MLS NEXT NEW TIER - SOUTHWEST

[TheMountie]

No, they are Albion LA now. The supporters of LAUFA were big Hispanic leaders (Rocky Delgadillo) in the Los Angeles community. Then there was this gem below. However, after COVID, the funding ran out and the largely Latino parents of secondary teams (which were the financial support for the first teams that had a lot of success and were very generous with scholarships) couldn't afford the rates anymore with the Great Inflation. They also tried to build a girls program which wound up being a failure. It reached the point where the club stopped paying some people (like the GK and some assistant coaches) and some teams stopped paying their dues. Albion took over and renamed it Albion LA. Albion then took over Santa Monica Surf. There's a marriage going on between Albion Santa Monica and Albion LA where a lot of teams have been sent over to the westside to practice including some of the MLSN teams. The westside has more affluent families capable of financially supporting the organization and there are the new facilities the city of Santa Monica are going to build in the airport. LAUFA always struggled to find practice space particularly for the secondary teams and the facilities it used down in Long Beach like the community college are very expensive. Though it's unclear right now how deep that marriage is going to go (for example, in 4-5 years will Albion LA cease to exist and just be absorbed by SM or will it be vice versa depending on where they put the MLS2 teams physically).

LASC is entirely different organization....for one year they were touch and go too but then they got MLSN which was a huge lifeline.

The EA players at the Albion clubs in particularly are in for a challenge because not only will they have to deal with the MLSN first team players being sent down (and some of the LAUFA teams are huge), but Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Santa Ana and England FC will be combining into 1 team and 3/4 of them will likely have a much longer drive. The play styles are also very disparate though the talent pool is greatly expanded. The Latino teams tend to play Mexican physical style with a low block and having the GK pegged into the box. SM prided itself on teaching a possession based style. The two are incompatible so it will be interesting to see what style, if any, Albion imposes on the organization. They seem to be focused on we'll deal with the youngers first approach.

Rick Caruso: Parents left confused after soccer club meeting turns out to be a mayor promotion event

A Los Angeles youth soccer club held a meeting that turned out to be Rick Caruso promotion event. Parents were confused, and you might be, too. An honest mistake or a deceitful plan? Who knows? Tyler Pak and Matthew Tsai have the story.

www.uscannenbergmedia.com

Thank you for the clarification, that’s very interesting. Albion Los Angeles is a complete mess. My kid recently attended a tryout for their advertised 'MLS Next' team. However, when we arrived, they pulled the parents aside and made no mention of MLS Next. Instead, they kept referring to the MLS Next 2 and EA2 teams. We decided to leave and didn’t return for the second tryout date. Despite this, we continued to receive texts and emails pressuring us to register for the team and pay the $3,500 fee.

 

[Code]

So last seasons EA players will now be called MLS Next 2 (or MLS Nexter, MLS Nextest, MLS Next Squared). The EA2 players will now be called EA. The Local Flight 3 team will be called EA2. Got it.

 

[zags77]

Albion LA is definitely an interesting, Im betting they drop the EA league and just focus on the MLS and MLS2

The other interesting one will be So Cal Elite and Albion Santa Monica putting their top team in EA (3rd tier) league. Albion Santa Monica will likely be missing their top players and most will move in MLS with Albion LA but So Cal Elite will destroy everyone.....

I just don't get how those 2 clubs were passed over for Juventus (CSL) and Oaks FC who had 0 prior EA experience.

 

[Rollonyoubears]

Thank you for the clarification, that’s very interesting. Albion Los Angeles is a complete mess. My kid recently attended a tryout for their advertised 'MLS Next' team. However, when we arrived, they pulled the parents aside and made no mention of MLS Next. Instead, they kept referring to the MLS Next 2 and EA2 teams. We decided to leave and didn’t return for the second tryout date. Despite this, we continued to receive texts and emails pressuring us to register for the team and pay the $3,500 fee.

