Well, then. A different course. And your probably better off then the rest of us. Good luck, brother.
ECNL Broken?
- Thread starter Highlander
- Start date
Best thing you can do is understand that “you” aren’t even in the picture. It is your DD’s path, let her pave it.
Lol. Fair. I saw the mistake when I wrote it and was too lazy to try to fix it on a phone. My involvement is limited to chauffeur and throwing balls when she asks.
kickingandscreaming
PREMIER
I am familiar with this role.
dk_b
GOLD
it’s the role we all pine for when it’s over.
Messi>CR7
GOLD
Academics doesn't have to be the first thing that gets sacrificed. The idea is after studying and soccer, there won't be any time left for boys.
Highlander
SILVER ELITE
This is basically what France does...and I agree 100%. Doesn't mean the local club teams are bad at all.
ECNL was a great experience until the chaos began with changing age groupings, DA, etc. Certain birth years were especially harmed in this process.
it is the best pathway for college exposure. There are other ways to make it to college soccer but they are more difficult and nearly impossible to make it to a top D1 program without being in the ECNL. Please don’t bring up the issue of the 2 years of the DA - those players that were good enough would have been in the ECNL during that time. It is really difficult to get attention from coaches if you are not in the ECNL and you are not in the tournaments where the college coaches are. Yes, you can play in the Vegas Cup but if you aren’t an ECNL team you are playing on some field far away from the main field with no coaches watching.
The down side is the cost. People have argued on this forum that it doesn’t cost $10,000 to play in the ECNL. It definitely does when you are honest and include travel costs, uniforms, gas to practices. $3000 for club fees, min 4 trips to Phoenix $1600 (average $400 per trip), PDA $1500, Vegas Cup $800, ECNL playoffs (San Diego $ 1000 / Chicago $1500) ECNL finals ($1500), Uniforms $300, Gas $1200 (easily with an hour commute to practices and games) etc. these are just estimates because I don’t feel like spending the time to dig through bank statements but the actual are probably more than this - this is also only for player costs, not family travel
The end does not always provide a scholarship but at the very least can help you with admission to a top preferred school and a roster spot. With the increase in recruiting international players the roster
spots are even fewer and more competitive. 3% make it to college soccer, 1% to top D1 program
it is the best pathway for college exposure. There are other ways to make it to college soccer but they are more difficult and nearly impossible to make it to a top D1 program without being in the ECNL. Please don’t bring up the issue of the 2 years of the DA - those players that were good enough would have been in the ECNL during that time. It is really difficult to get attention from coaches if you are not in the ECNL and you are not in the tournaments where the college coaches are. Yes, you can play in the Vegas Cup but if you aren’t an ECNL team you are playing on some field far away from the main field with no coaches watching.
The down side is the cost. People have argued on this forum that it doesn’t cost $10,000 to play in the ECNL. It definitely does when you are honest and include travel costs, uniforms, gas to practices. $3000 for club fees, min 4 trips to Phoenix $1600 (average $400 per trip), PDA $1500, Vegas Cup $800, ECNL playoffs (San Diego $ 1000 / Chicago $1500) ECNL finals ($1500), Uniforms $300, Gas $1200 (easily with an hour commute to practices and games) etc. these are just estimates because I don’t feel like spending the time to dig through bank statements but the actual are probably more than this - this is also only for player costs, not family travel
The end does not always provide a scholarship but at the very least can help you with admission to a top preferred school and a roster spot. With the increase in recruiting international players the roster
spots are even fewer and more competitive. 3% make it to college soccer, 1% to top D1 program
rainbow_unicorn
PREMIER
Imagine how much better players would be if they were dedicating that 8 commute hours/week into skills training.
Imagine how fun it will be for the players who have to play games to make it fun or they will play another game instead. My goat wants to play a game. It's been 6 months and she has been doing so many other things and that is a good thing. Now, it's time to drive 8 hours to play a real soccer game.
I completely agree with the exception of the top 10% of players. If your kid is in the top 10% of the players in their age group, coaches will find you. If you are a player that is really good but not in that group and could play D1 at a middle of the road program, it is really hard to get noticed if they don't play ECNL. This is especially true for kids looking to attend college in the midwest or east coast. ECNL showcases bring coaches from around the country to one central location. It's super convenient for them to walk from field to field seeing a lot of talented players in one place. More bang for their recruiting dollar.
Highlander
SILVER ELITE
Ya, super convenient for them and a total pain and the ass for everyone else not to mention the $$$ to get there. In this new world of online video teleconferencing I see this all changing soon. It makes zero sense for the player...and they like to market themselves was "players first"...what a bunch of BS...its players last, then parents, then coaches, then whoever scrapes the $$$ off the top.
