerFan4Life said:


> That’s my mistake and I will own it. I meant to say GA all along.  I had no clue DPL was a different tier.
> 
> Here’s a ranking of the top players from last year.  Plenty of GA players on this list.  ECNL is still better but ga is way better than ECRL.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Top 50 Girls Academy and ECNL players so far this season
> 
> 
> Top-ranked players in the InStat Index.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.soccerwire.com


InStat provides a statistical breakdown of games that are submitted to InStat by teams. So this sample of players is the top players that are on teams that submit their games to InStat and pay the fee to have games broken down.  I believe that one of GA or ECNL have an official relationship with InStat so that league will likely have submitted more games hence have more players on the list.


----------



## mlx

lafalafa said:


> Yes I mentioned that pages ago when somebody posted that Socal youth was rumored to be going to MLS-NEXT.   Posted that don't make any sense since they would be competing with the main club LAFC.
> 
> Socal Youth can put there top team in ECNL, 2nd is ECRL, 3rd in SoCal (DSL) league, etc.  LAFC can pickup some of their player's for MLS-NEXT teams if they think they might be a good fit.


LAFC is a member also of EA.  Will they put their academy “B” players there or could a Real SoCal team fill the spot?


----------



## futboldad1

GT45 said:


> Why would Strikers get kicked out? They are typically in the middle if the conference. Their U19's are top 3. There are other clubs who are regularly at the bottom in most/all age groups. Strikers are a long way from one of them.


I am not saying they should get kicked out.......but their decision to move boys is important........from performance I agree Strikers are a solid mid table club which is nothing to be ashamed of in such a strong league......the below chart shows the 19//20 season where 60% of games were played before Covid....... looking at results so far this season it seems basicaly the same in 20//21with the four underperfrming clubs still being Sharks, Eagles, Arsenal and Rebels.....obviously Real and Surf joined and are not shown below.....but Real feature around the upper middle and Surf in third


ECNL Current Standings (Based on PPG)AVG StandingsU13U14U15U16U17U18U18 CompLAFC Slammers2.42111228So Cal Blues SC3.73684311Slammers FC4.663103163LA Breakers FC6.35868494Heat FC6.3144710117Strikers FC6.6117357310Arizona Arsenal SC7.1911126642Phoenix Rising FC7.379221212No teamRebels SC7.6821110589Eagles SC7.64105121156Arsenal FC8.9125999711DMCV Sharks9.010127118105


----------



## Carlsbad7

futboldad1 said:


> I am not saying they should get kicked out.......but their decision to move boys is important........from performance I agree Strikers are a solid mid table club which is nothing to be ashamed of in such a strong league......the below chart shows the 19//20 season where 60% of games were played before Covid....... looking at results so far this season it seems basicaly the same in 20//21with the four underperfrming clubs still being Sharks, Eagles, Arsenal and Rebels.....obviously Real and Surf joined and are not shown below.....but Real feature around the upper middle and Surf in third
> 
> 
> ECNL Current Standings (Based on PPG)AVG StandingsU13U14U15U16U17U18U18 CompLAFC Slammers2.42111228So Cal Blues SC3.73684311Slammers FC4.663103163LA Breakers FC6.35868494Heat FC6.3144710117Strikers FC6.6117357310Arizona Arsenal SC7.1911126642Phoenix Rising FC7.379221212No teamRebels SC7.6821110589Eagles SC7.64105121156Arsenal FC8.9125999711DMCV Sharks9.010127118105


Why keep quoting stats that no longer apply?

Surf + Legends in ECNL,  DA is gone, Presideo is on life support, and players have moved all over the place.

The Socal soccer world has changed. Spring SCDSL has given strong hints about top teams. This fall will make everything clear regarding performance. Late fall clubs are going to move in or out of XYZ league.


----------



## lafalafa

mlx said:


> LAFC is a member also of EA.  Will they put their academy “B” players there or could a Real SoCal team fill the spot?


They are separate entities pretty sure you can just give another club membership in a league. 

Socal youth could join the EA if they wanted to but doesn't make much sense either since they seem to have everything covered in their other league memberships. 

LAFC has some larger rosters so havIng another team that some players could  get some work in the EA or for more straight calendar year squads seems like what they would do.


----------



## Messi>CR7

As far as I know, Strikers Boys ECNL and Strikers Girls ECNL are from two completely separate organizations/chapters.
-Boys:  Strikers Irvine.  Boys only club.
-Girls:  Strikers North.  In additional to ECNL girls, they also have SCDSL boys and girls.

Whatever happens on the ECNL boys side does not affect ECNL girls, and vice versa.


----------



## Carlsbad7

Messi>CR7 said:


> As far as I know, Strikers Boys ECNL and Strikers Girls ECNL are from two completely separate organizations/chapters.
> -Boys:  Strikers Irvine.  Boys only club.
> -Girls:  Strikers North.  In additional to ECNL girls, they also have SCDSL boys and girls.
> 
> Whatever happens on the ECNL boys side does not affect ECNL girls, and vice versa.


The way things are going theres a lot of incentive for clubs to split out the boys and girls into seperate entities/businesses.


----------



## futboldad1

Carlsbad7 said:


> Why keep quoting stats that no longer apply?
> 
> Surf + Legends in ECNL,  DA is gone, Presideo is on life support, and players have moved all over the place.
> 
> The Socal soccer world has changed. Spring SCDSL has given strong hints about top teams. This fall will make everything clear regarding performance. Late fall clubs are going to move in or out of XYZ league.


Why? Because most people here just speculate and talk your own opinions so it is helpful to have some actual numbers as a reference...... when I have time i will figure out updated statistics and post them but I have not had the time to redo things.....if you read my post and take emotion out of it you’ll see that via a quick spreadsheet I mocked up that the trends from 19//20 carried over into 20//21 regarding overall club performance.......I mentioned Surf averaging 3 and Real averaging about 5 or 6......two good additions to the a league that consolidated most of the talent especially with Legends and Beach now all in......

My data is for girls and I have little input on boys anymore but strikers is currently under one umbrella for girls and boys.......my input has been very accurate over the years as others will and have said.....


----------



## NewUser27

I think this thread is dedicated to the boys side right and the rumors of Strikers BOYS leaving ECNL , we aren't talking girls ...or at least it started that way , do you have data on the boys?



futboldad1 said:


> Why? Because most people here just speculate and talk your own opinions so it is helpful to have some actual numbers as a reference...... when I have time i will figure out updated statistics and post them but I have not had the time to redo things.....if you read my post and take emotion out of it you’ll see that via a quick spreadsheet I mocked up that the trends from 19//20 carried over into 20//21 regarding overall club performance.......I mentioned Surf averaging 3 and Real averaging about 5 or 6......two good additions to the a league that consolidated most of the talent especially with Legends and Beach now all in......
> 
> My data is for girls and I have little input on boys anymore but strikers is currently under one umbrella for girls and boys.......my input has been very accurate over the years as others will and have said.....


----------



## futboldad1

NewUser27 said:


> I think this thread is dedicated to the boys side right and the rumors of Strikers BOYS leaving ECNL , we aren't talking girls ...or at least it started that way , do you have data on the boys?


my bad, it is hard to keep up with the exact topic given much cross posting there is on the forum and each thread....... for boys the Strikers are very good, only their BU17 are in the bottom half........I think MLS Next for them makes sense.......


----------



## GT45

futboldad1 said:


> I am not saying they should get kicked out.......but their decision to move boys is important........from performance I agree Strikers are a solid mid table club which is nothing to be ashamed of in such a strong league......the below chart shows the 19//20 season where 60% of games were played before Covid....... looking at results so far this season it seems basicaly the same in 20//21with the four underperfrming clubs still being Sharks, Eagles, Arsenal and Rebels.....obviously Real and Surf joined and are not shown below.....but Real feature around the upper middle and Surf in third
> 
> 
> ECNL Current Standings (Based on PPG)AVG StandingsU13U14U15U16U17U18U18 CompLAFC Slammers2.42111228So Cal Blues SC3.73684311Slammers FC4.663103163LA Breakers FC6.35868494Heat FC6.3144710117Strikers FC6.6117357310Arizona Arsenal SC7.1911126642Phoenix Rising FC7.379221212No teamRebels SC7.6821110589Eagles SC7.64105121156Arsenal FC8.9125999711DMCV Sharks9.010127118105


Strikers boys and girls have always been under the same umbrella, but they have always operated separately. Girls have been founding members of ECNL. Boys were DA, and only did ECNL last year, and are now leaving. What one does has no bearing on the other.


----------



## Sunil Illuminati

GT45 said:


> Strikers boys and girls have always been under the same umbrella, but they have always operated separately. Girls have been founding members of ECNL. Boys were DA, and only did ECNL last year, and are now leaving. What one does has no bearing on the other.


Not strictly true. At the end of the day the league has the power to make a decision that is out of any club's hands.


----------



## GT45

Sunil Illuminati said:


> Not strictly true. At the end of the day the league has the power to make a decision that is out of any club's hands.


Of course they do. But there are many clubs with only one gender in ECNL. Why would they pick on one club? Strikers are a solid ECNL club on the girls side. There are clubs who struggle in girls ECNL. They are not one of them. Strikers girls are also founding members of ECNL. I imagine that carries some weight.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

GT45 said:


> Of course they do. But there are many clubs with only one gender in ECNL. Why would they pick on one club? Strikers are a solid ECNL club on the girls side. There are clubs who struggle in girls ECNL. They are not one of them. Strikers girls are also founding members of ECNL. I imagine that carries some weight.


If you take a look back 5 years ago or less, there was no ECNL for boys.  I could be wrong but the ECNL experiment is relatively new on the boys side.  MLS next for the boys and ECNL for the girls is more than likely the trend moving forward.


----------



## JPS

SoccerFan4Life said:


> If you take a look back 5 years ago or less, there was no ECNL for boys.  I could be wrong but the ECNL experiment is relatively new on the boys side.  MLS next for the boys and ECNL for the girls is more than likely the trend moving forward.


According to you ECNL boys has been around for 5 years. MLS Next will have it's second year coming up. How do you know that MLS Next is the likely trend for boys? Nobody could predict even DA going out. MLS Next league is dependent on LA Galaxy & LAFC staying on. Otherwise 80% of the teams in it are sub-par. On the other hand ECNL at least has some pedigree and structure. Who knows. Time will tell.


----------



## NewUser27

JPS said:


> According to you ECNL boys has been around for 5 years. MLS Next will have it's second year coming up. How do you know that MLS Next is the likely trend for boys? Nobody could predict even DA going out. MLS Next league is dependent on LA Galaxy & LAFC staying on. Otherwise 80% of the teams in it are sub-par. On the other hand ECNL at least has some pedigree and structure. Who knows. Time will tell.


I agree with this statement, with our club going MLS next I will be able to tell you in quick time what I think is better.  Kinda not too enthusiastic about the move right now, its great to play some MLS teams but other teams are kinda not too exciting....


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

JPS said:


> According to you ECNL boys has been around for 5 years. MLS Next will have it's second year coming up. How do you know that MLS Next is the likely trend for boys? Nobody could predict even DA going out. MLS Next league is dependent on LA Galaxy & LAFC staying on. Otherwise 80% of the teams in it are sub-par. On the other hand ECNL at least has some pedigree and structure. Who knows. Time will tell.


So, why did Strikers FC opt out out ECNL Boys to go to MLS next???   Why do you think ECNL is the answer for boys soccer?


----------



## JPS

SoccerFan4Life said:


> So, why did Strikers FC opt out out ECNL Boys to go to MLS next???   Why do you think ECNL is the answer for boys soccer?


I don't know the answer to either question. Are there any other current ECNL boys team that's switching leagues other than Strikers?
Also, I hear that LAFC and LA Galaxy won't participate in upcoming MLS Next League in 06 and older groups. I guess we will find out soon.


----------



## vegasguy

What should happen is USL and MLS create an Academy League and ECNL should run their league.  This gives the academy regional opportunities (Lights, Galaxy, LAFC Loyal, Phoenix Rising, OC, and so on).  Win your region and play in a National Championship Tournament.  ECNL is their league.  Now clubs like strikers and surf may not like this but if ECNL  continues their championship platform it would survive.  Their would still be the argument of the better league but both would still draw college coaches.


----------



## BIGD

JPS said:


> Also, I hear that LAFC and LA Galaxy won't participate in upcoming MLS Next League in 06 and older groups. I guess we will find out soon.


Who would the 06-03 teams play?  Or are you suggesting they aren’t going to maintain teams at those age groups?


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

JPS said:


> I don't know the answer to either question. Are there any other current ECNL boys team that's switching leagues other than Strikers?
> Also, I hear that LAFC and LA Galaxy won't participate in upcoming MLS Next League in 06 and older groups. I guess we will find out soon.


all I know is that this upcoming tournament sounds very appealing to top boys teams. Looks like MLS next had 130 clubs. That’s definitely a statement of growth.









						Rising Talent of MLS NEXT Set to Compete in Dallas Area This Summer |  Real Salt Lake
					

Rising Talent of MLS NEXT




					www.rsl.com


----------



## JPS

BIGD said:


> Who would the 06-03 teams play?  Or are you suggesting they aren’t going to maintain teams at those age groups?


Their U17 team will be playing in their own league with other MLS clubs around the country. They won't have a U16.


----------



## JPS

vegasguy said:


> What should happen is USL and MLS create an Academy League and ECNL should run their league.  This gives the academy regional opportunities (Lights, Galaxy, LAFC Loyal, Phoenix Rising, OC, and so on).  Win your region and play in a National Championship Tournament.  ECNL is their league.  Now clubs like strikers and surf may not like this but if ECNL  continues their championship platform it would survive.  Their would still be the argument of the better league but both would still draw college coaches.


I haven't heard anything about Surf leaving ECNL. Have you? I thought it was only Strikers.


----------



## vegasguy

JPS said:


> I haven't heard anything about Surf leaving ECNL. Have you? I thought it was only Strikers.


No.  I know that they have a relationship with Loyal and a few players are playing at Surf and Loyal.  Surf's U19 were solid.


----------



## PracticeWYpreach

On the girls side doesn't Surf have teams in GA and ECNL? How are they able to do that if we are hearing each league only wants the top team?


----------



## Kicker4Life

PracticeWYpreach said:


> On the girls side doesn't Surf have teams in GA and ECNL? How are they able to do that if we are hearing each league only wants the top team?


No, SD Surf does not have teams in GA.


----------



## PracticeWYpreach

Kicker4Life said:


> No, SD Surf does not have teams in GA.


So LA Surf and SD Surf are two separate entities?


----------



## Kicker4Life

PracticeWYpreach said:


> So LA Surf and SD Surf are two separate entities?


 Very much so….ALL other “Surf” clubs are essentially franchises of SD Surf and run autonomously.


----------



## JPS

SoccerFan4Life said:


> all I know is that this upcoming tournament sounds very appealing to top boys teams. Looks like MLS next had 130 clubs. That’s definitely a statement of growth.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Rising Talent of MLS NEXT Set to Compete in Dallas Area This Summer |  Real Salt Lake
> 
> 
> Rising Talent of MLS NEXT
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.rsl.com


MLS Next league may not be here Next year. It may fold. The fabric of it is very unstable


----------



## BIGD

JPS said:


> MLS Next league may not be here Next year. It may fold. The fabric of it is very unstable


Where did you get this information?  Is this your personal opinion or from a legitimate source (Surf parent/coach doesn't count as a legitimate source)?


----------



## watfly

BIGD said:


> Where did you get this information?  Is this your personal opinion or from a legitimate source (Surf parent/coach doesn't count as a legitimate source)?


Ironically, there are fair number of parents on the boys side at SD Surf that are complaining they are in ECNL, and not MLS Next.


----------



## vegasguy

watfly said:


> Ironically, there are fair number of parents on the boys side at SD Surf that are complaining they are in ECNL, and not MLS Next.



They are not head and shoulders the top half of ECNL.  So their complaints may be ego driven.  Just my opinion.


----------



## watfly

vegasguy said:


> So their complaints may be ego driven.


No way.     Seems to be the complaining is more common from they parents of the kids on the younger end of ECNL.


----------



## Sunil Illuminati

BIGD said:


> Where did you get this information?  Is this your personal opinion or from a legitimate source (Surf parent/coach doesn't count as a legitimate source)?


An MLS Club might be one of the few clubs Surf hasn't tried to franchise yet. Although there's still time and their revenue trajectory is heading in the right direction.


----------



## keeprunning

Youth Soccer is f$cking crazy.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

watfly said:


> Ironically, there are fair number of parents on the boys side at SD Surf that are complaining they are in ECNL, and not MLS Next.


FC Dallas is making tons of money on their academy graduates. More and more mls teams need to see the value of youth player development.   The market for young American players is very hot right now and the Europeans will be looking at mls academies rather than an ECNL boys program.
Girls is different and ECNL is a great path for their development.


----------



## Speed

keeprunning said:


> Youth Soccer is f$cking crazy.


best and truest comment on this board ever.


----------



## JPS

BIGD said:


> Where did you get this information?  Is this your personal opinion or from a legitimate source (Surf parent/coach doesn't count as a legitimate source)?


It's very difficult for a new league to take roots in the current environment of constant changes. The dynamics of youth Soccer and especially MLS academies keep changing in post Covid times. I seriously doubt we have seen the last of these changes after everything that happened the last 15 months.


----------



## Goforgoal

I miss the days when we played in whatever league was available in our neighborhood, rode our bikes to practices and games and drank from the hose when we got home to hydrate.


----------



## supercell

Goforgoal said:


> I miss the days when we played in whatever league was available in our neighborhood, rode our bikes to practices and games and drank from the hose when we got home to hydrate.


Those were the days alright, and I'm sad to say they are gone forever. And yet, I wonder if your young self back then could see into the future the way it is now (from a kid's perspective), what would they choose.  Most of the discontent is centered at the parent's level, not the kids.


----------



## vegasguy

SoccerFan4Life said:


> FC Dallas is making tons of money on their academy graduates. More and more mls teams need to see the value of youth player development.   The market for young American players is very hot right now and the Europeans will be looking at mls academies rather than an ECNL boys program.
> Girls is different and ECNL is a great path for their development.



Clubs like Surf or Albion would receive zero dollars from a Euro club if a player is picked up by a Euro Club.  See DeAndre Yedlin.  An even better example is Pulisic.


----------



## Dargle

vegasguy said:


> Clubs like Surf or Albion would receive zero dollars from a Euro club if a player is picked up by a Euro Club.  See DeAndre Yedlin.  An even better example is Pulisic.


Actually, Crossfire won its case before FIFA that it deserved solidarity payment for Yedlin, but the problem was that FIFA agreed that Tottenham had already paid the solidarity payment to MLS and so Crossfire will have to sue MLS to get it.  The question is what happens on the next case, where the youth clubs know to get in their claims alongside MLS in a timely fashion and the buying clubs are on notice that only paying MLS is not sufficient.

Pulisic's club, Penn Classics, announced that it would not be seeking training compensation or solidarity payment for Pulisic.  Instead, Pulisic recently donated a brand new training pitch to the team.  