Parents need to educate themselves as much as possible going into this. I know of a club actively advertising tryouts for "MLS Next" but have been clear leading up to it that they are in the new competition tier and in multiple areas on their webpage they reference MLS Next 2. If MLS is not providing guidance to clubs on how this should roll out, then shame on them. The bottom line is MLS should have issued a logo for this new tier that clubs could use on their sites or socials. Seems pretty basic....just a poor roll out. MLS is looking to cash in on the fee structure of other alphabet leagues, so it benefits them to have parents know what they are signing up for (to prevent situations like your kid leaving after one night of try outs). If they are vague, then many clubs are going to follow suit.

 

[Rollonyoubears]

Albion LA is definitely an interesting, Im betting they drop the EA league and just focus on the MLS and MLS2

The other interesting one will be So Cal Elite and Albion Santa Monica putting their top team in EA (3rd tier) league. Albion Santa Monica will likely be missing their top players and most will move in MLS with Albion LA but So Cal Elite will destroy everyone.....

I just don't get how those 2 clubs were passed over for Juventus (CSL) and Oaks FC who had 0 prior EA experience.

Were they part of NPL? Those teams have been stronger than EA teams at least in my neck of the woods.

 

[Grace T.]

So last seasons EA players will now be called MLS Next 2 (or MLS Nexter, MLS Nextest, MLS Next Squared). The EA2 players will now be called EA. The Local Flight 3 team will be called EA2. Got it.

That's only if you are lucky. If you are Socal Elite or Albion Bakersfield you just got a demotion even though you might not have deserved it. If you are Albion in the city, you are now fighting from 4 teams for 1. If you are MLSN and you are a bencher, nondresser or reserve player, you might be getting sent down.

Were they part of NPL? Those teams have been stronger than EA teams at least in my neck of the woods.

Oaks was EA2. They got a promotion skipping EA. Juventus I believe was Coast IIUC

 

[Grace T.]

Albion LA is definitely an interesting, Im betting they drop the EA league and just focus on the MLS and MLS2

The other interesting one will be So Cal Elite and Albion Santa Monica putting their top team in EA (3rd tier) league. Albion Santa Monica will likely be missing their top players and most will move in MLS with Albion LA but So Cal Elite will destroy everyone.....

I just don't get how those 2 clubs were passed over for Juventus (CSL) and Oaks FC who had 0 prior EA experience.

I think you answered the SM question: that's the EA team going forward. Albion LA just doesn't have the base and will likely give up the EA or EA2 slot. Same question with Albion Santa Ana (is that the former Steel?)

Thank you for the clarification, that’s very interesting. Albion Los Angeles is a complete mess. My kid recently attended a tryout for their advertised 'MLS Next' team. However, when we arrived, they pulled the parents aside and made no mention of MLS Next. Instead, they kept referring to the MLS Next 2 and EA2 teams. We decided to leave and didn’t return for the second tryout date. Despite this, we continued to receive texts and emails pressuring us to register for the team and pay the $3,500 fee.

Is it for an existing MLSN team that's already full formed? As I wrote previously, the ex-LAUFA teams tended to be big (my son's year there were 32 on the squad, only 2 of which split time with the lower EA team...you need the fees which in the LAUFA days were reduced for MLSN players generally with 2nd tier paying around double, and lots of scholarships for the top players). They will be desperate to fill the other slots (which they sometimes struggle with) and not looking to add any MLSN players unless the player is a complete game changer (they have more than enough worker bee and bubble players).

 

[Man United 83]

What are peoples thoughts on LA Bulls and their new SFV teams they are putting together for B2015?

 

[Code]

Here is a visual of how all the Leagues stack up in Southern California. This was originally created using a California League Comparison done by Soccer Rankings. Some of the recent league name changes were plugged in for current verbages of those teams leagues. This is not for some specific team that is "performing with xyz league", so save your breath. This is a comparison of the average team strength in a league vs. the average team strength in another league. I don't have any skin in the game; I don't make any money from youth sports. I post this to help parents understand the soccer landscape and help them make informed decisions.

