2018-2019 SW ECNL Conference Discussion

Thanks for the 2016/17 stats when ECNL was truly the best and the majority of SoCal talent was playing in 8 clubs. NV Definitely won ALOT more this season! Hell, Heat 04 lost 1 game in league and allowed 6 or 7 goals the entire season per TopDrawer Soccer. Three of the goals came when GK was at national camp. So, thanks dilution! Playing field has been leveled!

As Vegas guy stated, Heat team travels. There’s a lot to be learned from that experience. Especially money management. DDs become real cheap when they have to spend money.
Gotta love that GK unless you are playing against her!
 
A part of the experience is the travel component. The only complaints I’m seeing in NorCal are about GDA and traveling to blow someone out the water. That’s not happening in NV or AZ for the majority of teams.We will let you guys keep thinking we are an easy win if that makes you feel better.

I agree with you. Traveling for league games and showcases in the ECNL SW conference made the transition to the travel at high level D1 much easier and more familiar to my player. Good luck to you and your player.

Vegas , NorCal and Phoenix were always nice trips.
 
Is there another club there with quality on the boys and girls side to make it easier?
@BigSoccer - a good question. There are a couple clubs that potentially might work:

Albion SC LV all age groups on boys / girls sides:
http://home.gotsoccer.com/rankings/club.aspx?ClubID=27060

LVSA all age groups in boys / girls sides but I think they were kicked out of ECNL a few years ago?
http://home.gotsoccer.com/rankings/club.aspx?ClubID=4238

Players all age groups on boys side. Missing oldest team on girls side but easy fix for 2019-2020 season:
http://home.gotsoccer.com/rankings/club.aspx?ClubID=4266

So, it looks like there are options but.....
1) Do the clubs have any interest in ECNL?
2) Can they be competitive reasonably soon or is market too shallow?
3) Is ECNL interested enough to take a chance?

Two clubs / games in Vegas would seem more palatable IMO as far as travel goes.
 
Albion has good girls teams at 05 as lower but some of it is manufactured the way the guest players around (i.e. if an 07 team plays in an 06 level game they play there 06s with the 07s). It isn't a bad thing as kids are getting playing time but if they play other 07 teams playing up there is an advantage not recognized by rankings. On the boys side they seem to be lower tiered and may have never played the top team in Vegas. That may have changed with June tryouts. The landscape changes annually here.

LVSA lost their girls ECNL not sure why they lost it. May have been competitive may have been coach movement may have been something else. Boys side is strong, girls is strong in at least 3 age groups. Rough time at regionals though. Two teams at USYS Nationals again is no small feat. Congratulations. Not sure ECNL would bring both sides back.

Players was either dropped or dropped out of Surf. The last weekend of league play was rough where they either did not have enough to field a team due to what ever or just failed to field enough players in a few of the age groups. 04s are solid as well as a couple olders. Not sure on the girls side outside youngers are solid in some ages but depth may be an issue here.

Downtown made some big coaching moves this year not sure how that worked out for tryouts and newly built teams. It is 106 here so playing is sparse I am sure for a bit. Plus we are a shallow pool and most still play with their friends or gravitate to better squads making 1 or 2 in each age group the bigs dogs and others fighting to get better (not a bad thing just harder to develop players in older age groups).

Vegas needs an ECNL club. There are very good players coming out of the NV desert. Kids playing at the National level (2 boys who moved to DA recently now scoring for USYNT) 2 keepers playing in girls USNT camps. Many others being recruited to MLS DA's from LA, RSL, Seattle and Dallas. travel is not the easiest but you can not cut out exposure to a city of our size. Sometimes we can get to SD in less time than LA teams based traffic flow.
 
Albion has good girls teams at 05 as lower but some of it is manufactured the way the guest players around (i.e. if an 07 team plays in an 06 level game they play there 06s with the 07s). It isn't a bad thing as kids are getting playing time but if they play other 07 teams playing up there is an advantage not recognized by rankings. On the boys side they seem to be lower tiered and may have never played the top team in Vegas. That may have changed with June tryouts. The landscape changes annually here.