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1385413101579902978


----------



## LASTMAN14

Dargle said:


> Actually, Crossfire won its case before FIFA that it deserved solidarity payment for Yedlin, but the problem was that FIFA agreed that Tottenham had already paid the solidarity payment to MLS and so Crossfire will have to sue MLS to get it.  The question is what happens on the next case, where the youth clubs know to get in their claims alongside MLS in a timely fashion and the buying clubs are on notice that only paying MLS is not sufficient.
> 
> Pulisic's club, Penn Classics, announced that it would not be seeking training compensation or solidarity payment for Pulisic.  Instead, Pulisic recently donated a brand new training pitch to the team.
> 
> 
> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1385413101579902978


 Very cool. I knew I liked him.


----------



## Carlsbad7

Interesting that Pulisic specifically called out "small sided training facility" in his donation. 

Wallball, Futsal, Arena, etc whatever you call it is the way to engage young players and set them up for future success on a full field.


----------



## lafalafa

Dargle said:


> Actually, Crossfire won its case before FIFA that it deserved solidarity payment for Yedlin, but the problem was that FIFA agreed that Tottenham had already paid the solidarity payment to MLS and so Crossfire will have to sue MLS to get it.  The question is what happens on the next case, where the youth clubs know to get in their claims alongside MLS in a timely fashion and the buying clubs are on notice that only paying MLS is not sufficient.
> 
> Pulisic's club, Penn Classics, announced that it would not be seeking training compensation or solidarity payment for Pulisic.  Instead, Pulisic recently donated a brand new training pitch to the team.
> 
> 
> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1385413101579902978


Youth clubs are not getting a slice of the pie. 

Even when a MLS club get some transfer fees they are sharing some of those with the single entity franchise owners.

FC Dallas spendt(s) millions on DA and others programs each year and the net effect is there not making 'tons' when the sell a few players  to euro clubs.  I would be surprised if they even made any $ over the last 6 years on what they spent on youth  vs what they received in transfer or other funds for those players.


----------



## vegasguy

Dargle said:


> Actually, Crossfire won its case before FIFA that it deserved solidarity payment for Yedlin, but the problem was that FIFA agreed that Tottenham had already paid the solidarity payment to MLS and so Crossfire will have to sue MLS to get it.  The question is what happens on the next case, where the youth clubs know to get in their claims alongside MLS in a timely fashion and the buying clubs are on notice that only paying MLS is not sufficient.
> 
> Pulisic's club, Penn Classics, announced that it would not be seeking training compensation or solidarity payment for Pulisic.  Instead, Pulisic recently donated a brand new training pitch to the team.
> 
> 
> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1385413101579902978



First Dortmund was not going to ever pay Pulisic's you club anything.  There is a case America that precludes MLS from paying solidarity payments to amateur clubs.  MLS hangs their hat on this and because it is a closed league believe that FIFA do not have jurisdiction.  If Danny Leyva at Sounders gets transferred to Getafe do not expect Getafe to pay Heat FC in Vegas or the Sounders to pay anything for that matter.


----------



## Dargle

vegasguy said:


> First Dortmund was not going to ever pay Pulisic's you club anything.  There is a case America that precludes MLS from paying solidarity payments to amateur clubs.  MLS hangs their hat on this and because it is a closed league believe that FIFA do not have jurisdiction.  If Danny Leyva at Sounders gets transferred to Getafe do not expect Getafe to pay Heat FC in Vegas or the Sounders to pay anything for that matter.


Dortmund is a different situation.  That would have only been training compensation, which is a very small sum in comparison, and the signing occurred before the Yedlin case was decided.  Pulisic's move to Chelsea was the big money move since it involved solidarity payment based on a second move for a transfer fee and that was where Classics was asked about whether it would apply for a share of his fee.  The amount of solidarity payment is a fixed percentage.  The payer doesn't pay more or less if there are fewer or more clubs dividing it up, so it wouldn't have bothered them.  The reason Tottenham was contesting the Crossfire application is because it would have been an additional amount and they had already paid their full required fee to MLS.

If Levya left, it wouldn't be Sounders who would pay Heat (there is no system for domestic SP/TC in the US and many other countries anyway) it would be Getafe if Heat would have to put in a timely claim. The biggest problem wouldn't be a legal case. There was a case filed by some youth clubs seeking a declaratory judgment that would prevent the MLS players' union from contesting solidarity payments on antitrust grounds, which was ultimately dismissed on jurisdictional grounds to be refiled likely in NY rather than Houston, TX, but that wouldn't prevent this.  The biggest question is whether US Soccer would support it, but because MLS has recently come out in favor and no longer opposes it, I suspect US Soccer wouldn't stand in the way if Heat put in a claim and was awarded the money.  The biggest problem for Heat would be the player passport.  Most of the claims for solidarity payment or training compensation worldwide that are rejected are because the player passport, which tracks a players' club playing history, is incomplete or inadequate.  Leyva's playing career with the Sounders Academy is well documented and available on the still up USSDA website, but it would probably be difficult to establish he played for anyone else starting at age 12 (no TC or SP before then under FIFA rules).


----------



## Kante

Dargle said:


> Actually, Crossfire won its case before FIFA that it deserved solidarity payment for Yedlin, but the problem was that FIFA agreed that Tottenham had already paid the solidarity payment to MLS and so Crossfire will have to sue MLS to get it.  The question is what happens on the next case, where the youth clubs know to get in their claims alongside MLS in a timely fashion and the buying clubs are on notice that only paying MLS is not sufficient.
> 
> Pulisic's club, Penn Classics, announced that it would not be seeking training compensation or solidarity payment for Pulisic.  Instead, Pulisic recently donated a brand new training pitch to the team.
> 
> 
> __ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1385413101579902978


Good on CP for giving some back. Wasn't aware of that. 

However. 

Impt to remember that when PA Classics announced they wouldn't seek comp for Pulisic, estimated by most to be btw $500k - $1m, it was a controversial decision. 

Xfire was actively advocating/litigating on the Yedlin issue, with US Soccer and MLS on the other side of the issue, and PA Classics seeking comp for Pulisic would have been really problematic for US Soccer/MLS. 

About three months after PA Classics announced publicly they wouldn't seek comp - with PA Classics DOC Steve Klein taking the public lead stating (almost verbatim) several US Soccer/ML talking points against solidarity comp as the PA Classics rationale - Klein was appointed by US Soccer to be the u15 YNT head coach for what was essentially the 2019 cycle.

For context, when Klein was appointed, PA Classics had one of the worst collective team win-loss records across all age groups in the whole USSDA (about 100-ish clubs).

Will leave it to others to infer or not infer causality.


----------



## Kante

Kante said:


> Good on CP for giving some back. Wasn't aware of that.
> 
> However.
> 
> Impt to remember that when PA Classics announced they wouldn't seek comp for Pulisic, estimated by most to be btw $500k - $1m, it was a controversial decision.
> 
> Xfire was actively advocating/litigating on the Yedlin issue, with US Soccer and MLS on the other side of the issue, and PA Classics seeking comp for Pulisic would have been really problematic for US Soccer/MLS.
> 
> About three months after PA Classics announced publicly they wouldn't seek comp - with PA Classics DOC Steve Klein taking the public lead stating (almost verbatim) several US Soccer/ML talking points against solidarity comp as the PA Classics rationale - Klein was appointed by US Soccer to be the u15 YNT head coach for what was essentially the 2019 cycle.
> 
> For context, when Klein was appointed, PA Classics had one of the worst collective team win-loss records across all age groups in the whole USSDA (about 100-ish clubs).
> 
> Will leave it to others to infer or not infer causality.


One of the ramifications of the ridiculousness from US Soccer/MLS on training/solidarity payments is that clubs across the US have been deprived of millions in funding, and thousands of kids have had less opportunity over the years as a result.


----------



## mlx

So, I think we can now confirm that LA Surf is out of ECNL/RL. They will only have MLS Next and EAL team next season.


----------



## keeprunning

mlx said:


> So, I think we can now confirm that LA Surf is out of ECNL/RL. They will only have MLS Next and EAL team next season.


DPL?


----------



## Dargle

keeprunning said:


> DPL?


I think that post was just referring to the boys side.  GA and DPL are on the girls side.


----------



## galaxydad

Heard a rumor that Strikers lost all their ECNL girls teams due to pulling out of the boys side and that will happen to any other DA programs that want to make the jump


----------



## El Clasico

galaxydad said:


> Heard a rumor that Strikers lost all their ECNL girls teams due to pulling out of the boys side and that will happen to any other DA programs that want to make the jump


What DA programs?


----------



## JPS

galaxydad said:


> Heard a rumor that Strikers lost all their ECNL girls teams due to pulling out of the boys side and that will happen to any other DA programs that want to make the jump


What girls team? Irvine Strikers don't have any girls team


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

galaxydad said:


> Heard a rumor that Strikers lost all their ECNL girls teams due to pulling out of the boys side and that will happen to any other DA programs that want to make the jump


Sounds like a false rumor.  
Strikers ECNL G06 played a tournament last week in the East coast.


----------



## FernandoFromNationalCity

SoccerFan4Life said:


> Sounds like a false rumor.
> Strikers ECNL G06 played a tournament last week in the East coast.


The 05’s also did too. They’re also getting ready for ECNL playoffs in Florida. So sounds pretty false to me as well.


----------



## Keepermom2

galaxydad said:


> Heard a rumor that Strikers lost all their ECNL girls teams due to pulling out of the boys side and that will happen to any other DA programs that want to make the jump


I guess ECNL hasn't heard that rumor.


----------



## 46n2

JPS said:


> What girls team? Irvine Strikers don't have any girls team


technically theres a striker irvine girls team, but their not governed by the strikers irvine.  Don does not have anything to do with the team.


----------



## galaxydad

Rumor is for the coming season


----------



## Willie

galaxydad said:


> Rumor is for the coming season


Are they gone for sure?


----------



## Lodan36

I wonder if it's true..that the coaches would know by now..


----------



## crush




----------



## SoccerFan4Life

galaxydad said:


> Rumor is for the coming season


 So  first ECNL decides to not include west coast into the program when they moved to DA.    They also last year didn’t include legends and beach.   

Now you are saying that they want to punish strikers for moving to mls next (which makes sense for the boys). 

If this is true, I would ask the president and board members to be fired.   Sounds like a bunch of idiots running the show.


----------



## crush

SoccerFan4Life said:


> So  first ECNL decides to not include west coast into the program when they moved to DA.    They also last year didn’t include legends and beach.
> 
> Now you are saying that they want to punish strikers for moving to mls next (which makes sense for the boys).
> 
> If this is true, I would ask the president and board members to be fired.   Sounds like a bunch of idiots running the show.


Bro, nothing surprises me after 11 years of socal soccer and the toxic wars going on every year for supreme power.  Of course, the kids get the short end of the stick because grown men are whacked!!!  Rumor mill becomes fact sometimes so anything is possible with this big bomb.  When my kid was 8th grade and had to make HSS #1 over GDA.  She got sold by Doc one league and then the next day it was DPL.  Did the Doc know when he sold her ECNL that they would be DPL that week?  I have no idea......  So my kid and many kids made the decision to go for U19 ECNL for 2021/2022.  If they get the boot because of what the rumor mill is, then well we have to play Giesbocks team.  It will make GA stronger....lol.  WTF, I dont care anymore.  Seriously, let the kids play some freaking soccer games.  This is insane.  I will say my dd would be tripping out if this rumor goes down so I will wait until this is confirmed or denied.  Lot's of recruiting going on I hear to so anything is possible.


----------



## Giesbock

crush said:


> Bro, nothing surprises me after 11 years of socal soccer and the toxic wars going on every year for supreme power.  Of course, the kids get the short end of the stick because grown men are whacked!!!  Rumor mill becomes fact sometimes so anything is possible with this big bomb.  When my kid was 8th grade and had to make HSS #1 over GDA.  She got sold by Doc one league and then the next day it was DPL.  Did the Doc know when he sold her ECNL that they would be DPL that week?  I have no idea......  So my kid and many kids made the decision to go for U19 ECNL for 2021/2022.  If they get the boot because of what the rumor mill is, then well we have to play Giesbocks team.  It will make GA stronger....lol.  WTF, I dont care anymore.  Seriously, let the kids play some freaking soccer games.  This is insane.  I will say my dd would be tripping out if this rumor goes down so I will wait until this is confirmed or denied.  Lot's of recruiting going on I hear to so anything is possible.


You mean* get* to play Giesbock’s team? .

Seriously, if your daughter plays for U19 strikers, I hope this rumor is not true cause I don’t think your family deserves to go through another bait and switch.


----------



## crush

Giesbock said:


> You mean* get* to play Giesbock’s team? .
> 
> Seriously, if your daughter plays for U19 strikers, I hope this rumor is not true cause I don’t think your family deserves to go through another bait and switch.


You know what, things happen.  Sometimes good people are stuck in the middle and get lied to all the time or taken advantage of.  Of course it's my fault for being taken advantage....lol!  All I can say is this youth soccer is serious business man.  I checked Google and asked the following and @timbuck came up with some advice.  Key phrase, "make sure they are getting playing time."  Congrats bro on making top search on Google 



I did what he told me to do and so did many other kids.  Let's all just relax and see what unfolds.  I do appreciate the kindness bro.  I can handle it but my dd will be pissed off 100% and I will just have her talk with the higher ups about what happenned and why the last minute switch.  Again, this is IF rumor mill is correct.  Anyway, after the cooling off period, you and I will meet up for the big bet for our kids head to head games.  Sorry Hound, no bet with you I guess.  I do owe you a few beers.


----------



## soccer dude

SoccerFan4Life said:


> So  first ECNL decides to not include west coast into the program when they moved to DA.    They also last year didn’t include legends and beach.
> 
> Now you are saying that they want to punish strikers for moving to mls next (which makes sense for the boys).
> 
> If this is true, I would ask the president and board members to be fired.   Sounds like a bunch of idiots running the show.


I also think don't understand what ECNL is doing.  They're ruining the recruiting process for the girls.  I'm part of Legends and we had to send our top 04 team to play in the crappy ECRL league just to qualify.  Beach had to do the same thing.  So, Beach and Legends destroyed all the "B" teams just to qualify (which they did) ?  WTF.  A whole year wasted for these girls.  I have a simple solution ECNL.  Just put the best clubs in ECNL and stop with the games.  Why give GA any leverage to say they're the best?   I can almost guarantee that any team in GA that is offered an ECNL spot would take it in a heartbeat.  Legends and Beach (if I may speak for Beach) would have jumped at this last year so these girls could be playing against other worthy opponents.   If ECNL just followed my one simple solution, GA would probably fold and ECNL could retain its top league status which I think we all want right?  I mean why haven't Pats, LA Galaxy, Utah Royals and City been offered ECNL spots?  Hoping ECNL pulls their heads out their you know what.


----------



## LASTMAN14

L


soccer dude said:


> I also think don't understand what ECNL is doing.  They're ruining the recruiting process for the girls.  I'm part of Legends and we had to send our top 04 team to play in the crappy ECRL league just to qualify.  Beach had to do the same thing.  So, Beach and Legends destroyed all the "B" teams just to qualify (which they did) ?  WTF.  A whole year wasted for these girls.  I have a simple solution ECNL.  Just put the best clubs in ECNL and stop with the games.  Why give GA any leverage to say they're the best?   I can almost guarantee that any team in GA that is offered an ECNL spot would take it in a heartbeat.  Legends and Beach (if I may speak for Beach) would have jumped at this last year so these girls could be playing against other worthy opponents.   If ECNL just followed my one simple solution, GA would probably fold and ECNL could retain its top league status which I think we all want right?  I mean why haven't Pats, LA Galaxy, Utah Royals and City been offered ECNL spots?  Hoping ECNL pulls their heads out their you know what.


LA Galaxy no longer has a girls program.


----------



## what-happened

soccer dude said:


> I also think don't understand what ECNL is doing.  They're ruining the recruiting process for the girls.  I'm part of Legends and we had to send our top 04 team to play in the crappy ECRL league just to qualify.  Beach had to do the same thing.  So, Beach and Legends destroyed all the "B" teams just to qualify (which they did) ?  WTF.  A whole year wasted for these girls.  I have a simple solution ECNL.  Just put the best clubs in ECNL and stop with the games.  Why give GA any leverage to say they're the best?   I can almost guarantee that any team in GA that is offered an ECNL spot would take it in a heartbeat.  Legends and Beach (if I may speak for Beach) would have jumped at this last year so these girls could be playing against other worthy opponents.   If ECNL just followed my one simple solution, GA would probably fold and ECNL could retain its top league status which I think we all want right?  I mean why haven't Pats, LA Galaxy, Utah Royals and City been offered ECNL spots?  Hoping ECNL pulls their heads out their you know what.


LA Galaxy no longer exists and Royals are in.  Many would argue the Royals aren't even the best club in AZ.  But they are better than the other two AZ clubs currently in AZ

There is room for both, almost has to be.  There is enough talent in CA that girls from GA and ECNL will move on to D1/D2/D3/NAIA etc, etc.  schools.  I won't argue that ECNL consists of the top CA clubs.  There aren't enough roster slots available for all of the top talent in CA to play in these top clubs, thus the GA.  They have the platform, the connections, and the clout to access coaches, YNT staff/scouts ETC.    Will the GA stick around?  who knows.  They've done well during this weird year.  Do they carry the clout in CA (at least in parent's eyes), not yet, maybe never.  Will they place girls in college.  Yep.  Will they get YNT looks, yep.

Find a club in either league that your kid can play consistently on, find a coach with a track record of placement and you will be fine.  The first day of college preseason, no one is talking about what league they were in.

Besides, I think it's silly that CA even has to be in ECNL.  You guys are your own league.  Just play each other, drive down the street, get in a good game, have coaches in attendence, and call it a day.  Why drive to AZ or Vegas?  I know it's not that simple but many would agree that minimizing travel is a good thing....keeping down costs expands the talent net.


----------



## Keepermom2

galaxydad said:


> Rumor is for the coming season


The picture I posted above is for the 2021/2022 season.  Look at the URL  In addition, they have been holding tryouts for the 2021/2022 season.


----------



## soccer dude

what-happened said:


> LA Galaxy no longer exists and Royals are in.  Many would argue the Royals aren't even the best club in AZ.  But they are better than the other two AZ clubs currently in AZ
> 
> There is room for both, almost has to be.  There is enough talent in CA that girls from GA and ECNL will move on to D1/D2/D3/NAIA etc, etc.  schools.  I won't argue that ECNL consists of the top CA clubs.  There aren't enough roster slots available for all of the top talent in CA to play in these top clubs, thus the GA.  They have the platform, the connections, and the clout to access coaches, YNT staff/scouts ETC.    Will the GA stick around?  who knows.  They've done well during this weird year.  Do they carry the clout in CA (at least in parent's eyes), not yet, maybe never.  Will they place girls in college.  Yep.  Will they get YNT looks, yep.
> 
> Find a club in either league that your kid can play consistently on, find a coach with a track record of placement and you will be fine.  The first day of college preseason, no one is talking about what league they were in.
> 
> Besides, I think it's silly that CA even has to be in ECNL.  You guys are your own league.  Just play each other, drive down the street, get in a good game, have coaches in attendence, and call it a day.  Why drive to AZ or Vegas?  I know it's not that simple but many would agree that minimizing travel is a good thing....keeping down costs expands the talent net.


