'23-'24 SoCal and National Forecast and Updates

rainbow_unicorn said:
ECNL playoffs is the one event where you'll get most of the top girl players in the country at one location. As a result you have almost every major D1 school there. The end goal for most girls who play ECNL is to get into college. The league is structured to accommodate college coaches with showcases and playoffs.

TBH, I'm surprised that 09 parents still care about winning, rank and seeding. Winning is nice but the focus for this year for 09's is college recruiting.
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I think most are just finding a fair way to make games more competitive. I think the goal of crowning a #1 is far more wasteful of athletic family treasure and soccer time far more than the pursuit to win. I think the crowning mirage is the problem ultimately and again being crowned #1 is not impressive if it took spy games, late recruitment and/or scholarship money from the club, and time more involved into building a strategy for 1 team vs training better athletes and a better soccer system. The pursuit of winning is not the problem! The wasting of resources to crown the #1 team is!

And again, parents should be advocating for their own resources and best way to gain the scholarship. Those scholarship have to be filled regardless. Why would a parent advocate for the expense of athletes vs the profiteering and expense of colleges and ECNL?
 
way up said:
I think most are just finding a fair way to make games more competitive. I think the goal of crowning a #1 is far more wasteful of athletic family treasure and soccer time far more than the pursuit to win. I think the crowning mirage is the problem ultimately and again being crowned #1 is not impressive if it took spy games, late recruitment and/or scholarship money from the club, and time more involved into building a strategy for 1 team vs training better athletes and a better soccer system. The pursuit of winning is not the problem! The wasting of resources to crown the #1 team is!

And again, parents should be advocating for their own resources and best way to gain the scholarship. Those scholarship have to be filled regardless. Why would a parent advocate for the expense of athletes vs the profiteering and expense of colleges and ECNL?
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The games are competitive.

Only three teams went 4-0 in Seattle (Surf, PDA and Penn Fusion) and they all had at least one win by only a single goal (Penn Fusion actually had four one goal wins.)

Three of the eight round of 16 games were decided by PKs. Three of the other games were won by a single goal and the last two were three goal wins.

The most lopsided scores for 2009 for the week were two 5-0 wins and one of those teams, Solar, ended up losing their third game. This isn't U13 anymore where we have 10-0 matches.

I get your point about teams loading up for playoffs with late adds and guest players, but most teams don't do that and I know the two teams that have won 2009 titles didn't bring any guests or late adds. We all know how Solar last year blew up DKSC and took their coach and best players but it didn't help them to repeat. Surf brought players in from Vegas but they didn't win. It may work for teams like Surf or KC Athletics this year, but it's no guarantee.
 
Unlucky said:
The games are competitive.

Only three teams went 4-0 in Seattle (Surf, PDA and Penn Fusion) and they all had at least one win by only a single goal (Penn Fusion actually had four one goal wins.)

Three of the eight round of 16 games were decided by PKs. Three of the other games were won by a single goal and the last two were three goal wins.

The most lopsided scores for 2009 for the week were two 5-0 wins and one of those teams, Solar, ended up losing their third game. This isn't U13 anymore where we have 10-0 matches.

I get your point about teams loading up for playoffs with late adds and guest players, but most teams don't do that and I know the two teams that have won 2009 titles didn't bring any guests or late adds. We all know how Solar last year blew up DKSC and took their coach and best players but it didn't help them to repeat. Surf brought players in from Vegas but they didn't win. It may work for teams like Surf or KC Athletics this year, but it's no guarantee
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Agreed, I think seeding was only mentioned regarding the ideas to build a better playoff system. Winning is pretty much the goal in league and playoffs regardless though, so not understanding what Rainbow means by saying some parents are too concerned about winning? I mean if you believe in the playoff structure to be seen by college coaches, I'm pretty sure the only way to get to playoffs and to advance in playoffs is to win? I don't like the structure, because I feel it wastes resources, but it's naive to say that winning is not important. Winning is everything and I don't see anything wrong with working to win either. That's the goal! I just wish the reward for advancing was not another expensive trip. It is what it is though. I was also impressed with the out of state teams I saw, but still, CA. is pretty dominant and could serve itself well by separating imo if it was able to.
 
