ECNL RL NorCal

H

Highlander

SILVER ELITE
On the boys side it's certainly an interesting mix of clubs. Some of them don't have teams that are good enough to qualify for NPL right now in the older ages; let alone do well enough in NPL so their teams could be accepted into RL. It's surprising that they got in as a club to this ostensibly higher level league.
 
I really liked the Pro/Rel setup of the current ENCL RL / NPL they have in NorCal Premier. If I had my way I would blow up all the letter leagues and do pro/rel.
 
On the girls side, the selected clubs are generally middling NPL clubs. Not sure what need the league is filling other than making sure NorCal keeps market share with all the various letter leagues creating new "elite pathways". Certainly not about the kids' development.
 
pmgrant72 said:
On the girls side, the selected clubs are generally middling NPL clubs. Not sure what need the league is filling other than making sure NorCal keeps market share with all the various letter leagues creating new "elite pathways". Certainly not about the kids' development.
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Well if we are being honest there are 3-4 middling ECNL clubs in NorCal. Personally I don't think telling a kid they need to drive 1+ hour each way to practice to play at an "Elite" club makes any sense for kids development either. Would rather see more "elite" clubs meaning well run clubs with good coaches that are closer to the kids. This will help development. And I think for the most part this is what is being attempted here. Just think they need more clubs further south.
 
I think the sole purpose of the club based ECRL table is to have a landing spot for relegated ECNL clubs. I think it will be easier to reason about. Part of the reason there are some subpar clubs in ECNL is due to the fact there is no pro/rel. Some clubs are on cruise control. I think this is a fantastic move for ECNL if the goal is to make it more competitive in NorCal.
 
NorCalDad said:
I think the sole purpose of the club based ECRL table is to have a landing spot for relegated ECNL clubs. I think it will be easier to reason about. Part of the reason there are some subpar clubs in ECNL is due to the fact there is no pro/rel. Some clubs are on cruise control. I think this is a fantastic move for ECNL if the goal is to make it more competitive in NorCal.
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đź’Ż - if we can get pro/rel between ECNL & ECRL that would help a ton.
 
Just saw they added Clovis Crossfire to NL.

I’m glad to see it. There are lots of good players in the CV, and they need a local option.
 
Agreed. If they can get most of the talent in Fresno, it will be a very competitive club in Nor Cal. Some of their best go to Lamo and Surf so it will be interesting if they return home.

Things will get more fun soon. Rumor is some nor cal GA clubs are leaving to play in ECRL next season in hopes of getting into ECNL in a year. My guess is in a year, there will be about 14 ECNL clubs approximately.
 
soccer4us said:
Agreed. If they can get most of the talent in Fresno, it will be a very competitive club in Nor Cal. Some of their best go to Lamo and Surf so it will be interesting if they return home.

Things will get more fun soon. Rumor is some nor cal GA clubs are leaving to play in ECRL next season in hopes of getting into ECNL in a year. My guess is in a year, there will be about 14 ECNL clubs approximately.
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Glad to see ECNL get a CV club in the table. It's been too long. It will be interesting to see how the existing NL teams like that drive :)

Curious what GA clubs those rumors are about. I suspect it's not clubs that have MLS Next or clubs that are really competitive. I hadn't thought that ECNL would expand to 14 clubs, but that makes sense given the boys side is the same. That all said, I don't think adding more clubs is gong to make ECNL any stronger. I can't think of a Bay Area club that isn't already in ECNL or GA that is competitive U13 through U19. Odyssey was a good pick for their location. They have some strong younger teams, but their older teams might find ECNL challenging.

Ultimately it just feels like a bunch of consolidation. Eventually all the GA clubs will be combined with MLS Next clubs. All the ECNL girls clubs will have ECNL on the boys side. I think both will end up having pro/rel. ECNL with their new ECRL club table and MLS Next with MLS2 and GA with Aspire. The top clubs in both ECNL and GA/MLSNext will still attract players from distance if it's worth the potential exposure.
 
soccer4us said:
Agreed. If they can get most of the talent in Fresno, it will be a very competitive club in Nor Cal. Some of their best go to Lamo and Surf so it will be interesting if they return home.

Things will get more fun soon. Rumor is some nor cal GA clubs are leaving to play in ECRL next season in hopes of getting into ECNL in a year. My guess is in a year, there will be about 14 ECNL clubs approximately.
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LGU sent an email to all parents with two options the club was considering:

1. Boys teams join MLSN2 and girls teams continue in GA
2. Boys teams join ECNL and girls teams join ECRL (and drop GA).

They announced that they picked option 2, so they will be leaving GA. The rumors are true.
 
It's likely a good move. Well-run club, happy parents, but on the boys side everyone leaves at U13. They thought ECNL was a better bet than MLS2 - and at least for a year or two it's a pretty clear choice. Beyond - it remains to be seen what happens with MLS2.
 
NorCalSoccerFan said:
LGU sent an email to all parents with two options the club was considering:

1. Boys teams join MLSN2 and girls teams continue in GA
2. Boys teams join ECNL and girls teams join ECRL (and drop GA).

They announced that they picked option 2, so they will be leaving GA. The rumors are true.
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That's good work by LGU parlaying an X2 invite into a full ECNL pathway.
 
LGU and now SF Elite(girls) officially move to ECRL-Nor Cal and leave GA. Interesting move. Likely good long term since only way into ECNL in the next few years is by doing this but risky for upcoming year for the recruiting ages. It will be interesting at tryout time for those 2 clubs.
 
Never really saw Los Gatos at GA events. I'm not sure if this is a positive or a negative. Sounds like they had 2 decent offers and flipped a coin. Good luck, wish you all the best.
 
Lamorinda really the only super strong GA club left in NorCal. And with rumored ECNL expansion I could see GA folding in NorCal or becoming totally irrelevant with in a few years.
 
Los Gatos appears to have made the call based on the boys side (ECNL-RL/NPL to ECNL) rather than the girls side (leaving GA to go to ECNL-RL), even though currently - both are objectively similar strength. (boys show 83rd out of 309 for 73rd percentile, while girls show 49th out 194 for 74th percentile). Seems likely this will diverge in a year or two if the ECNL badge helps recruiting more than losing the GA badge hurts recruiting.

los gatos.png
 
Highlander said:
Lamorinda really the only super strong GA club left in NorCal. And with rumored ECNL expansion I could see GA folding in NorCal or becoming totally irrelevant with in a few years.
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While NorCal ECNL is stronger than it's GA counterpart, I don't really think GA has gotten any weaker with these moves. I can see a ton of player movement from these newly added ECRL clubs. Heck, I can even see some of the weaker ECNL teams losing players to the new options in GA. You might even see some coaching movement as a result as well. I do think adding Odyssey in the CV to NL was a good move. I'm a bit surprised more clubs weren't added to NL given the number on the boys side.

I personally think it's good to have both competing leagues. It keeps everyone on their toes and allows more flexibility for players. I also think the pro/rel stuff that's looming is part of that drive to keep things competitive. Now if only the level of soccer could be better -- that's a whole different thread :)
 
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