LVSA lost their girls ECNL not sure why they lost it. May have been competitive may have been coach movement may have been something else. Boys side is strong, girls is strong in at least 3 age groups. Rough time at regionals though. Two teams at USYS Nationals again is no small feat. Congratulations. Not sure ECNL would bring both sides back.

Players was either dropped or dropped out of Surf. The last weekend of league play was rough where they either did not have enough to field a team due to what ever or just failed to field enough players in a few of the age groups. 04s are solid as well as a couple olders. Not sure on the girls side outside youngers are solid in some ages but depth may be an issue here.

Downtown made some big coaching moves this year not sure how that worked out for tryouts and newly built teams. It is 106 here so playing is sparse I am sure for a bit. Plus we are a shallow pool and most still play with their friends or gravitate to better squads making 1 or 2 in each age group the bigs dogs and others fighting to get better (not a bad thing just harder to develop players in older age groups).

Vegas needs an ECNL club. There are very good players coming out of the NV desert. Kids playing at the National level (2 boys who moved to DA recently now scoring

That’s not completely accurate in regards to the Albion LV 07 team. There are a few 07’s on the Albion LV 06’s and when the 07’s play in an event that the 06’s are not in those 07’s will go play with that team. In the events where that team played up no 06 players played with them only the 07’s. I agree with your the rest of your statement. Although Heat will do there best to not let another Vegas club get ECNL.
 
Why does Heat block other Vegas ECNL clubs?

IMO if an older player playing up on a team comes down to there age group to play in an age proper tournament they have the advantage as they must be talented enough to be playing up. If the younger team is short rostered due to vacations or injuries of players it seems fair enough as we all want our kids to get extra playing time. If the player coming down is taking playing time from another rostered player and starting or playing more than the rostered that might be a different story. Either way totally within the rules and many clubs do it. ECNL can dual roster can't they.

The last line in the statement sounds like bad blood between Albion and Vegas Heat.
 
That’s not completely accurate in regards to the Albion LV 07 team. There are a few 07’s on the Albion LV 06’s and when the 07’s play in an event that the 06’s are not in those 07’s will go play with that team. In the events where that team played up no 06 players played with them only the 07’s. I agree with your the rest of your statement. Although Heat will do there best to not let another Vegas club get ECNL.

You were doing okay until the last line. Bitter much ? Heat is not in control of who gets ECNL. Weren’t the Albion folks claiming they had the pathway to DA because they were affiliated with Albion San Diego. The dust is settling now and the olders are not competitive. That’s not to say they don’t have good players. Too players usually go to Heat or LVSA . Albion is 3 on the list. The 06’ group is awesome. The youngers are pretty strong. @BigSoccer Heat’s former ECNL director started Albion. Nice person in my opinion. But keep it real @VegasParent.
 
Why does Heat block other Vegas ECNL clubs?

IMO if an older player playing up on a team comes down to there age group to play in an age proper tournament they have the advantage as they must be talented enough to be playing up. If the younger team is short rostered due to vacations or injuries of players it seems fair enough as we all want our kids to get extra playing time. If the player coming down is taking playing time from another rostered player and starting or playing more than the rostered that might be a different story. Either way totally within the rules and many clubs do it. ECNL can dual roster can't they.

The last line in the statement sounds like bad blood between Albion and Vegas Heat.

While there is bad blood between the two clubs my last statement was not about Albion only but any Vegas club. Heat being the only ECNL club in town is their ace in hole and they want to keep it that way.
 
You were doing okay until the last line. Bitter much ? Heat is not in control of who gets ECNL. Weren’t the Albion folks claiming they had the pathway to DA because they were affiliated with Albion San Diego. The dust is settling now and the olders are not competitive. That’s not to say they don’t have good players. Too players usually go to Heat or LVSA . Albion is 3 on the list. The 06’ group is awesome. The youngers are pretty strong. @BigSoccer Heat’s former ECNL director started Albion. Nice person in my opinion. But keep it real @VegasParent.