 

[zags77]

What are peoples thoughts on LA Bulls and their new SFV teams they are putting together for B2015?

Man, they couldn't get it done on the Westside so they are going to the SFV now?

SMH LA Bulls.....are you a Westside club or a SFV club?

 

[Grace T.]

Man, they couldn't get it done on the Westside so they are going to the SFV now?

SMH LA Bulls.....are you a Westside club or a SFV club?

MLSN doesn't have teams in the Valley. The main top level team in the Valley is LAFC SoCal fka Real SoCal which does ECNL. Then theres LAFC academy (which notoriously does not train/recruit heavily out of the LAFC neighborhood). I forget which one it was but didn't either the Bulls or LASC (or both) pledge as part of the expansion to serve the valley and to not sit on top of La Surf/Laufa/TFA? I remember reading something about the Valley in one of the press releases. It's a shame too....the Valley used to be THE place to play and it was a live with a ton of independent Latino clubs like Explosion, Guadalajara, Atlas...all gone (except to some extent Juventus) because of the letter league shuffle and the need for a $$$ base to support letter league.

 

[zags77]

MLSN doesn't have teams in the Valley. The main top level team in the Valley is LAFC SoCal fka Real SoCal which does ECNL. Then theres LAFC academy (which notoriously does not train/recruit heavily out of the LAFC neighborhood). I forget which one it was but didn't either the Bulls or LASC (or both) pledge as part of the expansion to serve the valley and to not sit on top of La Surf/Laufa/TFA? I remember reading something about the Valley in one of the press releases. It's a shame too....the Valley used to be THE place to play and it was a live with a ton of independent Latino clubs like Explosion, Guadalajara, Atlas...all gone (except to some extent Juventus) because of the letter league shuffle and the need for a $$$ base to support letter league.

Grace wouldn't Oaks serve the need of a presence in the valley?

 

[Grace T.]

Grace wouldn't Oaks serve the need of a presence in the valley?

No. The Conejo in traffic is 1/2 hr North of Reseda. Unless Oaks is shifting its base of operations to Calabasas or south (but the problem there again is facilities).

 

[socalsoccercoach]

The Conejo Valley has long been a cluster f of soccer. The stronger players make their way up to either Fusion in Ventura or Real SoCal in the Val. There are a lot of little clubs (Power Elite, Moorpark, Newbury Park) which draw field space. AYSO United was the coast giant there until Coast blew up (Steve Brown was very aggressive about building up winning teams) and AYSO has a first come monopoly on the field space there...there's not much else by way of field space....the new Y has a small turf field and the high schools are occupied during the fall with football (many of those football programs are also respected and stacked, so it's not like they have practice time to throw away). Oaks was the former Conejo Galaxy and did very well especially with youngers when it was under the Galaxy brand but they relied mostly on the parks which have degenerated because of California restrictions on water use. I expect this move will put them back on the map, but the demographics of the area also aren't favorable to soccer....the Latino families in Moorpark/Simi have cheaper options, everything in Thousand Oaks south skews older/retirement and both football and baseball are big in the area. Again, ECNL could have countered all this by giving the Eagles ECNL on the boys side, but MLS seems to believe much heavier in the "build it and they will come" philosophy.

Basically Oaks was given a move up from EA2 to EA (now MLS Next tier) I think mostly because of the MLS Next Pro affliation they have on the adult level. Wouldn't surprise me to see ECNL move Eagles up from RL based on the their results and the landscape of MLS Next in the area. The two leagues don't like each other so wouldn't be surprised with what happens.

