Socal named as Operator for National 1 League

On the girls side it feels like NPL teams can be just as competitive as ECRL teams (but the top 5 mainly orange county teams have amazing ECRL teams that are better than other teams ECNL teams - Surf, Beach, Blues, Slammers, Koge)

They are only better than the bottom-feeding ECNL teams (at least for GU14 2012). Some NPL and 1 NL team above the top ECRL team in ranking.

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They are only better than the bottom-feeding ECNL teams (at least for GU14 2012). Some NPL and 1 NL team above the top ECRL team in ranking.

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This is my daughter's year (at least until the age change) - I know most the socal teams. There are a lot of norcal teams in there too! The socal and norcal teams don't play each other much at all. I think dividing the state would be worthwhile.

One thing the app doesn't pick up is how many players change teams - there is a fair amount of movement. That adage "top 3 move on and bottom 3 look out for your spot" is real (a couple of my daughters friends left one ecnl team to join another). And I know a couple of the NPL teams ranked in the mid 50s will be disbanding and/or changing league affiliation.

Its fun to have something to check in on - but to me there just isn't many chances for non-ECNL teams to play ECNL teams on the girls side - making 4-5 tournaments a year the only chances to see where they might compare. From that screenshot just cut off - there is a team Joga Bonita ranked 15 which is really interesting - Joga mainly plays Coast. # 17 Empire Surf NL won top flight socal state cup. A local team from Newbury Park is ranked 63 they produce some interesting teams. Tudela is 64 they play NPL but have few chances to lock horns with ECNL teams.
 
The socal and norcal teams don't play each other much at all. I think dividing the state would be worthwhile.

One thing the app doesn't pick up is how many players change teams - there is a fair amount of movement. That adage "top 3 move on and bottom 3 look out for your spot" is real (a couple of my daughters friends left one ecnl team to join another). And I know a couple of the NPL teams ranked in the mid 50s will be disbanding and/or changing league affiliation.

Joga mainly plays Coast. # 17 Empire Surf NL won top flight socal state cup.

Agreed on separating Northern and Southern California teams, but they do play each other from time to time.

Jogo is a training group only. They pull as many top girls as they can to play in a tournament. There are a few others that are like.

It looks like Empire Surface is ramping up its competition little by little.
 
With all the league development I've been trying to keep this all straight and incorporate tier overlap. Most of the pyramids on-line just group leagues together like tier 3 above. Here's what I came up with, curious on others thoughts:
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I think some of the MLS Academy teams bleed into Tier 2, and some of the MLS Next teams bleed into Tier 3, if you are looking for an honest visual representation, you should show that like you did with the US Specialty and US Club Soccer categories. Other than that seems accurate.
 
Question for all of you who know a bit of the history of E64 which had recently been rebranded as National League:
Do you think with the merger of NPL and E64 into this National 1 League, that the existing NPL brand is going to be diluted or otherwise have its value lowered?

I ask because all I have ever heard about E64 was in a negative light with lots of nonconstructive criticism. And I am not saying it wasn't warranted because I don't know anything about E64. Hell, up until recently, I used to think EA and E64 were one and the same and simply a typo in the forums. Conversely, I had never heard anything negative about NPL or what it offered or how it went about doing it. I am worried that the new N1L badge will end up being a scarlet letter that is mocked. And the scenario is personal for me because my kids play at a club where NPL was the top end competition level possible.
I think it is just returning to a bit of normal, but once again under a different name. When E64 rolled out, it was basically a renaming of NPL, because it was made up of established NPL teams from the previous season. Nothing really changed, except teams had to incur more travel and expenses, because the pool of Tier 3 teams was split in half between NPL and E64. Now they are just returning to the same pool, but everyone gets a new name. That's about it. Likely the name change was required by US Club Soccer now that they are part of the pool umbrella. Probably better for everyone who was previously in NPL or E64. More teams closer to home. Level of play will be the same, as I've said 100 times on here. Changing a name or governing body does not change the level of play of the team or players involved, it is a marketing scam. N1L is going to be looked at as NPL/E64 was last season.
 
Again, this is misleading. They make it sound like the National 1 League top teams will get to play against ECNL teams. They won't. They will play at the same location and time as when they ECNL playoffs are happening, but will be playing in the ECRL playoffs that are going on at same time/location.
And very likely that that the N1L teams get smoked going against the Playoff ECRL teams, that are likely pushing into the ECNL level of play. Lot of money to travel to playoffs and be embarrassed.
 
And very likely that that the N1L teams get smoked going against the Playoff ECRL teams, that are likely pushing into the ECNL level of play. Lot of money to travel to playoffs and be embarrassed.
I think it's a good thing that top N1L teams get rewarded and get to play in ECRL playoffs. And it helps bring clarity to the many different letter league levels if, for example, the top N1L team in the region ends up winning 1 game and losing 2 at the ECRL regional playoffs.
 
Some major questions remain:

What is next for SOCAL because Flight 1 straight to NL1 just simply doesn't make too much sense from a competition standpoint where some teams will get boat raced. Right now you can see some SOCAL teams that went from Flight 1 -> NL last season and they are at the bottom of the standings with really bad goal differential and games are not even close.

Also now current NPL teams that finished bottom three may be relegated to Flight 1, which we all know if/when that happens, those teams will disband. If those teams disband, SOCAL loses money so I wonder if the rumor of NL2 might come to fruition. Still have to think a division between Flight 1 and NL1 makes sense.

Sounds like NL1 will have regions within SOCAL so: LA, OC and San Diego (how many teams will be allowed per club per region).

Also lets face it, not every club or team has aspirations to play at the NL1, ECNL, etc levels. There is a cost factor in play for many teams/families and clubs that provide a service to the community. SOCAL have added so many small clubs recently in efforts to kill off Coast Soccer.

We'll see what else comes up by the end of this month cause team registrations are ongoing and not all info is available.
 
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