I personally know of several families doing just that, and they've been doing it for a while. If you have a talented soccer player in that valley, you're putting miles on your cars.
DMCV Sharks Girls Director
- Thread starter silverback
- Start date
I personally know of several families doing just that, and they've been doing it for a while. If you have a talented soccer player in that valley, you're putting miles on your cars.
It's one thing to make that slog down and back up the 15 on a weeknight to play for a national contender. Sharks hasn't had anything remotely close to that in several years.
Unless they overhaul, which based on their press release they aren't, this will be another momentary positive blip at best.
Just like when MW came over.
Just like when FK won back to back nat boats.
Just like when they hired SM.
Merge with who? Interesting question.
From the Spot
SILVER
I have no information that a merger is in the works or even being contemplated (in fact, it most likely is not). But I just look at Breakers and see some similarity to Sharks. They're a smaller club competing against mega-clubs in a crowded marketplace and haven't had a level of success that would be a draw for a lot of families. Linkining up with a larger club might give them access to some of the support they don't currently have available. I don't know, could you envision a Legends-LA or Beach-Los Angeles?
This maybe hurts the depth of Surf , but the girl goats who live in SD are probably going stick with Surf , especially if Del Mar is the de facto 2nd team
I do think if they are able to build a legit 2nd ECNl team in Del Mar it will have an impact on City and Rebels ( for girls )
I don’t think MI at Beach would merge with Breakers or anyone. But, Breakers could look at smaller clubs in WLA. Like doing something with Tudela. JT has put some players on the radar.
Why do you think that just because Sharks switch jerseys to LegendsSD that anything would change?
City, Surf, Rebels, etc players could all have gone to Sharks but nobody has. If the leadership doesn't change and I mean starting with SM the club won't change.
People seem to think that just because Sharks have ECNL on the girls side that it can magically recruit teams. Sorry this just isn't the case. Southwest ECNL has some of the best teams in the country. What people find with Sharks is that leadership is non existent and coaches are on their own. From a players perspective you just don't stand a chance against the other teams in league. After a while the negative loop reinforces itself.
The other thing that's difficult with Sharks is that they just don't have the field space other clubs in the area have. But again not having access to fields is a reflection of poor management. Sharks have been around how long? Yet during that time leadership couldn't secure fields to practice on? See what I'm talking about? Compare that to Surf who has the Polo fields and makes so much money for the city that some of the richest NIMBYs in the world can't even touch them.
This is your opinion girls have switched from Rebels, City, and Surf before this merge with Legends. You are saying something that is not true.
Legends offers what Sharks needed to grow and compete in the area. It will get stronger. The boys side was not doing well the girls side was growing and getting better even on the RL side. Girls already drive from Temecula to Sharks. At the end of the day the ECNL league competition in this area is competitive and RL teams at some clubs are much stronger than the GA in this area. Didn’t Surf RL only lose to City GA 2 to 0 in the Copa tournament. Also Beach RL is an incredible team.
As time goes on your teams improve by playing better competition. Legends will solidify and attract those players who want to play ECNL in the area. ECNL is the top league and pathway for college and Surf can’t fill all those rosters. Great opportunity for those college driven to play at Legendsfc SanDiego and want to play ECNL.
Teddy_Olive
BRONZE
I could see Breakers being taken over by Surf. It would get Surf an ECNL club in the LA market or merger with a smaller club like LA Bulls or Tudela
It's not my opinion, it's a fact.
City is 15-20 minutes from Sharks and now has 2 GA teams, DPL, and multiple Socal teams per age group. Sharks struggle to field 1 ECNL team per age group. This is just on the girls side.
We'll see how long the Temecula player (singular) continues making the trek. Regarding the RL loss to a City GA team was that the GA1 or the newly put together GA2 team?
I'm not posting these type of things to brag about City. The results speak for themselves. Step back for a minute and ask yourself if City had ECNL and Sharks had GA would Sharks be growing and expanding their brand? The answer is no. There's a reason for everything both good and bad.