Heat may not be in complete control but having a coach on the ECNL board helps. We’ve seen plenty of comments on this board about how Socal ECNL clubs kept other clubs (Legends) out of ECNL so let’s not pretend that it doesn’t happen. And no I’m not bitter. I’m friends with many parents and coaches at Heat. I’m keeping it real as you said. I left Heat because I didn’t like the direction the 06 team was going and my kid is in a much better spot now. It’s about the coach not the patch. Heat wasn’t always the big dog in Vegas and like vegasguy said it always changes.
 
While there is bad blood between the two clubs my last statement was not about Albion only but any Vegas club. Heat being the only ECNL club in town is their ace in hole and they want to keep it that way.

Remember LVSA had it and lost it. Truly that’s the the only other club in town who could actually be competitive in ECNL. They have more than a few competitive teams.
 
Remember LVSA had it and lost it. Truly that’s the the only other club in town who could actually be competitive in ECNL. They have more than a few competitive teams.
How did they lose it? They seem to have some pretty good teams. Did they walk away or were they forced out?
 
Heat may not be in complete control but having a coach on the ECNL board helps. We’ve seen plenty of comments on this board about how Socal ECNL clubs kept other clubs (Legends) out of ECNL so let’s not pretend that it doesn’t happen. And no I’m not bitter. I’m friends with many parents and coaches at Heat. I’m keeping it real as you said. I left Heat because I didn’t like the direction the 06 team was going and my kid is in a much better spot now. It’s about the coach not the patch. Heat wasn’t always the big dog in Vegas and like vegasguy said it always changes.


The board position came about only this season. I believe a SoCal club held it until this last season. Glad your kid is in a better spot as the 06 team is NICE. However, the coach on that team has quite the reputation. I’m sure some would say he’s passionate but I’ll go with built up anger. Either you love him or hate him. The other half is very likable.
 
Remember LVSA had it and lost it. Truly that’s the the only other club in town who could actually be competitive in ECNL. They have more than a few competitive teams.

They have 2 competitive teams, the 04 and 03 teams. I’m not advocating that Albion is ready to compete in all ages in ECNL but are heading in the right direction and since a lot of parents (not saying you) are chasing the patch, any club in Vegas getting ECNL could draw some talent.
 
The board position came about only this season. I believe a SoCal club held it until this last season. Glad your kid is in a better spot as the 06 team is NICE. However, the coach on that team has quite the reputation. I’m sure some would say he’s passionate but I’ll go with built up anger. Either you love him or hate him. The other half is very likable.

Yes he does have a rep but the same could be said about your coach. The word I would use is not very nice so I won’t type it. What I will say about the Albion coach is that he is a fantastic trainer and he gets the most out of his players. I agree that he needs to tone it down some on the sidelines but he is passionate about the game. And I’ve said before on here that I believe your kid is an absolute phenom and would be scouted no matter where she played. I hear the Albion 03 team needs a keeper.
 
They have 2 competitive teams, the 04 and 03 teams. I’m not advocating that Albion is ready to compete in all ages in ECNL but are heading in the right direction and since a lot of parents (not saying you) are chasing the patch, any club in Vegas getting ECNL could draw some talent.

I was thinking LVSA boys side too. Parents like to chase the patch regardless. But do you honestly think we have the population to accommodate? Exhibit A ... Arizona. Sorry friends in Arizona but 4 elite clubs... that’s going to be rough.
 
I was thinking LVSA boys side too. Parents like to chase the patch regardless. But do you honestly think we have the population to accommodate? Exhibit A ... Arizona. Sorry friends in Arizona but 4 elite clubs... that’s going to be rough.
In theory it is 6 "elite" clubs. 2 da, 2 ecnl, and 2 dpl. And no we don't have enough players for those types of teams. Both the ecnl and dpl teams are teams I think will struggle.

For AZ I toss DPL in the "elite" boat. Like ECNL they get to play So Cal teams vs playing AZ competition. So definitely a step up. Further there are some very good So Cal DPL teams.

Long story short that is why I say from an AZ perspective in theory we have 6 "elite" clubs.
 
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