California is definitely the pay to play soccer talent mecca in the country, closely followed by the east coast (VA,DE, NJ, NY, MA, etc). I don't have any real connections within CA collegiate athletics but had developed many on the east coast. ECNL, DA, etc weren't the top dogs in terms of recruiting. There were so many tournaments that coaches did not have a hard time accessing talent. It was interesting to say the least, they were more local and regionally focused, understanding the ethnic makeup of where they lived. They knew where to go to recruit for girls and for boys.
I lived in NJ, within a 40 min drive to the Red Bull Academy complex. My son's club coach was also the Academy U18 Director. Most of their recruiting was done in the neighborhoods in NJ that had futsal and soccer fields as the centerpiece of parks VS basketball courts. Central, South American communities with an emotional attachment to futbol. These neighborhoods would have never been able to afford letter league costs, even with "scholarships". Obviously this is boys centric recruiting but college coaches applied the same concept to the girls, going to where the girls were playing soccer. Also, the Red Bull Academy comparison isn't very good because the MLS doesn't care about college. It's a byproduct of their process. They are all about the homegrown talent and keeping their top and 2nd team rosters filled.
DIV II schools were very good at recruiting, leveraging their approach to scholarships. Plenty of schools to go around and plenty of really good academic D2 schools with very good programs. Sometimes kids get D1 tunnel vision, in CA it's easy - the stanfords and the UCLAs of the world taking center stage. I'm going through this very process with my oldest - sit for 2 years on a D1 bench (mediocre academic school) or play much earlier at a good D2 program with a very good academic reputation. He will have to make a decision here pretty soon. Most kids won't play D1 (on the boys side, wayyyy to much international recruiting being done, automatically shrinking rosters spots to almost 50%).
I guess my point is (if I even have a point) is that CA is so densely populated and has such a concentration of talent, that not paying to play, but keeping it more regionally focused and having more "all star" type tournaments wouldn't set anyone back. Would it make college coaches work little harder to recruit, probably. You could also argue that maybe coaching would suffer at the club level because the bigger letter league clubs pay more and attract "better" coaches. CA also has many, many colleges that play good soccer that aren't D1.
Since I've moved back to AZ, I've always wondered why a CA team would travel to AZ to play any kind of game, just on the surface. I get it, the letter leagues make more money by league expansion and it is a money making venture, so it's not going away. On the boys side, CA non letter league teams are just as good, many better than ECNL/DA. The MLS will stir things up, especially once they are able to fully deploy cost free play. Plenty of great talent in AZ and most are competitive when they leave the state to play. But in reality, and this is just my opinion, most good players will find a way to play on a college team. There are so many schools that need players and college coaches are always looking. Is it easier to gain access to coaches via a letter league, absolutely - we've created this monster of easy access for coaches.
Enough rambling for now, gotta go buy tires.
Jose has returned
SILVER ELITE
Texas ECNL is playing. good on them
Jose has returned
SILVER ELITE
i got a warning for something way less than what this is on that post. I guess life isn't black and white its red and blue.
That one broke my heart. My bro went in at 17. His dad died when he was 9 and he wanted to fight. So he got my mom to sign over so he could go and off he went to South East Asia in one gnarly war. He was hand radio operator and left as a helicopter gunner. 50% survival rate. My bro from another family is one of my heroes. The sh*t he went through as a kid and as a teenager over in Nam was horrible. He was stuffer and later got married then divorced and then married again and then lost his DD to lawn darts. Only 7 years old. That set him off and he went on a one man crusade against the Government. Just an ordinary Dave who fought for his country and lived a life of pain on earth. Losing your father at 9, war, work at Hughes Aircraft, divorce, re marry and then lose 7 year old DD to stupid game for kids back then is hard on any man. I will share his story of not pulling the trigger to end it all over at my suicide prevention thread tomorrow. This is him Jose. DC tried to get him to run for office and he told them all to fu*k off!!!
Which one's do you think is a story teller? How about this story. My wife and I just got back from a sad day of helping her dad, who has Alzheimers. Guess what else we found out this week? Grandma has Alzheimer too and it's worse then Gramps. Their plan of retiring in Guatemala is now officially over. Married over 50 years. This is called a double wammie in life and it hurts everyone. You know what 43? Were going to help them through this. I hope you believe me.
keeprunning
BRONZE
100% truth here. Regarding the international players, look at the Memphis roster that has a large percentage of Canadian players.
2024 Women's Soccer Roster - University of Memphis Athletics
The official 2024 Women's Soccer Roster for the University of Memphis Tigers
SoccerLocker
SILVER ELITE
100% truth here. Regarding the international players, look at the Memphis roster that has a large percentage of Canadian players.
2024 Women's Soccer Roster - University of Memphis Athletics
The official 2024 Women's Soccer Roster for the University of Memphis Tigersgotigersgo.com
So even after all of the letter league exposure, international players are getting a larger % of scholarships? That seems to argue the premise of this thread is correct...