N1 seems like the new basic competitive flights, agree?

[sigmabody]

This is the current SoCal League N1 schedule page: https://system.gotsport.com/org_event/events/54026

Unlike the former NPL, which had 1 select group for each gender/age, the N1 division has up to 4 flights per gender/age. Judging from the ratings app, N1 team strength goes from roughly second tier (for the highest end team) to formerly low Flight 3, and skews toward the lower end (ie: only about 1/3 of the N1 teams would be ranked high enough to be Flight 1 in previous league formulations). It doesn't seem to be exclusive at all, but just a parallel competitive structure to the other/legacy Flights structure.

Am I right in concluding that this is effectively the new competitive SoCal League, and the current/remaining Flights system is now effectively just rec soccer (in an overcoat)? Cause it sure seems like there's no effective distinction between the two groups in terms of team strength, except that N1 is a patch on the jerseys, and an opportunity to maybe play against the low-end of ECNL-RL at the end of the season.

 

[SuckItTrebek]

I will be watching but I think it is too soon to make that determination. We really need a full 12 months of this in existence before we can draw any logical conclusions or make informed opinions. But I share your concern.

 

[superfly10]

This is the current SoCal League N1 schedule page: https://system.gotsport.com/org_event/events/54026

Unlike the former NPL, which had 1 select group for each gender/age, the N1 division has up to 4 flights per gender/age. Judging from the ratings app, N1 team strength goes from roughly second tier (for the highest end team) to formerly low Flight 3, and skews toward the lower end (ie: only about 1/3 of the N1 teams would be ranked high enough to be Flight 1 in previous league formulations). It doesn't seem to be exclusive at all, but just a parallel competitive structure to the other/legacy Flights structure.

Am I right in concluding that this is effectively the new competitive SoCal League, and the current/remaining Flights system is now effectively just rec soccer (in an overcoat)? Cause it sure seems like there's no effective distinction between the two groups in terms of team strength, except that N1 is a patch on the jerseys, and an opportunity to maybe play against the low-end of ECNL-RL at the end of the season.

No this is not at all accurate.

More accurate is:

N1 Premier 1 Top NPL / National League teams.

N1 Premier 2 Lower NPL / Lower National League / Mid to high Flight 1 (and then Gold / Navy is split for geographical purposes)

Current SOCAL now is:

Flight 1 = Flight 1 & High Flight 2

Flight 2 = Low Flight 2 / Flight 3

Flight 3 = Low Flight 3 / Rec

 

[Jamisfoes]

Correct me if I am wrong:
N1 premier 1: A team of locked out club
N1 premier 2: B team of locked out club
SoCal flight 1: C team of locked out club or D/E team of big clubs
SoCal flight 2: kids who didn’t make the cut for AYSO extra

 

[sigmabody]

My impression (or relative strength) is:
- N1 tier 1 ~= ECNL-RL, MLSN-AD, or EA, and some higher level teams where the club is not in stronger letter league
- N1 tier 2 != ECNL-RL Regional, EA2, top-end of Flight 1 (who didn't get into N1 for whatever reason)
- N1 tier 3-4 ~= prior Flight 1-2, AYSO Extra
- Current Flight 1-4 ~= former Flight 2+, AYSO, rec

See my previous rant about league fracturing, but this whole SoCal League further splitting their teams is certainly not helping, especially when there's a long tail of utter garbage teams in lower division N1 and their former competitive tiers. Are we really better off in this league system, vs DOC's just arranging ad hoc matches for entire seasons? Cause it doesn't seem like it from where I'm looking.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

The ordering of the different tiers in the leagues that you've listed may in fact be accurate, if someone's trying to rank the average strength of the leagues from top to bottom. But it may be downplaying the fact that the difference between the top teams in each bracket and the bottom teams in each bracket, is going to be much wider than the average differences between the leagues. A good N2 team would stomp a bad N1 team. A good flight 1 team would stomp a N2 team, maybe even many N1 teams. The fact that so many different leagues exist, that are all shooting for exactly "this much" of talent/experience/whatever, doesn't mean any of them are actually good at attracting exactly "that much" of it. There is going to be a very wide variation from team to team, which complicates things for people trying to objectively say that this league is better than that league, which is better than that other league over there.

 

[Carlsbad7]

The ordering of the different tiers in the leagues that you've listed may in fact be accurate, if someone's trying to rank the average strength of the leagues from top to bottom. But it may be downplaying the fact that the difference between the top teams in each bracket and the bottom teams in each bracket, is going to be much wider than the average differences between the leagues. A good N2 team would stomp a bad N1 team. A good flight 1 team would stomp a N2 team, maybe even many N1 teams. The fact that so many different leagues exist, that are all shooting for exactly "this much" of talent/experience/whatever, doesn't mean any of them are actually good at attracting exactly "that much" of it. There is going to be a very wide variation from team to team, which complicates things for people trying to objectively say that this league is better than that league, which is better than that other league over there.

This is what Ive been saying for years.

Other than MLSN Homegrown because of its direct association with pro teams all leagues are roughly the "same". What I mean by that is processes implemented to run a league are the same. What makes them different is level of competition. Which is all well and good but if you were a recruiter looking to evaluate talent in different leagues. What's going to happen is you'll probabaly look at the top 10 clubs in each league for players. This means top clubs in crappy league will get more attention than mid level clubs in a good league. Sometimes its better to play in a league that sucks as long as your kid is on the top team in that league. Frustrating and annoying but recruiters dont care about the intricacies of what league is better or worse and why. They just want to look at the winners and see if theres talent available.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

I agree somewhat. But it's also true that "recruiters" aren't going to be looking at any "crappy" league for any purpose, at any time, for anything. It doesn't matter if you're on a dominant team or not - nobody cares. If you want to be seen, you need to play where the eyeballs you're seeking are located.

 

[Carlsbad7]

I agree somewhat. But it's also true that "recruiters" aren't going to be looking at any "crappy" league for any purpose, at any time, for anything. It doesn't matter if you're on a dominant team or not - nobody cares. If you want to be seen, you need to play where the eyeballs you're seeking are located.

Recruiters will feign interest in all leagues even if they dont think they're very good. Which goes back to what I was saying. They'll look at the top 5-10 clubs in the sucky leagues just to say that they looked at them when asked.

Also leagues can put all their resources behind one or two of their top clubs. So they dont leave and so they have something to highlight.

Its a weird popularity contest with all kinds of moving parts. The ranking app provided a lot of clarity. But when players get older and more is on the line all the old tricks come out.