How’s the 2024-2025 season going?

[Zeke]

Please stop. Both GA and ECNL finals were in Virginia. We all paid the same 5k.

If Surf isn't going to play to win in their own tournament maybe next season they should play in the Silver bracket.

This is the same club which sent an RL team to an NL showcase, started their bench in a playoff game against Dallas Texans, and played a league game against Rising with half their starters missing. Sometimes, they get cheeky.

It might come back to bite them today. If Seattle beats Force this morning, then Surf needs a wide margin over Fram to advance.

 

[EXSD007]

Watched some of the Koge City game, City coach definitely doing a lot of joy sticking. I like the coaches who joystick during practice and quieter in the games.

 

[TeamDadJokes]

And you wonder why Surf Cup attendance is going down.

Have fun in your curated closed leagues.

I think you’re being a little dramatic here. Next year the girls will be olders with college scouts in attendance so you’ll see more interest and investment because it’s a showcase event. Just this year in particular the SoCal playoff coaches don’t care.

The girls junior and senior years will mean more than the transition year going into freshman year and their sophomore year.

 

[Carlsbad7]

I think you’re being a little dramatic here. Next year the girls will be olders with college scouts in attendance so you’ll see more interest and investment because it’s a showcase event. Just this year in particular the SoCal playoff coaches don’t care.

The girls junior and senior years will mean more than the transition year going into freshman year and their sophomore year.

Maybe, we'll see what happens with NCAA + 28 player rosters.

If college coaches can't just outrun other teams with 40+ player rosters and unlimited subs recruitment might start mirroring USYNT selection processes.

 

[EXSD007]

I don’t follow GA much, but is there a significant drop off from the top teams like City? Surf G2010 RL beat to GA teams and lost to the NL in their group.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

I don’t follow GA much, but is there a significant drop off from the top teams like City? Surf G2010 RL beat to GA teams and lost to the NL in their group.

It's been posted a bunch, but you can make your own determination on what would be considered a large drop off or not. Here are the top GA 2010G teams in CA. #22 is less than a goal weaker than City at #13. Almaden at #32 is about two goals weaker than City.

 

[Carlsbad7]

I don’t follow GA much, but is there a significant drop off from the top teams like City? Surf G2010 RL beat to GA teams and lost to the NL in their group.

In general the top GA teams are similar to upper Girls ECNL team. There's more Girls ECNL top teams which means in playoffs they tend to cancel each other out. There's less GA top clubs so there's fewer to cancel each other out in playoffs.

After you get past the top 20 ECNL teams and the top 5 GA teams the rest of the teams from both leagues are pretty much the same. GA basically copied everything ECNL does for league events, showcases, playoffs, finals, etc.

What makes Southwest ECNL different than other geographies is theres 4-6 high level clubs. Most regional leagues don't have this many top teams so close together. Usually there's 1-2 top clubs that dominate a regional league and all the other teams suck. Having high level teams to play that are all really close is a double edge sword. Local league games are cheap and high level. Traveling to other places to blow out competition is annoying. Basically you're paying a bunch of $$$ to blow out crappy teams.

For SoCal GA teams like City and FRAM it's the opposite. Local league competition isn't ideal. Which means they need to reach out to local ECNL clubs for friendlies or travel to other geographies to play against the top 5 GA clubs. Or play in ECNL tournaments like Surf Cup.

 

[Veritas]

Fram vs Surf should be exciting this afternoon. The team that wins advances to play vs EJE7 in semis. Not sure how this Florida team made it this far but I hear they brought an All Star crew from all over the country including the eagles top forward. Looks like they tried to put together one of those goat teams. On the other side of the semis game we have the ecnl finals rematch Koge vs Legends.

 

[Carlsbad7]

Fram vs Surf should be exciting this afternoon. The team that wins advances to play vs EJE7 in semis. Not sure how this Florida team made it this far but I hear they brought an All Star crew from all over the country including the eagles top forward. Looks like they tried to put together one of those goat teams. On the other side of the semis game we have the ecnl finals rematch Koge vs Legends.

Koge bracket was very close, + several ties.

 

[WillJohn]

The team that impressed me the most at Surf Cup was/is Hawaii Rush g2010. They have 3-4 that could slot into any Socal team and be impact players. They also played an attacking/possession style switching side to side and pressing forward. Overall the entire team played very aggressively but was never cheap. It wasn't a fluke that they tied both Koge and City.

Not surprised at all. Hawai’i always has the athletes and probably one of the few teams that can match Koge’s athleticism. Didn’t watch but assumed the Hawaii defender that played with Koge during their championship run went back to playing with Rush. One of the former Rush’s forwards moved to Florida and plays GA and is playing with the EJE7 this tournament.

 

[crush]

The real question for Surf Cup is how is Luis still playing down with the inferior 2010’s? Thought a big move was in the works?

Each top goat at Legends has different custom player development programs (CPDP). When my child played for the great JH, he moved her around from time to time to challenge her. Some parents don't like this because they just want the same team for that year and win. JH believes in what is best for the child and not the parents' egos of winning. Don't get me wrong, everyone wants to win but player comes first. My guess and this is just a guess, is that JH wanted her to play with the 10s this time around.

