# Elite Academy League (EA) - National Expansion



## USC (Jan 22, 2022)

So EA is expanding or many of their clubs are leaving and they are recruiting, lol.  Either way, what’s the vibe on the EA league?  Is the jump worth it for a club or would ECNL be a better fit?  Or stay CSL Premier or Socal Discovery League.

Too many leagues now, soccer talent keeps getting diluted.


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## watfly (Jan 23, 2022)

My personal perspective.  EA and ECRL are clearly 2nd tier leagues.  They are marketing creations for clubs to keep, or lure, kids/parents with the idea that they're one step away from MLS Next or ECNL (although not all EA teams have a MLS Next team).  Reality is that there is very little promotion from within at Clubs.  I'd rather see EA and ECRL teams be absorbed back into the local leagues like CSL or SoCal.  I think that would help the dilution problem.

As far as ECNL and MLS Next goes, I think a lot of clubs that jumped on the ECNL train early, are regretting that decision.  I know they're getting a lot of pressure from parents to move to MLS Next.  I think ECNL is a great choice for those kids that also want to play high school soccer, but its not quite the same quality of soccer mostly because MLS Next has the academy teams.  We can argue about the competitiveness below the academy teams.

An interesting thing that is happening right now is that since ECNL is taking its break, many ECNL kids that don't want to play high school are showing up to MLS Next practices.  I expect a mass exodus of U15 ECNL players to MLS Next at the end of the season.  At least that is what is happening in San Diego.  Is anyone north of SD seeing a similar trend?  I think Surf on the boys side is in trouble, I know SDSC is.


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## USC (Jan 23, 2022)

I agree.  I don’t see a huge benefit in joining EA or ECRL.  I too wish that CSL and/or the SoCal league should absorb those teams.  

Also, the requirements to play EA make it almost triple the cost compared to CSL Premier.  However, since EA is MLS Next tier two league, it makes it easier to recruit players for the league.


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## watfly (Jan 23, 2022)

I just eyeballed the U15 Southwest EA schedule/standings and it looks pretty ugly in terms of parity. Huge discrepancy between top and bottom. A lot of blowouts and some bad teams.  U14 didn't look any better.  MLS Next at U15 has far more parity with only a rare blowout.


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## tjinaz (Jan 24, 2022)

watfly said:


> I just eyeballed the U15 Southwest EA schedule/standings and it looks pretty ugly in terms of parity. Huge discrepancy between top and bottom. A lot of blowouts and some bad teams.  U14 didn't look any better.  MLS Next at U15 has far more parity with only a rare blowout.


I know an MLS Next club can have EA .  Can ECNL mix with MLS or EA?  Seems like the clubs that have MLS also have EA.


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## USC (Jan 24, 2022)

Not all MLS Next teams have EA teams, the bigger clubs do for sure.

They have a unsat schedule and standings widget, for all the money that they charge that's pretty crappy!


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## watfly (Jan 24, 2022)

tjinaz said:


> I know an MLS Next club can have EA .  Can ECNL mix with MLS or EA?  Seems like the clubs that have MLS also have EA.


The only club in the Southwest that appears to have ECNL and MLS Next is Phoenix Rising.  Their B team is in ECNL.  I recall that last year RSL-AZ was in both.


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## tjinaz (Jan 24, 2022)

watfly said:


> The only club in the Southwest that appears to have ECNL and MLS Next is Phoenix Rising.  Their B team is in ECNL.  I recall that last year RSL-AZ was in both.


Yea now RSL-AZ has two EA teams.  One for South (Gilbert/Chandler) one for North (Phoenix/Scottsdale).  Rising is the next biggest club so that makes sense.  ECNL boys is taking a real hit.


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## foreveryoung (Jan 24, 2022)

watfly said:


> ut its not quite the same quality of soccer mostly because MLS Next has the academy teams.


The U15/U17 age group plays them once, the U16 doesn't play them at all.  I would suspect the U17 group might not all all next season with MLS Next Pro league.  Why is that the draw?  I bet Galaxy and LAFC would schedule a scrimmage with either of those clubs.  

Although, it would be great for SD if Surf and SDSC joined MLS Next.


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## watfly (Jan 24, 2022)

foreveryoung said:


> The U15/U17 age group plays them once, the U16 doesn't play them at all.  I would suspect the U17 group might not all all next season with MLS Next Pro league.  Why is that the draw?  I bet Galaxy and LAFC would schedule a scrimmage with either of those clubs.
> 
> Although, it would be great for SD if Surf and SDSC joined MLS Next.


Fair point.  More of a marketing draw then a head to head competition draw.  For some parents its going to have value that they can say their kid play's in the same league as professional academies.

Anyone know how the ECNL Showcases have been?  I was very impressed with the scouting turnout at the MLS Showcase despite the fact my son has no interest in playing college soccer.  That would be very attractive for those kids/parents that want to go that route.


