ECNL RL SoCal

[jstbelieve44]

My U14 daughter wants to make the high school team, which is really competitive. Half of the girls trying out don't make it, even if they're coming from club.

She currently plays on the top team of her club for this age group, but they're a newer club so the ceiling is Flight 1. She loves the coach, the team, and the vibe. She gets to play the entire game each week.

She has the opportunity to switch to an ECNL RL SoCal team for one of the top clubs in our area. She likes the coach and says she can see herself happy here also. She probably won't get as much playing time, but will get the chance to play at a higher level against more aggressive, fast-paced teams.

Should we stay or should we go? She doesn't care about playing in college, but wants to take the route that would help her make the high school team.

 

[SirAlex]

Which club does the HS coach work at? Playing on that club seems to give an advantage at my daughter's HS. The strongest players make the team regardless but for those on the margin that seems to be a factor.

 

[Messi>CR7]

RL-SoCal consists of the C teams of the ECNl clubs. They were playing F1 just like your team 2 (or 3) years ago before RL-SoCal was formed, i.e. they are not that better than your current team if at all.

A lot of HS soccer players also play flag football these days. Just FYI.

 

[sigmabody]

My 2c:

Agree that ECNL-RL is not much better than F1, on average, now. Before switching, look at the specific team strength/rank, and see if it's meaningfully better. Some are, some are not.

Also agree that playing for the club team that the HS coach coaches at can make a more significant difference. Even if he/she is not playing favorites, the familiarity with the player will be an advantage. This is a significant factor as to why my son stayed with his current club going into HS last year, as I may have mentioned here before (and why we will probably stay with them again this year, despite there potentially being other higher level options available).

For my son's school, the cutoff for making a team was roughly F2, where a couple F2 level players made the team, and some were cut. Maybe that helps.

Hopefully you can find a path where she can play in HS, and be happy.

 

[CAZZZ]

My U14 daughter wants to make the high school team, which is really competitive. Half of the girls trying out don't make it, even if they're coming from club.

She currently plays on the top team of her club for this age group, but they're a newer club so the ceiling is Flight 1. She loves the coach, the team, and the vibe. She gets to play the entire game each week.

She has the opportunity to switch to an ECNL RL SoCal team for one of the top clubs in our area. She likes the coach and says she can see herself happy here also. She probably won't get as much playing time, but will get the chance to play at a higher level against more aggressive, fast-paced teams.

Should we stay or should we go? She doesn't care about playing in college, but wants to take the route that would help her make the high school team.

I would check NPL teams first. If the level is low, then GA2 or RL (not RL Socal). I think RL Socal and DPL are on par with NPL, but with significant travel.

 

[jstbelieve44]

RL-SoCal consists of the C teams of the ECNl clubs. They were playing F1 just like your team 2 (or 3) years ago before RL-SoCal was formed, i.e. they are not that better than your current team if at all.

A lot of HS soccer players also play flag football these days. Just FYI.

Thanks! She plays flag football now and will try out for the high school football team if she can't make the soccer team.

 

[Messi>CR7]

Thanks! She plays flag football now and will try out for the high school football team if she can't make the soccer team.

Flag is a fall sport while soccer is a winter sport. She can do both if she wishes.

My kid's HS (and most HS's I believe) does a summer athletic camp for each sport. You should have a good idea after the camp if you can make a team and at which level (varsity, JV, or frosh/soph).

Best of luck.

 

[Grace T.]

Also depends how competitive the high school. What division? If it’s too high it might not make a difference either way. Too low and less to worry about.

 

[sigmabody]

My kid's HS (and most HS's I believe) does a summer athletic camp for each sport. You should have a good idea after the camp if you can make a team and at which level (varsity, JV, or frosh/soph).

Same for us, and I'd forgotten about this; good call out. This is probably too late to influence the decision on switching clubs, but the summer practices/camps are a good measuring stick for how the kids stack up, and sometimes can provide an "in" for the actual program.

As a non-soccer example, I had my son participate in the HS cross country training over the summer (in addition to the soccer camps, so he could keep his conditioning good). The CC coach's policy was that anyone who attended the summer training would make the team automatically; anyone else would need to try out and meet minimum standards. This was not the case for soccer (ie: some kids who attended summer camps did not make the team), but by the end of the summer program, I think the relative expectations (for making a team) had also been communicated to most of the kids, as I understand it.

 

[rainbow_unicorn]

My U14 daughter wants to make the high school team, which is really competitive. Half of the girls trying out don't make it, even if they're coming from club.

