SDSC Surf selected for GA

[oh canada]

Who has actually seen enough of these teams play to make a blanket assessment? WCFC (GA) beat Tophat”B” team 5-1. Same WCFC team beat an LA based ECNL team in a scrimmage. I’m just saying that a lot of these lists are based on conjecture, bias, reputation and not actual head to head competition because there hasn’t been any.

I always focus on the individual players, not the teams, not the scores, not who beat who in one game head-to-head. And I'll limit my comments to SoCal since I've only seen a few NorCal teams play of late. Overwhelmingly, the best female players in SoCal are now playing ECNL. ECNL already had good players during DA days and now many (most) top DA players switched to ECNL. And because of those additions, quite a few of the larger clubs also have talented B teams which play in the ECRL. Maybe those B teams are on par with GA clubs in SoCal, but they certainly are not inferior to GA. Beach and Legends are moving to ECNL. SDSC is going to GA. If you're being honest, that should be a clear writing on the wall re where the top talent is going in SoCal.

It surprises me that Surf could not get SDSC into the ECRL, which could then be a feeder into Surf's ECRL team and/or their ECNL team. I really have no idea what benefit these Surf partnerships are for the capitulating clubs? Guessing the pandemic simply was the final nail in the coffin for a club struggling to make profits. Which is surprising because I thought they did pretty well on the boys side, but San Diego locals would have a better sense.

 

[keeprunning]

Congrats to SDSC. Good program, good guys leading it that teach good soccer. Not sure about the depth, but the top teams are usually very good.

 

[Sike]

I always focus on the individual players, not the teams, not the scores, not who beat who in one game head-to-head. And I'll limit my comments to SoCal since I've only seen a few NorCal teams play of late. Overwhelmingly, the best female players in SoCal are now playing ECNL. ECNL already had good players during DA days and now many (most) top DA players switched to ECNL. And because of those additions, quite a few of the larger clubs also have talented B teams which play in the ECRL. Maybe those B teams are on par with GA clubs in SoCal, but they certainly are not inferior to GA.

I think it depends on the club and what shifts occur now that the best teams are clearly ECNL. Certainly, Blues and Surf will have very strong B teams playing ECRL, and likely at every single age group. Historically, I have not seen very strong B teams across the board from other clubs in SoCal though (certainly some here and there, but not consistently). However, I could see some of those B teams getting better as they attract more talent. But let's be honest, there are a few ECNL teams who still have pretty weak A teams, so their B teams in ECRL will also not be strong.

 

[Desert Hound]

I think it depends on the club and what shifts occur now that the best teams are clearly ECNL. Certainly, Blues and Surf will have very strong B teams playing ECRL, and likely at every single age group. Historically, I have not seen very strong B teams across the board from other clubs in SoCal though (certainly some here and there, but not consistently). However, I could see some of those B teams getting better as they attract more talent. But let's be honest, there are a few ECNL teams who still have pretty weak A teams, so their B teams in ECRL will also not be strong.

From a B team perspective.

IF...and this is a big IF. If ecRl becomes national in scope and is seen as a good place to be (either from exposure to colleges (smaller ones) or getting onto the top ECNL team) then you likely see more players interested and moving to clubs to play ecRl. If that happens, then the B team quality would go up a lot.

That is a lot of IFs though.

 

[soccermgr4]

One way to look at the leagues is that the ECNL girls (I can't speak to the newer boys side since I have experience only on the girls side) are aiming to be D1/D2 college players and the ECRL girls are aiming to play at the D3/NAIA college level. There are no scholarships at the D3 level, of course, but soccer can help a little to get into a better "liberal arts" D3 school so that's very useful. Obviously, not all ECNL players will be shooting to only play D1 or D2 - they can also use soccer to help them stand out when applying to elite D3 schools like Williams College, Claremont, etc.

The GA girls will matriculate to all levels of college soccer depending on their skill level. The elite GA girls are certainly shooting for D1 soccer while the other players are shooting for the lower levels.

Next year, the ECRL teams will join the ECNL teams at the two big ECNL showcases so this will obviously make it very convenient for all college coaches at every level (D1-3 + NAIA) to scout a LOT of players in one location in January and April of 2022. I assume these coaches will also go to one or two national GA showcases to identify players as well (or one ECNL event and one GA event?) and they can simplify their recruiting efforts and keep costs down.

It seems like budgets are going to be really tight for the next 2-3 years as schools recover from a limited football season of sorts this past year.

 

[timbuck]

SDSC Surf moves to GA.
Do they fill the void that Beach and Legends left when they make the move to ECNL?

 

[LASTMAN14]

SDSC Surf moves to GA.
Do they fill the void that Beach and Legends left when they make the move to ECNL?

Geographically, no. Filling for those clubs leaving, yes.

 

[Riggins]

In our little area called OC the only teams in GA are the ones that were not accepted into ECNL. They wanted to belong to something "national" so joined GA, but will still petition to join ECNL next year. That is clearly the top league as witnessed by how many DA clubs already left to return/jin ECNL before DA actually disbanded.