I’m not trying to be negative, but rather realistic. I agree that both letter and non letter league players go on to play in college. Which is fantastic to see and part of why I’m raising this point.
MLS Next, ECNL and GA are all elite programs. The play is at a higher level aside from a few outliers (arsenal). It’s an easier argument that playing at an elite level justifies the expense for fees + travel - regardless of a what a kid wants to do post club play. Even if they want to college and just be a student they played at an elite level because they were good enough.
When RSL moved from one ECNL boys team to two EA teams it was no longer an elite program offering. TBD what happens with Rising’s shift from ECNL to EA. If second or third team players from a big club make an EA/DPL/RL team, it doesn’t suddenly make them elite players. Do those EA teams consistently win against the non letter league teams in tournaments? Let’s move on the ECRL on the girls side. When ECRL teams compete in tournaments, do they consistently dominate? DPL teams are easier to measure, as they still play in leagues with non letter league teams. Kudos to them for not hiding behind the elusive curtain of the elitist. Are they the top? Consistently? Maybe some are, but there are plenty that are not. With how expensive and “elite” these teams are, shouldn’t they always beat the non letter league teams? Look at the results, they don’t.
Regarding my comment that the math doesn’t work….let’s say RL/DPL player gets a scholarship to play in college. With fees being 5-10k more than non letter league teams, it’s not a reach to say that $60k was spent for a chance at a partial scholarship. Likely the family would’ve come out ahead financially by investing the extra money and using it to pay for college. But as long as parents keep chasing the promise of “elite” competition people will pay and the cash grab continues. If they aren’t beating non letter league teams consistently, what are the fees for? To say they are elite?
Non letter league kids will still get competitive play, some will still play in college. But with each additional add of letter leagues, we keep diluting the pool. Again, this make work in SoCal but our pool is much smaller. When we only had ECNL and DA and one league, APL had all the next level talent. Now, it’s just alphabet soup.