Some NorCal teams with similarities to EPL Clubs...

[John T.]

Yes - they certainly may be, but well before them should come Folsom Lake Surf. It's only an RL club at the moment, but their teams are incredibly strong. Their 2011Bs won the national RL championship last year, and are currently the #1 RL team in the country. In CA, there are 11 MLS HD teams, and then they are the 12th strongest team, higher than any other ECNL team, let alone RL. One of our teams played them on Sunday and it was fun to watch. We were supposed to get beat by 4, ended up only losing 2-0, including missing two PKs. They are faster/stronger than any of the ECNL 2011B's we've seen over the past year. It's not as clean/pretty as some of the soccer that the top teams play, but it's incredibly effective. Several of their other age groups are also quite strong, if only slightly less than the 2011s. From a club standpoint, they are showing #33 boys, #44 girls, #32 overall in the state, compared the SF Elite's #98 boys, #86 girls, #74 both.

I get the idea of using as much of objective metrics here, but that’s not how US youth soccer works. Money, connections, and club & league politics drive decisions at every level including USYNT, ODP, PDP, clubs, and all the way down to every teams.

We all know this. Leagues, clubs, and coaches don’t have to break rules blatantly. Our US soccer system gives them large enough subjectivity to justify almost anything. That’s how a weaker player can get more minutes than a USYNT‑level kid, especially if she’s the coach’s daughter or connected. It’s not really merit-based, but it’s a “scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” ecosystem that defines far too much of U.S. youth soccer.

 

[soccer4us]

SF Elite is on track for promotion into ECNL. Since leaving GA last year, they’ve consistently played at a level comparable to full ECNL clubs in NorCal.

With ECNL’s April 1 announcements coming up, they’re a strong candidate for a permanent ECNL‑affiliated spot. It’ll be interesting to see how player movement shifts with this addition and the broader SY changes coming in the 2026–2027 season in the Bay.

I think they will get in because no club will leave GA to RL without a near guarantee. But, to say they have been good enough outside of their 2012's who are quality, isn't quite true in my opinion. Los Gatos will probably get in too but have they proven it? No chance. The world is always expanding so soccer is no different. At least 3 clubs will get in will be my prediction.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

I think they will get in because no club will leave GA to RL without a near guarantee. But, to say they have been good enough outside of their 2012's who are quality, isn't quite true in my opinion. Los Gatos will probably get in too but have they proven it? No chance. The world is always expanding so soccer is no different. At least 3 clubs will get in will be my prediction.

Re: Los Gatos - the boys side are already playing ECNL, and the girls teams are pretty much identical in terms of strength compared to peers, so it stands to reason that the girls side will be able to enter ECNL at some point in the near future. And for what it's worth - they also are also significantly stronger than SF Elite.

 

[Happy-john]

I agree Folsom lake should be in 100%, Otherwise there would be no credibility/hope for ECNL

 

[SirAlex]

The issue with Los Gatos going ECNL girls is their proximity to MVLA, Force, and Surf. From what I have seen, Los Gatos have strong younger teams that lose steam as their strongest players leave for other local clubs. I would think an ECNL club in the Valley would be a bigger benefit to the NorCal soccer community.

 

[NorCalDad]

The issue with Los Gatos going ECNL girls is their proximity to MVLA, Force, and Surf. From what I have seen, Los Gatos have strong younger teams that lose steam as their strongest players leave for other local clubs. I would think an ECNL club in the Valley would be a bigger benefit to the NorCal soccer community.

Salinas or Stanislaus are probably good picks. Feel bad for Walnut Creek Surf and Cal Magic due to their proximity to Mustangs and Rage.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

The issue with Los Gatos going ECNL girls is their proximity to MVLA, Force, and Surf. From what I have seen, Los Gatos have strong younger teams that lose steam as their strongest players leave for other local clubs. I would think an ECNL club in the Valley would be a bigger benefit to the NorCal soccer community.

That's the chicken and the egg problem. You're completely right, for years they've had strong younger teams, but as they go 11v11, the top kids start to peel off to other clubs that could offer them MLS N or ECNL while Los Gatos couldn't. The hope is/was that now that they have the badge (on the boys side), there's a better chance to keep some of these same players and field stronger teams in the olders. Same deal on the girls side - RL only is always going to have a ceiling, but full ECNL would give them more headroom. They were GA no more than a minute ago, but evidently were willing to drop it for ECNL/ECNL-RL.

 

[soccer4us]

Good points. I think Stanislaus will get in. It wouldn't shock me if they combine with a valley surf to make a stronger ECNL girls side.

The other reality is results in RL really isn't a data good point if someone is good enough or not. If LG/Elite type had to play ECNL, they would be near the bottom if not the bottom. I always thought they should add a few more and do split divisions. A true A and B division. You play your own division 2x and the other division 1x. It's not realistic I'm sure but would be better for balance. Very few new clubs will be able to compete with the top 4 of Nor Cal on average. Lamorinda would be the only one but we know that whole story by now.

I think Santa Clara Sporting would have a chance to be solid if they ever got it. It seems their Youngers team always do pretty well and older teams, have a few strong ones.

It will be interesting to see how many new clubs they accept in a month. My guess is 3.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

Valley Surf announced a "strategic alliance" with Stanislaus only a few weeks ago. They are focusing on the 2014 & 2015 age groups at the moment, but implied it would grow to include some of the older RL teams as well.

Santa Clara seems to be happy with ECNL on the boys side and GA for the girls side for quite awhile now. Seems like they could choose to pursue ECNL on the girls side if they chose, but they must have their reasons for not moving in that direction yet.

 

[RandomSoccerFan]

The other reality is results in RL really isn't a data good point if someone is good enough or not. If LG/Elite type had to play ECNL, they would be near the bottom if not the bottom.

This is debatable, and looking at past data it sure seems as that you can predict pretty well how they'd perform. Just look at the clubs that went from GA to ECNL, or the other clubs that last year moved up from RL. Team strength doesn't wildly change year to year, either up or down. In these two cases - both LG and SF Elite still have only marginally strong teams at the girls RL level, and yes, would be predicted to be near the bottom if/when they moved up a league to NL. Teams that are exceptional in RL, don't suddenly become weak when moved to NL. Yes - there is on average more significant competition - but not as much as is generally assumed. Top to bottom in bracket will show 5-7 goal difference in strength; while comparing the average strength from lower bracket to higher bracket is more like 1-2 goals.