Yeah, my bad on LA Galaxy.  We played City which I believe came from LA Galaxy so I over generalized.  Yes, good point here.  I wish we could have ECNL just stay in CA to cut down expenses.  One can wish.


----------



## Glitterhater

what-happened said:


> LA Galaxy no longer exists and Royals are in.  Many would argue the Royals aren't even the best club in AZ.  But they are better than the other two AZ clubs currently in AZ
> 
> There is room for both, almost has to be.  There is enough talent in CA that girls from GA and ECNL will move on to D1/D2/D3/NAIA etc, etc.  schools.  I won't argue that ECNL consists of the top CA clubs.  There aren't enough roster slots available for all of the top talent in CA to play in these top clubs, thus the GA.  They have the platform, the connections, and the clout to access coaches, YNT staff/scouts ETC.    Will the GA stick around?  who knows.  They've done well during this weird year.  Do they carry the clout in CA (at least in parent's eyes), not yet, maybe never.  Will they place girls in college.  Yep.  Will they get YNT looks, yep.
> 
> Find a club in either league that your kid can play consistently on, find a coach with a track record of placement and you will be fine.  The first day of college preseason, no one is talking about what league they were in.
> 
> Besides, I think it's silly that CA even has to be in ECNL.  You guys are your own league.  Just play each other, drive down the street, get in a good game, have coaches in attendence, and call it a day.  Why drive to AZ or Vegas?  I know it's not that simple but many would agree that minimizing travel is a good thing....keeping down costs expands the talent net.


This is one of the most level-headed things I've read on here!


----------



## eric

As far as I know, most of the striker's girl ECNL teams rosters are set for next season. ECNL has to at least let them play out the next season,


----------



## Calikid

My understanding is the 06 team has not even held official tryouts yet. The coach Estaban Chaves is waiting till after Florida. Feel bad for thegirls that are not invited back, they will have a hard time finding a high level team this late in the tryout process.


----------



## eric

That only means he is not going to drop girls. It is hard to replace girls at this point. That team is doing pretty decent in ECNL.


----------



## Calikid

eric said:


> That only means he is not going to drop girls. It is hard to replace girls at this point. That team is doing pretty decent in ECNL.


I dont think so. He has specifically told his team that many of his former players have contacted him and wish to come back. That open tryouts will be immediately after Florida.


----------



## RedCard

Calikid said:


> I dont think so. He has specifically told his team that many of his former players have contacted him and wish to come back. That open tryouts will be immediately after Florida.


That's quite different than his 05 ECRL team where 10 players left since the start of the season....


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

Calikid said:


> I dont think so. He has specifically told his team that many of his former players have contacted him and wish to come back. That open tryouts will be immediately after Florida.


If his former players wish to come back, are they currently out of ECNL?  By now most ECNL players  have been locked and deposits paid.   I could see there being a few spots open but when you use the word “many”, sounds like he would be revamping his current team.  
 I still see a bunch of ECRL teams advertising for players but not too many ECNL teams doing the same.


----------



## Calikid

SoccerFan4Life said:


> If his former players wish to come back, are they currently out of ECNL?  By now most ECNL players  have been locked and deposits paid.   I could see there being a few spots open but when you use the word “many”, sounds like he would be revamping his current team.
> I still see a bunch of ECRL teams advertising for players but not too many ECNL teams doing the same.



Just found out that Chavez  notified quite a few girl that they were cut. Strange to do it right before Florida playoffs. Not the best move for team morale.


----------



## Lodan36

Any new news of strikers ecnl girls leaving?


----------



## galaxydad

What I heard was Strikers boys left ECNL. ECNL said the former DA teams had a verbal to commit long term to the ECNL platform. Strikers after only a Covid year left so ECNL informed Strikers their girls teams were no longer welcome.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

galaxydad said:


> What I heard was Strikers boys left ECNL. ECNL said the former DA teams had a verbal to commit long term to the ECNL platform. Strikers after only a Covid year left so ECNL informed Strikers their girls teams were no longer welcome.


I wouldn’t be surprised to expect the ECNL mafia leadership  to put pressure on strikers FC.   MLS Next will continue to grow in importance for the boys side.  I expect to see more boys teams leaving ECNL.      My friend has a son in a top ECNL team (04 or 05). He told me that his team recently played a college showcase and he only saw 2 college scouts at that showcase.     The logic doesn’t add up for ECNL boys program. This program will get watered down very quickly.


----------



## crush

SoccerFan4Life said:


> I wouldn’t be surprised to expect the ECNL mafia leadership  to put pressure on strikers FC.   MLS Next will continue to grow in importance for the boys side.  I expect to see more boys teams leaving ECNL.      My friend has a son in a top ECNL team (04 or 05). He told me that his team recently played a college showcase and he only saw 2 college scouts at that showcase.     The logic doesn’t add up for ECNL boys program. This program will get watered down very quickly.


I heard for this upcoming 2021/2022 ECNL/ECRL season, Strikers FC Girls are still a proud founding member.  It would be interesting to say the least if the Strikers girls were told, "Hey girls, your boys teams bailed on our boys league and their is a price to be paid if your not loyal to the Man.  See ya, you're not welcomed here anymore.  Get your things and get lost."  If something like that happens before August 1st, I will personally get to the bottom of it and I will report all my findings to the forum brass.  I get PMs from great parents who honestly just want the freaking truth.  This is all starting to piss me off.  We have girls who have been through shit the last 4 years because of so many liars that also like to add rumor to the mix to cause others to stress out.  This kind of toxic market share is BS tactics and needs to stop!!!  Nothing surprises me in this youth sport.  The whole sport was hijacked a long time ago.  I'm still beside myself with how Elite parents got their hands on this holy grail of a sport.  After my dd team won it all and spending $7,216.33 traveling all over the country winning a natty, her family was not welcomed anymore in a league that is no more all because my dd wanted to play HSS.  I told my dd the other day that soccer needs her a lot more then she needs soccer. *DO NOT GET YOUR CONFIDENCE OR SELF WORTH FROM A SPORT*.  Soccer should be fun and a great source of exercise.  We are destroying the fun of soccer and leaving a bitter taste to young woman who will not bring their kids to this sport in the future.


----------



## GT45

galaxydad said:


> What I heard was Strikers boys left ECNL. ECNL said the former DA teams had a verbal to commit long term to the ECNL platform. Strikers after only a Covid year left so ECNL informed Strikers their girls teams were no longer welcome.


Strikers is in ECNL on the girls side again this season. So I suspect you heard a silly rumor. They are a founding member. Their boys were only a one year member of ECNL. Many clubs have the girls or boys in ECNL but not both, so I see no reason Strikers would be held to different rules. West Coast boys have ECNL, for example. The girls do not.


----------



## FernandoFromNationalCity




----------



## soccerfan123

its good strikers girls teams are in for this season as families do not deserve rug pulled under them without warning. Rumors are still there about next season but maybe its smoke without fire I guess we will know moore in six month


----------



## Swoosh

soccerfan123 said:


> its good strikers girls teams are in for this season as families do not deserve rug pulled under them without warning. Rumors are still there about next season but maybe its smoke without fire I guess we will know moore in six month


Pateadores Director TC is on the ECNL podcast this week.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

soccerfan123 said:


> its good strikers girls teams are in for this season as families do not deserve rug pulled under them without warning. Rumors are still there about next season but maybe its smoke without fire I guess we will know moore in six month


You are going to have to give more details on this 3 month rumor.   Is it happening and why?    If it’s due to the movement of the boys moving to mls next, they are going to need to kick out more ECNL clubs and not just strikers.


----------



## IDK

it is official.  Strikers girls are out of the ECNL next season.


----------



## crush

IDK said:


> it is official.  Strikers girls are out of the ECNL next season.


Founding member got the boot.  They mean serious business.  The email my wife got didn't give a reason, just not renewed and caught off guard and that exciting news is coming.  I seriously have been in this place before as a customer and it really sucks.  I wish all the families impacted the very best, especially the girls who have to once again look around for a team so they can showcase themselves to get a college deal.  Since 2016, the 04s, 05s and 06s and 07s have been through a lot of BS, like the age change, the GDA as top league all because and DPL as #2 league and ECNL almost destroyed, to Covid, to GDA closing it's doors and ECNL reemerging as the new top League, to GAL as #2 league, to ECNL adding and dropping teams because, to GAL dropping "L" because and very soon I hear, one of the Elite leagues will offer a direct passage to Pro here and abroad and not college or HSS and then the top top players will migrate once again.  This time no 25% starts, only those who want Pro!!!  This is all in 6 years.  Be easy on the girls you guys.


----------



## RedCard

crush said:


> Founding member got the boot.  They mean serious business.  The email my wife got didn't give a reason, just not renewed and caught off guard and that exciting news is coming.  I seriously have been in this place before as a customer and it really sucks.  I wish all the families impacted the very best, especially the girls who have to once again look around for a team so they can showcase themselves to get a college deal.  Since 2016, the 04s, 05s and 06s and 07s have been through a lot of BS, like the age change, the GDA as top league all because and DPL as #2 league and ECNL almost destroyed, to Covid, to GDA closing it's doors and ECNL reemerging as the new top League, to GAL as #2 league, to ECNL adding and dropping teams because, to GAL dropping "L" because and very soon I hear, one of the Elite leagues will offer a direct passage to Pro here and abroad and not college or HSS and then the top top players will migrate once again.  This time no 25% starts, only those who want Pro!!!  This is all in 6 years.  Be easy on the girls you guys.


There's always the new Elite 64... (lol)


----------



## crush

RedCard said:


> There's always the new Elite 64... (lol)


It's hard not to have satire and a few jokes, to make the pain go away.  Strikers and Pats Girls have been through some serious BS.  I'm not here to blame anyone, it just super sucks for the girls and some of the coaches.


----------



## Carlsbad7

MLS Next is definately a challenge for ECNL.

If the perception is that MLS Next is the top level play for boys clubs will gravitate that direction before going to ECNL even if ECNL is the top level for girls.

If you're an all girls club ECNL in the Southwest is the way to go. If you have boys and girls MLS Next + GA would be the way to go. Assuming you cant do MLS Next for boys  and ECNL for girls at the same time.


----------



## RedCard

crush said:


> It's hard not to have satire and a few jokes, to make the pain go away.  Strikers and Pats Girls have been through some serious BS.  I'm not here to blame anyone, it just super sucks for the girls and some of the coaches.


I agree. a couple of season's ago, my daughter went through the entire SoCal Academy is becoming L.A. Surf -  Oh wait, L.A. Premier is now joining and the coach doesn't like the DOC so now the team is leaving to L.A. Breakers to damn this isn't working out at all. I feel the pain for the Striker girls and not knowing what's next. Lucky, my daughter found the perfect home after all that nonsense and I hope the Striker girls find success also.


----------



## MR.D

Carlsbad7 said:


> MLS Next is definately a challenge for ECNL.
> 
> If the perception is that MLS Next is the top level play for boys clubs will gravitate that direction before going to ECNL even if ECNL is the top level for girls.
> 
> If you're an all girls club ECNL in the Southwest is the way to go. If you have boys and girls MLS Next + GA would be the way to go. Assuming you cant do MLS Next for boys  and ECNL for girls at the same time.


I see quite a few clubs (14) in ecnl that also have MLS Next boys teams.  But I don't see them kicking out PDA, Michigan Hawks, Real Colorado, SLSG or Solar.  And didn't Utah Royals just get in and they're affiliated with RSL.

-Bethesda SC
-De Anza Force
-FC Delco
-Indiana Fire
-Jacksonville FC
-Michigan Wolves (girls called Hawks)
-Orlando City Youth Soccer (OCYS)
-PDA (Players Development Academy)
-Phoenix Rising 
-Real Colorado
-RSL Arizona (aren't the girls Utah Royals?)
-SLSG
-Solar SC
-Strikers FC


----------



## crush

Carlsbad7 said:


> MLS Next is definately a challenge for ECNL.
> 
> If the perception is that MLS Next is the top level play for boys clubs will gravitate that direction before going to ECNL even if ECNL is the top level for girls.
> 
> If you're an all girls club ECNL in the Southwest is the way to go. If you have boys and girls MLS Next + GA would be the way to go. Assuming you cant do MLS Next for boys  and ECNL for girls at the same time.


I know 98% of the parents want their dd to go to college.  Pro is not sold well in the States with dads of dd and is actually laughed at and mocked at because it's wrapped around money and not freedom for the girl player.  Pro is the way to go get the cream to wise to the top.  If MLS and others got with a woman's pro league, now you got something.  You need Pro access and training and not just sell college.  Options is best way to go.  In the short term, Strikers ECNL girls program in OC is no more and that 100% hurts the girls involved.  I have a dear pal with a U16 stud.  He will wait to see what the exciting news before he looks for Greener Pasture.  However, May 1st is open season and his phone will be ringing.  Pats might now be looking for new players.


----------



## Yak

Carlsbad7 said:


> MLS Next is definately a challenge for ECNL.
> 
> If the perception is that MLS Next is the top level play for boys clubs will gravitate that direction before going to ECNL even if ECNL is the top level for girls.
> 
> If you're an all girls club ECNL in the Southwest is the way to go. If you have boys and girls MLS Next + GA would be the way to go. Assuming you cant do MLS Next for boys  and ECNL for girls at the same time.


With Pats girls joining ECNL, is this indicative that Pats boys will be staying ECNL and not moving to MLS Next as some have suggested?


----------



## crush

RedCard said:


> I agree. a couple of season's ago, my daughter went through the entire SoCal Academy is becoming L.A. Surf -  Oh wait, L.A. Premier is now joining and the coach doesn't like the DOC so now the team is leaving to L.A. Breakers to damn this isn't working out at all. I feel the pain for the Striker girls and not knowing what's next. Lucky, my daughter found the perfect home after all that nonsense and I hope the Striker girls find success also.


It feels like most of us parents have to play musical chairs every year and try and find a new team to hop too.  Problem is, only a few chairs for Elite soccer spots in OC are available and loyalty will play a role, so if you bailed on coach x last time and now coach x has a true Elite team.  Think of the word Elite who wouldn;t want that for their child.  Premier doesn;t do it.  Development does not do it either.  Elite is a great soccer word and parents want that status as well.  I love the name and it is at the end of the day a private business and they can do whatever they want.  I know some on here have a nice soccer family like you to go home to but that's not the case more many of these families have been booted as well from all things Elite and now must roam the transfer portal and send them emails out and kiss ass, eat some crow and humble pie because coach x has the goods and he feels real good right about now   I am grateful to finally age out of this total confusion and totally not good for the girls.  I call Red Card again.......


----------



## RedCard

crush said:


> It feels like most of us parents have to play musical chairs every year and try and find a new team to hop too.  Problem is, only a few chairs for Elite soccer spots in OC are available and loyalty will play a role, so if you bailed on coach x last time and now coach x has a true Elite team.  Think of the word Elite who wouldn;t want that for their child.  Premier doesn;t do it.  Development does not do it either.  Elite is a great soccer word and parents want that status as well.  I love the name and it is at the end of the day a private business and they can do whatever they want.  I know some on here have a nice soccer family like you to go home to but that's not the case more many of these families have been booted as well from all things Elite and now must roam the transfer portal and send them emails out and kiss ass, eat some crow and humble pie because coach x has the goods and he feels real good right about now   I am grateful to finally age out of this total confusion and totally not good for the girls.  I call Red Card again.......


I like how you used "transfer potal" because that's what it's become.


----------



## Carlsbad7

MR.D said:


> I see quite a few clubs (14) in ecnl that also have MLS Next boys teams.  But I don't see them kicking out PDA, Michigan Hawks, Real Colorado, SLSG or Solar.  And didn't Utah Royals just get in and they're affiliated with RSL.
> 
> -Bethesda SC
> -De Anza Force
> -FC Delco
> -Indiana Fire
> -Jacksonville FC
> -Michigan Wolves (girls called Hawks)
> -Orlando City Youth Soccer (OCYS)
> -PDA (Players Development Academy)
> -Phoenix Rising
> -Real Colorado
> -RSL Arizona (aren't the girls Utah Royals?)
> -SLSG
> -Solar SC
> -Strikers FC


There will always be outliers. 

But overall ECNL wants clubs to play both boys and girls in their leagues. Conversely MLS Next wants boys to be in their league. 

ECNLs hook is top clubs/teams + college placement.

MLS Nexts hook is top level clubs + boys only + pro access / targeted development.

It all depends on what a club values. Some are more into boys teams, others are more into girls teams, some try to do both.

My bet is that clubs will usually tend to favor boys over girls. However I bet top level girls programs generate as much $$$ or more than boys programs.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

Yak said:


> With Pats girls joining ECNL, is this indicative that Pats boys will be staying ECNL and not moving to MLS Next as some have suggested?


That would be a mistake. Pats boys have been strong in the past.  MLS Next is a must if you want to go the pro level for boys.  
Strikers should join DA and give more life to their league. ECNL will still be better but ultimately all it matters is to get a showcase for these young girls going to college.   It sucks that kids and parents got screwed thanks to ECNL execs.   Very shameful.   They should have allowed a retirement of the youngers and allow the older teams to stay in ECNL until they graduate.


----------



## crush

SoccerFan4Life said:


> That would be a mistake. Pats boys have been strong in the past.  MLS Next is a must if you want to go the pro level for boys.
> Strikers should join DA and give more life to their league. ECNL will still be better but ultimately all it matters is to get a showcase for these young girls going to college.   It sucks that kids and parents got screwed thanks to ECNL execs.   Very shameful.   They should have allowed a retirement of the youngers and allow the older teams to stay in ECNL until they graduate.


That would be so nice of them, to let them age out as a team.  I was sold ECNL one day and then DPL the next and I was the one with the problem and I was told to just STFU and stop complaining.  Allowing the children to age out gives them peace.  It gives the kids safety and no disruption, especially with what they have endured the last two years.  No wonder girls are hanging the cleats up and walking away from the sport.  I just found out from another father about his soccer player with amazing grades that just said no way and this is impossible to trust.  The offers were there from D2 and small D1s but were far far away. She got into a great UC, for free because of her grades.  Both parents have been jobless so she pays nothing.  This girl will be a Lawyer or own a business.


----------



## tjinaz

MR.D said:


> I see quite a few clubs (14) in ecnl that also have MLS Next boys teams.  But I don't see them kicking out PDA, Michigan Hawks, Real Colorado, SLSG or Solar.  And didn't Utah Royals just get in and they're affiliated with RSL.
> 
> -Bethesda SC
> -De Anza Force
> -FC Delco
> -Indiana Fire
> -Jacksonville FC
> -Michigan Wolves (girls called Hawks)
> -Orlando City Youth Soccer (OCYS)
> -PDA (Players Development Academy)
> -Phoenix Rising
> -Real Colorado
> -RSL Arizona (aren't the girls Utah Royals?)
> -SLSG
> -Solar SC
> -Strikers FC


RSL no longer has ECNL boys they have EA and MLS now.  Not sure they miss it.  ECNL boys was never top league.


