SoCal Schedule
- Thread starter sandiegofutbolguy
- Start date
superfly10
BRONZE
Pretty incredible what SOCAL has done.
No F3 in the GU16 division for example. So allowed teams from F3 last year to jump to flight 1 to create brackets of 10 plus teams and combining regions. I'm sure some of those Beach teams going to love traveling to Santa Clarita.
When SCDSL broke off, it was apparently to create a league with the most elite clubs, now you got organizations like Whitier Area Youth Soccer which has been recreational with some signature level teams.
Such a money grab for SOCAL (yes its always been that way but they aren't even try to hide it anymore). It's a joke.
No F3 in the GU16 division for example. So allowed teams from F3 last year to jump to flight 1 to create brackets of 10 plus teams and combining regions. I'm sure some of those Beach teams going to love traveling to Santa Clarita.
When SCDSL broke off, it was apparently to create a league with the most elite clubs, now you got organizations like Whitier Area Youth Soccer which has been recreational with some signature level teams.
Such a money grab for SOCAL (yes its always been that way but they aren't even try to hide it anymore). It's a joke.
It’s not really their fault at the older ages. It’s that high schoolers either go letter league or they drop out for because they’ve got other things (like robotics tournies, band concerts, jobs or boyfriend girlfriends). And for letter league on the boys side there mls1, mls2, ea, ea2, encl, ecrl, n1l, usl, upsl, e64(still around?). F1 is really f6 now when all is said and done.
My favorite is that the new ayso select teams (in direct competition with the spun of united teams) in addition to playing each other will be competing in coast to get club experience.
This is the real/stupid problem: all the different leagues, and competing exclusively within the league brackets.It’s not really their fault at the older ages. It’s that high schoolers either go letter league or they drop out for because they’ve got other things (like robotics tournies, band concerts, jobs or boyfriend girlfriends). And for letter league on the boys side there mls1, mls2, ea, ea2, encl, ecrl, n1l, usl, upsl, e64(still around?). F1 is really f6 now when all is said and done.
My favorite is that the new ayso select teams (in direct competition with the spun of united teams) in addition to playing each other will be competing in coast to get club experience.
This is going to be immensely frustrating, I think, for current and upcoming seasons for my situation (and many others, I think). My son's team is starting in EA2. The team could play EA or maybe ECNL-RL/MLSN-AD level (competitive in their last tournament with those level teams), but instead will play a mostly "wasted" season against teams in EA2 spanning ECNL to Flight 3 level of actual ability, because league level is determined per club, and the club itself is only in EA2. The team could be playing N1L with a much better/narrow band of local competition, but the club is pushing for club league advancement, so the kids are going to suffer with these arbitrary divisions which make no sense whatsoever from a competitive perspective.
This whole landscape is stupid. US Soccer needs to step in, put the hammer down, and force letter leagues to allow cross-league seasonal competition with no penalties for teams or clubs (and/or manage the entire competitive schedule independently). The various "pathway" leagues should be pathways to exposure and advancement for kids; right now they are just traps and barriers for kids, where clubs feel like they are forced to play along. It's infuriating.
It makes so much more sense now as to why I see a lot of "league-less" teams playing in high level tournaments and brackets: that's the only way to have optimal competition for kids now. The leagues are straight up antithetical to what's best for the kids.
superfly10
BRONZE
It’s not really their fault at the older ages. It’s that high schoolers either go letter league or they drop out for because they’ve got other things (like robotics tournies, band concerts, jobs or boyfriend girlfriends). And for letter league on the boys side there mls1, mls2, ea, ea2, encl, ecrl, n1l, usl, upsl, e64(still around?). F1 is really f6 now when all is said and done.
My favorite is that the new ayso select teams (in direct competition with the spun of united teams) in addition to playing each other will be competing in coast to get club experience.
