ECNL vs. DA turf war has created a 'toxic environment'

Thing2 said:
I enjoy reading the SoCal forum because there are so many knowledgeable people, but what's going on out west seems to be opposite of what's happening in the rest of the country. In Oklahoma for instance, our third best club plays GDA and our top clubs play ECNL. Outside of Solar and FCD in our Conference, the remaining GDA clubs in TX have lost so many players to their ECNL counterparts that they are shell of their former selves. Dallas Texans, for example, had 3 top 10 teams in the country 2 years ago but lost several entire 1st teams last year when they dropped ECNL.

The same thing is happening across the country. If you take a look at the clubs that moved from GDA to ECNL last year, you will see that most of them did much better in their GDA conferences than their ECNL conferences, which would indicate that ECNL was more difficult for them. This might surprise some people from SoCal. Here are seven 03 teams that switched to ECNL last year...
  1. 03 PDA came in first place in their GDA Conference last year (and won the GDA National Championship) and finished 3rd in their ECNL Conference this year.
  2. 03 Michigan Hawks 2nd in GDA, 3rd in ECNL
  3. 03 FC Stars 4th in GDA, 7th in ECNL
  4. 03 Virginia Development Academy 5th in GDA, 9th in ECNL
  5. 03 Eclipse 1st in GDA, 1st in ECNL
  6. 03 Concorde Fire 3rd in GDA, 3rd in ECNL
  7. 03 Indiana Fire 3rd in GDA, 2nd in ECNL
I'm not disparaging SoCal In any way, it's just odd to read your forum and hear that GDA is considered a higher quality league than ECNL.
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Thanks for this Thing. Always good to hear what's going on outside our tiny SoCal bubble. And from what you hear, are the players moving to ECNL to play high school, or...?
 
espola said:
Yes, everyone has free choice, but in the encircling regime if a player is not in the DA program early the doors may be found to be closed when he or she is older and really ready for it.
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I know of plenty of girls still entering the DA program as ‘03’s and ‘04’s that are making impacts. If the player has the ability, the doors are open.
 
Thing2 said:
I enjoy reading the SoCal forum because there are so many knowledgeable people, but what's going on out west seems to be opposite of what's happening in the rest of the country. In Oklahoma for instance, our third best club plays GDA and our top clubs play ECNL. Outside of Solar and FCD in our Conference, the remaining GDA clubs in TX have lost so many players to their ECNL counterparts that they are shell of their former selves. Dallas Texans, for example, had 3 top 10 teams in the country 2 years ago but lost several entire 1st teams last year when they dropped ECNL.

The same thing is happening across the country. If you take a look at the clubs that moved from GDA to ECNL last year, you will see that most of them did much better in their GDA conferences than their ECNL conferences, which would indicate that ECNL was more difficult for them. This might surprise some people from SoCal. Here are seven 03 teams that switched to ECNL last year...
  1. 03 PDA came in first place in their GDA Conference last year (and won the GDA National Championship) and finished 3rd in their ECNL Conference this year.
  2. 03 Michigan Hawks 2nd in GDA, 3rd in ECNL
  3. 03 FC Stars 4th in GDA, 7th in ECNL
  4. 03 Virginia Development Academy 5th in GDA, 9th in ECNL
  5. 03 Eclipse 1st in GDA, 1st in ECNL
  6. 03 Concorde Fire 3rd in GDA, 3rd in ECNL
  7. 03 Indiana Fire 3rd in GDA, 2nd in ECNL
I'm not disparaging SoCal In any way, it's just odd to read your forum and hear that GDA is considered a higher quality league than ECNL.
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Texas has 3 teams in the GDA U16/17 playoffs today Lonestar, Solar and FC Dallas.
 
Ellejustus said:
Ouch!!!
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espola said:
Yes, everyone has free choice, but in the encircling regime if a player is not in the DA program early the doors may be found to be closed when he or she is older and really ready for it.
Click to expand...
Thing2 said:
I enjoy reading the SoCal forum because there are so many knowledgeable people, but what's going on out west seems to be opposite of what's happening in the rest of the country. In Oklahoma for instance, our third best club plays GDA and our top clubs play ECNL. Outside of Solar and FCD in our Conference, the remaining GDA clubs in TX have lost so many players to their ECNL counterparts that they are shell of their former selves. Dallas Texans, for example, had 3 top 10 teams in the country 2 years ago but lost several entire 1st teams last year when they dropped ECNL.