----------



## crush

The boys had DA.  The girls complained and said they are being cheated out of equality.  Boys had free soccer at the DA.  So the wise guys got together and said the girls need to be trained and treated like the men and also get free handouts, just like the boys got free soccer and access to the Pro game and the YNT.  It's obvious what some men have been doing to the girls.  The boys want and need Pro access and no boy wants to play in the all girls league that switched over to boys because all the girls went to the GDA, where the boys had DA.  Now that the top boys went to MLS and Pro, I bet you all the girls will demand Pro as well in the future.  The college life of soccer is brutal and not for most girls who just want to play soccer and maybe be a pro or just play high level with her pals and then just go study and become a doctor.


----------



## Keepermom2

MR.D said:


> I see quite a few clubs (14) in ecnl that also have MLS Next boys teams.  But I don't see them kicking out PDA, Michigan Hawks, Real Colorado, SLSG or Solar.  And didn't Utah Royals just get in and they're affiliated with RSL.
> 
> -Bethesda SC
> -De Anza Force
> -FC Delco
> -Indiana Fire
> -Jacksonville FC
> -Michigan Wolves (girls called Hawks)
> -Orlando City Youth Soccer (OCYS)
> -PDA (Players Development Academy)
> -Phoenix Rising
> -Real Colorado
> -RSL Arizona (aren't the girls Utah Royals?)
> -SLSG
> -Solar SC
> -Strikers FC


Most of the teams you listed offer ECNL boys even if they also offer MLS Next.


----------



## Carlsbad7

Keepermom2 said:


> Most of the teams you listed offer ECNL boys even if they also offer MLS Next.


We'll see how long allowing clubs to have both ECNL + MLS Next lasts. The leagues compete for top level players/teams.

ECNL has the ability to allow clubs to play against their girls teams IF they play their boys in ECNL leagues. 
MLS Next has hooks into professional soccer careers (for boys) 
Both are just marketing tactics to appeal to players, parents, coaches, clubs dreams and asperations.

Imagine if you were a club with decent boys and girls + looking to join a top level league. The quickest way to get there is to put your boys in MLS Next + be successful + put your girls into GA + be successful. If MLS Next doesn't work out you can always do ECNL. Also, switching from MLS Next to ECNL on the boys side can be leveraged into getting your girls into ECNL.

What's interesting is that many top girls ECNL clubs also do boys ECNL. If MLS Next is considered the top level league for boys how are they going to bridge keeping the girls in ECNL + getting the boys into MLS Next?


----------



## crush

Carlsbad7 said:


> We'll see how long allowing clubs to have both ECNL + MLS Next lasts. The leagues compete for top level players/teams.
> 
> ECNL has the ability to allow clubs to play against their girls teams IF they play their boys in ECNL leagues.
> MLS Next has hooks into professional soccer careers (for boys)
> Both are just marketing tactics to appeal to players, parents, coaches, clubs dreams and asperations.
> 
> Imagine if you were a club with decent boys and girls + looking to join a top level league. The quickest way to get there is to put your boys in MLS Next + be successful + put your girls into GA + be successful. If MLS Next doesn't work out you can always do ECNL. Also, switching from MLS Next to ECNL on the boys side can be leveraged into getting your girls into ECNL.
> 
> What's interesting is that many top girls ECNL clubs also do boys ECNL. If MLS Next is considered the top level league for boys how are they going to bridge keeping the girls in ECNL + getting the boys into MLS Next?


100% bro.  My sister in law has a little stud soccer player.  I won't say where but it's MLS Next and he starts.  Some coach recruiting him tried to sell him and his dad ECNL boys team and they laughed at the coach and actually felt offended.  True story.  I mean no disrespect and I understand why an all girls league that was #1 one day and the next day almost OB, would jump at adding many boy team$.  The DA collapsed so the timing was amazing.  However, the ECNL boys is not tops, not on the street with the ballers who ball.  The GA is also not tops for girls, that goes to ECNL, for now.  I have a prediction.  One of these top leagues will offer the girls who want to be Pro, a clear Pro pathway and that will sell to the ballers, even to those who just want to ball against the best.  Right now, GA just picked up Strikers for the girls.  That right there is an improvement in the league but it's 100% a #2 option to who the perceived best is.   I think soccer in America will be like they do France and other countries some day. Academies that have pro teams or Academies looking to earn their way by putting a winning club together and join the Pros.  France has Top 1 and Top 2 Leagues.  Simple and and no words like "Elite" or "Development" and no guessing and wondering.  They all play against each in friendlies and tournaments so you all can compete againts each other to test your team.  You only need 11 studs and few subs to beat anyone in soccer.  You earn respect by winning, not paying to play.  Spain has four divisions.  I will have a good birds eye view of this soon and I will share with you the difference.  Spain has about 20,000 girls trying to be Pro.  We have millions and millions trying to get into college.  We have by far more players to choose from but their system looks way fairer on paper and nothing to do with GPA and SAT.  Great player and great kid are the keys to being a Pro


----------



## Keepermom2

Carlsbad7 said:


> We'll see how long allowing clubs to have both ECNL + MLS Next lasts. The leagues compete for top level players/teams.
> 
> ECNL has the ability to allow clubs to play against their girls teams IF they play their boys in ECNL leagues.
> MLS Next has hooks into professional soccer careers (for boys)
> Both are just marketing tactics to appeal to players, parents, coaches, clubs dreams and asperations.
> 
> Imagine if you were a club with decent boys and girls + looking to join a top level league. The quickest way to get there is to put your boys in MLS Next + be successful + put your girls into GA + be successful. If MLS Next doesn't work out you can always do ECNL. Also, switching from MLS Next to ECNL on the boys side can be leveraged into getting your girls into ECNL.
> 
> What's interesting is that many top girls ECNL clubs also do boys ECNL. If MLS Next is considered the top level league for boys how are they going to bridge keeping the girls in ECNL + getting the boys into MLS Next?


Starting with "the answer to all questions is money"....

Definitely a turf war from the boys side that I know nothing about.  With ECNL as the gold standard on the girls side, forcing clubs to be in on both or out for girls when the opportunity presented itself seems like a good business strategy from ECNL's perspective if that is what is happening. Of course speculation on my part based on some clicking of clubs nationwide and who is in or out on ECNL down here.  ECNL couldn't tap into the boys market prior to GA bailing and after the bailout was the perfect opportunity to do so. My guess is all club higher ups knew about this at least a year ago and chose what market they wanted to hit.  I am guessing Strikers will go GA for girls and they are banking on MLS Next being successful and staying the course while offering the girls an "elite" option.  

Hopefully there will be some settling down of the craziness over the next couple of years now that clubs picked which sandbox they wanted to play in.  Wishful thinking I am sure.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

what was the reasoning for ECNL to eliminate strikers?  If it’s due to poor performance, doesn’t Del Mar have a worse record?   If it’s because they bailed out on ECNL boys, wouldn’t they need to mandate to the rest of the clubs that they cannot join mls next?     I wouldn’t be surprised if lawsuits start turning up.   ECNL does whatever they want with these clubs (legends, strikers, beach).   Very interesting decision by ECNL on strikers.   If strikers joins DA it gives that league a longer life line to expand and grow.


----------



## Keepermom2

SoccerFan4Life said:


> what was the reasoning for ECNL to eliminate strikers?  If it’s due to poor performance, doesn’t Del Mar have a worse record?   If it’s because they bailed out on ECNL boys, wouldn’t they need to mandate to the rest of the clubs that they cannot join mls next?     I wouldn’t be surprised if lawsuits start turning up.   ECNL does whatever they want with these clubs (legends, strikers, beach).   Very interesting decision by ECNL on strikers.   If strikers joins DA it gives that league a longer life line to expand and grow.


The clubs I looked from the list earlier that are MLS Next also offer ECNL boys.  It doesn't look like it is a situation of mandating MLS Next or ECNL for the boys side rather if there is girls ECNL then there also needs to be boys ECNL.  Some of the markets may have enough talent to offer both from one club.


----------



## crush

SoccerFan4Life said:


> what was the reasoning for ECNL to eliminate strikers?  If it’s due to poor performance, doesn’t Del Mar have a worse record?   If it’s because they bailed out on ECNL boys, wouldn’t they need to mandate to the rest of the clubs that they cannot join mls next?     I wouldn’t be surprised if lawsuits start turning up.   ECNL does whatever they want with these clubs (legends, strikers, beach).   Very interesting decision by ECNL on strikers.   If strikers joins DA it gives that league a longer life line to expand and grow.


Interesting takes.  I have no inside information and no one talks to me in the industry at all.  The Docs used to call me all the time but not now.  My kid is of no use.  I do have some old pals who get me that are in the industry and I will ask them for the real scoop.  A founding member getting the boot is very interesting and unheard of from what I do know.  I'm starting to have way more empathy for the coaches, who just like us, hear the rumor mill and grape vine every freaking year.  These coaches are left guessing and selling something they can;t produce.  The investment and time commitment a player puts toward the club should be respected and valued, moo and more moo.  This should not be taken lightly, moo!!!  Girls put in years of service and parents fork over thousands and thousand of dollars over the years.  I have gone all the way through this from U6-U18/19 and this is 100% not helping the girls, at all.  If one or just a couple players get lied to and banned from a league, who the heck cares.  This is now a shit show, moo!!!


----------



## ToonArmy

How long until GA announces Strikers as a new member


----------



## crush

ToonArmy said:


> How long until GA announces Strikers as a new member


I will wait on the exciting news coming.  If you're a boy, your stoked.  The girls on the other hand, not so sure.  The boys are fired up to get out of the all girls league, moo


----------



## Goforgoal

SoccerFan4Life said:


> what was the reasoning for ECNL to eliminate strikers?  If it’s due to poor performance, doesn’t Del Mar have a worse record?


I heard rumors that Sharks was presented with an ultimatum to start putting resources and effort into the teams to make them more competitive, thus the hiring of MW as girls director. They likely received some time to let this play out. I will say that MW has not been sitting idle. The coaching staff has been gutted, and some team rosters have seen almost 100% player turnover. There are kids and families getting displaced, kids quitting the game entirely and some painful feelings going on, but I guess that's the cost of being in an elite sports league. Perform or GTFO.


----------



## crush

Goforgoal said:


> I heard rumors that Sharks was presented with an ultimatum to start putting resources and effort into the teams to make them more competitive, thus the hiring of MW as girls director. They likely received some time to let this play out. I will say that MW has not been sitting idle. The coaching staff has been gutted, and some team rosters have seen almost 100% player turnover. There are kids and families getting displaced, kids quitting the game entirely and some painful feelings going on, but I guess that's the cost of being in an elite sports league. Perform or GTFO.


I wonder what measure they used to boot a founding member?  ECNL should let the parents know what the real ultimatum was.  Sharks are on thin ice.  What should these players and parents do now that they have gotten the boot as well?  Should they leave the team now and go look for Green Pasture down South or up North.  I think this sucks, no real reason except to say as a founding member we got kicked out for no reason.  I do have some good friends with U14 and their in limbo.  They love their team and coach and now they are scared and with no future for next year.  They pissed off and burned the only bridge close to their house so their only choice is to head North.  This is real fear that all families and players and coaches go through.  ECNL club players are not allowed to be in contact until May 1st.  However, this player is not the best but damn good and pops thinks he should start making calls himself and you can;t blame him.  I told him to finish what you start and be honorable.  It will work itself out in the long run.......


----------



## Carlsbad7

crush said:


> I wonder what measure they used to boot a founding member?  ECNL should let the parents know what the real ultimatum was.  Sharks are on thin ice.  What should these players and parents do now that they have gotten the boot as well?  Should they leave the team now and go look for Green Pasture down South or up North.  I think this sucks, no real reason except to say as a founding member we got kicked out for no reason.  I do have some good friends with U14 and their in limbo.  They love their team and coach and now they are scared and with no future for next year.  They pissed off and burned the only bridge close to their house so their only choice is to head North.  This is real fear that all families and players and coaches go through.  ECNL club players are not allowed to be in contact until May 1st.  However, this player is not the best but damn good and pops thinks he should start making calls himself and you can;t blame him.  I told him to finish what you start and be honorable.  It will work itself out in the long run.......


The problem with Sharks is no matter how good they get on the girls side all players would jump to Surf if given the chance.

On top of that MW gutted several teams when he first came on + created some hurt feelings for players and parents.

Also Surf brought on AW to manage the youngers. He'll recruit any talent from Sharks before they even hit 11v11/ECNL levels.


----------



## Goforgoal

Carlsbad7 said:


> The problem with Sharks is no matter how good they get on the girls side all players would jump to Surf if given the chance.
> 
> On top of that MW gutted several teams when he first came on + created some hurt feelings for players and parents.
> 
> Also Surf brought on AW to manage the youngers. He'll recruit any talent from Sharks before they even hit 11v11/ECNL levels.


While true, there is only so much room on a roster, and there are plenty of talented players North of the 8 and South of Oceanside. Enough to beat Surf regularly? No. Enough to settle in around mid table? Sure. Better than the bottom of the barrel across all the ages.


----------



## crush

Carlsbad7 said:


> The problem with Sharks is no matter how good they get on the girls side all players would jump to Surf if given the chance.
> 
> On top of that MW gutted several teams when he first came on + created some hurt feelings for players and parents.
> 
> Also Surf brought on AW to manage the youngers. He'll recruit any talent from Sharks before they even hit 11v11/ECNL levels.


I don;t know any of the coaches at Surf anymore.  Those guys got back to back National Championships and parley that into some nice jobs and opportunities.  Is Surf doing the fully funded offers to the top players in Socal still?  That and their connections can;t be beat, moo.  Are Sharks giving full rides to the top players to keep them from looking at the Green Pasture?  Boys do give free, right?


----------



## JuliVeee

The girls Strikers ECNL teams are not even guaranteed GA at this point, and I would wager no one is excited about it even if it were. 

A likely exodus from the girls Strikers teams is right around the corner and it seems like the Strikers just don't know it yet -- or maybe they don't care?!?


----------



## soccermail2020

Yak said:


> With Pats girls joining ECNL, is this indicative that Pats boys will be staying ECNL and not moving to MLS Next as some have suggested?


Any idea who might be coaching the new Pats ECNL 06 team? Would it make sense that Betsy take that team as she already has the RL team?


----------



## Mello

Am I to understand correctly...    Does ECNL require both girls and boys side of a club to be in ECNL? And, prohibit boys to MLS and just girls to ECNL? I apologize in advance if this question is already something I should know - kinda new to all of this.


----------



## crush

Mello said:


> Am I to understand correctly...    Does ECNL require both girls and boys side of a club to be in ECNL? And, prohibit boys to MLS and just girls to ECNL? I apologize in advance if this question is already something I should know - kinda new to all of this.


I have been on the youth girls club soccer circuit now for 11 years.  Welcome to soccer and all the changes girls have to go through every year.  It gets nasty after 8th grade.  Every year something big happens to a league or a club or a Doc or something big goes down and many families and players get smacked in the face and are caught in the middle.  I know parents who went GDA, DPL, GAL, ECNL and now back to GAL ((if they saty for their final year of Socal Soccer)).  I want to add coaches to the list of being kicked hard.  My wife got email saying Strikers got kicked out for no good reason, except they were not invited back to the #1 Girls league in the country.  No real rhyme to any reason except to say they got some exciting news coming soon for the girls.  The boys got what they wanted and boys got Pro path and MLS-Next.  I heard from the Grape Vine that the GAL Family Soccer League is waiting with open arms to except one of the original 8 Socal ECNL Founding Members.  This is like the Big West getting Oregon from the one of the Originals of the Pac 12.


----------



## Mello

BIGD said:


> It's a multi billion dollar industry that "we" the consumers are responsible for perpetuating.  Pay to play sports is here to stay unless 1) Enough consumers (parents) divest from the system 2) Regulations are created that completely change the youth sports industry
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Youth sports needs a reset. Child athletes are pushed to professionalize too early.
> 
> 
> COVID-19 forced the multi-billion dollar youth sports industry to put be put on hold. Let's take advantage of this time to look at it with fresh eyes.
> 
> 
> 
> www.usatoday.com


So how do we separate the "business" side of youth sports from the actually developing our youth soccer players? The 501(c)(3) status of most if not all of the soccer clubs I can think of are supposed to have the best interest of the organization's mission above the best interests of those associated with it. (e.g., CEO, CFO, Board of Directors, etc.) I know, I know... I'm just being naive thinking that a business would put the well-being and development of youth players above profits. Maybe there should be some monetary incentive to develop players/teams - _at the team level_? Just thinking outside of the box.


----------



## Mello

crush said:


> I have been on the youth girls club soccer circuit now for 11 years.  Welcome to soccer and all the changes girls have to go through every year.  It gets nasty after 8th grade.  Every year something big happens to a league or a club or a Doc or something big goes down and many families and players get smacked in the face and are caught in the middle.  I know parents who went GDA, DPL, GAL, ECNL and now back to GAL ((if they saty for their final year of Socal Soccer)).  I want to add coaches to the list of being kicked hard.  My wife got email saying Strikers got kicked out for no good reason, except they were not invited back to the #1 Girls league in the country.  No real rhyme to any reason except to say they got some exciting news coming soon for the girls.  The boys got what they wanted and boys got Pro path and MLS-Next.  I heard from the Grape Vine that the GAL Family Soccer League is waiting with open arms to except one of the original 8 Socal ECNL Founding Members.  This is like the Big West getting Oregon from the one of the Originals of the Pac 12.


Oh my! No warning?? WOW! ...and the kids and coaches probably take the brunt of the situation. How is this any good for the sport?


----------



## crush

Mello said:


> So how do we separate the "business" side of youth sports from the actually developing our youth soccer players? The 501(c)(3) status of most if not all of the soccer clubs I can think of are supposed to have the best interest of the organization's mission above the best interests of those associated with it. (e.g., CEO, CFO, Board of Directors, etc.) I know, I know... I'm just being naive thinking that a business would put the well-being and development of youth players above profits. Maybe there should be some monetary incentive to develop players/teams - _at the team level_? Just thinking outside of the box.


Great points.  I know people think I just want attention but I do have experience and have been on many sides of club soccer the last 11 years.  I was laughed at almost 4 years ago for asking one question:  Why did the GDA have a rule that forbid all girls from playing high school soccer because the world is watching and all that BS and then when a few top players made the tough call to play HSS only to see waivers for the rich was insane as well.  I told all that many bad things are going on and grown men lie to little girls to their face.  This is wrong and needs to stop.  This is all playing head trips on many kids and their families.  I know families that have paid over $40,000 to get right to the brink of signing a deal for college and then, Bamb!!!!  The carpet is pulled from under the child who has worked her ass off in school, during two years of Covid, playing ECNL for three years and now her team is kicked out.  That is cruel 100%.  I know we have dads that think this is funny and hahahahahaha and "you should have stayed with your original club and pay back is fair play."  This is only about "Elite" soccer that is truly Elite for girls and now their out because te BOD said so and no reason.  What is Elite Soccer and who can be Elite?  Who decides who is Elite?  I think we need to get Papi out of the business and off all these BODs, CEO and important and key positions.  The Big Guy ((Dad)) needs to go sit on the sidelines and hope his kid gets in the game just like the rest of us.  What is the mission statement in youth soccer?  We need a Fun Path and then a Pro & College Path for those who want it more.  Where do the girls rank in the pyramid of success in club soccer?  The girls should be #1 and protected and respected, all girls.


