ECNL expansion 2021-2022

STX said:
No doubt Tophat would still strengthen ECNL. They just aren't quite the powerhouse they have been over the past decade anymore. They lost a lot of good players to ECNL clubs (and in some cases pretty much entire teams) when Tophat was denied entry into ECNL.

It's a shame, and I hope Tophat and TSJ Virginia get into ECNL next year. Now that Beach and Legends are in, those two are probably the only elite clubs in the country still on the outside looking in (fwiw, I loosely define elite as having a Champions League level team in most every age group).
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I agree 100%. I'd like to see those two admitted. After that add a few more clubs in the Midwest/Ohio Valley to make the travel a bit more palatable and call it a day. Reevaluate next year when/if things are back to "normal."

I won't be surprised if there is a bit of conference realignment and the number of regions goes from 9 up to 10 or even 11. If that happens and the regions are smaller i'd love to see some cross over games once or twice a year. I think that could help the league add a few games for each club where they are playing clubs of equal strength. Plus, always fun to play unfamiliar opponents.
 
Surf Zombie said:
I agree 100%. I'd like to see those two admitted. After that add a few more clubs in the Midwest/Ohio Valley to make the travel a bit more palatable and call it a day. Reevaluate next year when/if things are back to "normal."

I won't be surprised if there is a bit of conference realignment and the number of regions goes from 9 up to 10 or even 11. If that happens and the regions are smaller i'd love to see some cross over games once or twice a year. I think that could help the league add a few games for each club where they are playing clubs of equal strength. Plus, always fun to play unfamiliar opponents.
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On the east coast, so don't usually contribute here but find a lot of interesting information, so thanks. TopHat lost several girls to Concorde Fire, UFA. I would say Concorde Fire Platinum is a top Atlanta club now. TopHat U17 team just lost both of their GA showcase games, which is not usually how that club rolls. On the other hand, FC Virginia hasn't lost players to surrounding ECNL clubs (yet). A couple The Mid Atlantic ECNL clubs are not very strong but there are just too many of them and would be surprised to see more added even though GA arguably has better teams at some age groups.
 
girlsrule7 said:
On the east coast, so don't usually contribute here but find a lot of interesting information, so thanks. TopHat lost several girls to Concorde Fire, UFA. I would say Concorde Fire Platinum is a top Atlanta club now. TopHat U17 team just lost both of their GA showcase games, which is not usually how that club rolls. On the other hand, FC Virginia hasn't lost players to surrounding ECNL clubs (yet). A couple The Mid Atlantic ECNL clubs are not very strong but there are just too many of them and would be surprised to see more added even though GA arguably has better teams at some age groups.
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Another east coaster. I agree. Virginia is particularly crowded probably because ECNL is headquartered in Richmond and the $$$ in the DC metro area. There are better teams in the GA in the Midatlantic in Virginia but it would be hard for ECNL to let those clubs in withost dropping some of the underperforming ECNL clubs that they brought in to counter the DA. It will be interesting to see what happens.
 
MMMM said:
Another east coaster. I agree. Virginia is particularly crowded probably because ECNL is headquartered in Richmond and the $$$ in the DC metro area. There are better teams in the GA in the Midatlantic in Virginia but it would be hard for ECNL to let those clubs in withost dropping some of the underperforming ECNL clubs that they brought in to counter the DA. It will be interesting to see what happens.
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It sounds like Top Hat and the ECNL have had a pretty rocky dating relationship. I'm not sure of the history of ECNL & FC Virginia.

Agreed that Atlanta & DC areas are pretty saturated, but so was Dallas and they let FC Dallas in despite that, so who knows.

Makes me wonder about conference realignment. VA & NC could go together. GA/AL & SC as another region and FL as its own region, depending upon what the expansion plans are. Essentially taking two existing regions and making it three.
 
Surf Zombie said:
It sounds like Top Hat and the ECNL have had a pretty rocky dating relationship. I'm not sure of the history of ECNL & FC Virginia.

Agreed that Atlanta & DC areas are pretty saturated, but so was Dallas and they let FC Dallas in despite that, so who knows.

