How do leagues stack up?

Jamisfoes said:
Have you seen the college signing announcement of MLS next and ECNL clubs in orange county? I have to say if my kid goes to those schools, I would question my investment in soccer. Most of these kids don't get full rides. When families figure this out, and eventually they do, EA is looking all that better.
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There are much better time investments for getting into a good school than soccer. Like studying.
 
Jamisfoes said:
For youngers
OC club with ECNL affiliation - $2600 a year.
OC club with EA affiliation - $1500 a year.
OC club with MLS next affiliation - $2300

I think even if your kids are not currently on an ECNL or MLS next team, you are subsidizing for them just because your club is affiliated with those leagues.
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How did you get these numbers?.
My son and daughter are in "younger OC club".
The offers we get for 2023-2024 season:
OC club playing in EA - $3500 (club fee only, NOT including tournament fee, uniform and travel expenses)
OC club playing in SOCAL league flight 1-3 - $2400 - $2800 (club fee only NOT including tournament fee uniform and travel expenses)
OC club playing in pre-ECNL - $2500 (club fee only NOT including tournament fee uniform and travel expenses)

AYSO extra (in orange county) - $1500 (including 1x/week training with a professional trainer but not including tournament fee, approximately 7-8 month program (off in summer and winter).
 
aong cangkol said:
How did you get these numbers?.
My son and daughter are in "younger OC club".
The offers we get for 2023-2024 season:
OC club playing in EA - $3500 (club fee only, NOT including tournament fee, uniform and travel expenses)
OC club playing in SOCAL league flight 1-3 - $2400 - $2800 (club fee only NOT including tournament fee uniform and travel expenses)
OC club playing in pre-ECNL - $2500 (club fee only NOT including tournament fee uniform and travel expenses)

AYSO extra (in orange county) - $1500 (including 1x/week training with a professional trainer but not including tournament fee, approximately 7-8 month program (off in summer and winter).
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My numbers are for the youngest of the youngers.
 
Jamisfoes said:
From friends who play in different clubs. I have to say though, the $2600 a year club has the best looking soccer jersey and bags in youth soccer.
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I look at these club fees like I look at the cost of a dog. People ask: "How much is that dog?" Doesn't matter. You've got vet bills, food, kennel costs if you go out of town, etc. With soccer, you have the opportunity cost. It is so much higher than the cost of the cool backpack with the crest and the team name written in an elegant font.
 
Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr said:
I look at these club fees like I look at the cost of a dog. People ask: "How much is that dog?" Doesn't matter. You've got vet bills, food, kennel costs if you go out of town, etc. With soccer, you have the opportunity cost. It is so much higher than the cost of the cool backpack with the crest and the team name written in an elegant font.
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That is a great way to look at it. Who cares if the initial investment is different by a few hundred dollars. If you end up going to the same vet, buying the same food, using the same same kennels, the cost of the dog is the same. Claiming that one letter league is more expensive than the other is just another case of the pot calling the kettle black. If you are traveling outside of your county for league games, and have mandatory post/pre-season events, your soccer costs are likely the same as those participating in the other leagues.
 
Yak said:
I really think that the idea of EA being a feeder for MLSN and ECRL being a feeder for ECNL is a bit of an empty sales pitch. Players are just as likely to be recruited from outside.
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At my son's last club, at least 8 kids moved from ECRL to ECNL over two years. Could be more by now. The RL team has to be strong, though, for this to happen.
 
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focomoso said:
At my son's last club, at least 8 kids moved from ECRL to ECNL over two years. Could be more by now. The RL team has to be strong, though, for this to happen.
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Context matters...

In one age group or across all six? Just boys or girls too? What was going on in the NL team(s) that spots were opening up (particularly if this just one team/age)?
 
Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr said:
I look at these club fees like I look at the cost of a dog. People ask: "How much is that dog?" Doesn't matter. You've got vet bills, food, kennel costs if you go out of town, etc. With soccer, you have the opportunity cost. It is so much higher than the cost of the cool backpack with the crest and the team name written in an elegant font.
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Code said:
That is a great way to look at it. Who cares if the initial investment is different by a few hundred dollars. If you end up going to the same vet, buying the same food, using the same same kennels, the cost of the dog is the same. Claiming that one letter league is more expensive than the other is just another case of the pot calling the kettle black. If you are traveling outside of your county for league games, and have mandatory post/pre-season events, your soccer costs are likely the same as those participating in the other leagues.
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Total Cost of Ownership is the real metric. I'd say generally speaking TCO for a higher level league within an eco system will be higher, eg ECNL > ECNL RL, GA >> DPL, NPL >> SoCal, etc. as there are usually more travel commitments for the highest level teams.

What's suspect is how some clubs play hide the ball where they don't tell you what TCO looks like for a season until after the contract is signed and the first payment has been made.
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VanMan said:
Context matters...

