BallerNation
BRONZE
Anyone have any experience or thoughts about Coach Miguel Mendoza? My daughter is considering this team but I see they only have 1 win this whole season in ECNL. The same coach is returning.
Pateadores ECNL 2010 G
- Thread starter BallerNation
- Start date
A team with only one win in league will never be able to claw themselves out of the hole. When this happens theres so many things that have occurred before the season has even started.
This sounds like Sharks a couple of years ago. To change the culture SM had to bring in a new DOC + get rid of multiple coaches + internal people. In the short term it's been a success (comparably to before) will they continue improving or go back to the Sharks of old? Remains to be seen.
This sounds like Sharks a couple of years ago. To change the culture SM had to bring in a new DOC + get rid of multiple coaches + internal people. In the short term it's been a success (comparably to before) will they continue improving or go back to the Sharks of old? Remains to be seen.
I like him. Daughter liked playing for him (she is Pats G11 ECNL and guested with him this past season). He (and all Pats ECNL teams) had a tough assignment being added to ECNL so late last year. I imagine there will be lots of movement on that team and it will greatly improve. ECNL leadership at Pats is top notch. Has been a great experience for us after tasting some of the alternative options in OC over the years.
First thing they need to do is update the Pats website regularly. I bet coach Ben Foley's contact is still up there. I emailed Foley about a tryout earlier this year and got no reply. Found out he passed away on this board. How can Pats be a top notch organization if they can't even keep the website updated with current information?
RedDevil24
SILVER
Generally I have heard he is a good guy, have head much more negative things about the RL coach. But apparently its sort of a dumpster fire there as I have heard only a handful of players are coming back (not sure whether players were not asked back or are leaving on there own).... and much like last year this late in the game not sure where they will be able to recruit from (maybe Slammers/koge extras with all the Blues players headed that way lol). IDK, get the feeling it might take them a while to get established. Might be a repeat of this year. Good luck
Looks like coach Miguel is good coach from the posts. This could be a great opportunity to get lot's of play time. Girls this age change so anything can happen. No pressure from last years 1 win team and maybe shoot for a .500 season and a few upsets. Good luck out there Baller. Pats and Strikers got a bad deal from all the 3 letter leagues the last 4 years so patience is key.
Only way that team is going to get going will be to take an existing team as a foundation as a collective group and let them play there. Everyone is in a standoff trying to figure out who is going where and unfortunately that team is being used as leverage by some parents to get better positioning on their teams.
Miguel is a newer coach, to my understanding prior to him taking this gig last year he served 1 year as an assistant coach to a flight 2 team.
All the parents who I’ve spoke with that have interacted with him say he’s super nice and knows his soccer. The consensus I’ve gotten from parents that were on that team was as a collective group, there was just too much of a gap in player ability to compete in the ECNL Sonoran division.
Miguel has really put in the effort to recruit for this upcoming season. He’s had a presence at OC Great Park looking at variety of players from teams in various leagues. He’s been spotted looking at the ECRL talent pool and has not been shy on the parent sideline being visible watching top ECRL teams play each other and then trying to reach out to parents from those teams.
For as much work as this guys has been doing, I hope he gets it going. There’s been a lot of effort on his side and some of his offers I’ve heard he’s given to certain talented 2010s are amazing deals but parents are too cautious to sign because of their record this last year and would rather move elsewhere to avoid the beat downs they had this season under the speculation that no one is pulling the trigger to take their kid there.
Unfortunately it’s a quick sand situation and the more he’s been trying to get that team going, the team has been going backwards in the recruiting front. Each week I hear of players leaving (one to slammers ecnl, another to legends ecnl, and a few others going to other local teams in the top 20 CA from the soccer rankings).
Miguel is a newer coach, to my understanding prior to him taking this gig last year he served 1 year as an assistant coach to a flight 2 team.
All the parents who I’ve spoke with that have interacted with him say he’s super nice and knows his soccer. The consensus I’ve gotten from parents that were on that team was as a collective group, there was just too much of a gap in player ability to compete in the ECNL Sonoran division.
Miguel has really put in the effort to recruit for this upcoming season. He’s had a presence at OC Great Park looking at variety of players from teams in various leagues. He’s been spotted looking at the ECRL talent pool and has not been shy on the parent sideline being visible watching top ECRL teams play each other and then trying to reach out to parents from those teams.
For as much work as this guys has been doing, I hope he gets it going. There’s been a lot of effort on his side and some of his offers I’ve heard he’s given to certain talented 2010s are amazing deals but parents are too cautious to sign because of their record this last year and would rather move elsewhere to avoid the beat downs they had this season under the speculation that no one is pulling the trigger to take their kid there.