----------



## whatithink

tjinaz said:


> RSL no longer has ECNL boys they have EA and MLS now.  Not sure they miss it.  ECNL boys was never top league.


The word on the street was that RSL boys were booted from ECNL for something "dodgy" that I wouldn't say. They leveraged it for 2 EA boys teams. I can guarantee you that the boys/parent do miss ECNL given that they are in a crap EA desert mountain or whatever league. That said, boys ECNL has a few strong teams, but generally boys ECNL is not strong. The ECNL teams are regularly beaten by non letter league teams in tournament play. The few teams that I know the make up of locally wouldn't win the local league and are still competitive in a travel league!!

Just as girls ECNL is the place to be, MLS Next is the place to be for boys. That's not even debatable. If ECNL mandates clubs drop MLS Next for boys ECNL or lose girls, they will be strengthening the GA, because plenty of clubs will pick MLS.



Carlsbad7 said:


> However I bet top level girls programs generate as much $$$ or more than boys programs.


From an AZ perspective, the boys teams way outnumber the girls. Boys are attracted because of the promised "pathway", which includes ECNL and MLS Next - there are a lot more $ generated from the boys. I would say that the girls parents likely pay out a lot more money as there seems to be more travel on the girls side (league games & tournaments) than on the boys. 

In both instances, parents are parted with their hard earned dollars with relative ease though.

As for generating revenue, there are way more scholarships from the clubs for boys. I don't know if they even bother on the girls side as that's become an absolute pay to play system. If they want the extremely talents boys, then they need to scholarship, as many of them come from poorer families who won't and can't pay.


----------



## whatithink

Mello said:


> So how do we separate the "business" side of youth sports from the actually developing our youth soccer players? The 501(c)(3) status of most if not all of the soccer clubs I can think of are supposed to have the best interest of the organization's mission above the best interests of those associated with it. (e.g., CEO, CFO, Board of Directors, etc.) I know, I know... I'm just being naive thinking that a business would put the well-being and development of youth players above profits. Maybe there should be some monetary incentive to develop players/teams - _at the team level_? Just thinking outside of the box.


The 501(c)(3) status is a complete joke, and realistically it should be completely overhauled as its being abused completely. The clubs are in the interest of making money. I had a long conversation with the head of a local very successful club a few years back, then the richest club in the state, and at no time in the entire convo did he talk about the kids, what was good for them, that "his" non-profit purpose was kids sports - nope, his entire & sincere pitch was how much $ they had made and could make, that was it. It was bizarre.

Surf just "launched" two affiliates in AZ (rumor is that one of them will get ECNL for the girls - lmfao), big push for players. Legends is building a program in AZ also, from the ground up with some very good coaches actually and they have built some solid younger teams - again bit of a pitch that you could play in the letter league for the main team.

Didn't the Surf dudes spin off the tournaments to a for profit way back when (they realized how much $ was to be made).

Its all about the money.


----------



## crush

whatithink said:


> The word on the street was that RSL boys were booted from ECNL for something "dodgy" that I wouldn't say. They leveraged it for 2 EA boys teams. I can guarantee you that the boys/parent do miss ECNL given that they are in a crap EA desert mountain or whatever league. That said, boys ECNL has a few strong teams, but generally boys ECNL is not strong. The ECNL teams are regularly beaten by non letter league teams in tournament play. The few teams that I know the make up of locally wouldn't win the local league and are still competitive in a travel league!!
> 
> Just as girls ECNL is the place to be, MLS Next is the place to be for boys. That's not even debatable. If ECNL mandates clubs drop MLS Next for boys ECNL or lose girls, they will be strengthening the GA, because plenty of clubs will pick MLS.
> 
> 
> From an AZ perspective, the boys teams way outnumber the girls. Boys are attracted because of the promised "pathway", which includes ECNL and MLS Next - there are a lot more $ generated from the boys. I would say that the girls parents likely pay out a lot more money as there seems to be more travel on the girls side (league games & tournaments) than on the boys.
> 
> In both instances, parents are parted with their hard earned dollars with relative ease though.
> 
> As for generating revenue, there are way more scholarships from the clubs for boys. I don't know if they even bother on the girls side as that's become an absolute pay to play system. If they want the extremely talents boys, then they need to scholarship, as many of them come from poorer families who won't and can't pay.


Excellent takes whatithink.  I was sold fully funded in 2016-2018 for GDA.  My kid was offered free everything just like the boys at DA.  If you could ball, it was free.  The only club that was not free was Blues.  That is why most of the Docs said Blues would fold and not be able to provide the fields, the coaches or the free soccer that was being put out there at the beginning.  Galaxy, Pats, Slammers, Legends were all free.  Surf was mostly free and I heard Abion gave out free rides.  Beach did not from what some have said.  This is hard to compete.  I have to give Blues some credit for hanging in there.  Free is hard to give up.  All the top teams in the boys give free rides.  My little nephew in law team is all free.  Sponsorships and marketing goes a long way as does their rec feeder leagues.


----------



## Speed

Mello said:


> Oh my! No warning?? WOW! ...and the kids and coaches probably take the brunt of the situation. How is this any good for the sport?


We are a strikers family for 2 years. Not impressed with the organization so I find it hard to believe that they couldn't see this coming. Did love our coach though and hope he lands somewhere solid. This is our last year so we are appreciating each and every game.


----------



## Larzby

Has this been made official? Not that I doubt anyone, I'm just looking for whatever official word there is, if any.


----------



## GT45

Larzby said:


> Has this been made official? Not that I doubt anyone, I'm just looking for whatever official word there is, if any.


It is official. Club announced it to their families in a formal letter.


----------



## MyDaughtersAKeeper

Carlsbad7 said:


> The problem with Sharks is no matter how good they get on the girls side all players would jump to Surf if given the chance.
> 
> On top of that MW gutted several teams when he first came on + created some hurt feelings for players and parents.
> 
> Also Surf brought on AW to manage the youngers. He'll recruit any talent from Sharks before they even hit 11v11/ECNL levels.


I am not sure #1 is true anymore.  Maybe if you want to train in a "pod," don't care if the DOC knows your name, and are fully committed to never playing HS soccer.  I am sure Surf will continue to grab some great players, but those players need to have a specific goal and play the style the DOC likes. 

If you are going to change DMCV you are going to have to make some changes that will make some people angry.  Not much different than when the DOC came in recently at Surf. 

AW is a great coach and he does a good job of developing young kids, but I do think you are overstating his recruiting abilities. 

I am pulling for DMCV.  After what I saw at Surf I am certain they need a few setbacks to really evaluate who they are as an organization.


----------



## crush

MyDaughtersAKeeper said:


> I am not sure #1 is true anymore.  Maybe if you want to train in a "pod," don't care if the DOC knows your name, and are fully committed to never playing HS soccer.  I am sure Surf will continue to grab some great players, but those players need to have a specific goal and play the style the DOC likes.
> 
> If you are going to change DMCV you are going to have to make some changes that will make some people angry.  Not much different than when the DOC came in recently at Surf.
> 
> AW is a great coach and he does a good job of developing young kids, but I do think you are overstating his recruiting abilities.
> 
> I am pulling for DMCV.  After what I saw at Surf I am certain they need a few setbacks to really evaluate who they are as an organization.


I want to say sorry to you for being wrong about you.  I see now that your PM years ago was more of a warning about the Amigos.  I was getting so many PMs with threats, old friends outing my personal PM and conversations and many telling me I better STFU at that time so I wasn;t sure.  I thought you were someone else and for that, I was 100% wrong.  TM's did not like me either because.  You saw what I saw.  Sorry your dd had to go through all that.  It will make them stronger in the long run but man, it's painful what they do to some kids and parents.


----------



## crush

Speed said:


> We are a strikers family for 2 years. Not impressed with the organization so I find it hard to believe that they couldn't see this coming. Did love our coach though and hope he lands somewhere solid. This is our last year so we are appreciating each and every game.


The only coach I know that has been 100% honest, open and transparent is Tad Bobak.  He was the Doc at Blues, founder of Blues, Founder of ODP and first U15 YNT coach and coached 7 teams from U11-U18 in 40 years.  He coached my kid for two years.  He had things he could have done better regarding the GDA and the strong arm tactics back then.  I also would have done things a hell of lot different if I knew the snakes my dd had to deal with.  However, she and I learned lessons about how some people lie to your face with a straight face and you have no idea a lie is even there.  No way any soccer club is impressive the last 5 years.  It's not all their fault. These leagues have a lot to add to an overall grade of D.  I don't talk to any Doc or coach the last three years Speed so I have no moo.  I told everyone here that we were going old school three years ago and have her email the coaches directly, call them and set up three official visits for June 15th, 2020. The was the plan but Covid came.  Offers this year were down 50% or even more.  More and more players went to the transfer portal and let's not forget that all current players in college got extra year.  So this whole thing is no one's fault really.  It's called life and life is not fair


----------



## IDK

Speed said:


> We are a strikers family for 2 years. Not impressed with the organization so I find it hard to believe that they couldn't see this coming. Did love our coach though and hope he lands somewhere solid. This is our last year so we are appreciating each and every game.


Same here. Lot of things are not done professionally.  I remember someone on this thread said PATs deserved more to be in ECNL and there were a lot of lies from Strikers.  Maybe he can comment more now.


----------



## Royal26

soccermail2020 said:


> Any idea who might be coaching the new Pats ECNL 06 team? Would it make sense that Betsy take that team as she already has the RL team?


That's what I've heard. But don't be surprised if she coaches the 07's either. Half of the 06 team is 07's and she coached them at West Coast.


----------



## timbuck

Anyone know if this was part of the plan when they let Pats into ECNL?  Did ECNL think that adding Pats would be too many clubs in a small area?  Or did something happen after Pats was let in that caused Strikers to get the boot?
I know a few strikers ECNL players (u17 and u19). 
Some of them have bounced around within DA and ECNL over the past few years. Will this move be the straw that breaks the camels back and will some top level players say "fuck it.  I'm hanging up my cleats.  I've poured a lot into soccer since I was 7 years old.  Now I'm going to be a junior/senior in HS next year and I'm fed up with this crap.  I used to love soccer. But this added stress every 6-15 months makes me hate it.  I quit.  I'm going to get a Disneyland pass with the money my parents will save on club soccer.  I'm going to go to the beach every weekend.  I'm going to work on my college essays in the evenings instead of dragging around to the great park 3 nights a week."

I'm not sure who to "blame" for this.  But I don't think anyone can say "this is best for the players."

what a mess.


----------



## JuliVeee

I had heard rumors about a year back (When Strikers boys side first entered MLS Next) that Strikers girls side would lose ECNL as a consequence.  Then it got quiet for a full year.  I'm guessing they all knew the consequences and thought ECNL wouldn't actually follow through with the threat.... or actually didn't care?


----------



## BIGD

timbuck said:


> Will this move be the straw the breaks the camels back and will some top level players say "fuck it. I'm hanging up my cleats. I've poured a lot into soccer since I was 7 years old. Now I'm going to be a junior/senior in HS next year and I'm fed up with this crap. I used to love soccer. But this added stress every 6-15 months makes me hate it. I quit. I'm going to get a Disneyland pass with the money my parents will save on club soccer. I'm going to go to the beach every weekend. I'm going to work on my college essays in the evenings instead of dragging around to the great park 3 nights a week."


Exactly right.  Add "I'm going to play high school sports with my classmates and friends and enjoy it"

At the younger ages, club sports was a win/win for our family.  Staring at about U14 it's less fun, more drama, more time (MLS Next is 4 nights a week plus a lot of weekend travel) and much more like an unpaid job all while other priorities are popping up.  Kids are wising up to the scheme.


----------



## crush

timbuck said:


> Anyone know if this was part of the plan when they let Pats into ECNL?  Did ECNL think that adding Pats would be too many clubs in a small area?  Or did something happen after Pats was let in that caused Strikers to get the boot?
> I know a few strikers ECNL players (u17 and u19).
> Some of them have bounced around within DA and ECNL over the past few years. Will this move be the straw the breaks the camels back and will some top level players say "fuck it.  I'm hanging up my cleats.  I've poured a lot into soccer since I was 7 years old.  Now I'm going to be a junior/senior in HS next year and I'm fed up with this crap.  I used to love soccer. But this added stress every 6-15 months makes me hate it.  I quit.  I'm going to get a Disneyland pass with the money my parents will save on club soccer.  I'm going to go to the beach every weekend.  I'm going to work on my college essays in the evenings instead of dragging around to the great park 3 nights a week."
> 
> I'm not sure who to "blame" for this.  But I don't think anyone can say "this is best for the players."
> 
> what a mess.


Plus, the deals are not there like they were in the past.   Some schools used to sign 11 and now only 4.  I spoke to dad of 2023 and she is depressed. Depression is an energy that hits us all, some children have had a hard time the last three years.  This is not the girls fault at all you guys.  Girls and their parents were sold access and this year was rough and next year the little access they had is now gone unless they break the rules and contact the other coaches who can;t wait to add their roster next year.  This will impact that ECNL team because some will get the boot and the domino continues to hurt the girls.  Yes, the 1% and maybe more are always happy and have no idea why parents complain and it;s just sour grapes.  Yes, it;s sour grapes for many of us,  This needs fixing somehow.  I don;t have the answers but I watched this go on now every year for 6 years.  Horrible!!! Now these families are out.


----------



## dad4

JuliVeee said:


> I had heard rumors about a year back (When Strikers boys side first entered MLS Next) that Strikers girls side would lose ECNL as a consequence.  Then it got quiet for a full year.  I'm guessing they all knew the consequences and thought ECNL wouldn't actually follow through with the threat.... or actually didn't care?


A lot more boys play soccer than girls.  And many of the best girl players have an older brother who plays.  

If they can only have one, I can’t say I’m surprised if a program picked MLS Next over ECNL.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

dad4 said:


> A lot more boys play soccer than girls.  And many of the best girl players have an older brother who plays.
> 
> If they can only have one, I can’t say I’m surprised if a program picked MLS Next over ECNL.


My Niece got 50% scholarship at top D1 school after years of playing GA/ECNL/USYNT (U16). We are talking about a top 50 player in the country and only got 50% scholarship.  Parents still  have to pay $25k a year (that's $100k in 4 years to play college soccer)!

My other niece played at Discovery level and went to a smaller school in Canada with 60% scholarship.  Parents had to pay $6k a year ($24k for 4 years).

Niece at D1 got 15 minutes of playing time last year (15 minutes for the entire season). She had depression and grades were not great.

This pipe dream that ECNL is selling is a scam!!  Yes they can get your kids to college but its going to cost you a boat load of money for 5 years of ECNL and then more money for a top D1 program.  

Parents will get smarter about this ECNL/DA process.


----------



## espola

SoccerFan4Life said:


> My Niece got 50% scholarship at UCLA after years of playing GA/ECNL/USYNT (U16). We are talking about a top 50 player in the country and only got 50% scholarship.  Parents still  have to pay $25k a year (that's $100k in 4 years to play college soccer)!
> 
> My other niece played at Discovery level and went to a smaller school in Canada with 60% scholarship.  Parents had to pay $6k a year ($24k for 4 years).
> 
> Niece at UCLA got 15 minutes of playing time last year (15 minutes for the entire season). She had depression and grades were not great.
> 
> This pipe dream that ECNL is selling is a scam!!  Yes they can get your kids to college but its going to cost you a boat load of money for 5 years of ECNL and then more money for a top D1 program.
> 
> Parents will get smarter about this ECNL/DA process.


By the time a given set of parents gets smart the money is already gone.


----------



## Carlsbad7

SoccerFan4Life said:


> My Niece got 50% scholarship at top D1 school after years of playing GA/ECNL/USYNT (U16). We are talking about a top 50 player in the country and only got 50% scholarship.  Parents still  have to pay $25k a year (that's $100k in 4 years to play college soccer)!
> 
> My other niece played at Discovery level and went to a smaller school in Canada with 60% scholarship.  Parents had to pay $6k a year ($24k for 4 years).
> 
> Niece at D1 got 15 minutes of playing time last year (15 minutes for the entire season). She had depression and grades were not great.
> 
> This pipe dream that ECNL is selling is a scam!!  Yes they can get your kids to college but its going to cost you a boat load of money for 5 years of ECNL and then more money for a top D1 program.
> 
> Parents will get smarter about this ECNL/DA process.


This is what I don't understand. One of the top female soccer players in the nation + only gets 50% scholarship?

You'd do better saving up the $$$ and stapling it to your kids application. (aka providing a donation to the school)

What I also don't understand is that some of the top soccer colleges have all kinds of issues with coaches treating players like crap + most of the top teams play kickball.


----------



## tjinaz

dad4 said:


> A lot more boys play soccer than girls.  And many of the best girl players have an older brother who plays.
> 
> If they can only have one, I can’t say I’m surprised if a program picked MLS Next over ECNL.


Also depends on the Club.. you think ECNL would kick the girls teams of LAFC, Galaxy or RSL because they have MLS?  That would be ridiculous.  ECNL will bully the small clubs but would never mess with Blues, or Surf or any of the top teams.  They go to GA or somewhere and quality of ECNL comes into question.


----------



## Brav520

SoccerFan4Life said:


> My Niece got 50% scholarship at top D1 school after years of playing GA/ECNL/USYNT (U16). We are talking about a top 50 player in the country and only got 50% scholarship.  Parents still  have to pay $25k a year (that's $100k in 4 years to play college soccer)!
> 
> My other niece played at Discovery level and went to a smaller school in Canada with 60% scholarship.  Parents had to pay $6k a year ($24k for 4 years).
> 
> Niece at D1 got 15 minutes of playing time last year (15 minutes for the entire season). She had depression and grades were not great.
> 
> This pipe dream that ECNL is selling is a scam!!  Yes they can get your kids to college but its going to cost you a boat load of money for 5 years of ECNL and then more money for a top D1 program.
> 
> Parents will get smarter about this ECNL/DA process.


Is the niece local where the parents can go to games all the time?

If not , add a couple more thousand ( flights, car rental, hotels, and meals) per year to go see your kid play.

My sister went to a East coast school, got a full ride. Parents made 2 trips a season , and it ended up costing them pretty much the same that a full season of competitive soccer cost at the time ( this was like 20 years ago).

I assume all games are  streamed now at these schools, so a parent technically wouldn't have to make as many trips.


----------



## crush

Carlsbad7 said:


> This is what I don't understand. One of the top female soccer players in the nation + only gets 50% scholarship?
> 
> You'd do better saving up the $$$ and stapling it to your kids application. (aka providing a donation to the school)
> 
> What I also don't understand is that some of the top soccer colleges have all kinds of issues with coaches treating players like crap + most of the top teams play kickball.