way up said:
Agreed, I think seeding was only mentioned regarding the ideas to build a better playoff system. Winning is pretty much the goal in league and playoffs regardless though, so not understanding what Rainbow means by saying some parents are too concerned about winning? I mean if you believe in the playoff structure to be seen by college coaches, I'm pretty sure the only way to get to playoffs and to advance in playoffs is to win? I don't like the structure, because I feel it wastes resources, but it's naive to say that winning is not important. Winning is everything and I don't see anything wrong with working to win either. That's the goal! I just wish the reward for advancing was not another expensive trip. It is what it is though. I was also impressed with the out of state teams I saw, but still, CA. is pretty dominant and could serve itself well by separating imo if it was able to.
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Give it a couple of years and you'll see CA teams pull even farther from East Coast teams. Once tactics become more important than size and speed the gap becomes even more apparent.
 
Zeke said:
No structure is going to work if they don’t fix the seeding.

2010s had two of the best teams in the country meet in group. They beat the other teams by a combined score of 24-3.

Similar stories in other years.

Where is the fun in that?
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If your speaking of MVLA and Surf I’m pretty sure they did that so both could go to Virginia. It guaranteed there was no possibility of them playing eachother in the round of 16.
 
Carlsbad7 said:
The answer is for CA teams to just do a NorCal/SoCal (and all western states) tournament that you have to qualify for.

CA teams flying to the East coast to play against less developed teams provides little benefit.

I wish someone like ESPN + RedBull would team up and do a massive televised tournament with all teams qualified by the rankings app regardless of league.
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No it’s CA teams flying to the east coast to play CA teams
 
SuperSoccerStar said:
If your speaking of MVLA and Surf I’m pretty sure they did that so both could go to Virginia. It guaranteed there was no possibility of them playing each other in the round of 16.
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I doubt any bracket maker is quite that clever.

Besides, the current round of 16 saw Surf/Slammers FC, and came rather close to seeing MVLA/Koge.

More likely, the goal is not merely to help top teams avoid the embarrassment of an early knockout.
 
Going to be interesting later this week. While it is hot right now out here, the humidity isn’t too bad. That will change by the 10th. Humidity is forecast to be oppressive and practically unbearable.

Bethesda 10s have been practicing non-stop in the heat, including the 4th for its upcoming match against Surf. That team only lost by a goal to last years Nat'l Champions in the Semis.

I still think some of you struggle to think outside the box a little. I’m a numbers guy and appreciate how numbers affect different subjects. It's actually what I do for a living. Anyway, below is some really interesting food for thought. Populations of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States in 2022 divided by the number of ECNL Clubs in that area. Totally not what I expected. I get it that every Metro area has a different standard of living along with different types of access. I ranked down to SoCal and added my area and some others. After SoCal, numbers tend to be similar and there are also some areas with not a lot of access to players.

What I got most out of this: (1) No surprise PDA always does well. They are the destination Club of NY. (2) SoCal outperforms EVERYONE despite the large number of ECNL Clubs. (3) DC/Baltimore/Philly are a close second and also does very well for the large amount of Clubs. (4) Had no idea the Miami, Phoenix and Houston would have access to largest player pool. (5) Seattle and XF look to have excellent training with the results they get for being in a saturated market.

1. Greater Miami/Ft. Lauderdale - 6,139,340 (1 ECNL Club); 6,139,340/Per Club
2. Greater Houston - 7,340,118 (2 ECNL Clubs); 3,670,059/Per Club
3. Phoenix Greater Area - 5,015,678 (2 ECNL Clubs); 2,507,839/Per Club
4. New York/North NJ/NE PA/East CT - 19,617,869 (8 ECNL Clubs); 2,452,234/Per Club
5. Greater Chicago - 9,441,957 (4 ECNL Clubs); 2,360,489/Per Club
6. Greater Pittsburgh - 2,349,172 (1 ECNL Club); 2,349,172/Per Club
7. Greater Las Vegas - 2,322,985 (1 ECNL Club); 2,322,985/Per Club
8. Greater Kansas City - 2,209,494 (1 ECNL Club); 2,209,494/Per Club
9. Greater Nashville - 2,046,828 (1 ECNL Club); 2,046,828/Per Club
10. Greater VA Beach/Norfolk/Williamsburg 1,806,840 (1 ECNL Club); 1,806,840/Per Club
11. LA; San Diego/Chula Vista/Carlsbad; Riverside/San Bernadino - 20,816,088 (12 ECNL Clubs); 1,734,674/Per Club
Boston Greater Area - 4,900,550 (3 ECNL Clubs) 1,633,517/Per Club
St. Louis Greater Area - 2,801,309 (2 ECNL Clubs); 1,400,654/Per Club
Dallas Ft. Worth - 7,943,685 (6 ECNL Clubs); 1,323,948/Per Club
Greater Hotlanta - 6,222,106 (5 ECNL Clubs); 1,244,421/Per Club
Washington DC/Baltimore/Philadelphia - 15,450,592 (13 ECNL Clubs); 1,188,508/Per Club
Detroit Greater Area - 4,345,761 (4 ECNL Clubs); 1,086,440/Per Club
Greater San Fran/Oakland/Sacramento - 8,934,825 (10 ECNL Clubs) 893,483/Per Club
Seattle/Tacoma Greater Area - 4,034,238 (5 ECNL Clubs) 806,847/Per Club
Source:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/183600/population-of-metropolitan-areas-in-the-us/
 