Makes me wonder about conference realignment. V& NC could go together. GA/AL & SC as another and FL as its own region, depending upon what the expansion plans are.
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From what I remember, the FC Dallas relationship was as contentious as could be, but FC Dallas had the carrot of a great field complex for use so that tipped the scales to get back into ECNL. If I had to guess, there would be no further ECNL expansion in the Mid Atlantic, they are just hoping to bleed off players from the GA to the underperforming ECNL clubs. So far it hasn't happened but imagine it will with younger age groups. FC Virginia was a founding member of ECNL, but when they moved to DA they pissed off the other local teams as players went to FCV. Have heard the VA ECNL clubs including Richmond were very against FCV getting back in.
 
girlsrule7 said:
From what I remember, the FC Dallas relationship was as contentious as could be, but FC Dallas had the carrot of a great field complex for use so that tipped the scales to get back into ECNL. If I had to guess, there would be no further ECNL expansion in the Mid Atlantic, they are just hoping to bleed off players from the GA to the underperforming ECNL clubs. So far it hasn't happened but imagine it will with younger age groups. FC Virginia was a founding member of ECNL, but when they moved to DA they pissed off the other local teams as players went to FCV. Have heard the VA ECNL clubs including Richmond were very against FCV getting back in.
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Ahh. That’s really interesting. So many politics between all these clubs, but that’s the nature of it. It’s strange that Top Hat lost so many kids but sounds like FCV didn’t. I wonder if that’s based upon different expectations of the parents of those clubs if they eventually get admitted, or just different GA situations with travel & strength of competition in the SE versus the mid Atlantic?

FWIW I’ve also heard no further expansion in the New England conference.
 
This is an interesting article on youth sports participation. Core soccer participation is down 3% over the past 5 years. After this pandemic, this will drop significantly. I just don’t see so many ECNL clubs surviving.
 
Surf Zombie said:
I agree 100%. I'd like to see those two admitted. After that add a few more clubs in the Midwest/Ohio Valley to make the travel a bit more palatable and call it a day. Reevaluate next year when/if things are back to "normal."

I won't be surprised if there is a bit of conference realignment and the number of regions goes from 9 up to 10 or even 11. If that happens and the regions are smaller i'd love to see some cross over games once or twice a year. I think that could help the league add a few games for each club where they are playing clubs of equal strength. Plus, always fun to play unfamiliar opponents.

since Tophat and WCFC have been mentioned up thread related to ECNL entry, I’d note that WCFC u17 and u19 teams beat Tophat 5-1 in both games. I did hear someone say that it wasn’t Tophats top team playing the u17 game...
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WCFC U17 beat Top Hat Navy, which is their second team. TH Gold is top team. Top hat 19s aren't on the schedule so I don't think they are at the event
 
FCV in particular is literally across the street from Loudoun, who got in when FCV left for DA. This will be a test of ECNL's resolve to protect the current members from too much dilution. There are some other GA clubs in Northern Virginia in a similar boat, wanting in, but very close to existing clubs. Metro United, and Arlington are literally next door to McLean.
 
girlsrule7 said:
WCFC U17 beat Top Hat Navy, which is their second team. TH Gold is top team. Top hat 19s aren't on the schedule so I don't think they are at the event
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I remember my dd varsity team playing Los Al. We scored first and I thought we could beat goliath. I even texted my friend were up on #1 Los Al. Well, I soon found it we were playing their JV team because their varsity team had more important opponent to beat. So we beat Los Al but I kept it to myself.
 
girlsrule7 said:
From what I remember, the FC Dallas relationship was as contentious as could be, but FC Dallas had the carrot of a great field complex for use so that tipped the scales to get back into ECNL. If I had to guess, there would be no further ECNL expansion in the Mid Atlantic, they are just hoping to bleed off players from the GA to the underperforming ECNL clubs. So far it hasn't happened but imagine it will with younger age groups. FC Virginia was a founding member of ECNL, but when they moved to DA they pissed off the other local teams as players went to FCV. Have heard the VA ECNL clubs including Richmond were very against FCV getting back in.
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Interesting comment. When GDA started my kid was about 10 y/o. I didn’t understand the letter leagues and I was looking for information. I was in the San Diego Airport waiting for a flight to Oakland and I saw this dude in a track suit that looked like a walking GDA billboard. He was the DOC from FCV. I can’t remember his name but he coached Rose Lavelle in Cincinnati and is from the SF Bay Area originally.