 

[Futbol2dmaxxx]

No, they are Albion LA now. The supporters of LAUFA were big Hispanic leaders (Rocky Delgadillo) in the Los Angeles community. Then there was this gem below. However, after COVID, the funding ran out and the largely Latino parents of secondary teams (which were the financial support for the first teams that had a lot of success and were very generous with scholarships) couldn't afford the rates anymore with the Great Inflation. They also tried to build a girls program which wound up being a failure. It reached the point where the club stopped paying some people (like the GK and some assistant coaches) and some teams stopped paying their dues. Albion took over and renamed it Albion LA. Albion then took over Santa Monica Surf. There's a marriage going on between Albion Santa Monica and Albion LA where a lot of teams have been sent over to the westside to practice including some of the MLSN teams. The westside has more affluent families capable of financially supporting the organization and there are the new facilities the city of Santa Monica are going to build in the airport. LAUFA always struggled to find practice space particularly for the secondary teams and the facilities it used down in Long Beach like the community college are very expensive. Though it's unclear right now how deep that marriage is going to go (for example, in 4-5 years will Albion LA cease to exist and just be absorbed by SM or will it be vice versa depending on where they put the MLS2 teams physically).

LASC is entirely different organization....for one year they were touch and go too but then they got MLSN which was a huge lifeline.

The EA players at the Albion clubs in particularly are in for a challenge because not only will they have to deal with the MLSN first team players being sent down (and some of the LAUFA teams are huge), but Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Santa Ana and England FC will be combining into 1 team and 3/4 of them will likely have a much longer drive. The play styles are also very disparate though the talent pool is greatly expanded. The Latino teams tend to play Mexican physical style with a low block and having the GK pegged into the box. SM prided itself on teaching a possession based style. The two are incompatible so it will be interesting to see what style, if any, Albion imposes on the organization. They seem to be focused on we'll deal with the youngers first approach.

Rick Caruso: Parents left confused after soccer club meeting turns out to be a mayor promotion event

A Los Angeles youth soccer club held a meeting that turned out to be Rick Caruso promotion event. Parents were confused, and you might be, too. An honest mistake or a deceitful plan? Who knows? Tyler Pak and Matthew Tsai have the story.

www.uscannenbergmedia.com

. You had Laufa Official who had and LAUFA Pre Academy

There were two distinct entities: LAUFA and LAUFA Pre-Academy. One demonstrated strong financial management, while the other struggled with fiscal responsibility. One operated multiple teams, focusing on development, while the other managed only three teams and faced financial mismanagement issues. The former prioritized player growth, whereas the latter failed to maintain proper financial oversight
And correct they didn’t want to pay moneys owed to coaches and didn’t know where $$$ went from their own club. That’s why you saw the so called Albion 2011 and 2010 mls next struggle bottom of the table all this time. Santa Monica becoming Albion is one best thing to happen to Albion LA lol

 

[Grace T.]

There were two distinct entities: LAUFA and LAUFA Pre-Academy. One demonstrated strong financial management, while the other struggled with fiscal responsibility. One operated multiple teams, focusing on development, while the other managed only three teams and faced financial mismanagement issues. The former prioritized player growth, whereas the latter failed to maintain proper financial oversight
And correct they didn’t want to pay moneys owed to coaches and didn’t know where $$$ went from their own club. That’s why you saw the so called Albion 2011 and 2010 mls next struggle bottom of the table all this time. Santa Monica becoming Albion is one best thing to happen to Albion LA lol

Yes and no. The communities Laufa drew from can’t afford $3500 a year….less so even more now if a recession is looming after the Great Inflation. The reality is a lot of the teams couldn’t or didn’t want pay the dues needed to carry the next teams. The other factor in the decline of the teams you mentioned was less scholarships to go around.

So without a shift in locations, I don’t see how Albion la makes a go of it long term. That means less options for those in disadvantage communities in the downtown triangle. It’s why ecnl doesn’t have a presence there. And I can’t see sm families long term agreeing that they’ll finance the lower level teams and their kids either don’t get a shot or have to drive to Downey or Long Beach to get a crack at the top team (there’s already a ton of bad feeling there about mls2). One or the other isn’t going to survive this and my bet is on the one with the money and if Santa Monica city comes through facilities. Short term it’s a ton of disruption for families in all 4 Albion clubs: La Santa Monica Santa Ana and England fc.