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## Soccermaverick (Jan 24, 2022)

ECNL has a pipe line to the Womens Premier league… if the ECNL could create one for the boys that would be a game changer for the boys… MLS next has the allure of MLS but again it’s the MLS.


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## tjinaz (Jan 25, 2022)

Soccermaverick said:


> ECNL has a pipe line to the Womens Premier league… if the ECNL could create one for the boys that would be a game changer for the boys… MLS next has the allure of MLS but again it’s the MLS.


There is a ECNL pipeline to the Women's Premier league in Europe?  when did this happen?  How many women have made the move?


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## Dargle (Jan 25, 2022)

foreveryoung said:


> The U15/U17 age group plays them once, the U16 doesn't play them at all.  I would suspect the U17 group might not all all next season with MLS Next Pro league.  Why is that the draw?  I bet Galaxy and LAFC would schedule a scrimmage with either of those clubs.
> 
> Although, it would be great for SD if Surf and SDSC joined MLS Next.


In the U16 MLS Next bracket, LAFC Academy has definitely scheduled scrimmages against the U16 teams of clubs they are playing in U15 and U17.  They try to play after the U17 game to use any U16 player who didn’t play in the U17 game (basically all of them) and any U17 player who didn’t play much too.  They also play a team of 17/18 year-olds against the U19 teams if the other club has one.


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## Dargle (Jan 25, 2022)

Dargle said:


> In the U16 MLS Next bracket, LAFC Academy has definitely scheduled scrimmages against the U16 teams of clubs they are playing in U15 and U17.  They try to play after the U17 game to use any U16 player who didn’t play in the U17 game (basically all of them) and any U17 player who didn’t play much too.  They also play a team of 17/18 year-olds against the U19 teams if the other club has one.


I should add that part of the reason they generally schedule scrimmages against MLS Next teams, and not ECNL teams, besides their view of the quality of the opponent etc, is that logistically it's much easier. LAFC and the other club are already scheduled to play each other and their coaches are already all going to be there, as are the age appropriate players (who are playing up or, with bio-banding, down).  Plus, because all of the rest of the games follow MLS Next requirements, they have top refs already there, the fields have been approved by MLS Next etc.   LA Galaxy has done the same on occasion, but they are more likely to invite a team to their fields if they have an off weekend.


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## 3253 (Jan 25, 2022)

Dargle said:


> I should add that part of the reason they generally schedule scrimmages against MLS Next teams, and not ECNL teams,


eh, LAFC has scrimmaged ECNL teams and CSL teams, just never against own age group.   For example, 07s scrimmaged an 05 Beach ECNL team and CA Rush's 06 CSL team. 09s just scrimmaged an older FC England team. 08s scrimmaged 07 Sand & Surf, etc...  
Sure, there have also been a few times that 06s and 07s have also stayed for a u16 friendly because LAFC doesn't field a u16 team when the opponent has agreed.  But, that's only been a few times. Like, LA Surf and maybe another one.


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## Dargle (Jan 25, 2022)

3253 said:


> eh, LAFC has scrimmaged ECNL teams and CSL teams, just never against own age group.   For example, 07s scrimmaged an 05 Beach ECNL team and CA Rush's 06 CSL team. 09s just scrimmaged an older FC England team. 08s scrimmaged 07 Sand & Surf, etc...
> Sure, there have also been a few times that 06s and 07s have also stayed for a u16 friendly because LAFC doesn't field a u16 team when the opponent has agreed.  But, that's only been a few times. Like, LA Surf and maybe another one.


Oh, it definitely can happen, but that's usually out of season the same way MLS teams play college teams in pre-season.  I was talking about as part of the league set-up.  They've played Laufa too within the league set-up as I recall.  My understanding with LAFC is that it's often an issue of field space. Galaxy control their own fields more than LAFC does (and just have more fields and turf ones), so they can do more one-offs.  Like many regular club teams, LAFC teams are sometimes looking for clubs that will host them.


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## 3253 (Jan 25, 2022)

Dargle said:


> Oh, it definitely can happen, but that's usually out of season the same way MLS teams play college teams in pre-season.  I was talking about as part of the league set-up.  They've played Laufa too within the league set-up as I recall.  My understanding with LAFC is that it's often an issue of field space. Galaxy control their own fields more than LAFC does (and just have more fields and turf ones), so they can do more one-offs.  Like many regular club teams, LAFC teams are sometimes looking for clubs that will host them.


LAUFA game was postponed to May. Scrimmage field seems to be Salesian. just hosted a bunch of scrimmages there this past weekend. 
Any u16 games aren't official.  Most of the time, when 06s get a friendly, it's against older teams, not against the opponents u16 team. I'm saying LAFC doesn't pick up games against their own age group and has little to no interest in LAFC 06s playing LAUFA's 06s.  Any non-league friendly or scrimmage is always against an older opponent.  I don't think I've seen a friendly/scrimmage game yet where we have played our own age group.  If a U16 team wanted to scrimmage, the u15s would be invited and have been. 

