Make no mistake...The biggest egomaniac in this equation is US Soccer. ECNL tried to work with them from the beginning once they announced DA. It would only make sense to come together collaboratively, but US Soccer gave ECNL the finger and now here we are. The pissing match continues with a bunch of kids getting overlooked. It's a joke.
ECNL vs. DA turf war has created a 'toxic environment'
- Thread starter VegasParent
- Start date
Explain please.
Let's move HS Soccer to middle of August. 2 months plus playoffs. ECNL/DA can start November 1st. Be open until Dec 15. Pick up Jan 5th and go until May. Have one showcase during Spring Break on the West Coast and one on East Coast. Run your YNT Camps during high school season. If you're a stud and you get called in then you have a choice to make. Being told crap like this, "the scouts see some real positives things with ur dd and she "could" get the call so dont play HS" is the problem. Its laughable today but two years ago it wasnt. #letthemdoboth........
vegasguy
GOLD
Wouldn't it be cool to have a relegation system for the two leagues on both the boys and girls side. Now player movement would be a huge concern but the matches would always be good and fighting for something. National Events could be like Champions League and Europa League.. You could have regional tournaments blending the the two flights like the FA Cup.. oh wait we need to all be on the same page... I forgot about that.
MakeAPlay
DA
Summer break is travel season for families. Putting it during August assures that the top college coaches can't come see the kids play (outside of Surf Cup they are dark during August due to double days and training camp). With a country as vast as ours there is no single solution other than to let them play and take a break for the camp if they are called in. It was working before why change that component.
dk_b
GOLD
I live in an urban area, like a lot of folks around the country. Having boys/girls soccer/football simultaneously would be an impossibility given our field constraints. As it is, my kid’s HS has 6 teams - frosh/JV/Var - that have to be accommodated on a single field during school hours. Adding in JV/Var football (or maybe even frosh/JV/Var) is a non-starter. I suspect we are not terribly unique. Suggestions that are broadly applicable have to consider all variables - many that may not appear in SoCal or NorCal (weather, for example). I like the theory behind your suggestion but I think there are many practical constraints.
Kinda of like the Greasers vs the Socs...lol
MakeAPlay
DA
What season do they play soccer in high school in Vegas?
You know the saying, "girls want to have fun too." We wont see the pain caused until the 04 and 03s enter college. I know many girls who felt pressure to verbally committ early and play DA and skip HS soccer. Mark my words. Your dds will let you know how grateful they are for stirring them in the right direction or bitter because you forced them to drink the koolaid with you.
vegasguy
GOLD
Fall. Training has already started at some schools.. it is only 95degrees at 7am. Tryouts are in three weeks I think. Varsity usually plays there games at 3p Aug/Sept/Oct (State is in Nov). JV at 5p or so unless the school has a lighted field.
MakeAPlay
DA
vegasguy
GOLD
Vegas players can acclimate to it. We train on turf in 105 degrees sometimes.. people complain about Silverlakes Showcase being too hot... bring it on LOL. 70degree year round with a beach nearby.. who needs it.
Growing up in Michigan - The boys HS soccer team played in the Fall. Same as football season. Girls soccer was a spring sport. Not sure if that has changed or not.
Our football team kicker was also on the soccer team. Occasionally, he'd have to run from one game to the other.
What do other states do with regard to club soccer and high school soccer. In CA, you can't play club in your same sport during the HS season for that sport. For the u15 and older age groups, our clubs take a break from Thanksgiving until February for high school season.
For states that have High School Soccer in the Fall - when is the club season for older players?
dk_b
GOLD
You can see from the ECNL schedules that clubs can fold entire seasons into fall or spring, depending on when HS soccer is played (easy to guess what a particular state does for HS by looking at club schedules). We are lucky to have such mild weather from late fall to spring.
vegasguy
GOLD
In NV, they tried to shut off club during High School but it didn't always workout because of Surf or a Labor Day Tournament in CA. So NIAA allows club soccer during the HS season. ECNL has league games on some weekends and travel during high school to comply with the CA HS season. It can be difficult as the styles are totally different and in many cases the high school coaching is way different and most players are spread among a few different high schools. Also, playing a 3p game and then going to training can be tough. 98% of the ECNL kids balance school and soccer well and keep their grades up where they should be. I know one LVSA boys squad trains 5days a week thru high school. So if anyone is prepared to balance a college season with school and play it may be the NV kids.
dk_b
GOLD
only in the last year or two has NorCal unified the HS season into Winter as there were a small but not insignificant number of schools that played in Winter or Spring (small privates still do spring but CIF permits those players to play club simultaneously). Of the 6 ECNL clubs, one (Santa Rosa United) was traditionally a fall (I think) HS club - the other clubs played a balanced schedule but SRU would play a couple of ECNL games at most and then back-load all into spring (and, if memory serves, play a watered down winter league schedule so they did not have a long idle period (the "watered down" reference is no reflection on that club but b/c most in NorCal were playing HS at that time)).
dk_b
GOLD
That’s incredibly disruptive. Really fortunate for the areas where there is a higher concentration of teams.
futboldad1
PREMIER
Interesting out of state insight. Thanks for sharing.