But at least they aren’t SoCal elite which got a demotion through no fault of the teams so perspective.

 

[TheMountie]

I think you answered the SM question: that's the EA team going forward. Albion LA just doesn't have the base and will likely give up the EA or EA2 slot. Same question with Albion Santa Ana (is that the former Steel?)

Is it for an existing MLSN team that's already full formed? As I wrote previously, the ex-LAUFA teams tended to be big (my son's year there were 32 on the squad, only 2 of which split time with the lower EA team...you need the fees which in the LAUFA days were reduced for MLSN players generally with 2nd tier paying around double, and lots of scholarships for the top players). They will be desperate to fill the other slots (which they sometimes struggle with) and not looking to add any MLSN players unless the player is a complete game changer (they have more than enough worker bee and bubble players).

Yes, they currently have an in-season MLSN team (sort of), but they've recently seen an exodus of players. The issue started when they began the season training in one area, then replaced the coach and moved the practices to Santa Monica. The commute became too much for parents, so many left the team. I thought they were holding tryouts to bring in a few players to help rebuild the roster, but it turned out to be tryouts for their EA or MLS Next 2 team, which ended up being a waste of time.

 

[Grace T.]

Yes, they currently have an in-season MLSN team (sort of), but they've recently seen an exodus of players. The issue started when they began the season training in one area, then replaced the coach and moved the practices to Santa Monica. The commute became too much for parents, so many left the team. I thought they were holding tryouts to bring in a few players to help rebuild the roster, but it turned out to be tryouts for their EA or MLS Next 2 team, which ended up being a waste of time.

Oooofff...would be terrible to be a family on one of those teams: hour+ added commute you didn't bargain for, you may not speak English as your primary and the coach may not speak Spanish, you are basically trying out for your position with a new coach, and you have to learn a playing style which is 180 degrees different than the one you were playing....GKs in particular are in for a rough time.

Mass tryouts are never a good way to get onto the top fully formed team. Find the coach and email footage instead. The sole exception for mass tryouts is if the team isn't fully formed (e.g., first year).

If regular MLSN really cared about the proper development and placement of players, they'd require each club to have a placement director that would be in charge of overseeing tryouts and the placement of players at the appropriate status (core/futures/reserve/bio) and level (MLSN, MLS2, EA). Coaches could still have a say on the placement of their teams, but it would lead to a more meritocratic sorting like the academies. It would eliminate problems like coaches playing favorites or not wanting send players down, players on the 2nd team not getting promoted because the top team is full, and the difficulties in how biobanding is working. The placement director would be responsible for receiving periodic reports from the coaches, and attending games and trainings. As it is, the regular MLSN still operate like little fiefdoms. If I have a December born 2010 player that I want to get biobanded into the 11s, there's no real mechanism right now...I'd have to apply to the 10s, the 10s coach would have to have the 11s look at him, they'd have to come to an agreement, and then agree to bio band...instead I should be able to apply to the placement director who would take the first pass at evaluating the player and then look to place them appropriately....the 11 would only get bio banded right now if the 11's coach scouted him and wants to use him to swing the team's performance in their favor by bringing in an older player.

 

[TheMountie]

Oooofff...would be terrible to be a family on one of those teams: hour+ added commute you didn't bargain for, you may not speak English as your primary and the coach may not speak Spanish, you are basically trying out for your position with a new coach, and you have to learn a playing style which is 180 degrees different than the one you were playing....GKs in particular are in for a rough time.

Mass tryouts are never a good way to get onto the top fully formed team. Find the coach and email footage instead. The sole exception for mass tryouts is if the team isn't fully formed (e.g., first year).

