RSL North and South join DPL Open

[tjinaz]

Genie is never going back in the bottle. If someone can make more money (and gain control) by creating the next "new and improved" league then they are going to do it. The thing that kills me is that people ignore the old adage: "a fool and his money are soon parted". How many times do I see teams pass by playing the good teams in their own area to play mediocre teams far away because of a league attached. I absolutely agree that there should be elite platforms (MLS Next/ECNL girls). I absolutely agree with competition in all aspects of soccer (leagues/clubs/teams). What I disagree with is the stupidity of people in falling for the sell of the middle tier leagues (ECRL/DPL/EA/EA64/EA404/EA24601/EA SPORTS). The state associations (if they had any pull, marketing, gumption, drive, grit, power) would figure out a much better (cheaper/simpler/smarter) solution. And yes, unfortunately, pot calling out the kettle...

The problem is this becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Parents believe the letter leagues are better and take the players that really want to get better and have the drive to compete and go there. Then there are those afraid of being left out or being on a team with no supporting talent so they go there next. So enough of the better players leave and what is left in APL is literally worse and the letter league is actually better. Said it before the money is just skin in the game. The letter leagues cost more but in most cases do provide a higher level of coaching and better resources so if you have parents and players that are serious about competing that is where they go.

 

[Soccerfamaz]

Letter leagues in Arizona are terrible at killing any chance of decent games locally. They arent attracting the best players. It seems next level have all the best boys teams from u14 and down and they arent in any letter league. These leagues do more damage than good to Arizona. Just more costs to travel killing the state league. Clubs keep selling the coolaid but it seems the parents are more wise than the clubs hoped.

Next Level has some great teams, but the best boys teams u14 and down…? I’m not jumping on that bandwagon yet. They have absorbed teams from other clubs that were already strong, and yes, some of those boys could play MLS. Will it hold true? Hopefully. I’m rooting for these small clubs that are disrupting the alphabet soup landscape but not yet ready to chug the kool aid.