Not that any of this matters or is relevant to OP... lol.


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## Dargle (Jan 25, 2022)

3253 said:


> LAUFA game was postponed to May. Scrimmage field seems to be Salesian. just hosted a bunch of scrimmages there this past weekend.
> Any u16 games aren't official.  Most of the time, when 06s get a friendly, it's against older teams, not against the opponents u16 team. I'm saying LAFC doesn't pick up games against their own age group and has little to no interest in LAFC 06s playing LAUFA's 06s.  Any non-league friendly or scrimmage is always against an older opponent.  I don't think I've seen a friendly/scrimmage game yet where we have played our own age group.  If a U16 team wanted to scrimmage, the u15s would be invited and have been.
> 
> Not that any of this matters or is relevant to OP... lol.


Agreed on the last point, although the part that is relevant to the OP is that at the youngest, pre-MLS Next, age groups, LAFC and LA Galaxy have put teams in the Elite Academy League, which provides a different opportunity for a club than ECRL (or ECNL for that matter).  

Oh, and LAFC played 06 v. 06 in the LA Surf game.  I think they even played one or two 05s in the game too against LA Surf's 06, although it's possible they also played one or two 07's up.  But LA Surf 06 has a ton of former LAFC players, so that may be a special case.


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## Cafu (Mar 12, 2022)

watfly said:


> My personal perspective.  EA and ECRL are clearly 2nd tier leagues.  They are marketing creations for clubs to keep, or lure, kids/parents with the idea that they're one step away from MLS Next or ECNL (although not all EA teams have a MLS Next team).  Reality is that there is very little promotion from within at Clubs.  I'd rather see EA and ECRL teams be absorbed back into the local leagues like CSL or SoCal.  I think that would help the dilution problem.
> 
> As far as ECNL and MLS Next goes, I think a lot of clubs that jumped on the ECNL train early, are regretting that decision.  I know they're getting a lot of pressure from parents to move to MLS Next.  I think ECNL is a great choice for those kids that also want to play high school soccer, but its not quite the same quality of soccer mostly because MLS Next has the academy teams.  We can argue about the competitiveness below the academy teams.
> 
> An interesting thing that is happening right now is that since ECNL is taking its break, many ECNL kids that don't want to play high school are showing up to MLS Next practices.  I expect a mass exodus of U15 ECNL players to MLS Next at the end of the season.  At least that is what is happening in San Diego.  Is anyone north of SD seeing a similar trend?  I think Surf on the boys side is in trouble, I know SDSC is.


I don’t follow the ECNL too closely but my friend’s son plays in that league and he says that SD Surf is just killing everyone in all ages. I heard that Pats, Legends, Golden state and SD Surf might be moving to the MLS Next for next season. This move will have the closest thing to the original DA. However, this will create the same top four discrepancy of LAFC, SD Surf, GS and LAG beating up on the rest. 
What we really need if we want to create the best league is to put all the west coast MLS academies plus SD Surf, Sac Republic,GS, Strikers, Legends and Pats.


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## watfly (Mar 12, 2022)

Cafu said:


> I don’t follow the ECNL too closely but my friend’s son plays in that league and he says that SD Surf is just killing everyone in all ages. I heard that Pats, Legends, Golden state and SD Surf might be moving to the MLS Next for next season. This move will have the closest thing to the original DA. However, this will create the same top four discrepancy of LAFC, SD Surf, GS and LAG beating up on the rest.
> What we really need if we want to create the best league is to put all the west coast MLS academies plus SD Surf, Sac Republic,GS, Strikers, Legends and Pats.


Yep, Surf is pretty much killing everyone.  I know the parents are dying to get their boys in MLS Next.

I could see a two tier MLS system, but I don't see GS, Legends and Pats being consistently at the same level as those other clubs.


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## Cafu (Mar 12, 2022)

I just learned that Surf is sending some of their U16-U19 players to train with the the Loyal Select their Youth Academy program of the USL. Good for those kids in SD!


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## Cafu (Mar 12, 2022)

Here is a link to the new USL Academy:  https://www.usl-academy.com/academy-league. Is this league higher than the MLS Next?


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## RedDevilDad (Mar 14, 2022)

Cafu said:


> Here is a link to the new USL Academy:  https://www.usl-academy.com/academy-league. Is this league higher than the MLS Next?


Matter of opinion.  MLS clubs will say go from MLS Next to MLS Pro to USL affiliate to MLS is a easier pathway.  
USL Clubs will say go from USL-A to non-MLS USL then to an MLS USL affiliate then to MLS is another pathway.  

I know players turning down USL-A options for an MLS Academy.  I also know of players who have tried out for MLS academies U17 or U19 teams that did not make them but are starters at USL-A teams. 

So, yeah, matter of opinion...


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## mlx (Nov 8, 2022)

Any news to new clubs for the EA and EA2 for the next season? I heard TFA will have EA2 teams too.


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