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There are many discussions about this on other discussions boards, and on other threads within this group.USYS NATIONAL LEAGUE ELITE 64 GROWS WITH MORE YOUTH SOCCER CLUBS • SoccerToday
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Talk to me about this new league. So now we’ll have ECNL, GA and Elite 64? Phoenix Rising (for example) is listed as a club in the Elite 64…are they leaving ECNL, or are they in both?
What do you guys know about this?
You can add LASC (LA Soccer Club to that) and maybe even Strikers
We need help to fix this Paul. France, Italy and Spain have some great ideas. Here in da States, the parents get played on words, like "Elite" "World Class" "Premier" "Development" "Scholarship" "Club" and they are sold all sorts of promises and then they pay to play. I was taught early to find the best coach and then just hope she doesn't get cut each year. To me, the best coaches make cuts every year. I found such a coach. However, parents got pissed off when their kids got cut or didnt make the A team so they blamed him and others like him for not developing the kids and just being a recruiter of the best players, not the richest parents. So they made the B team and the treasurer of the club thought it best to have a C team as well and then other leagues to boot to have even more teams. They just keep making soccer players and you need more leagues. My dd top coach said he has to cut each year to keep up with the competition. Plus, as we see today, lot's of girls stop playing and just focus on school or other fun things to do.
All of the parents on my daughter's team love where we're at, and very few of us think our kids will be a "star", including me. So I think there are good reasons for the "elite" leagues. Mostly, our kids love it, are learning leadership, goal-setting, discipline, teamwork, and other things too numerous for me to think of right now. Yes, there are leagues/clubs/coaches to sell snake oil and something should be done about those situations. I wish there was a magic wand we could wave and take care of those dishonest actors. Promotion/relegation is one very big thing that I believe would help. Also, putting more power into the hands of the parents & kids would help, but as a concept, there's nothing wrong with someone starting an "elite" league, even if there are many "elite" leagues already.
How's the gas price at Costco bro? I almost was tempted but the line went around the costco so I paid a little more at Mobile. Mobile is better gas and today I paid $6.09, .10 cents less then before so we have some hope. Promotion/Reg will solve this mess once and for all. No more steeling tag lines....lol! The words are not owned by anyone so I kind of agree with you. If the kids are happy and the parents are happy then everyone should be happy. Now if someone could fix the divisions that would be great. I think we can have four divisions of the top four leagues.
You make some very good points but the concept of so-called “elite” leagues being added to already existing “elite” leagues just baffles me. I know it’s a nice dinner table boast to say your kid is in an “elite” league but if these leagues are all truly “elite”, where is the conveyor belt of “elite” players they are helping to develop? I’m embarrassed that I just wrote the word elite so many times; more so that I include quotation marks to emphasize it.
Paul, the true meaning of being elite in your chosen field is this: a select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities to the rest of a group or society.
Exactly. I rest my case.
The creators of Elite 64 intended to get GA and ECNL teams to join in, but didn't offer anything to draw those teams in. I think they went about it the wrong way. Grass roots first and then build to national, like AYSO is starting to do. If AYSO continues to build out their system for higher quality players and regional teams, with low prices and local small regional clubs, they may be on to something in 5-10 years.
I've always thought the same thing....there's a natural inclination to stay with the club you're in, and no one has more grassroots players in their player pool. So if they do it right, they could be right up there with the best in a few years. But there's still some very lousy coaching - and a child abuse scandal every couple years doesn't help either.
Those stupid vests should only be put on those who want them to get better or for pros getting paid. The first year of GDA they had this and I heard numerous stories of girls being shamed with the vests. I can hear a coach now say, "Hey Girl, if you dont start running more, I'm going to send this to all the college coaches. Wow, this is starting to all sound weird again and just controlling. What happen to just playing for the love of the game.