 

[crush]

Fram vs Surf should be exciting this afternoon. The team that wins advances to play vs EJE7 in semis. Not sure how this Florida team made it this far but I hear they brought an All Star crew from all over the country including the eagles top forward. Looks like they tried to put together one of those goat teams. On the other side of the semis game we have the ecnl finals rematch Koge vs Legends.

GOAT Fram FC, I love it.

 

[SuperSoccerStar]

I like you because you don't make excuses. Legends is loaded and that's the truth.

Have you even watched a recent legends game yet?

 

[crush]

Have you even watched a recent legends game yet?

It's been a while Super Soccer Star. When I get back to the states, I might check one out

 

[Luis Andres]

The real question for Surf Cup is how is Luis still playing down with the inferior 2010’s? Thought a big move was in the works?

Inferior? That 10’s team is solid they don’t need her for the regular ecnl season. That team right now next to Surf has the most national team player candidates in SoCal.

 

[crush]

Inferior? That 10’s team is solid they don’t need her for the regular ecnl season. That team right now next to Surf has the most national team player candidates in SoCal.

Silverlakes in Norco, CA is the new Goatville. Professional fields and excellent CPDP for each Goat. Top notch training. Yes the weather can be hot and sticky, but that's good training for the Top Goats to be prepared for all sorts of weather challenges. Top Goats around the world have battled weather unlike the perfect weather in Del Mar and Oceanside that can make some players soft.

 

[Culer]

I’m hearing that a good number of coaches in the 2010 bracket just don’t care about the outcome.

Slammers NL went with a skeleton crew and even had the RL keeper they brought up to be GK2 on the team played striker because they only went with 12 players.,

Slammers RL coach said to his parents it’s only a glorified scrimmage for him and he’s using it as an opportunity for girls on the RL2 team and bench players to make a case for themselves to be starters for the upcoming season. They didn’t bring 3 core players and are dealing with losing 2 starters on top of that and both goalies.

At the end of the day, Surf Cup doesn’t mean much to these coaches this year in particular because they’re still considered Youngers and they’re recovering from making deep playoff runs and player turnover.

We can’t say that’s the same for teams coming in from Seattle and Hawaii because none of them went to Virginia and had playoffs in their home state for their respective teams and leagues.

I wouldn’t put much weight on anything played this summer, it’s preseason games which these coaches don’t care about.

There’s no high stakes with these wins or losses (no scouts attending and does nothing for league/ national championships or rankings)

Just enjoy the weekend watching your DDs play because this is going to be over soon.

Does it mean that this tournament does not mean much to the players and coaches? Since HBK had most of their top players playing, they should not play as hard? Same with Legends who played their top players? The revamped Blues roster should not be taken seriously (surprisingly did well)? Mustang traveled with their full roster? Come on, these girls are all competitive and they would go for the win. Should there be an asterisk on this tournament?

 

[Culer]

GOAT Fram FC, I love it.

Surf made it through...

 

[Carlsbad7]

Does it mean that this tournament does not mean much to the players and coaches? Since HBK had most of their top players playing, they should not play as hard? Same with Legends who played their top players? The revamped Blues roster should not be taken seriously (surprisingly did well)? Mustang traveled with their full roster? Come on, these girls are all competitive and they would go for the win. Should there be an asterisk on this tournament?

If Surf isn't going to take their own tournament seriously something else will take Surf Cups place.

Now that college soccer teams need to make $$$ to exist I could see a college like UCLA putting on youth soccer tournaments during the summer. What better way to make a bunch of money and have all the top recruits come to you. Combine a tournament with a sleepover camp in the dorms and they could make even more $$$.

 

[TeamDadJokes]

Does it mean that this tournament does not mean much to the players and coaches? Since HBK had most of their top players playing, they should not play as hard? Same with Legends who played their top players? The revamped Blues roster should not be taken seriously (surprisingly did well)? Mustang traveled with their full roster? Come on, these girls are all competitive and they would go for the win. Should there be an asterisk on this tournament?

Legends is figuring things out with their new additions. For example, the first game they played opened with an experimental roster and then second half went with their playoff roster.

I can’t speak about koge as I haven’t spoken to parents from that team.

Blues I can reasonably say that they’re in rebuild mode so RH is likely trying to see what he has on his team and is playing his aces.

Pats are rebuilt and are trying to win, but didn’t have the outcome they wanted this weekend.

Like one coach told his parents. And I’m paraphrasing here: we’re going to give players the opportunity to make a case for themselves on the roster and everyone will get a fair shot. But if we make it to Monday, we’re playing to win at that point.

I think some coaches are trying to win, but I think others are looking more towards strategic growth rather than short term results.

But you’re right, for the kids playing and the parents paying and taking the time to go, it does mean something for them. But these coaches are playing chess and you’d be kidding yourself if you don’t think these coaches put too much thought about the outcomes of these games.

 

[Culer]

If Surf isn't going to take their own tournament seriously something else will take Surf Cups place.

Now that college soccer teams need to make $$$ to exist I could see a college like UCLA putting on youth soccer tournaments during the summer. What better way to make a bunch of money and have all the top recruits come to you. Combine a tournament with a sleepover camp in the dorms and they could make even more $$$.

I'm not sure if they are not taking their own tournament seriously, 10's, 11's, 12's, 13's, 14's, 15's are all represented to play tomorrow.

UCLA camp would be money grab, heck sign me up! lol