Get ready folks

[TeamDadJokes]

I agree with you, in that there will always be those who take advantage of the rules (or their own interpretation of the rules) to make their team more competitive in the postseason. As far as I can tell, here's what they are supposed to be allowed to do:

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But if it can be shown they are pulling NL girls of the same age bracket down to the RL team, while that NL player was still rostered for that same age group at the NL level, I'm not sure why people are just whining about it instead of calling out clubs for cheating. Get them disqualified, or have ECNL explain why they are allowing clubs to flaunt their rules to win games.

I record my games and can tell you first hand that it’s not uncommon to see 6-7 NL girls helping the RL team in league matches and in playoffs. This is what furiates parents on both sides. Parent on the team with NL players are upset because they’re kid isn’t getting playtime and parents playing against team with NL players feels cheated not playing the same team that’s been there for other teams to play against.

I recall this happening my our first year. We won our division. Played the team who got help and ended up going to Virginia even though we beat them all 3 times we played them (league and playoffs) because they won the goal differential.

The easy fix for this would be ecnl implementing a rule requiring X amount of games be played during league to be eligible to participate for playoffs.

 

[Slobodan]

I'm curious to see, with D1 rosters dropping to 28 and the transfer portal exploding, what high school kids are going to do differently to get the attention of college coaches. Not to mention the possibility of JC kids getting more eligibility. Euros seem to be coming over more and more, etc.

Any of you parents in that boat now and doing things differently?

 

[Carlsbad7]

I'm curious to see, with D1 rosters dropping to 28 and the transfer portal exploding, what high school kids are going to do differently to get the attention of college coaches. Not to mention the possibility of JC kids getting more eligibility. Euros seem to be coming over more and more, etc.

Any of you parents in that boat now and doing things differently?

These are the trends I see happening as well.

Womens college coaches will get to choose from the portal, jcs, euros, and youth clubs. There's just more (average) supply than demand because of p2p. Also, if colleges pull out of soccer because it's non revenue there will be even less opportunities.

Once the reality starts hitting parents that playing in college isn't as viable as it used to be there will be less that are willing to pay 5-6k per year in club fees.

 

[BBB]

I'm curious to see, with D1 rosters dropping to 28 and the transfer portal exploding, what high school kids are going to do differently to get the attention of college coaches. Not to mention the possibility of JC kids getting more eligibility. Euros seem to be coming over more and more, etc.

Any of you parents in that boat now and doing things differently?

There is also talk of banning foreign students from receiving scholarships at American universities who receive federal funding.

 

[Slobodan]

These are the trends I see happening as well.

Womens college coaches will get to choose from the portal, jcs, euros, and youth clubs. There's just more (average) supply than demand because of p2p. Also, if colleges pull out of soccer because it's non revenue there will be even less opportunities.

Once the reality starts hitting parents that playing in college isn't as viable as it used to be there will be less that are willing to pay 5-6k per year in club fees.

I mean, really, why would you recruit from high schools if you're a coach (unless you're the dream school)? Even then, most kids are going to redshirt, yes? Used to be a kid committed and their name came out of the hat. Now, that kid is always available. And with 28, how many can you afford to have inactive?

Whacky times.

 

[Slobodan]

There is also talk of banning foreign students from receiving scholarships at American universities who receive federal funding.

Hadn't heard that. Like Carlsbad said, especially for us in California, how many of these state schools will have women's soccer down the road?

 

[BBB]

The orange man is tired of watching euros take Americans spots in soccer.

 

[Objective]

There is also talk of banning foreign students from receiving scholarships at American universities who receive federal funding.

All in favor of this for sports. In Europe there is general restriction of foreigners without dual citizenship being able to join local clubs unless they have been living in the country for 5 years and did not make the move to play soccer. In England they restrict further to living within specified distance of the club.

 

[BBB]

All in favor of this for sports. In Europe there is general restriction of foreigners without dual citizenship being able to join local clubs unless they have been living in the country for 5 years and did not make the move to play soccer. In England they restrict further to living within specified distance of the club.

Yeah seems like a no brainer.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

I record my games and can tell you first hand that it’s not uncommon to see 6-7 NL girls helping the RL team in league matches and in playoffs.

I am not implying that you're incorrect. I'm assuming that it is a completely accurate view of the situation. It's also accurate that if they have more than 4 NL girls "helping out" on it - they are not following the ECNL rules. Re-classing NL players as RL players throughout the season, and then having them play up the vast majority of the time - shouldn't be fooling anyone, if they cared to challenge clubs that are breaking these rules. Those affected by the blatant cheating of other clubs have the option of actually pushing back, or just continuing to complain that it's happening (and nothing changes).

 

[Carlsbad7]

I am not implying that you're incorrect. I'm assuming that it is a completely accurate view of the situation. It's also accurate that if they have more than 4 NL girls "helping out" on it - they are not following the ECNL rules. Re-classing NL players as RL players throughout the season, and then having them play up the vast majority of the time - shouldn't be fooling anyone, if they cared to challenge clubs that are breaking these rules. Those affected by the blatant cheating of other clubs have the option of actually pushing back, or just continuing to complain that it's happening (and nothing changes).

Last time I checked ECRL players could play in ECNL games as long as they were from the same club. I assume the same rule applies going the other way ECNL to ECRL. Although I never really looked at the rules closely enough to confirm.