Bro, I was sold Pro for that GDA league back in 2017 I kid you not.  No one was talking college to me or my little one, trust me.  7th grader.  They saw something in my kid at that time, a hunger, a thirst to battle and a thirst to win medals and play all out and go for the gold medal....lol!  When my kid was 13, it was all about GDA, U14 Youth National Team List, Pro and no one pays a dime.  How on earth would I even entertain my kid leaving Tad?  Come on man, something had to be offered, right?  I was told to look around because Tad took the olders and my kid was 4 10' at best and was confused.  Should I play up and get smashed playing up or play possession and go Pro?  They got the age changed in 2017 and caused so much chaos and confusion most of our heads were spinning with one sales pitch after another, from one Doc to another.  Fully funded Free Rides for all the girls brother.  What is not to like about that? Plus they have The List that everyone wanted their kid to be on.  After your kid doesn;t make the U14 YNT List for whatever the reason, the bait on the hook is switched to college scholarship opportunities. This was 7th grade by the way and they told me to get my kid over to college night so she can learn how to send emails so she can say hi to coach and then wait by the phone for a quick hi and then offer.  I had old friends whose kids were depressed and or quit the college game because of the demand.  The girls were quitting the sport 8 out of 10 in college before their Sr year. That's why they change the recruiting rule.  I also thought at this time everyone was getting a full ride in girls soccer.  I know, silly me.  I know this 2021 player that also made YNT a few times and is really smart.  Parents make good money so no fin aid for being poor.  She got 60% deal and came off the bench this year.  Great kid.  The fact is, at Big U this kid and her parents will have to pay $85,000 after four years.  Pops has money from being smart with it and not that big of a deal money wise for this family.  I was shocked not a full full ride.  She loves her school, her coach and all is good and no depression.  Another player I know is also 2021 and is in the transfer portal because her coach was a big fat liar and got fired as well for being a liar.  This city is not what she thought it would be and crime is through the roof. The program is a mess and she hates the school.  Super great kid and was depressed all year.  Finally found a great school and the soccer coach saw her play one of her best collegiate games this past season and has spot open for her.  Yes, a 2022 could have maybe got it but her parents are rich and will pay for the spot, meaning the parents will pay the tuition.  No big deal and makes sense for the coach.  Not sure of the deal but might just be books and admin, early class sign up and a few other perks.  This girl will find minutes because she gets straight A's, does not party and will be a great addition.  I know other stories.  I do my research and I get to the truth of how great or not so great college soccer is and do you get full rides.  I say about 20% seem to be having fun and the only full rides I know about are girls with super smart brains and really good soccer player.  The best of the best soccer player and ok grades is only getting 50% from the soccer program.  If your parents are poor, then it could be free, depending on the school and the State you live in.  This is a cut throat sport in college at the highest level.  I mean that with respect and its the truth.  We need a pro path for the next group of girls, moo


----------



## GT45

SoccerFan4Life said:


> My Niece got 50% scholarship at top D1 school after years of playing GA/ECNL/USYNT (U16). We are talking about a top 50 player in the country and only got 50% scholarship.  Parents still  have to pay $25k a year (that's $100k in 4 years to play college soccer)!
> 
> My other niece played at Discovery level and went to a smaller school in Canada with 60% scholarship.  Parents had to pay $6k a year ($24k for 4 years).
> 
> Niece at D1 got 15 minutes of playing time last year (15 minutes for the entire season). She had depression and grades were not great.
> 
> This pipe dream that ECNL is selling is a scam!!  Yes they can get your kids to college but its going to cost you a boat load of money for 5 years of ECNL and then more money for a top D1 program.
> 
> Parents will get smarter about this ECNL/DA process.


Top D1 schools don't have to offer full rides because the demand for their offers is there.  Parents are willing to chip in for their daughter to go there. If your niece is a top 50 player, she could have gotten more money elsewhere. This was her choice to accept that offer. She is also not paying $100,000 to play college soccer. She is also getting a education and degree out of this. That is where the money is going. The higher the program you aspire to, the less the scholarship offer will likely be. Only the true GOATS will get a full ride to a top D1 program out of high school.


----------



## crush

GT45 said:


> Top D1 schools don't have to offer full rides because the demand for their offers is there.  Parents are willing to chip in for their daughter to go there. If your niece is a top 50 player, she could have gotten more money elsewhere. This was her choice to accept that offer. She is also not paying $100,000 to play college soccer. She is also getting a education and degree out of this. That is where the money is going. The higher the program you aspire to, the less the scholarship offer will likely be. Only the true GOATS will get a full ride to a top D1 program out of high school.


Pay to play soccer and pay to get a degree is for 99% of our kids.  I like what you said about this is her choice.  It's so true.


----------



## Goforgoal

GT45 said:


> Top D1 schools don't have to offer full rides because the demand for their offers is there.  Parents are willing to chip in for their daughter to go there. If your niece is a top 50 player, she could have gotten more money elsewhere. This was her choice to accept that offer. She is also not paying $100,000 to play college soccer. She is also getting a education and degree out of this. That is where the money is going. The higher the program you aspire to, the less the scholarship offer will likely be. Only the true GOATS will get a full ride to a top D1 program out of high school.


Well said. It's probably worth adding that soccer can also open doors that might have otherwise been closed. It's not just about the money, but admission and acceptance to schools in today's highly competitive college environment. My old college buddies and I often joke that we would have never gotten into the school we went to with today's requirements. If soccer gets a kid into their dream school they may not have otherwise been accepted to then all those ECNL fees and travel costs could end up being money well spent.


----------



## GT45

Goforgoal said:


> Well said. It's probably worth adding that soccer can also open doors that might have otherwise been closed. It's not just about the money, but admission and acceptance to schools in today's highly competitive college environment. My old college buddies and I often joke that we would have never gotten into the school we went to with today's requirements. If soccer gets a kid into their dream school they may not have otherwise been accepted to then all those ECNL fees and travel costs could end up being money well spent.


YES!!!! Even an offer of a books scholarship, which is very little money, is enough to get a player admitted to the school as a recruit. The player gets into a school they may not have otherwise been admitted to without soccer.


----------



## whatithink

tjinaz said:


> Also depends on the Club.. you think ECNL would kick the girls teams of LAFC, Galaxy or RSL because they have MLS?  That would be ridiculous.  ECNL will bully the small clubs but would never mess with Blues, or Surf or any of the top teams.  They go to GA or somewhere and quality of ECNL comes into question.


ECNL kicked Surf previously, so there are no sacred cows. Surf felt that boys DA was more important than girls ECNL when given an ultimation of all in ECNL. ECNL also let them back in straight away when DA folded, but I expect Surf very much want MLS Next, but they made their bed. Blues (all girls so no conflict) kept ECNL & GDA as they had the national ECNL title, but a decision point was coming (unless Blues won another ECNL national title) as I understand it.

In AZ, neither Phoenix Rising or RSL-AZ will give up the MLS Next, so if it is put to them, then I can see them both going GA. Alternatively, they might suddenly spin off a girls club only and a boys club only ... and then it would get really silly.

If ECNL need to threaten clubs to get their boys sides into ECNL, then their league mustn't be all that, and they must know it.


----------



## tjinaz

GT45 said:


> YES!!!! Even an offer of a books scholarship, which is very little money, is enough to get a player admitted to the school as a recruit. The player gets into a school they may not have otherwise been admitted to without soccer.


It seems like every ECNL player thinks they are getting a D1 soccer scholarship but when I look at the list of commits in previous years (clubs love to post that stuff) I see way more D2 or 3 than D1. You do realize there are over 2000 ECNL girls graduating every year.   Plus your "Dream School" is likely everyone else's as well and will only take 5 or 6 players in a given year.  The scenario you are presenting is lottery like it its probability of happening.  The ROI on all forms of youth soccer is negative from a money standpoint.  Except for maybe those few boys that may make it to the pro ranks.  If you honestly think it will "save" you money you are a unicorn.  I still do it but realize its more about the experience and the memories than any sort of financial return.  I tried for years to make the math work in my head and eventually just gave up and am enjoying the ride.


----------



## crush

tjinaz said:


> It seems like every ECNL player thinks they are getting a D1 soccer scholarship but when I look at the list of commits in previous years (clubs love to post that stuff) I see way more D2 or 3 than D1. You do realize there are over 2000 ECNL girls graduating every year.   Plus your "Dream School" is likely everyone else's as well and will only take 5 or 6 players in a given year.  The scenario you are presenting is lottery like it its probability of happening.  The ROI on all forms of youth soccer is negative from a money standpoint.  Except for maybe those few boys that may make it to the pro ranks.  If you honestly think it will "save" you money you are a unicorn.  I still do it but realize its more about the experience and the memories than any sort of financial return.  I tried for years to make the math work in my head and eventually just gave up and am enjoying the ride.


This season, the deals were dropped big time too.  One school already have 5 commitments from 8th grade and were not looking to add.  Based on my research, it's still holds true.  My dd loved the program and the coached loved her but it was too late because of you know what,  The girls who waited to do official visit like they were asked to do got no chance because of you know what.  I just got off the phone with a dad with a 2022.  Solid player and has good grades.  Dad has been doing travel ball soccer in all the leagues since his child was 12.  He knows where every dollar is spent and he spent $61,235.67 in 6 years.  Travel's to all the games during GDA and never missed a showcase or a game.  My other rich friend did the same 6 years and his family spent over $90,000 traveling first class and eating at super nice places and playing golf and drinking every night.  Anyway man, the cost to play soccer is super expensive.  If your kid is going to be a doctor, lawyer, teacher or something that really needs a degree and your dd is smart and can play soccer, she is set.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

GT45 said:


> Top D1 schools don't have to offer full rides because the demand for their offers is there.  Parents are willing to chip in for their daughter to go there. If your niece is a top 50 player, she could have gotten more money elsewhere. This was her choice to accept that offer. She is also not paying $100,000 to play college soccer. She is also getting a education and degree out of this. That is where the money is going. The higher the program you aspire to, the less the scholarship offer will likely be. Only the true GOATS will get a full ride to a top D1 program out of high school.


She is moving on to West Virginia for a better scholarship and more playing time.

ECNL players also now compete with the better  players from Mexico, Japan, Europe, South America.   Women’s recruiting in top D1schools is now a global market.


----------



## crush

whatithink said:


> ECNL kicked Surf previously, so there are no sacred cows. Surf felt that boys DA was more important than girls ECNL when given an ultimation of all in ECNL. ECNL also let them back in straight away when DA folded, but I expect Surf very much want MLS Next, but they made their bed. Blues (all girls so no conflict) kept ECNL & GDA as they had the national ECNL title, but a decision point was coming (unless Blues won another ECNL national title) as I understand it.
> 
> In AZ, neither Phoenix Rising or RSL-AZ will give up the MLS Next, so if it is put to them, then I can see them both going GA. Alternatively, they might suddenly spin off a girls club only and a boys club only ... and then it would get really silly.
> 
> If ECNL need to threaten clubs to get their boys sides into ECNL, then their league mustn't be all that, and they must know it.


I think Surf kicked ECNL out.  If Surf chooses ECNL, the Blues would have bailed on GDA and now you got three of the best clubs in the country staying with ECNL, Slammers, Blues and Surf.  The power clubs in the Mecca of soccer.  Surf had the control and Surf Cup.  They got 5 year contract and ECNL was out in the cold.  DPL ring a bell?  Surf said bye bye and now they and ECNL are best pals.


----------



## LASTMAN14

GT45 said:


> Top D1 schools don't have to offer full rides because the demand for their offers is there.  Parents are willing to chip in for their daughter to go there. If your niece is a top 50 player, she could have gotten more money elsewhere. This was her choice to accept that offer. She is also not paying $100,000 to play college soccer. She is also getting a education and degree out of this. That is where the money is going. The higher the program you aspire to, the less the scholarship offer will likely be. Only the true GOATS will get a full ride to a top D1 program out of high school.


Academic money is huge on the girls side.


----------



## dad4

LASTMAN14 said:


> Academic money is huge on the girls side.


You mean the 50% scholarship worth $20K, but which requires about a thousand hours of work to keep your spot on the team?

That's called a part time job.  Soccer is more fun than Starbucks, but it's not exactly huge money either.


----------



## Letsplaysoccer

Mom of 2 said:


> Rumor going around Stirkers boys are out the ECNL? Any truth?


Not just strikers boys but girls too. Strikers as a whole got ECNL taken. They will need to move what players they have to another league, if they have any left! As I would assume many of their current ECNL players will leave and look for other ECNL opportunities at other clubs.


----------



## RedCard

Goforgoal said:


> I heard rumors that Sharks was presented with an ultimatum to start putting resources and effort into the teams to make them more competitive, thus the hiring of MW as girls director. They likely received some time to let this play out. I will say that MW has not been sitting idle. The coaching staff has been gutted, and some team rosters have seen almost 100% player turnover. There are kids and families getting displaced, kids quitting the game entirely and some painful feelings going on, but I guess that's the cost of being in an elite sports league. Perform or GTFO.


Sharks had a pretty good weekend going 4-1-1, so maybe things are turning around. But it was against the L.A. Breakers which most of their teams are in 8th or 9th place in their division, so take it for it's worth. Only the U16 have a winning record, and that's the Breakers team that had the only win this past weekend.


----------



## JuliVeee

Letsplaysoccer said:


> Not just strikers boys but girls too. Strikers as a whole got ECNL taken. They will need to move what players they have to another league, if they have any left! As I would assume many of their current ECNL players will leave and look for other ECNL opportunities at other clubs.


Strikers do not have Boys ECNL.  Only Girls.  Been that way since they went MLS Next.


----------



## JuliVeee

Mom of 2 said:


> Rumor going around Stirkers boys are out the ECNL? Any truth?


Strikers do not have Boys ECNL.


----------



## soccermail2020

Royal26 said:


> That's what I've heard. But don't be surprised if she coaches the 07's either. Half of the 06 team is 07's and she coached them at West Coast.


Do they not have enough talent to field a solid 07 and a solid 06 team?  Do their 06’s play up in 05? I dislike “playing up” except for the one or two phenom’s who just can’t play with their age group. HS season is interesting enough with the different age groups, imo club should be their age appropriate peers.


----------



## Carlsbad7

I'm starting to sense a tipping point with ECNL. 

Booting Clubs because they're all in on MLS Next wont work in the long run.

As more and more clubs go all in on MLS Next ECNL wont be able to keep the girls under thumb. Eventually theres going to be hurt feelings + clubs will be looking for league alternatives.

Also, MLS Next and GA seem to be loosely affiliated (might be wrong) if this is the case MLS Next could also play the exclusion game not allowing big clubs in unless they drop Girls ECNL and go GA.

Didnt this exact playbook happen with DA + ECNL 10+ years ago?


----------



## LetsGooooo

Which school has 5 girls in the 8th grade committed already? I just don’t believe that. They haven’t even played high school level yet and have 5 more years to grow and they already have scholarships to play soccer at college? No way….



crush said:


> This season, the deals were dropped big time too.  One school already have 5 commitments from 8th grade and were not looking to add.  Based on my research, it's still holds true.


----------



## crush

LetsGooooo said:


> Which school has 5 girls in the 8th grade committed already? I just don’t believe that. They haven’t even played high school level yet and have 5 more years to grow and they already have scholarships to play soccer at college? No way….


2022's were able to commit early in 8th grade.  Lot;s of the top schools signed ((verbal)) players early.  I was told to send them emails but I told my little baby girl to wait and visit, just like the football and basketball players do.  No lie at all.  Trust me, I know many kids that did the verbal in 8th grade four years ago. It;s worked out for them and it was the right decision looking back for so many.  One girl told my kid no way she gets the deal she got in 8th grade in todays market.  Strike while the iron is hot.


----------



## JuliVeee

LetsGooooo said:


> Which school has 5 girls in the 8th grade committed already? I just don’t believe that. They haven’t even played high school level yet and have 5 more years to grow and they already have scholarships to play soccer at college? No way….


I don't buy this either.  We are in OC and know/have played with almost all of the top of the recruitment class for our area and haven't seen/heard this anywhere...


----------



## LASTMAN14

dad4 said:


> You mean the 50% scholarship worth $20K, but which requires about a thousand hours of work to keep your spot on the team?
> 
> That's called a part time job.  Soccer is more fun than Starbucks, but it's not exactly huge money either.


Referring to programs looking for players with quality grades to get them academic money. And if that happens to be $20K great. It’s that much less.


----------



## crush

JuliVeee said:


> I don't buy this either.  We are in OC and know almost all of the top of the recruitment class for our area and haven't seen/heard this anywhere...


Are you serious?  I am not selling my truth by the way.  I am NOT talking about today's 8th graders either for the 100th time...lol.  *I AM TALKING AOUT THE CLASS OF 2022, WHEN THEY WERE IN 8TH GRADE. * I KNOW 7TH GRADERS THAT GOT FULL RIDE BECAUSE SHE WAS THE GOAT OF HER CLASS.  Come on now, I don't lie ((on purpose)).  I told my neighbor to go all in Strikers last week because they have ECNL.  Not no more and does that make me a liar?


----------



## Sike

soccermail2020 said:


> Do they not have enough talent to field a solid 07 and a solid 06 team?  Do their 06’s play up in 05? I dislike “playing up” except for the one or two phenom’s who just can’t play with their age group. HS season is interesting enough with the different age groups, imo club should be their age appropriate peers.


I think playing up in ECRL with a quality coach if you can't find an ECNL spot was a good move for those 07 girls, many of whom came over with her from West Coast GA. I would expect them to move to the 07 ECNL team at Pats next season. I suspect ECNL spots at Pats for the 06s and 07s to get filled by an assortment of existing Pats players, Strikers players, ECNL players at other clubs who want a change and some ECRL players at other clubs who are capable of playing at the ECNL level. Strikers losing ECNL was a nice win for Pats as it should help them fill out their rosters with quality players.


----------



## whatithink

Carlsbad7 said:


> I'm starting to sense a tipping point with ECNL.
> 
> Booting Clubs because they're all in on MLS Next wont work in the long run.
> 
> As more and more clubs go all in on MLS Next ECNL wont be able to keep the girls under thumb. Eventually theres going to be hurt feelings + clubs will be looking for league alternatives.
> 
> Also, MLS Next and GA seem to be loosely affiliated (might be wrong) if this is the case MLS Next could also play the exclusion game not allowing big clubs in unless they drop Girls ECNL and go GA.
> 
> Didnt this exact playbook happen with DA + ECNL 10+ years ago?


I don't believe that there is any link between MLS Next & GA, never mind an affiliation of any kind.

10+ years ago there was the ECNL for girls and the DA for boys. Those were the top levels nationwide.


----------



## dean

> LetsGooooo said:
> Which school has 5 girls in the 8th grade committed already? I just don’t believe that. They haven’t even played high school level yet and have 5 more years to grow and they already have scholarships to play soccer at college? No way….
> 
> I don't buy this either. We are in OC and know/have played with almost all of the top of the recruitment class for our area and haven't seen/heard this anywhere...


Crush is right. Look at the 10 class of 2022 recruits for UCLA (just as an example). At least 5 of those players accepted verbal offers four years ago when they were in 8th grade, right before the "new" NCAA recruiting rules went into effect. It was either accept the offer or wait until the summer after their sophomore year.

Maybe because they were verbal offers/acceptances, not everyone was aware. But many parents and players were. Clubs made announcements, etc. No question, at least 5 of those girls verbally committed to UCLA back then while they were in 8th grade. Obviously, that doesn't happen anymore with the newer rules.


----------



## what-happened

whatithink said:


> I don't believe that there is any link between MLS Next & GA, never mind an affiliation of any kind.
> 
> 10+ years ago there was the ECNL for girls and the DA for boys. Those were the top levels nationwide.


