Southwest Conference Girls

[Messi>CR7]

You are right. I don’t have the data to support this statement. I am just still in disbelief that parents would pay so much to be on a B team where they could just stay on flight 1. I’ve heard from club DOCs that ECNL reserve (ECRL) is a money making revenue stream for clubs. ECNL is definitely valuable for those that want to compete at the highest level. ECRL just doesn’t make sense to me. I can tell you that at the 09 level for girls I am seeing a lot of flight 1 and 2 teams having a tough time finding girls to join. Once they make the move to 11 v 11 we will see significant consolidation in this age group.

We personally know two kids that have not participated due to safety concern for the kids or their more vulnerable family members.

Clubs are not having problems getting players for the ECNL/ECRL teams in California. Using a simple example pre-Covid a club has ECNL, ECRL, and SCDSL teams with 16 players each for a total of 48 kids. Each team lost two kids due to financial hardship or Covid concern so you now have 42 kids. The top 32 kids will still fill the ECNL and ECRL rosters. It's the SCDSL coach who is now stuck with only 10 kids.

 

[happy9]

I agree with your point about 'why travel to Cal if not the "A" team. I would not do the ECRL either if I was the AZ clubs. For California ECNL clubs it makes tons of sense though.

Absolutely does. I would bet that as ECRL expands, there will be teams that will be competitive with the ECNL teams. Regional play is very attractive to many families. As ECRL players go on to play college, parents may see this as a more cost effective with minimal travel. Dollar wise, ECRL is a smart move by ECNL. Capitalize on the brand and broaden their reach.

 

[crush]

Absolutely does. I would bet that as ECRL expands, there will be teams that will be competitive with the ECNL teams. Regional play is very attractive to many families. As ECRL players go on to play college, parents may see this as a more cost effective with minimal travel. Dollar wise, ECRL is a smart move by ECNL. Capitalize on the brand and broaden their reach.

Attractive to who bro? Beach FC & Legend FC are not happy to play Regionally, trust me. Smart move for biz, hell yes Lastly, let's just call them soccer players and not ECRL player.

 

[happy9]

Attractive to who bro? Beach FC & Legend FC are not happy to play Regionally, trust me. Smart move for biz, hell yes Lastly, let's just call them soccer players and not ECRL player.

Attractive to parents who would rather not travel to AZ or LV. Those costs add up over the year right?

Financially literate parents who realize their player can play at A or B college while playing on a team that minimizes travels will maybe decide that ECRL is for them. GOATS are everywhere, just gotta look bruh..

Beach and Legends will have ECRL next year as well or am I missing something.

 

[ToonArmy]

And flight 1 isn't a money making revenue stream for clubs? If you can not make an ECNL club play for the right coach for your kid that will help her as a player and get to the next level if it's her goal and on a good enough team to get into some showcases even B teams at many clubs have that some B teams even use to be in ECNL with A team in DA. who cares what letters the patch has or if you even have a patch. And if you don't want to travel then don't play in a league that travels.

 

[Surf Zombie]

Interesting perspective but are you sure it is reality in So Cal? I am not aware of any players who have quit or lowered their level of play due to the pandemic and I have been involved in youth soccer here for years.

Here in New England there has been a large influx of kids trying to get into the ECNL-R teams. My D is on the ECNL team, but they scrimmage the regional team in her age group and older within the club. Those teams have gotten so much stronger over the last couple of years with kids buying in due to all the uncertainty around GA-DPL up here. In our area ECNL-R it is becoming the top platform (aside from ECNL national) when compared to GA/DPL/NPL.

Each of the 18 ECNL clubs field a regional team at each age group. That said, we were one of the first regions in the country to have it, so probably a bit different here.

 

[STX]

In New England ECNL-R it is becoming the top platform (aside from ECNL national) when compared to GA/DPL/NPL.

Same in Texas.

 

[GT45]

You are right. I don’t have the data to support this statement. I am just still in disbelief that parents would pay so much to be on a B team where they could just stay on flight 1. I’ve heard from club DOCs that ECNL reserve (ECRL) is a money making revenue stream for clubs. ECNL is definitely valuable for those that want to compete at the highest level. ECRL just doesn’t make sense to me. I can tell you that at the 09 level for girls I am seeing a lot of flight 1 and 2 teams having a tough time finding girls to join. Once they make the move to 11 v 11 we will see significant consolidation in this age group.

ECRL is a higher standard of play than SCDSL. That is very obvious at the high school ages. I cannot speak for the youngers though. Do clubs charge different fees based on the league they are in? That is not my experience. Obviously travel fees are different based on your league.

 

[supercell]

It's a bit bizarre ... in most of the country, parents complain that ECNL has too much travel. Then ECRL appears as a solution with less travel and expense, and folks don't want it? It sounds like people just want ECNL their way, on their terms.

 

[WestOfFive]

It's a bit bizarre ... in most of the country, parents complain that ECNL has too much travel. Then ECRL appears as a solution with less travel and expense, and folks don't want it? It sounds like people just want ECNL their way, on their terms.