Unfortunately it’s a quick sand situation and the more he’s been trying to get that team going, the team has been going backwards in the recruiting front. Each week I hear of players leaving (one to slammers ecnl, another to legends ecnl, and a few others going to other local teams in the top 20 CA from the soccer rankings).
SoccerFan6
SILVER ELITE
Miguel is a very good coach and a good guy. As TeamDadJokes said, he is young and hungry. In addition to his club gig, he has also been an assistant at Concordia College, where he played, for the past few years.
Of those players leaving the team, most were asked to leave, but a couple did leave on their own. He is still in recruiting mode, with some being slow to commit, but I do know there are a few high-level players that have committed. I don't think anyone in their right mind would expect them to make the jump to .500, but I do think they will be much more competitive next year.
Of those players leaving the team, most were asked to leave, but a couple did leave on their own. He is still in recruiting mode, with some being slow to commit, but I do know there are a few high-level players that have committed. I don't think anyone in their right mind would expect them to make the jump to .500, but I do think they will be much more competitive next year.
RedDevil24
SILVER
@SoccerFan6 wondering from what you have heard where have their "new" players been coming from..... NL or RL? Or lower levels?
Just curious if any current NL players unhappy with their situation would be willing to have made a jump into a little bit of unsteady situation.
SoccerFan6
SILVER ELITE
Some NL players, but none that are starters on their current team. And a couple top RL players. I’ve heard of some GA players kicking the tires as well, but I’m not sure if any of them actually committed.
It will be interesting to see if any more NL players make the move after playoffs.
You must be new. Here’s some Sharks history.
Sharks got in to ECNL when teams were switching over to DA and ECNL needed a club to round out Southwest.
Up until recently Sharks were terrible.Terrible to the point that other ECNL clubs were calling for them to be booted from the league. ECNL approached SM + said stop sucking or you’re out. To address SM hired MW from Albion (a GA club BTW) and made him the DOC for girls. MW brought GA players with him from Albion recruited from wherever + booted many of the existing ECNL players + suddenly Sharks aren’t as bad as before.
The parallel between Sharks and Pats is that leadership is questionable. The Pats coach might be good but why wasn’t recruitment happening last year? It’s good that it’s happening now but the best clubs are always recruiting + then building on previous recruiting by recruiting some more.
The other big issue I can see with Pats is that they appear to be playing the free ride / scholarship game + are just getting used by parents as leverage for getting onto better teams. As others have stated the only way for Pats to improve is for a core group of very good players to all come over at the same time. If only one or two really good scholarship players they will get frustrated and leave even if soccer is free.
RedDevil24
SILVER
Miguel was the AC to HC (name escaping me) they both came from Strikers and were to run the 2010 program. When the whole Strikers thing exploded, the HC left and Miguel stayed on. I remember, however thinking, while they were still Strikers, that I was surprised at some of the players that were getting offers (on the NL team especially). And I kept wondering why that was the case (ie. why are they not getting better players to commit there).... maybe word on the street about Pats was already too pronounced. Then when Strikers was out and Pats took over some players left and its seemed like they were grasping at straws too fil the rosters.... some players that made NL were lower level RL at best (not a personal attack, speaking as someone who has been in the game my whole life). Now its seems as if they are in the same boat again-- I know their W/L record this season might be a deterrent, but I feel like there is missing piece. I know its almost June and late in the game, but I also know of a few "free agent" players still out there (whose parenst afre defiinate ABC chasers) and its seems like that sitation would fit them to a T.
Interesting the point SoccerFan brings up about GA, with WCFC being the only one in town. The coach has passed the team onto someone else, and even though they had a successful season, wondering how that plays out. I know people are hot/cold with GH, but I am wondering if the coaching change is a +/- in terms of recruitment.
Interesting the point SoccerFan brings up about GA, with WCFC being the only one in town. The coach has passed the team onto someone else, and even though they had a successful season, wondering how that plays out. I know people are hot/cold with GH, but I am wondering if the coaching change is a +/- in terms of recruitment.
Shooting Star
SILVER
We’ll take a look - looks like 2010 pats are in the top 3 right now. All teams will get better from this point. Top dogs of the past shouldn’t rest on laurels. A lot of coaches want to coach good players - it takes time and the results are showing. Some teams just want to recruit
Good luck + keep on bringing in the wins.
RandomSoccerFan
GOLD
It's definitely a positive start to the season. But it is probably also helpful to mention that the team's only wins are against other teams rated #70 or higher nationally. By rating, they are still expected to have a hard time as their schedule comes up against the stronger SW teams. That's why the games are played though, to find out - good luck to all.