There is a loose affiliation.  Don't know what it means and what advantages it provides.  The GA commissioner is savvy, respected and reportedly personally committed to gir's soccer development.  She has a great track record.  The GA seems to understand their place and have been patient in building out the league across the country.  I don't think they consider themselves the most talented but may consider themselves the best girls only platform.   And yes, it's still a money grab but the organization appears patient and business savvy.   Plenty of parents with kids and plenty  NCAA roster spots available.   Seems like the GA is going for inclusive VS exclusive, yet still kinda elite.  Pretty much what most players really are.  









						Girls Academy establishes ties with US Youth Soccer and MLS
					

The Girls Academy will work with USYS and MLS.




					www.soccerwire.com
				



.


----------



## crush

dean said:


> Crush is right. Look at the 10 class of 2022 recruits for UCLA (just as an example). At least 5 of those players accepted verbal offers four years ago when they were in 8th grade, right before the "new" NCAA recruiting rules went into effect. It was either accept the offer or wait until the summer after their sophomore year.
> 
> Maybe because they were verbal offers/acceptances, not everyone was aware. But many parents and players were. Clubs made announcements, etc. No question, at least 5 of those girls verbally committed to UCLA back then while they were in 8th grade. Obviously, that doesn't happen anymore with the newer rules.


Thanks Dean.  Crush is right.  I lived the 7th and 8th grade sales pitches from those in the middle ((no coach ever talked to my kid about recruiting and my kid did not talk to them in 7th & 8th grade)).  "Hey, so and so is coming to help with the drills so be on good behavior." My dd scored two goals against that Quakes team full of YNT and Bruins.  My dd was fired up and why shouldn;t she be.  She missed the first list and still had something to prove and boy did she.  It was the first year of the GDA and her team won 2-0.  They just came off winning Far West Regionals and the Natty in 2017.  She circled the Quakes and the Legends because each had 5 YNT players and my dd and her teammates had something to prove and they did, by winning.  Her team won 5-0 or something like that against Legends.  I watched it with my eyes.  The moral of story is the girls have no power in this sport and the men will do whatever they need to do to make money first.


----------



## Dargle

JuliVeee said:


> I don't buy this either.  We are in OC and know/have played with almost all of the top of the recruitment class for our area and haven't seen/heard this anywhere...


The recruitment rules changed, effective May 1, 2019.  Currently, D1 colleges cannot speak with recruits before June 15th after their sophomore year. Before then, there were plenty of girls who committed in 8th grade (which was the impetus for the change, since many parents and coaches felt girls weren't ready to make that commitment so early).


----------



## espola

Dargle said:


> The recruitment rules changed, effective May 1, 2019.  Currently, D1 colleges cannot speak with recruits before June 15th after their sophomore year. Before then, there were plenty of girls who committed in 8th grade (which was the impetus for the change, since many parents and coaches felt girls weren't ready to make that commitment so early).


I wonder if there is a database anywhere that shows the success of those early commitments.  Did they end up at the intended school?  Did they play, and if so, how well?


----------



## Emma

Dargle said:


> The recruitment rules changed, effective May 1, 2019.  Currently, D1 colleges cannot speak with recruits before June 15th after their sophomore year. Before then, there were plenty of girls who committed in 8th grade (which was the impetus for the change, since many parents and coaches felt girls weren't ready to make that commitment so early).


Yes - everything CRUSH speaks about is from his personal experience and might have applied 3 years ago, which is the reason everyone is confused.

Currently, no eighth graders are committed.


----------



## MacDre

what-happened said:


> There is a loose affiliation.  Don't know what it means and what advantages it provides.  The GA commissioner is savvy, respected and reportedly personally committed to gir's soccer development.  She has a great track record.  The GA seems to understand their place and have been patient in building out the league across the country.  I don't think they consider themselves the most talented but may consider themselves the best girls only platform.   And yes, it's still a money grab but the organization appears patient and business savvy.   Plenty of parents with kids and plenty  NCAA roster spots available.   Seems like the GA is going for inclusive VS exclusive, yet still kinda elite.  Pretty much what most players really are.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Girls Academy establishes ties with US Youth Soccer and MLS
> 
> 
> The Girls Academy will work with USYS and MLS.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.soccerwire.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


I think the attached article is old news.  I saw this letter posted on another forum:
To: The GA Family
From: Skip Gilbert, USYS CEO

To All:

When the Girls Academy launched in 2020, US Youth Soccer (USYS) put aside all competitive differences to our National League, an elite competitive environment established 15-years ago, consisting of 13 conferences, over 3,500 teams and 80,000 players to show unbridled support. Specifically, we built a national registration process to allow the GA to register its players in one fluid motion, through USYS to their respective State Association.

Our goal was to support the GA off the field so they could create an elite environment to allow the players to succeed on it. We also hoped that given our 48-year history, that the GA would want to utilize many of our programming assets to complement their on-field efforts. For example, USYS offered all GA teams the opportunity to partner with our National League, to join forces with our National League P.R.O. and USYS National Showcase events, which would have provided incredible showcasing opportunities for all teams.

We offered our Olympic Development Program (ODP). ODP has been active since 1977 and provides over 40,000 players each year an opportunity to take advantage of a high-performance training experience that helps every player elevate their game on and off the field.

We opened the door for teams to enter our State Cup Tournaments. The State Cups represent the first-round action for our prestigious National Championship Series (NCS). The NCS is a competition that has earned its place as the premier National Championship in youth soccer since 1974.

Finally, we are launching this fall, the National League Elite 64. This top-tier platform of the National League will invite the best 64 clubs across 8 geographic conferences to compete together. Every game will be a recruitable moment. Once the season begins this fall, only teams in the National League will have the right to be promoted into Elite 64. The National League will embrace a promotion/relegation system allowing USYS to live-up to its principles that every team must "Earn Your Place" and regardless of skill level, every team will "Have A Home". 

Our vision is to bring communities together through the power of soccer, making life-long fans of the game. As a part of that vision, we operate under four core priorities. One, to create programming that provides any child the opportunity to learn and love our game. Two, to create pathways that support any level of skill to encourage all players to stay playing straight through their teenage years. Three, to invest in player development platforms that will allow every player the ability to elevate their game to the highest level possible. Four, to invest resources behind the acquisition, retention and development of coaches, and referees while creating a learning center to help parents embrace positive support techniques and sideline behavior.

Unfortunately, the GA has taken a stand to discourage any team or player from taking advantage of the USYS portfolio of assets and most recently, mandating that no club accept our invitation to join the USYS National League Elite 64. As I write this, the GA Board is planning to meet Wednesday to decide if they as a league should remain a part of the overall USYS Family or move over to a separate sanctioning body.

To me, this simply does not appear to be a true partnership. Because of this, and beginning with the fall 2022 season, should the GA remain within the USYS Family, we will make one change in our offered support. We will no longer recognize the GA as a national platform. As such, we will no longer offer the GA a single registration process but ask that each team register directly with our National Network of State Associations. This is the same process that is embraced by tens of thousands of teams and over 2.3 million players every year.

While we value the GA and what they are bringing to the sport, we must remain fair and consistent to the 2.3 million other players that do utilize our vast resources. Again, since most teams within the GA already had a direct relationship with its State Association, registering direct through them will not be a burden and will not impact any specific player.

Have a great spring season and feel free to reach out with any questions. My email address is sgilbert@usyouthsoccer.org.


----------



## Carlsbad7

I remember hearing about verbal commitments for pre high school girls back in the DA days.

Also they wouldn't have changed recruiting rules to not before "June 15th after their sophomore year" if it wasn't happening.


----------



## Dargle

espola said:


> I wonder if there is a database anywhere that shows the success of those early commitments.  Did they end up at the intended school?  Did they play, and if so, how well?


I don't know of any such database, but it would be interesting. I know one of the proxies used to justify the rule change was the extremely high transfer rate, which many felt might at least partially be attributable to the length of time between when a recruit committed and when they actually arrived on campus.  My anecdotal sense is that this probably isn't driving the transfer rate, partially because the transfer rate remains high, it is high for boys too, who are recruited and commit much later because of their delayed physical development, and the number of early girls commits was still likely too small to drive the overall high numbers.  It's not clear yet because those early commits are still entering the system and the pandemic is a disruption that makes interpreting current transfer rates more difficult.


----------



## tjinaz

Sike said:


> I think playing up in ECRL with a quality coach if you can't find an ECNL spot was a good move for those 07 girls, many of whom came over with her from West Coast GA. I would expect them to move to the 07 ECNL team at Pats next season. I suspect ECNL spots at Pats for the 06s and 07s to get filled by an assortment of existing Pats players, Strikers players, ECNL players at other clubs who want a change and some ECRL players at other clubs who are capable of playing at the ECNL level. Strikers losing ECNL was a nice win for Pats as it should help them fill out their rosters with quality players.


I think Pats have already recruited and their ECRL team will be their ECNL team for next season with some tweaks.  Look at their ECRL record since the break..


----------



## Messi>CR7

JuliVeee said:


> Strikers do not have Boys ECNL.  Only Girls.  Been that way since they went MLS Next.


I really don't understand why the Strikers ECNL girls got punished for this mess.  People with boys know the Strikers chapter that is currently a member of the MLS-Next (and formerly a member of boys DA) has always been a top notch BOYS-ONLY club.  The ECNL girls' program is run out of Strikers North, a totally different chapter that has their own boys and girls programs.  I don't know which chapter is the mothership and which one is the affiliate, but there is no day-to-day interaction between the two operations.

It's really unfortunate that 100+ girls now might have to go through the tryout hoopla for events that have absolutely nothing to do with their program.


----------



## JuliVeee

Messi>CR7 said:


> I really don't understand why the Strikers ECNL girls got punished for this mess.  People with boys know the Strikers chapter that is currently a member of the MLS-Next (and formerly a member of boys DA) has always been a top notch BOYS-ONLY club.  The ECNL girls' program is run out of Strikers North, a totally different chapter that has their own boys and girls programs.  I don't know which chapter is the mothership and which one is the affiliate, but there is no day-to-day interaction between the two operations.
> 
> It's really unfortunate that 100+ girls now might have to go through the tryout hoopla for events that have absolutely nothing to do with their program.


100% this.


----------



## Speed

Jaden Perry committed as an 8th grader playing at UCLA


JuliVeee said:


> I don't buy this either.  We are in OC and know/have played with almost all of the top of the recruitment class for our area and haven't seen/heard this anywhere...


----------



## Royal26

tjinaz said:


> I think Pats have already recruited and their ECRL team will be their ECNL team for next season with some tweaks.  Look at their ECRL record since the break..


What team are you talking about? Big Changes coming every roster. They will have plenty to choose from.


----------



## The Godfather

There will be changes.....that RL team isn't good enough to compete at NL as is.  No disrespect but it will need a few pieces.  Also, it will have a different coach so it will change.


----------



## tjinaz

The Godfather said:


> There will be changes.....that RL team isn't good enough to compete at NL as is.  No disrespect but it will need a few pieces.  Also, it will have a different coach so it will change.


What i am saying is Pats ECRL teams have been a lot better since the break.  Not sure if they got new players, coach told them they are getting ECNL or what but there is a real uptick in how they are doing in the league.  Likely a combination of those things.

When are ECNL/RL tryouts in CA?


----------



## Kicker 2.0

Mello said:


> Oh my! No warning?? WOW! ...and the kids and coaches probably take the brunt of the situation. How is this any good for the sport?


Warning…he is full of shit and has a very limited understanding of how things work.


----------



## what-happened

MacDre said:


> I think the attached article is old news.  I saw this letter posted on another forum:
> To: The GA Family
> From: Skip Gilbert, USYS CEO
> 
> To All:
> 
> When the Girls Academy launched in 2020, US Youth Soccer (USYS) put aside all competitive differences to our National League, an elite competitive environment established 15-years ago, consisting of 13 conferences, over 3,500 teams and 80,000 players to show unbridled support. Specifically, we built a national registration process to allow the GA to register its players in one fluid motion, through USYS to their respective State Association.
> 
> Our goal was to support the GA off the field so they could create an elite environment to allow the players to succeed on it. We also hoped that given our 48-year history, that the GA would want to utilize many of our programming assets to complement their on-field efforts. For example, USYS offered all GA teams the opportunity to partner with our National League, to join forces with our National League P.R.O. and USYS National Showcase events, which would have provided incredible showcasing opportunities for all teams.
> 
> We offered our Olympic Development Program (ODP). ODP has been active since 1977 and provides over 40,000 players each year an opportunity to take advantage of a high-performance training experience that helps every player elevate their game on and off the field.
> 
> We opened the door for teams to enter our State Cup Tournaments. The State Cups represent the first-round action for our prestigious National Championship Series (NCS). The NCS is a competition that has earned its place as the premier National Championship in youth soccer since 1974.
> 
> Finally, we are launching this fall, the National League Elite 64. This top-tier platform of the National League will invite the best 64 clubs across 8 geographic conferences to compete together. Every game will be a recruitable moment. Once the season begins this fall, only teams in the National League will have the right to be promoted into Elite 64. The National League will embrace a promotion/relegation system allowing USYS to live-up to its principles that every team must "Earn Your Place" and regardless of skill level, every team will "Have A Home".
> 
> Our vision is to bring communities together through the power of soccer, making life-long fans of the game. As a part of that vision, we operate under four core priorities. One, to create programming that provides any child the opportunity to learn and love our game. Two, to create pathways that support any level of skill to encourage all players to stay playing straight through their teenage years. Three, to invest in player development platforms that will allow every player the ability to elevate their game to the highest level possible. Four, to invest resources behind the acquisition, retention and development of coaches, and referees while creating a learning center to help parents embrace positive support techniques and sideline behavior.
> 
> Unfortunately, the GA has taken a stand to discourage any team or player from taking advantage of the USYS portfolio of assets and most recently, mandating that no club accept our invitation to join the USYS National League Elite 64. As I write this, the GA Board is planning to meet Wednesday to decide if they as a league should remain a part of the overall USYS Family or move over to a separate sanctioning body.
> 
> To me, this simply does not appear to be a true partnership. Because of this, and beginning with the fall 2022 season, should the GA remain within the USYS Family, we will make one change in our offered support. We will no longer recognize the GA as a national platform. As such, we will no longer offer the GA a single registration process but ask that each team register directly with our National Network of State Associations. This is the same process that is embraced by tens of thousands of teams and over 2.3 million players every year.
> 
> While we value the GA and what they are bringing to the sport, we must remain fair and consistent to the 2.3 million other players that do utilize our vast resources. Again, since most teams within the GA already had a direct relationship with its State Association, registering direct through them will not be a burden and will not impact any specific player.
> 
> Have a great spring season and feel free to reach out with any questions. My email address is sgilbert@usyouthsoccer.org.


Certainly an old article.  The GA has more to gain from a partnership of some sort with the MLS rather than USYS.


----------



## Kicker 2.0

dad4 said:


> You mean the 50% scholarship worth $20K, but which requires about a thousand hours of work to keep your spot on the team?
> 
> That's called a part time job.  Soccer is more fun than Starbucks, but it's not exactly huge money either.


So at what school is $20 a 50% scholarship?

If


----------



## Kicker 2.0

dean said:


> Crush is right. Look at the 10 class of 2022 recruits for UCLA (just as an example). At least 5 of those players accepted verbal offers four years ago when they were in 8th grade, right before the "new" NCAA recruiting rules went into effect. It was either accept the offer or wait until the summer after their sophomore year.
> 
> Maybe because they were verbal offers/acceptances, not everyone was aware. But many parents and players were. Clubs made announcements, etc. No question, at least 5 of those girls verbally committed to UCLA back then while they were in 8th grade. Obviously, that doesn't happen anymore with the newer rules.


My DD  is also an ‘04 and rejected all of her 8th grade offers with the comment that she doesn’t know what she wants to do in her future Sonia t prepared to commit at this time.  She knew the NCAA rule was changing and was willing to gamble on herself.  

Anyone who felt “pressure” to commit before then and made their choice has to live with it (that’s the thing about decisions).

Fortunately, it all worked out and her gamble paid off, but I took leadership and guidance from us (not her coach) to stay the course.  Too many people think it’s the Coach’s job to dictate and control the narrative. 

Sometimes you have to be a parent!


----------



## dad4

Kicker 2.0 said:


> So at what school is $20 a 50% scholarship?


UCLA.  In state  total cost of attendance is 37K.  Those are 2019 numbers, so I bumped it up a bit.

If you are thinking of USC, there is an easier way to save 50%.  Just forget about USC and apply to a UC.


----------



## LouSag

espola said:


> I wonder if there is a database anywhere that shows the success of those early commitments.  Did they end up at the intended school?  Did they play, and if so, how well?


The facts that women’s college soccer and women’s college lacrosse have the 2 highest transfer rates in college sports—lends some credibility to the early commitments being way to early.


----------



## The Godfather

tjinaz said:


> What i am saying is Pats ECRL teams have been a lot better since the break.  Not sure if they got new players, coach told them they are getting ECNL or what but there is a real uptick in how they are doing in the league.  Likely a combination of those things.
> 
> When are ECNL/RL tryouts in CA?
> Sometime after May 1st and will vary by ECNL club


----------



## Squishy

crush said:


> Thanks Dean.  Crush is right.  I lived the 7th and 8th grade sales pitches from those in the middle ((no coach ever talked to my kid about recruiting and my kid did not talk to them in 7th & 8th grade)).  "Hey, so and so is coming to help with the drills so be on good behavior." My dd scored two goals against that Quakes team full of YNT and Bruins.  My dd was fired up and why shouldn;t she be.  She missed the first list and still had something to prove and boy did she.  It was the first year of the GDA and her team won 2-0.  They just came off winning Far West Regionals and the Natty in 2017.  She circled the Quakes and the Legends because each had 5 YNT players and my dd and her teammates had something to prove and they did, by winning.  Her team won 5-0 or something like that against Legends.  I watched it with my eyes.  The moral of story is the girls have no power in this sport and the men will do whatever they need to do to make money first.




Ashley Sanchez committed to UCLA in the 8th grade.


----------



## crush

Squishy said:


> Ashley Sanchez committed to UCLA in the 8th grade.


OM committed in 6th grade.


----------



## GT45

tjinaz said:


> I think Pats have already recruited and their ECRL team will be their ECNL team for next season with some tweaks.  Look at their ECRL record since the break..


They have only played two games since the HS break.


----------



## Desert Hound

Squishy said:


> Ashley Sanchez committed to UCLA in the 8th grade.


When my DD was in 8th grade she committed to HS


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

Desert Hound said:


> When my DD was in 8th grade she committed to HS


That’s better than my son.  He committed to never playing soccer again. He quit by the time 8th grade was over.   Boo!!!!!


----------



## oh canada

One thing for sure...existing Pats girls + Strikers girls will make formidable teams and further solidify Southwest Sonoran as the "Division of Death" in ECNL


----------



## SoulTrain

RedCard said:


> Sharks had a pretty good weekend going 4-1-1, so maybe things are turning around. But it was against the L.A. Breakers which most of their teams are in 8th or 9th place in their division, so take it for it's worth. Only the U16 have a winning record, and that's the Breakers team that had the only win this past weekend.