She currently plays on the top team of her club for this age group, but they're a newer club so the ceiling is Flight 1. She loves the coach, the team, and the vibe. She gets to play the entire game each week.

She has the opportunity to switch to an ECNL RL SoCal team for one of the top clubs in our area. She likes the coach and says she can see herself happy here also. She probably won't get as much playing time, but will get the chance to play at a higher level against more aggressive, fast-paced teams.

Should we stay or should we go? She doesn't care about playing in college, but wants to take the route that would help her make the high school team.

If the goal is to make the HS team, then she should play at the highest club level she can where she will be challenged and receive the best development. Don't worry about the club name or letter league name. But if this new team is clearly better than her existing team, then she should move on to this new challenge.

I would also have your daughter talk to the HS coach to get feedback and let them know that she is making this team change with the goal of making the team next year. Coaches love to see players committing themselves and doing what they can to get better.

 

[jstbelieve44]

Also depends how competitive the high school. What division? If it’s too high it might not make a difference either way. Too low and less to worry about.

Very competitive. Top in the state.

Flag is a fall sport while soccer is a winter sport. She can do both if she wishes.

My kid's HS (and most HS's I believe) does a summer athletic camp for each sport. You should have a good idea after the camp if you can make a team and at which level (varsity, JV, or frosh/soph).

Best of luck.

Thank you. She'll try out for both, and she did the summer soccer camp last year and plans to do it again this year. She was asked to move up with the older girls, but it was likely a one-off because there were too many girls in the younger grades and they needed more girls to scrimmage with the olders.

If the goal is to make the HS team, then she should play at the highest club level she can where she will be challenged and receive the best development. Don't worry about the club name or letter league name. But if this new team is clearly better than her existing team, then she should move on to this new challenge.

I would also have your daughter talk to the HS coach to get feedback and let them know that she is making this team change with the goal of making the team next year. Coaches love to see players committing themselves and doing what they can to get better.

Agree. I think that's where our question lies. Which is the highest club level between F1 and ECNL RL SoCal? RL SoCal is the third team, but their ECNL and ECRL teams are top tier. The Rankings app says our current F1 team would lose to the ECNL RL team 4-1. Does that mean the RL SoCal team is better? The coaches of both teams are good, but which league would provide more of a challenge? And does she develop more playing the full game in F1 competition or less game time with the RL team against better competition?

 

[SoccerMamaof2]

My U14 daughter wants to make the high school team, which is really competitive. Half of the girls trying out don't make it, even if they're coming from club.

She currently plays on the top team of her club for this age group, but they're a newer club so the ceiling is Flight 1. She loves the coach, the team, and the vibe. She gets to play the entire game each week.

She has the opportunity to switch to an ECNL RL SoCal team for one of the top clubs in our area. She likes the coach and says she can see herself happy here also. She probably won't get as much playing time, but will get the chance to play at a higher level against more aggressive, fast-paced teams.

Should we stay or should we go? She doesn't care about playing in college, but wants to take the route that would help her make the high school team.

I think by u14 you have to just go with what your daughter is leaning towards when it comes to a decision for club. Choose what makes her happy and what makes sense for your family. If she is competitive and wants the challenge of a higher level team, she may indeed rise up and earn the minutes. However if she loses confidence easily then maybe it's better to keep growing at a lower level team.

Agree with all the previous poster's recommending to do what you can to get the HS coach to notice her early and be on the radar. But when it comes to the final roster decisions for hs, there may be a lot of factors of your control, no matter what club route you choose -- therefore do what she is telling you she wants and don't overthink it!

 

[aong cangkol]

My U14 daughter wants to make the high school team, which is really competitive. Half of the girls trying out don't make it, even if they're coming from club.

She currently plays on the top team of her club for this age group, but they're a newer club so the ceiling is Flight 1. She loves the coach, the team, and the vibe. She gets to play the entire game each week.

She has the opportunity to switch to an ECNL RL SoCal team for one of the top clubs in our area. She likes the coach and says she can see herself happy here also. She probably won't get as much playing time, but will get the chance to play at a higher level against more aggressive, fast-paced teams.

Should we stay or should we go? She doesn't care about playing in college, but wants to take the route that would help her make the high school team.

For your situation, I would move for only 2 teams:
1) The club team that the high school coach is currently coaching (frosh coach, JV coach and varsity coach, any of them).
2) ECNL team

I would not move for other leagues, especially if your daughter is currently playing the whole game and the offer is from an ECNL-RL-Socal which is the same level as Socal F1. She will develop better with more playing time.