Not abandoning ECNL or GA, but adding a method to allow teams into the Champions league or GA playoffs without having to pay for the big club coaches or traveling during league.
CA/TX/NJ/FL could live without leagues. I'm sure there are other states but these come to mind. Top Teams in remote parts of the country will still have to travel for higher level competition- not any different than what is happening now.
Top girl teams can play boys locally if they don't have sufficient competition on the girls side to develop. This is what Europe is doing with their top girls teams because they don't have enough girls teams but they do have lots of boys teams.
Have seen it done. It can be effective if done thoughtfully. Have always seen it where the girls are playing younger boys. If not done thoughtfully, injuries will happen.
your perspective is a bit limited in understanding the ECNL structure and what is realistic. It isn't meant for individual independent teams to come and go. It is meant for the whole club to be in or out. It would be a bit chaotic to have individual independent teams coming and going from the ECNL. How would they decide which teams are in the ECNL and which are out on an annual basis? Most ECNL clubs that I have been involved with all offer scholarships to players that are good but don't have the funds to pay for it. Even the top clubs offer support to those top players that come from lower income families that can't afford the costs. Also, rather than change the whole system and try to make a ridiculous power grab like creating the DA it would have been better to work with the existing systems, support what was there to improve the quality and for US Soccer to offer financial assistance to players that apply for scholarships so they can afford the existing system. That would have been a more effective and less disruptive approach.
We're in the ECNL system and understand how it works with the club structure. What I'm saying is not to dismantle it or make major changes to it, but rather allow non ecnl teams into their major scouting arenas like the regional showcases and champions leagues based on annual local tournaments ECNL can hold and profit from. The two finalist or 4 semifinalist teams earn a spot to compete in the regional showcases against ecnl teams. Hold a tournament where the 2 finalist get into champions league finals or some version of this that makes the most sense. Yes, there are players that do get scholarships but it's a very small amount and that would also require the player to raise travel costs and travel almost daily to these clubs for practice. In San Diego, you can either take the ride through traffic up north or down south. During practice times, the traffic is at least between 45 minutes to 1 hour if you live in between Rebels and Surf, North San Diego County, or East County. I see a lot of great teams with working parents that can't take 2 hours a day to drive their kids.
So, your defense of ECNL is to accuse others of not working within the system?
www.wsj.com
This is where you are dreaming. I'm not talking about a bunch of 14 year old boys. I'm talking about men. 17 year olds. I've seen a varsity game and the pace and power on the field doesn't even compare to the USWNT. I watched the U15 game. Those were boys not men. The USWNT would never play men as they would end up in the hospital. 30-0? You are crazy and delusional. On my sons soccer team there were 3-4 D1 commits and other GDA players who would score at will. You are hilarious.
Surf cup should really be “The Best of the Best…That Can Afford It.”Nice to see the ladies bounce back with some goals!
Lessons From the Parents Who Raised the World’s Top Soccer Sisters
Lessons From the Parents Who Raised the World’s Top Soccer Sisters
How Bob and Melissa Mewis guided daughters Kristie and Samantha to the U.S. women’s soccer team, the gold-medal favorite in the Tokyo Olympics.
"Like many of the roughly 7 million American girls playing soccer at the time, the Mewises dreamed of playing for the U.S. team. Each had a 0.00031% chance of making the Tokyo Olympics roster."
Invest and Sacrifice
The high price of playing on competitive squads is the chief criticism of youth soccer in the U.S., with costs including club and tournament fees and increasingly distant travel. The Mewises spent between $10,000-$12,000 a year on the girls’ soccer starting in their mid-teens.
Do you really think there are State league teams that could go to Surf Cup and win against the teams that made it in? There are these "hidden gems" no one has ever heard of that would shock everyone? I don't really think so. You may want to cancel your Disney + cuz you seeing too many fairy tales.
No I don’t think that, that’s exactly the point I was making. That’s the problem with pay to play.
DD's non-ECNL team (graduated HS in 2018) beat Surf's ECNL team twice (for some reason they didn't play each other very often), including at Surf Cup when Surf was ECNL national champs. There are good teams out there that are not in ECNL. ECNL is a monopoly and has all the problems of a monopoly.
Well I will tell you this.. there are many many teams that can afford it and were denied.
So your Daughter's team was DA? Not sure that is the point here. We are talking about non letter leagues pay to play leagues and teams.
Yes!! There are some very good teams out there that can beat most ECNL teams. Money doesn’t buy natural talent (speed, quickness, soccer iq, grit). Tons of girls in Inner cities playing against boys at a very young age. Tons of them playing indoor and futsal with no joystick coaching. On the boys side 100% top inner city teams will beat ECNL teams.
Haha - it is about the olympic roster. Why couldn't we kill Sweden with all the girls we have in the US playing soccer? Our selection method is thru ECNL scouting events and therefore it should be open to other teams in order to pick from larger group of athletes, not just rich kids.
That is a false statement…..