I agree to an extent but at this point SOCAL is making sure there are no checks and balances for their league. It was a lazy job to do what they did at U16 and above for bracketing, there's enough teams to make it work properly. But also allowing lower F3 teams to jump to F1 is in no way appropriate for supposed development.
There's a North/West combined division -- why does a Huntington Team from Rush have to travel to Santa Clarita or vice versa? Just a quick look at some teams/cities in that division:
Pico Rivera
Corona
Santa Clarita
Murrieta
Mission Viejo
La Verne
Whittier
It's getting silly for SOCAL. All for what? To kill off CSL? Getting accepted to SOCAL meant something a few years ago.
And don't get me started on "pathways" for N1, ECNL-RL, and ECNL. Sorry but a team from Bell Gardens FC might be able to play N1 and fair well, but Bell Gardens FC isn't going to get ECNL club status so what happens after that? The whole system is as bad from a competition standpoint as it was about 10 years ago. Lots of smoke and mirrors, empty promises, etc.
superfly10
BRONZE
This is exactly the issue. Teams at smaller clubs are straight up trapped and they are oblivious to it. I don't know how many conversations I have with parents in the past few months from smaller clubs who had coaches telling them they were going to be ECNL in another year but that's not based in reality. I've seen teams at the DPLO level win the fall season and in the playoffs, but they have to return to DPLO this year because the club wasn't granted DPL level.
Then you have clubs who are so scared of being real with their teams evaluations when they don't deserve actual elite team status because they know those teams will leave and find a club that will promise them a badge for at least one season.
Until there are actual playoffs and cross league competition, it's going to stay the same. CSL had it right with League Cup play and cross-bracket playing. SCDSL had it with playoffs for a little bit then just did away with it. Create SOCAL League Cup for All Regions or create In Season Tournaments/Showcases so teams can compete. There's no incentive for the league to do so except money.
For the past few seasons, I've stressed to parents that tournaments are far more important than the fall season for the competition aspect.
You have a middle schooler or freshman in the middle of the pack huh? That's why it's your perspective. The lower you go on the totem poll the more erratic and varied the competition becomes because then teams begin to attract quality players by coaches and location rather than by badge. So the variance in Academy clubs<MLSN HG<MLS AD< EA< EA2 (which pretty much takes anyone).
Again the system on the boys side is made solely to benefit those academy teams. The rest of MLSN is practice cannon fodder for the academy teams hence the year round schedule without break for high school (since there is no national HS soccer calendar due to weather around the US). The MLSN HG players then get some D1 and D2 college looks for the spots not taken by international. That's the trade off they are making. The older high school age kids don't care about the cross tournament play you are mentioned. The Academy players and top tiers are worried about overuse and injury that will take them out of the recruitment cycles especially for the big recruitment showcases like flex and the playoffs....they aren't interested in trophy tournaments. Playing in a tournament would only serve to give the benchers start time and overall hurt the team's reputation. The other mid level high school teams have athletes doing summer high school training, then fall club season, then an injury prone marathon high school season, then spring travel and playsoffs all while juggling a busy high school season. The cross play action will just be greeted with groans.
Yes there are a bunch of local clubs locked out of being able to secure decent players and charge large fees for the privilege. Yes MLSN hasn't given any rhyme or reason why some teams are given admittance...ever since the Bulls were admitted to HG no less it's completely blown any obvious rationale. But also pro rel in Cal South was a big mess and didn't work either...just those coaches that were able to recruit (by payment, relationships, recruitment relationships, reputation, luck, or hook and crook) were rewarded....and the big clubs paid those coaches the big dollars so while it was more egalitarian and you'd get some local clubs up there, the big clubs still dominated. And yes coaches promise "soon everything"...eagle boys have been hearing about that for ECNL for years.
The problem is that too many leagues carve out the local market, so most teams have to travel for competition. N1 now requires significantly more travel compared with NPL last season. I missed the Presidio league time when Chula Vista seemed far to us in the north. Now Sunday games in OCGP sound not too bad.