The one rule that leagues do care about is that players can only play in one ECNL or ECRL game per day. This generally keeps ECNL players from playing ECRL because most clubs want their top team to win.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

I posted them a couple of pages up. They are specific to the RL rules. You can't use NL players to materially make the RL team better. There's a hard limit of 4 of them, and there's a more fuzzy rule that if you're affecting the competition by doing it - you're not using the players in your club appropriately. Calling NL players "RL" so they are officially on the RL roster, but always play on the NL roster (and help out when RL has a tough game or is in playoffs), is a pretty obvious attempt to skirt these rules, and wouldn't be hard to report, investigate, and punish if confirmed and warranted.

 

[Carlsbad7]

I posted them a couple of pages up. They are specific to the RL rules. You can't use NL players to materially make the RL team better. There's a hard limit of 4 of them, and there's a more fuzzy rule that if you're affecting the competition by doing it - you're not using the players in your club appropriately. Calling NL players "RL" so they are officially on the RL roster, but always play on the NL roster (and help out when RL has a tough game or is in playoffs), is a pretty obvious attempt to skirt these rules, and wouldn't be hard to report, investigate, and punish if confirmed and warranted.

That makes sense. Like I said I never looked at ECRL specific rules that closely.

One other rule that most leagues have is some date before finals rosters must be set. This is so coaches can't bring on players during finals from other teams if they lose.

Personally I don't understand rules 2nd tier leagues implement to keep top players out. If top tier players want to play "down" great. I see it as an opportunity to see how things work at a higher level. How will you ever get better if you never get a chance to play better players?

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

Personally I don't understand rules 2nd tier leagues implement to keep top players out. If top tier players want to play "down" great. I see it as an opportunity to see how things work at a higher level. How will you ever get better if you never get a chance to play better players?

You're a remarkably optimistic person. A more cynical person would instead believe that clubs play some of their top players down whenever needed so their Tier 2 team can appear better than they are, their Tier 3 team can appear better than they are, and so on. If the core reason of separating players by skill level is to promote relatively fair competition for all, allowing anyone to choose to disregard it entirely by playing kids who are already significantly better is pretty much ignoring that imperative.

 

[Carlsbad7]

You're a remarkably optimistic person. A more cynical person would instead believe that clubs play some of their top players down whenever needed so their Tier 2 team can appear better than they are, their Tier 3 team can appear better than they are, and so on. If the core reason of separating players by skill level is to promote relatively fair competition for all, allowing anyone to choose to disregard it entirely by playing kids who are already significantly better is pretty much ignoring that imperative.

I believe it comes down to what you want to get out of playing a sport. Some people want to win trophies and medals. Others want a shot at being the best of the best. There's nothing wrong with either perspective.

For me having done this for what seems like 10+ years plastic trophies don't really matter anymore. If they make my kid happy great. Throw it on the pile with the others. In my opinion worrying about clubs loading up "really good" players on 2nd tier teams for wins is the wrong way to think. Who cares if a clubs 2nd or 3rd teams are "really good"? If this is the case clubs are either playing better players down or holding back talented players from moving up. (Espicially if their top teams aren't doing very well)

At this point I see the value of an Academy type of system where everyone gets a chance but only the unicorns go onto the next level. It might be difficult for your kid to hear that they're not good enough for the next level. But it can also be a blessing in disguise because now they can try other things.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

That's the crux of it. For 99.9% of kids involved in it, at some level, the question is if they are enjoying it or not. While it can be seen as a filter to find the few who want to continue through college or pro - for the vast majority; that's irrelevant. Playing kids down to chase wins in divisions they are already too skilled for isn't fun. Not for them, not for the kids they are playing against. Nor is it doing anything to better "develop" either party - the one chasing wins, or the one seeing what it looks like when someone cheats.

 

[Slobodan]

All in favor of this for sports. In Europe there is general restriction of foreigners without dual citizenship being able to join local clubs unless they have been living in the country for 5 years and did not make the move to play soccer. In England they restrict further to living within specified distance of the club.

I always figured the Stanford and Duke types could do whatever they want but furrow my brow when I see state schools loaded up with Euros. Maybe I'm not looking at it objectively.

 

[Objective]

I always figured the Stanford and Duke types could do whatever they want but furrow my brow when I see state schools loaded up with Euros. Maybe I'm not looking at it objectively.

To be clear, I was offering up an opinion in favor of no school financial assistance for foreign students who are attending US colleges for the purpose of playing for the schools sports teams. I feel more strongly about this when the sport is a non revenue sport because non revenue sports have a limited pot to draw upon to support the student athlete on their squad.

Players such as Alessia Russo and Lucy Bronze attended UNC but never graduated from that school. I love watching both these players, but truth is they were brought in to help UNC win NCCA championships. This was/is not unique to UNC.

In the days of unlimited rosters, it could make some sense from the perspective that a foreign born superior skilled player be on the squad. here was more room. However in this time of restricted to 28 rosters, spots will be not available to home grown talent so the :"ringer" can be added to the squad.

If this is on public monies, I object. Less clear if it at a private school funded without public/federal monies.

 

[maestroFRSM]

There is also talk of banning foreign students from receiving scholarships at American universities who receive federal funding.

Source? Talk at what level?

 

[SuperSoccerStar]

Nobody really cares about RL playoffs. ECNL players do not want to play down for their RL team.

Which club and team did this last year? We should call this out in case they try to do it again this year.

Lol, where were you last year?

 

[SuperSoccerStar]

...and when they do it's usually because they're about to get cut and get shipped down for the coming season.

so a player plays NL all season and then goes and plays on the RL playoffs that season and you say that's not a NL player on the roster for RL playoffs?