Not to hijack the OP's original question for his son but I will add something for the Del Mar Surf ECRL SC thing -
During tryouts I spoke to the ECNL director for Del Mar Surf and asked him about the whole ECRL SC thing. I had only heard vaguely about this and didn't want to get an offer for one thing when it was really another. And I felt this was a possibility because DM Surf has 2 ECRL teams. Their director specifically said that both of their ECRL teams are just regular ECRL and not the "SC" flavor. Apparently this was possible because their 3rd team got promoted by the ECNL organization. His words, not mine. The "4th" team at that club is the NPL/N1L team. And according to the director, DM Surf has never had a ECRL SC team at their location. As far as what is "better": N1L vs ECRL SC, who knows because everyone's experience will vary.