I think he was one of the main guys promoting the GDA. When I asked him about problems that I had heard about regarding the GDA, he started talking cash shit to me. If my daughter wasn’t with me, either he or I would have gotten a good old fashioned ass whipping. I am saying all this to say that the DOC at FCV is dumb, immature and doesn’t politic well. I actually dream of bumping into this guy in a bar or dark alley so we can settle the score. If I feel this way about dude after a brief 5 minute interaction, I can only imagine how other DOC’s feel about working with him.
 
MacDre said:
Interesting comment. When GDA started my kid was about 10 y/o. I didn’t understand the letter leagues and I was looking for information. I was in the San Diego Airport waiting for a flight to Oakland and I saw this dude in a track suit that looked like a walking GDA billboard. He was the DOC from FCV. I can’t remember his name but he coached Rose Lavelle in Cincinnati and is from the SF Bay Area originally.

I think he was one of the main guys promoting the GDA. When I asked him about problems that I had heard about regarding the GDA, he started talking cash shit to me. If my daughter wasn’t with me, either he or I would have gotten a good old fashioned ass whipping. I am saying all this to say that the DOC at FCV is dumb, immature and doesn’t politic well. I actually dream of bumping into this guy in a bar or dark alley so we can settle the score. If I feel this way about dude after a brief 5 minute interaction, I can only imagine how other DOC’s feel about working with him.
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Ah yes, you're talking about the illustrious Bobby Puppione, or Pupperoni as the girls call him. Just one of the reasons the club is reviled in the NoVA area.
 
MacDre said:
Interesting comment. When GDA started my kid was about 10 y/o. I didn’t understand the letter leagues and I was looking for information. I was in the San Diego Airport waiting for a flight to Oakland and I saw this dude in a track suit that looked like a walking GDA billboard. He was the DOC from FCV. I can’t remember his name but he coached Rose Lavelle in Cincinnati and is from the SF Bay Area originally.

I think he was one of the main guys promoting the GDA. When I asked him about problems that I had heard about regarding the GDA, he started talking cash shit to me. If my daughter wasn’t with me, either he or I would have gotten a good old fashioned ass whipping. I am saying all this to say that the DOC at FCV is dumb, immature and doesn’t politic well. I actually dream of bumping into this guy in a bar or dark alley so we can settle the score. If I feel this way about dude after a brief 5 minute interaction, I can only imagine how other DOC’s feel about working with him.
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Can you share more about this? Lot's of cash deals going on back in the day all over the place. Bags of cash....lol!!!!

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Surf Zombie said:
It sounds like Top Hat and the ECNL have had a pretty rocky dating relationship. I'm not sure of the history of ECNL & FC Virginia.

Agreed that Atlanta & DC areas are pretty saturated, but so was Dallas and they let FC Dallas in despite that, so who knows.

Makes me wonder about conference realignment. VA & NC could go together. GA/AL & SC as another region and FL as its own region, depending upon what the expansion plans are. Essentially taking two existing regions and making it three.
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Not only was FC Dallas allowed in but they also handed Sting Dallas a second team. Now that's saturation.
 
For the advocates of a small ECNL with less dilution, what is the right size?

I prefer a large league with around 10 NorCal and 20 socal teams. Probably means 150 or so nationally, but minimal travel for league games.
 
dad4 said:
For the advocates of a small ECNL with less dilution, what is the right size?

I prefer a large league with around 10 NorCal and 20 socal teams. Probably means 150 or so nationally, but minimal travel for league games.
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20 So Cal teams is the equivalent of playing SCDSL. ECNL is an elite league for elite clubs. Not everyone is good enough to participate. There are already too many So Cal clubs in it. 8-10 should be the max.
 
GT45 said:
20 So Cal teams is the equivalent of playing SCDSL. ECNL is an elite league for elite clubs. Not everyone is good enough to participate. There are already too many So Cal clubs in it. 8-10 should be the max.
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So 8-10 SoCal, 4-5 NorCal, and maybe 60-70 total?

Certainly more elite. You'd get higher level games.

You'd also get longer travel, both for practice and games. You'll lose some families just because of the time spent in transit.
 
dad4 said:
For the advocates of a small ECNL with less dilution, what is the right size?

I prefer a large league with around 10 NorCal and 20 socal teams. Probably means 150 or so nationally, but minimal travel for league games.
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I think 8 is good for NorCal - I'd drop it to 7 and add a team in Fresno. That alone is good for 14 "local" (don't need to fly) games. Typically these teams also play in NPL for extra games.
 
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