That's like saying you beat Qatar in the first round of the World Cup so you're heading to the finals. Let's see how they do this weekend against Blues. 
Most of the girls at DMCV who had talent and commitment left for Surf, Albion, SDSC Surf and City.  They brought in warm bodies, it's going to be another tough ECNL and ECRL season.  Fields and coaching just aren't at the same level as all the clubs mentioned above.


----------



## socalkdg

Carlsbad7 said:


> This is what I don't understand. One of the top female soccer players in the nation + only gets 50% scholarship?
> 
> You'd do better saving up the $$$ and stapling it to your kids application. (aka providing a donation to the school)
> 
> What I also don't understand is that some of the top soccer colleges have all kinds of issues with coaches treating players like crap + most of the top teams play kickball.


We are recruiting right now.  Mostly D1.   Colleges have 26-28 players.   Many offer 50% to 24 players, leaving 2 players to get 100%.   Others give more 75-100% scholarships, but have a number of players getting 0-25% but because it is an amazing school they at least get into the school and parents have money and tell their friends their kid is at this Amazing school.  Go into it hoping to get 50% and a coach that wants your player.


----------



## crush

socalkdg said:


> We are recruiting right now.  Mostly D1.   *Colleges have 26-28 players*.   Many offer 50% to 24 players, leaving 2 players to get 100%.   Others give more 75-100% scholarships, but have a number of players getting 0-25% but because it is an amazing school they at least get into the school and parents have money and tell their friends their kid is at this Amazing school.  Go into it hoping to get 50% and a coach that wants your player.


The one's for your dd, right?  The one's my kid looked at had 44, 41, 38 and 34 players on the rosters.  I know FSU has a small roster.  I think 50% is fair and then have great grades to get the rest.


----------



## socalkdg

Desert Hound said:


> When my DD was in 8th grade she committed to HS


Sometimes I feel li


crush said:


> The one's for your dd, right?  The one's my kid looked at had 44, 41, 38 and 34 players on the rosters.  I know FSU has a small roster.  I think 50% is fair and then have great grades to get the rest.


Yes for my DD.   The biggest roster so far was 31, with a current top 10 D1 program we are looking at.   Still looking for a couple more 2023's, including a keeper.  Most schools also allow a couple spots for walk ons.  Thankfully I never went into the process thinking she would get 100% (even if I think she is the best goalkeeper around, but then again I'm her dad) and for her dream school would be happy with 33% since I know she can also get about 33% academic and the school stacks scholarships.


----------



## crush

socalkdg said:


> Sometimes I feel li
> 
> Yes for my DD.   The biggest roster so far was 31, with a current top 10 D1 program we are looking at.   Still looking for a couple more 2023's, including a keeper.  Most schools also allow a couple spots for walk ons.  Thankfully I never went into the process thinking she would get 100% (even if I think she is the best goalkeeper around, but then again I'm her dad) and for her dream school would be happy with 33% since I know she can also get about 33% academic and the school stacks scholarships.


I never went into youth soccer for a college deal for my kid and I see clearly why I have beaten this horse past death.  I see that clearly.  Super stoked for your dd and you as a father.  Great job dad and I mean that 100%.


----------



## espola

socalkdg said:


> We are recruiting right now.  Mostly D1.   Colleges have 26-28 players.   Many offer 50% to 24 players, leaving 2 players to get 100%.   Others give more 75-100% scholarships, but have a number of players getting 0-25% but because it is an amazing school they at least get into the school and parents have money and tell their friends their kid is at this Amazing school.  Go into it hoping to get 50% and a coach that wants your player.


Do they teach their English composition students any adjectives other than "amazing"?


----------



## Larzby

socalkdg said:


> We are recruiting right now.  Mostly D1.   Colleges have 26-28 players.   Many offer 50% to 24 players, leaving 2 players to get 100%.   Others give more 75-100% scholarships, but have a number of players getting 0-25% but because it is an amazing school they at least get into the school and parents have money and tell their friends their kid is at this Amazing school.  Go into it hoping to get 50% and a coach that wants your player.


And don't believe everything you hear from parents.  Trust me, lots of parents are all to happy to let you believe their kid got a full ride when all they really got was a partial scholarship, or even walked on with the promise of a scholarship in future years.  So much misinformation out there, and interests of the powerful who profit from it, are perfectly aligned with those enormous parental egos.


----------



## crush

Larzby said:


> And don't believe everything you hear from parents.  T*rust me, lots of parents are all to happy to let you believe their kid got a full ride when all they really got was a partial scholarship*, *or even walked on with the promise of a scholarship in future years.*  So much misinformation out there, and interests of the powerful who profit from it, are perfectly aligned with those enormous parental egos.


100% the best quote all week Larzby.  I know some rich dads that got their kids into some amazing and awesome schools.  They paid and their dd is on the team.  It is what it is.  Dude walks around like his dd got a ride when all that happen is some talks with coach and then coach talks to the other coach and then the deal is doen.  Dad can wear his new sweatshirt, mom can brag on Insta and the deal is done.  5% deal=Scholarship.


----------



## LASoccerMom

Larzby said:


> And don't believe everything you hear from parents.  Trust me, lots of parents are all to happy to let you believe their kid got a full ride when all they really got was a partial scholarship, or even walked on with the promise of a scholarship in future years.  So much misinformation out there, and interests of the powerful who profit from it, are perfectly aligned with those enormous parental egos.


100%! Makes me think of an acquaintance whose daughter was playing volleyball at an Ivy League school. Mom told us all that, "My daughter has a scholarship to play volleyball at Columbia." Daughter had a one time $500 scholarship from a local women's group for her community service. Lovely accomplishment. Not an athletic scholarship.


----------



## GT45

LASoccerMom said:


> 100%! Makes me think of an acquaintance whose daughter was playing volleyball at an Ivy League school. Mom told us all that, "My daughter has a scholarship to play volleyball at Columbia." Daughter had a one time $500 scholarship from a local women's group for her community service. Lovely accomplishment. Not an athletic scholarship.


Ivy League schools are not allowed to offer athletic scholarships. I wonder if anyone told this mom that!


----------



## crush

GT45 said:


> Ivy League schools are not allowed to offer athletic scholarships. I wonder if anyone told this mom that!


I bet her friends have no clue, only we would know that.  This is the juice that parents thrive on.  They want everyone to know how great of parents they are and how great their kids are.  "Scholarship" sales big time in sports.


----------



## espola

GT45 said:


> Ivy League schools are not allowed to offer athletic scholarships. I wonder if anyone told this mom that!


True, but -- there are ways.  One of the good measurres of an Ivy League school (and schools that wish to be thought of as "ivys") is that if you can get in, you can afford it.  Now if tall blonde Betty happens to be such a good volleyball player that the volleyball coach will put her on his list of sidedoor entries, the parents can certainly feel that the money they invested in Betty's volleyball development is paid back by the discount they got from the full price, perhaps based on the fact that they have no savings left after financing Betty's training.

The Varsity Blues scandal of the last few years was a different side of the coin.  Parents who could easily afford to pay the full retail price of any school, Ivy or not, had enough money to pry open that side door despite a lack of athletic talent.

And then there is the old legend of Ned Harkness in his days as Cornell ice hockey coach.  He took advantage of the fact that Cornell housed the NY State Agriculture College in a cooperative agreement with the Regents of the University of New York, which resulted in one of the best veterinary medicine schools in the country.  The ag school students overlapped with the mainline Cornell students in housing, many of the classes, and all student social activities, including athletic teams playing under the Cornell banner.  While Cornell itself gave out no athletic scholarships, the Ag College was not so constrained, so a lot of Canadian farmboys brought their hockey skates south to study animal husbandry.  Savvy fans at rival schools carried cowbells to games when Cornell visited.


----------



## crush

espola said:


> True, but -- there are ways.  One of the good measurres of an Ivy League school (and schools that wish to be thought of as "ivys") is that if you can get in, you can afford it.  Now if tall blonde Betty happens to be such a good volleyball player that the volleyball coach will put her on his list of sidedoor entries, the parents can certainly feel that the money they invested in Betty's volleyball development is paid back by the discount they got from the full price, perhaps based on the fact that they have no savings left after financing Betty's training.
> 
> The Varsity Blues scandal of the last few years was a different side of the coin.  Parents who could easily afford to pay the full retail price of any school, Ivy or not, had enough money to pry open that side door despite a lack of athletic talent.
> 
> And then there is the old legend of Ned Harkness in his days as Cornell ice hockey coach.  He took advantage of the fact that Cornell housed the NY State Agriculture College in a cooperative agreement with the Regents of the University of New York, which resulted in one of the best veterinary medicine schools in the country.  The ag school students overlapped with the mainline Cornell students in housing, many of the classes, and all student social activities, including athletic teams playing under the Cornell banner.  While Cornell itself gave out no athletic scholarships, the Ag College was not so constrained, so a lot of Canadian farmboys brought their hockey skates south to study animal husbandry.  Savvy fans at rival schools carried cowbells to games when Cornell visited.


I heard some parents were paying above the asking price for tuition to get their kid on the team and in the school.  Some of these coaches know exactly what some parents will give up to get Bette in the school, on the team, priority for classes, nice dorm room and all the nice things money can buy   BTW, my buddy sold his condo and got 15% over asking price so it;s not unheard of.


----------



## SoccerFan4Life

GT45 said:


> Ivy League schools are not allowed to offer athletic scholarships. I wonder if anyone told this mom that!


Neighbor's son played for Seattle Sounders Academy as a starting goalie.  He selected Harvard U mostly for the academics (family has money).  They got zero athletic scholarship. Kid quit in his sophmore year due to changing his focus on academics.


----------



## RedCard

SoulTrain said:


> That's like saying you beat Qatar in the first round of the World Cup so you're heading to the finals. Let's see how they do this weekend against Blues.
> Most of the girls at DMCV who had talent and commitment left for Surf, Albion, SDSC Surf and City.  They brought in warm bodies, it's going to be another tough ECNL and ECRL season.  Fields and coaching just aren't at the same level as all the clubs mentioned above.


Oh, I agree 100%. It was a good weekend for them but like I said, most of the Breaker teams they faced are at the bottom but you gotta take the wins when you can.  There's a lot of tough, well-rounded teams out there. SD Surf is the OG down there. My daughter's team just played Sporting San Diego 05 and they're pretty solid also. They're heading to Colorado with us for Nationals in July.


----------



## RedCard

GT45 said:


> Ivy League schools are not allowed to offer athletic scholarships. I wonder if anyone told this mom that!


Same with the service academies.


----------



## espola

RedCard said:


> Same with the service academies.


Service academies are even better.  They pay their students for their attendance.


----------



## Larzby

LASoccerMom said:


> 100%! Makes me think of an acquaintance whose daughter was playing volleyball at an Ivy League school. Mom told us all that, "My daughter has a scholarship to play volleyball at Columbia." Daughter had a one time $500 scholarship from a local women's group for her community service. Lovely accomplishment. Not an athletic scholarship.


Exactly.  That kind of puffery is epidemic in these circles of grandstanding parents.  Not to mention I'm pretty sure Columbia and other Ivys don't give athletic scholarships in the first place!


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## RedCard

espola said:


> Service academies are even better.  They pay their students for their attendance.


And you have a job right after graduation for at least 5 years!!!


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## LouSag

SoccerFan4Life said:


> Neighbor's son played for Seattle Sounders Academy as a starting goalie.  He selected Harvard U mostly for the academics (family has money).  They got zero athletic scholarship. Kid quit in his sophmore year due to changing his focus on academics.


And he will be the better for it.


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## soccermail2020

tjinaz said:


> What i am saying is Pats ECRL teams have been a lot better since the break.  Not sure if they got new players, coach told them they are getting ECNL or what but there is a real uptick in how they are doing in the league.  Likely a combination of those things.
> 
> When are ECNL/RL tryouts in CA?


Anytime after May 1st. Nothing has been announced as far as I am aware. From all the movement that I am hearing about, all teams will have their hands full with decisions after May 1st.


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## focomoso

SoccerFan4Life said:


> Neighbor's son played for Seattle Sounders Academy as a starting goalie.  He selected Harvard U mostly for the academics (family has money).  They got zero athletic scholarship. Kid quit in his sophmore year due to changing his focus on academics.


This was common when I was in school. Kids got in because of sports, but then lost interest (or maybe never had that level of interest in the first place). I suspect it's even more common at Ivy-League schools because there's no scholarship to "throw away".


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## Lodan36

Where does elite 64 fall in line with the rest of the leagues? Will this be a good option with clubs without ecnl?


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## Royal26

Will the Blues coaching assignments remain the same for the upcoming ECNL season?


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## Larzby

Lodan36 said:


> Where does elite 64 fall in line with the rest of the leagues? Will this be a good option with clubs without ecnl?


There's another thread about this topic under So Cal Soccer Scene.


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## galaxydad

SoccerFan4Life said:


> That would be a mistake. Pats boys have been strong in the past.  MLS Next is a must if you want to go the pro level for boys.
> Strikers should join DA and give more life to their league. ECNL will still be better but ultimately all it matters is to get a showcase for these young girls going to college.   It sucks that kids and parents got screwed thanks to ECNL execs.   Very shameful.   They should have allowed a retirement of the youngers and allow the older teams to stay in ECNL until they graduate.


This is a boys comment 

why is MLS Next a must to become a pro? I can’t imagine a pro team saying Sorry your the best player in your age but you didn’t play MLS Next so tough luck. Galaxy and LAFC academies are the only ones that have a direct link and don’t think they are not looking at ECNL players for their academies.

Pats have done very well in ECNL. Strikers not so much. The completion in MLS next in inferior to ECNL. Look at Surf Cup super group results.

why leave- Pats and Strikers coaches want to play Galaxy and LAFC. It’s their egos and that’s it. It is by no means a better path to anything. ECNL is a path to college and for a very very few the pros. Guess what MLS next much smaller path to college and the similar very small percentage to the pros.

BTW- most going pro from MLS next will play on the B team. Please look at that pay scale before you wish that for any player. Then see how many B team players get promoted. Then look at their life outcomes after a VAST majority of B team players A team spots go to international contracts. I know SO many kids that gave their life to B teams and no have nothing to fall back on.


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## Carlsbad7

galaxydad said:


> This is a boys comment
> 
> why is MLS Next a must to become a pro? I can’t imagine a pro team saying Sorry your the best player in your age but you didn’t play MLS Next so tough luck. Galaxy and LAFC academies are the only ones that have a direct link and don’t think they are not looking at ECNL players for their academies.
> 
> Pats have done very well in ECNL. Strikers not so much. The completion in MLS next in inferior to ECNL. Look at Surf Cup super group results.
> 
> why leave- Pats and Strikers coaches want to play Galaxy and LAFC. It’s their egos and that’s it. It is by no means a better path to anything. ECNL is a path to college and for a very very few the pros. Guess what MLS next much smaller path to college and the similar very small percentage to the pros.
> 
> BTW- most going pro from MLS next will play on the B team. Please look at that pay scale before you wish that for any player. Then see how many B team players get promoted. Then look at their life outcomes after a VAST majority of B team players A team spots go to international contracts. I know SO many kids that gave their life to B teams and no have nothing to fall back on.


Everyone gets the College vs Pro discussion.

The problem with a college focused league is all the "less academically inclined" kids that are good enough to play will filter to MLS next. If the only focus is playing soccer + going pro it's going to bring a higher level of competition because players aren't distracted by their studies.

If colleges started paying players things might tip back into ECNL for boys.


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## galaxydad

Trust me, ECNL teams are signing those with poor grades. The MLS Next path is a shame(unless you are a Galaxy or LAFC academy player- and the outcome is 99.999% poor)


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## RedCard

galaxydad said:


> why leave- Pats and Strikers coaches want to play Galaxy and LAFC. It’s their egos and that’s it. It is by no means a better path to anything. ECNL is a path to college and for a very very few the pros. Guess what MLS next much smaller path to college and the similar very small percentage to the pros.


LAFC and Galaxy; along with all the other youth teams that are attached to MLS Clubs; do not play the other non-MLS youth teams. The MLS youth teams are in the "Pro Player Pathway" league/bracket and the other teams (LA Surf, Strikers, TFA, etc.) are all in the "Elite Player League/Bracket and only play each other.


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## galaxydad

RedCard said:


> LAFC and Galaxy; along with all the other youth teams that are attached to MLS Clubs; do not play the other non-MLS youth teams. The MLS youth teams are in the "Pro Player Pathway" league/bracket and the other teams (LA Surf, Strikers, TFA, etc.) are all in the "Elite Player League/Bracket and only play each other.


They have access to friendlies that others don’t. Again, speaking with pats and strikers ECNL coaches that was their argument for leaving. They also don’t like sharing their players with HS teams, but that’s another story


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## Dargle

RedCard said:


> LAFC and Galaxy; along with all the other youth teams that are attached to MLS Clubs; do not play the other non-MLS youth teams. The MLS youth teams are in the "Pro Player Pathway" league/bracket and the other teams (LA Surf, Strikers, TFA, etc.) are all in the "Elite Player League/Bracket and only play each other.


That’s not true (at least in U15 and U17 where the Academies field teams in MLS Next).  Besides friendlies, one half of the season is called MLS Next Flex, where LA Galaxy and LAFC play the non-MLS teams in MLS Next and the other half of the season is called League and that is where the Academies fly around and play other MLS academies and the non-MLS teams play each other.  The non-MLS affiliated teams also play MLS academies from around the country in showcases and playoffs


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## From the Spot

Has anyone heard about other clubs getting the Strikers treatment from ECNL? An unreliable source (claims to "know a guy"!) mentioned he heard one of the Phoenix teams may be out as well. It seems odd we wouldn't have heard about it by now if it happened but then again, its club soccer.


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## Surf Zombie

From the Spot said:


> Has anyone heard about other clubs getting the Strikers treatment from ECNL? An unreliable source (claims to "know a guy"!) mentioned he heard one of the Phoenix teams may be out as well. It seems odd we wouldn't have heard about it by now if it happened but then again, its club soccer.


Last season ECNL bounced Oklahoma Celtic from the league. Think they are in ECNL regional league only now.

Not sure of why, but looks like they were non-competitive. A strong OK Energy club was added about the same time.


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## SoccerFan4Life

From the Spot said:


> Has anyone heard about other clubs getting the Strikers treatment from ECNL? An unreliable source (claims to "know a guy"!) mentioned he heard one of the Phoenix teams may be out as well. It seems odd we wouldn't have heard about it by now if it happened but then again, its club soccer.


Clearly there's other clubs that have not done that well over the years.   I am surprised they have not outlined how/when a club will get kicked out of ECNL.   Setting clear guidelines for all clubs should be part of doing business with ECNL.  Then again, they act more like the Club Soccer Mafia picking and choosing who gets in or out.  SMH


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## FernandoFromNationalCity

SoccerFan4Life said:


> Clearly there's other clubs that have not done that well over the years.   I am surprised they have not outlined how/when a club will get kicked out of ECNL.   Setting clear guidelines for all clubs should be part of doing business with ECNL.  Then again, they act more like the Club Soccer Mafia picking and choosing who gets in or out.  SMH


El Cosa Nostra League lol


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