The majority of the top girls players in Temecula are playing at Surf, not Legends.
soccerdad904
BRONZE
The past doesn't always dictate the future. I don't have a dog in this fight and I'm not a fan of a few people in the organization but regarding fields, Sharks/Legends will be heavily in Mira Mesa which I think will be a positive for many families being in a central location like that. Legends plays their home games at Mira Mesa High School and Sharks hold practice there as well as Miramar College. There is also a new park going in by Wangenheim that I foresee them possibly taking over as well. There are opportunities to expand and I think this is going to be huge for the club as they build their base/farming system through Legends.
soccerdad904
BRONZE
Surf RL lost to City's 2nd GA team. To say RL is stronger than GA in this area is laughable. City GA made a great run this year and ended up losing in the semi finals(?) in the GA playoffs and Albion isn't far removed from their National Championship a few years ago. The GA talent level may be more watered down in San Diego than other parts of the country who don't have to compete with 3 other ECNL clubs and a couple GA clubs in their backyard but the proof is in the college commitment pudding (ECNL, GA, RL/others). RL is just a glorified DPL or NPL level team that charges you a premium ECNL price.
Having said that, I think it's a great move by both clubs as it gives both something they need but at the end of the day the number of roster spots on the Sharks ECNL teams hasn't changed. Surf will always be the top choice over Sharks/Legends/whatever you want to call them, so really the Sharks are still pulling players from the same pool and hoping for a few stars to come up through their Legends feeder program. And let's be real, if anybody worth a damn on the Sharks ECNL team was offered a spot on Surf's ECNL team, most are going to take that opportunity.
asianautica
BRONZE
Do you have insider info about Legends/Sharks setting up shop in Mira Mesa? Seems like Sharks is well entrenched in Carmel Valley. That would be a big move. Although, I agree with you about Mira Mesa and fields. There's the new part by Wangenheim, but the community park across from MMHS is being rebuilt this year and should be finished in 2 years, then there's a new community park that's being built in the 3Roots area. So, there should be a lot of new fields in Mira Mesa area as well as being more central than Carmel Valley, especially for players from East, North, and South county.
I would not use Surf RL as measuring stick with GA teams, they don't complete with top RL teams. There are really only 3 good RL teams (Beach, Slammers FC, and Blues), the rest are glorified NPL/DPL (like @soccerdad904 stated).
RandomSoccerFan
PREMIER
And if you look at any of the GA standings, the top 2 or 3 teams are dominant, and the rest of the bracket is pretty weak. (08 SW as 1 example) This isn't unique to RL, GA, or almost any other league. One can judge the strength of a conference/league/bracket several ways, but the two most common are probably by their strongest teams, or by their average teams. But a common misbelief is equating a few strong teams in one against the average of another.
What you're describing has always been my issue with parents that choose one side or the other in which league they think is "best".
In all leagues there's a small percentage of teams / clubs that tend to dominate wins over time.
Being an also ran in a league with teams that you'll never beat doesn't make your team any better. Conversely being the top team in a league and beating everyone week after week isn't ideal either.
A good club or league will allow players on all teams to develop to the highest level possible with the resources available.
RandomSoccerFan
PREMIER
Yep. "My team is better than your team because I'm in this league and your team is in that league" is pretty ill-informed. It's quite possible that your team blows and the other team is decent, depending on where they both stand among their peers in the same league. There's a very wide overlap between good teams in what might be considered a second tier, and not-so-good teams in a first tier. But this does not mean either that every league is equivalent. Compare them top teams to top teams, average teams to average teams, or any other apples to apples comparison that has some validity.
WatchthemPlay
SILVER
In the end, is this about who is the strongest team at a particular moment or which club/team helps a kid reach their goals? Assuming the goal is college, looking at the past commitments of each club/level provides very objective information. Over time in San Diego this seems to be Surf ECNL first, City GA second, Rebels ECNL third and then probably a mix of Albion GA & Sharks ECNL depending on the year. These clubs have the reputation, relationship with college coaches and history of players being successful in college. You can argue all day long who would be beat who in different match ups but that’s kinda irrelevant from year to year.
This also only becomes relevant when kids start high school. Otherwise stick with the club and coach who is the most supportive and where they get the most play time to develop.
This also only becomes relevant when kids start high school. Otherwise stick with the club and coach who is the most supportive and where they get the most play time to develop.
Code
GOLD
Depends on age Group. Rebels ECNL seems to be better than City GA in many of them.
SoCalGirlsSoccer
BRONZE
We have a number of them on my daughters City GA team.