The same thing is happening across the country. If you take a look at the clubs that moved from GDA to ECNL last year, you will see that most of them did much better in their GDA conferences than their ECNL conferences, which would indicate that ECNL was more difficult for them. This might surprise some people from SoCal. Here are seven 03 teams that switched to ECNL last year...
  1. 03 PDA came in first place in their GDA Conference last year (and won the GDA National Championship) and finished 3rd in their ECNL Conference this year.
  2. 03 Michigan Hawks 2nd in GDA, 3rd in ECNL
  3. 03 FC Stars 4th in GDA, 7th in ECNL
  4. 03 Virginia Development Academy 5th in GDA, 9th in ECNL
  5. 03 Eclipse 1st in GDA, 1st in ECNL
  6. 03 Concorde Fire 3rd in GDA, 3rd in ECNL
  7. 03 Indiana Fire 3rd in GDA, 2nd in ECNL
I'm not disparaging SoCal In any way, it's just odd to read your forum and hear that GDA is considered a higher quality league than ECNL.
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The competition in both leagues are top heavy in SoCal. We went from 8 teams only competing in ECNL before DA t0 13 competing in DA and 10 in ECNL. Thats 23 teams now. I would say it's just a little watered down now out here in SoCal.
 
Ellejustus said:
100% agree. They were (whoever they are) afraid of Beach and Legends because other clubs liked to poach their players to win a championship......lol!!!!
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Truth is, I was sold ECNL before their was DA. The club had a sign out front that read, "ECNL Club." The next day the sign read, "DA Club". Same coaches, same everything except we were told no HS Soccer.
 
Ellejustus said:
The competition in both leagues are top heavy in SoCal. We went from 8 teams only competing in ECNL before DA t0 13 competing in DA and 10 in ECNL. Thats 23 teams now. I would say it's just a little watered down now out here in SoCal.
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ECNL is up to 12 teams for next season with Rebels and Eagles coming aboard next season. Not sure if that puts DA down to 12 with them losing Eagles or if DA has other teams coming aboard for next season.
 
Thing2 said:
I enjoy reading the SoCal forum because there are so many knowledgeable people, but what's going on out west seems to be opposite of what's happening in the rest of the country. In Oklahoma for instance, our third best club plays GDA and our top clubs play ECNL. Outside of Solar and FCD in our Conference, the remaining GDA clubs in TX have lost so many players to their ECNL counterparts that they are shell of their former selves. Dallas Texans, for example, had 3 top 10 teams in the country 2 years ago but lost several entire 1st teams last year when they dropped ECNL.
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FWIW you are grossly misinformed about soccer in OK and TX.

Oklahoma has one DA team and two ECNL teams. One of the ECNL teams is one of those joke clubs that ECNL unfortunately added in the aftermath of the split (Oklahoma Celtic), and the other two teams are mediocre, but Energy (DA) is better than TSC (ECNL) in just about every age group.

In Texas, the two best clubs by far are FC Dallas and Solar (who both put their top teams in DA). Then there is a 2nd tier of good clubs in Sting (ECNL), D'Feeters (ECNL), and Lonestar (DA). Then a group of mediocre clubs in Dash (DA), Challenge (ECNL), Texans (DA), Classics Elite (ECNL), Solar (ECNL), and Albion (ECNL). Plus another joke in Sting Austin (ECNL).

The Texas ECNL conference is still pretty good, but the DA league is vastly superior, and it isn't close. And I understand that player movement this summer is widening that gap. And the future looks to only exacerbate the difference. DA starts at U13 in Texas and Oklahoma, and all six of the TX-OK DA clubs have top 50 teams (per YSR) coming in, while ECNL has only one such team (D'Feeters). Sting can't even field a competitive 07 team, so they are apparently playing up an 08 team for ECNL next year.

And elite players didn't leave DA clubs for ECNL. In fact, the opposite has happened. Of the 24 Texas players called into youth national team camps in 2018, 23 of them play in the DA in 2019, albeit almost all of them are Solar and FC Dallas girls (Sting and DFeeters have none anymore as their last handful moved to the DA clubs).
 
timmyh said:
FWIW you are grossly misinformed about soccer in OK and TX.

Oklahoma has one DA team and two ECNL teams. One of the ECNL teams is one of those joke clubs that ECNL unfortunately added in the aftermath of the split (Oklahoma Celtic), and the other two teams are mediocre, but Energy (DA) is better than TSC (ECNL) in just about every age group.

In Texas, the two best clubs by far are FC Dallas and Solar (who both put their top teams in DA). Then there is a 2nd tier of good clubs in Sting (ECNL), D'Feeters (ECNL), and Lonestar (DA). Then a group of mediocre clubs in Dash (DA), Challenge (ECNL), Texans (DA), Classics Elite (ECNL), Solar (ECNL), and Albion (ECNL). Plus another joke in Sting Austin (ECNL).