In one age group or across all six? Just boys or girls too? What was going on in the NL team(s) that spots were opening up (particularly if this just one team/age)?
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One age group. Boys. A few spots opened up as kids moved up to MLS Next, but in other cases, it was a swap. The kids asked to move down didn't always agree and some moved elsewhere, but not all.
 
aong cangkol said:
How did you get these numbers?.
My son and daughter are in "younger OC club".
The offers we get for 2023-2024 season:
OC club playing in EA - $3500 (club fee only, NOT including tournament fee, uniform and travel expenses)
OC club playing in SOCAL league flight 1-3 - $2400 - $2800 (club fee only NOT including tournament fee uniform and travel expenses)
OC club playing in pre-ECNL - $2500 (club fee only NOT including tournament fee uniform and travel expenses)

AYSO extra (in orange county) - $1500 (including 1x/week training with a professional trainer but not including tournament fee, approximately 7-8 month program (off in summer and winter).
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Soccer still feels like a good deal compared to other youth sports (tennis, dance, golf, gymnastics…)
 
Anyone know where does the UPSL Youth Academy league fits into the big picture for the boys? It appears there will be a youth league starting at U13 with some MLS academies listed.

youth.upsl.com

United Premier Soccer League | Premier Division

United Premier Soccer League is the largest and most competitive pro-development league in North America with nearly 400 clubs competing nationwide.
youth.upsl.com youth.upsl.com
 
Far Post said:
Anyone know where does the UPSL Youth Academy league fits into the big picture for the boys? It appears there will be a youth league starting at U13 with some MLS academies listed.

youth.upsl.com

United Premier Soccer League | Premier Division

United Premier Soccer League is the largest and most competitive pro-development league in North America with nearly 400 clubs competing nationwide.
youth.upsl.com youth.upsl.com
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Good lord, another league??
 
Far Post said:
Anyone know where does the UPSL Youth Academy league fits into the big picture for the boys? It appears there will be a youth league starting at U13 with some MLS academies listed.

youth.upsl.com

United Premier Soccer League | Premier Division

United Premier Soccer League is the largest and most competitive pro-development league in North America with nearly 400 clubs competing nationwide.
youth.upsl.com youth.upsl.com
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UPSL is a men’s league in which some MLS academy teams play. Hard to see how a new youth academy system would make sense for a 4th tier men’s league.
 
Yak said:
UPSL is a men’s league in which some MLS academy teams play. Hard to see how a new youth academy system would make sense for a 4th tier men’s league.
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See the soccer boards. It's most definitely a new letter league for boys. Sporting SoCal is advertising for it for 10 and 08 boys.

I've heard a bunch of different rumors about this in the last 48 hours. The academy teams are going to park their reserve players there (hard to see how given the pool of clubs they have that those reserves will get a run for their money). That some clubs were unhappy with E64 so are moving over to UPSL. That some large clubs are going to move their 3rd teams over there. If they really are interested in attracting top talent, I'm surprised they haven't clarified, but other than the reserves for the academy teams and the 3rd tier teams for some of the larger clubs, so far the competition doesn't seem very deep. Well, with MLS Next as the undisputed boys top tier, and ECNL, UPSL, EA, E64 and to some extent still NPL competing for top talent, it's going to get very diffuse in socal on the boys second tier.
 
rainbow_unicorn said:
Don't forget the new EA2!
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Does it seem to anyone else that where this is all going will be that the top-tier and second tier leagues (MLS Next & ECNL on the boys side and ECNL & GA on the girls side) will engage in an arms race of adding new teams into their second-tier sub-leagues (ERCL/DPL/EA2/E64, etc) and eventually third tier sub-sub-leagues until there's only a few teams left and then those competing top leagues just morph into the old SCDSL vs CSL rivalry?
 
TopesWin said:
Does it seem to anyone else that where this is all going will be that the top-tier and second tier leagues (MLS Next & ECNL on the boys side and ECNL & GA on the girls side) will engage in an arms race of adding new teams into their second-tier sub-leagues (ERCL/DPL/EA2/E64, etc) and eventually third tier sub-sub-leagues until there's only a few teams left and then those competing top leagues just morph into the old SCDSL vs CSL rivalry?
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The difference is that some clubs like AYSO United are locked out of the top leagues which they weren't with the old coast system. Other clubs, like the Latino clubs of the San Fernando Valley, have basically disappeared. Small independent clubs have had to take affiliation deals with the academies or the larger clubs. The old rivalry will be recreated, but there will be less choice, less independence, and particularly in the second and third tier talent will be more diffuse. Partially this is caused because it's all in service to the academies, around which everything in US soccer is structured, but if UPSL is really a new letter league and it's going to consist of the clubs so far listed plus the third or forth teams of the MLS Next clubs, I find it hard to see how even the reserves at Galaxy and LAFC will get good training out of it. I frankly wouldn't be surprised if somewhere along the way it doesn't result in lawsuits.
 
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