All true - but I don't think it's that complicated. SoCal has the best weather year-round for practice in the country, by far. NY competes well because money overcomes crappy weather. FL/TX do well because they have millions of kids available to play, even if the weather is oppressive for certain portions of the year.
 
Orangeteam said:
I think there is a kid in michigan who is rosterd on Solar. Her other club isn't ECNL
I think two kids who used to play for Solar who still live in Tx but play on Legends.
The kids on LV Surf are full time rostered on Surf. To be clear, LV Surf isn't an ECNL club and that doesnt break any rules.
There are 4 kids, maybe 5 on the KC 2009 team that all played 2008 full time. One I think was rostered at KC but was at IMG (maybe 2)

Deanza has 2008s have a handful of GA kids who play for Silicon Valley.
Any 2009 full time rostered on an older team can play with their age group. If a kid played with their 2008 team in Seattle they can play with their 2009 team in Virginia if their 2008 team didn't make the final 8. Hawks I think dropped 3 kids down last year into the 2008 team off the 2007 team for the final 8.

If the kids are rostered at the club and have a team assigned to them they are good to play. I dont' think anyone is random flying in ringers

Someone showed me the New Jersey post, both the one being refered to and the '10s vs. Florida with the fist fight. Oh boy..
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Wrong, no LV surf kids on that roster. 1 ex LV player whose family relocated to SD almost two years ago is on that squad.
 
Congrats to Surf and KC for making the Finals,

Congrats to Koge and Legends to finish off another strong season for the SW conference.
 
chiefs said:
Congrats to Surf and KC for making the Finals,

Congrats to Koge and Legends to finish off another strong season for the SW conference.
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Dang! Who’s this KC squad!!! I know they been crushing but it seems they handled PDA with ease, relative to score. Looks like a great matchup in finals! And agreed, congratulations to all the teams that ran deep, not easy to do. I
 
2-0 Surf. Watched the match live. Talk about the most intense parent sideline ever! Was a super physical and intense game.

0-0 at half.
Minute 46-Surf made PK to go 1-0.
Minute 65- KC player hit a surf player in the face. How it wasn’t an auto red is beyond me. Yellow was issued.
Minute 67- Surf broke off a beautifully worked goal to go up 2-0. It was basically the first play off the whistle after the KC player hit the Surf player in the face.

There was just no way KC could recover. Surf was better on both ends from start to finish. What a run by KC and congrats to Surf!
 
LVB said:
2-0 Surf. Watched the match live. Talk about the most intense parent sideline ever! Was a super physical and intense game.

0-0 at half.
Minute 46-Surf made PK to go 1-0.
Minute 65- KC player hit a surf player in the face. How it wasn’t an auto red is beyond me. Yellow was issued.
Minute 67- Surf broke off a beautifully worked goal to go up 2-0. It was basically the first play off the whistle after the KC player hit the Surf player in the face.

There was just no way KC could recover. Surf was better on both ends from start to finish. What a run by KC and congrats to Surf!
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Overall SW conference championships at all age groups had 5 of the 6 teams winning.

Argument for having a calif league is getting louder….
 
chiefs said:
Overall SW conference championships at all age groups had 5 of the 6 teams winning.

Argument for having a calif league is getting louder….
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So you would rather fly or drive up north to play games? That’s far! lol I wouldn’t want to do that, that sounds horrible.
 
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