The Texas ECNL conference is still pretty good, but the DA league is vastly superior, and it isn't close. And I understand that player movement this summer is widening that gap. And the future looks to only exacerbate the difference. DA starts at U13 in Texas and Oklahoma, and all six of the TX-OK DA clubs have top 50 teams (per YSR) coming in, while ECNL has only one such team (D'Feeters). Sting can't even field a competitive 07 team, so they are apparently playing up an 08 team for ECNL next year.

And elite players didn't leave DA clubs for ECNL. In fact, the opposite has happened. Of the 24 Texas players called into youth national team camps in 2018, 23 of them play in the DA in 2019, albeit almost all of them are Solar and FC Dallas girls (Sting and DFeeters have none anymore as their last handful moved to the DA clubs).
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...and those two Texans teams you mention that were outstanding two years ago are now shells of their former selves because just about the entire team (including the coaches) left for Solar DA.
 
timmyh said:
...and those two Texans teams you mention that were outstanding two years ago are now shells of their former selves because just about the entire team (including the coaches) left for Solar DA.
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I’ll be more inclined to believe thing2 who is from Oklahoma than a DA fanboi who recently wrote- “ I think the most interesting and relevant quote in the article that sheds light on the DA vs ECNL tug of war was this:
"ECNL is a league, while the DA is a program designed to produce world-class players."

Dude, really? My kid’s an 06 entering DA at RSC but let’s be honest you ppl who love one league and rip on another are either mental or hold shares.
 
Both great leagues and the landscape will continue to evolve. Whether your daughter is playing ECNL or DA, she will have opportunities to be seen by college coaches.

It comes down to what works for your family. Reasons for both. This “ECNL war vs DA turf war” has many chapters left yet to be written. Honestly it could go either way.

I for one would like to see one league (either way) with more teams than before DA was created. The truth is, ECNL gave DA oxygen when they excluded deserving clubs and they are now paying for it.
 
Thing2 said:
I enjoy reading the SoCal forum because there are so many knowledgeable people, but what's going on out west seems to be opposite of what's happening in the rest of the country. In Oklahoma for instance, our third best club plays GDA and our top clubs play ECNL. Outside of Solar and FCD in our Conference, the remaining GDA clubs in TX have lost so many players to their ECNL counterparts that they are shell of their former selves. Dallas Texans, for example, had 3 top 10 teams in the country 2 years ago but lost several entire 1st teams last year when they dropped ECNL.

The same thing is happening across the country. If you take a look at the clubs that moved from GDA to ECNL last year, you will see that most of them did much better in their GDA conferences than their ECNL conferences, which would indicate that ECNL was more difficult for them. This might surprise some people from SoCal. Here are seven 03 teams that switched to ECNL last year...
  1. 03 PDA came in first place in their GDA Conference last year (and won the GDA National Championship) and finished 3rd in their ECNL Conference this year.
  2. 03 Michigan Hawks 2nd in GDA, 3rd in ECNL
  3. 03 FC Stars 4th in GDA, 7th in ECNL
  4. 03 Virginia Development Academy 5th in GDA, 9th in ECNL
  5. 03 Eclipse 1st in GDA, 1st in ECNL
  6. 03 Concorde Fire 3rd in GDA, 3rd in ECNL
  7. 03 Indiana Fire 3rd in GDA, 2nd in ECNL
I'm not disparaging SoCal In any way, it's just odd to read your forum and hear that GDA is considered a higher quality league than ECNL.
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It’s the exact same way in the north east. PDA, World Class, Scorpions, FC Stars, etc. are all in the ECNL. The only strong GDA program is Penn Fusion and if you believe what you read online they have been trying, unsuccessfully, to get back into ECNL. In our part of the country HS soccer is an important consideration.
 
futboldad1 said:
I’ll be more inclined to believe thing2 who is from Oklahoma than a DA fanboi who recently wrote- “ I think the most interesting and relevant quote in the article that sheds light on the DA vs ECNL tug of war was this:
"ECNL is a league, while the DA is a program designed to produce world-class players."

Dude, really? My kid’s an 06 entering DA at RSC but let’s be honest you ppl who love one league and rip on another are either mental or hold shares.
Click to expand...

The context of that quote of mine was regarding a discussion about what US Soccer believes and trying to explain their actions and decisions, not what I believe.

I most certainly am not a DA fanboi. I wish it would go away, actually. One of my daughters played ECNL this past year (and another is in the DA program, and another in college who came up through ECNL). I am pretty in tune with these issues. I also am not from Socal, Fwiw.

What thing2 tried to pass of as information about Oklahoma soccer was so incorrect and misinformed that it couldn't be a mistake, but was an intentional falsehood.

Such things should be called out, as lying about where things are today in an attempt to influence a open discussion about where it is we need to go tommorow isn't helpful.
 
timmyh said:
Such things should be called out, as lying about where things are today in an attempt to influence a open discussion about where it is we need to go tommorow isn't helpful.
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I appreciate your goal of providing facts and background to clarify statements that might be misleading. More facts are the foundation for finding common ground.