If regular MLSN really cared about the proper development and placement of players, they'd require each club to have a placement director that would be in charge of overseeing tryouts and the placement of players at the appropriate status (core/futures/reserve/bio) and level (MLSN, MLS2, EA). Coaches could still have a say on the placement of their teams, but it would lead to a more meritocratic sorting like the academies. It would eliminate problems like coaches playing favorites or not wanting send players down, players on the 2nd team not getting promoted because the top team is full, and the difficulties in how biobanding is working. The placement director would be responsible for receiving periodic reports from the coaches, and attending games and trainings. As it is, the regular MLSN still operate like little fiefdoms. If I have a December born 2010 player that I want to get biobanded into the 11s, there's no real mechanism right now...I'd have to apply to the 10s, the 10s coach would have to have the 11s look at him, they'd have to come to an agreement, and then agree to bio band...instead I should be able to apply to the placement director who would take the first pass at evaluating the player and then look to place them appropriately....the 11 would only get bio banded right now if the 11's coach scouted him and wants to use him to swing the team's performance in their favor by bringing in an older player.

It's really bizarre how club soccer is managed right now. Ideally, I would like to find a new team for next season, but I don’t want to end up at a club that operates more like a business. Not to be harsh, but there are plenty of cases where kids may not be at an ECNL or MLS Next level, but their parents can afford to pay the full fees to 'lock' in their roster spot. And how can the club say no? I’ve spoken to coaches who’ve told me that they often hope kids who aren't performing well and don't play much decide not to re-register for the next season because the club is hesitant to move them down. If a kid is demoted after the parents have paid for the new season, there’s a good chance the parents will pull their child from the club and demand a refund via charge back. Essentially, clubs can’t cut or demote players anymore, which really undermines the whole purpose of having a competitive club system. I remember growing up playing NJB and our basketball team was super competitive, you weren't promised a spot if a better kid tried out for the team for your position.

 

[Carlsbad7]

It's really bizarre how club soccer is managed right now. Ideally, I would like to find a new team for next season, but I don’t want to end up at a club that operates more like a business. Not to be harsh, but there are plenty of cases where kids may not be at an ECNL or MLS Next level, but their parents can afford to pay the full fees to 'lock' in their roster spot. And how can the club say no? I’ve spoken to coaches who’ve told me that they often hope kids who aren't performing well and don't play much decide not to re-register for the next season because the club is hesitant to move them down. If a kid is demoted after the parents have paid for the new season, there’s a good chance the parents will pull their child from the club and demand a refund via charge back. Essentially, clubs can’t cut or demote players anymore, which really undermines the whole purpose of having a competitive club system. I remember growing up playing NJB and our basketball team was super competitive, you weren't promised a spot if a better kid tried out for the team for your position.

What you're describing only occurs at not as desirable clubs/teams. With more desirable teams coaches could review/session a player a week because everyone wants to play on their team.

If a club is more focused on money than performance it will show in the results.

 

[Grace T.]

What you're describing only occurs at not as desirable clubs/teams. With more desirable teams coaches could review/session a player a week because everyone wants to play on their team.

If a club is more focused on money than performance it will show in the results.

It depends what you mean the "more desirable teams". On the boys side those are the SoCal academies, Strikers, Barca in AZ, and maybe 1-2 teams highly performing in the applicable age group. On the other MLS teams there are some teams with 30+ kids (a substantial chunk as reserve players that should be getting their play time on the second team) with coaches refusing to let people go: the player will walk if sent down to the second team, club doesn't want to lose the money, but there are also a ton of boys out there who will gladly take the space....problem then is you have to justify to everyone why you have 31 players now on the team, a big chunk of which are getting no play time. There's a loss bias: it's easier to add someone than to subtract, hence why they are hoping MLS2 resolves the problem (but whispers..."it won't, because until you have a placement director coaches will still be reluctant to form their teams based purely on merit"....see the Moneyball film and book).