In that vein, your highlighting the number of players called into YNT from the DA as evidence of superiority of the DA is a bit disingenuous. Clearly you realize the DA has not only told players they need to play in the DA if they want to be part of the YNT programs (their leaders have called the DA the "only" track to YNT on numerous interviews), they have engaged in this practice of only calling in girls from the DA into YNT camps in many regions (Socal being one of them).

The DA was formed with some good intentions, but poorly implemented by arrogant people (US Soccer) who failed to anticipate nor appreciate the unintended consequences of some of their decisions and rules. It will survive because it has the power of the US National team programs behind it, and it fits the needs of many elite players (and the ego of others) in this country.

US Soccer is more concerned about their own power and control than they are with actually growing soccer in this country. They may characterize some of their decisions as necessary in order to "keep up with the rest of the world" or "provide the best envrionment for development", but those of us who were not born last night realize the real goals here. Do not ever, for a moment, think they have your player's best interests in mind.
 
Ellejustus said:
Truth is, I was sold ECNL before their was DA. The club had a sign out front that read, "ECNL Club." The next day the sign read, "DA Club". Same coaches, same everything except we were told no HS Soccer.
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Wasn’t that club both ECNL and DA at that time? Did they just take the team your DD was on to DA thus forcing the decision?

Nevertheless your DD is a stud and will be just fine!
 
Dos Equis said:
I appreciate your goal of providing facts and background to clarify statements that might be misleading. More facts are the foundation for finding common ground.

In that vein, your highlighting the number of players called into YNT from the DA as evidence of superiority of the DA is a bit disingenuous. Clearly you realize the DA has not only told players they need to play in the DA if they want to be part of the YNT programs (their leaders have called the DA the "only" track to YNT on numerous interviews), they have engaged in this practice of only calling in girls from the DA into YNT camps in many regions (Socal being one of them).

The DA was formed with some good intentions, but poorly implemented by arrogant people (US Soccer) who failed to anticipate nor appreciate the unintended consequences of some of their decisions and rules. It will survive because it has the power of the US National team programs behind it, and it fits the needs of many elite players (and the ego of others) in this country.

US Soccer is more concerned about their own power and control than they are with actually growing soccer in this country. They may characterize some of their decisions as necessary in order to "keep up with the rest of the world" or "provide the best envrionment for development", but those of us who were not born last night realize the real goals here. Do not ever, for a moment, think they have your player's best interests in mind.
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1000% agree
 
Dos Equis said:
I appreciate your goal of providing facts and background to clarify statements that might be misleading. More facts are the foundation for finding common ground.

In that vein, your highlighting the number of players called into YNT from the DA as evidence of superiority of the DA is a bit disingenuous. Clearly you realize the DA has not only told players they need to play in the DA if they want to be part of the YNT programs (their leaders have called the DA the "only" track to YNT on numerous interviews), they have engaged in this practice of only calling in girls from the DA into YNT camps in many regions (Socal being one of them).

The DA was formed with some good intentions, but poorly implemented by arrogant people (US Soccer) who failed to anticipate nor appreciate the unintended consequences of some of their decisions and rules. It will survive because it has the power of the US National team programs behind it, and it fits the needs of many elite players (and the ego of others) in this country.

US Soccer is more concerned about their own power and control than they are with actually growing soccer in this country. They may characterize some of their decisions as necessary in order to "keep up with the rest of the world" or "provide the best envrionment for development", but those of us who were not born last night realize the real goals here. Do not ever, for a moment, think they have your player's best interests in mind.
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Well said.
Mea culpa, and I fully agree with you.
 
Kicker4Life said:
Wasn’t that club both ECNL and DA at that time? Did they just take the team your DD was on to DA thus forcing the decision?

Nevertheless your DD is a stud and will be just fine!
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TY. Yes, but before DA it was all in ECNL (one of the reasons we went). Then for one year as my dd was an 8th grader they had a sign that read, "DA/ECNL" but we all knew it was the first team and the 2nd team. The next year the sign read, "DA/DPL." So whats my kid going to do if she wants to play HS Soccer? She's out of not only being on a great team but recruiting can take a hit because you have to look elsewhere. Kinda sucks and that's why we have a "tug a war." My dd wasn't ready for the recruiting back then but it could have hurt her if she was. Everything will work itself out for college and she is really fired up with her new 04' ECNL team.
 
Wasabi said:
The truth is, ECNL gave DA oxygen when they excluded deserving clubs and they are now paying for it.
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Agree, and DA gave ECNL oxygen by banning HS soccer. Both had and perhaps still have a chance for the knockout blow, but which one of these stubborn ego maniacs will be first to blink?
 
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