In SoCal, I don't believe this is true at this point. With an exception here or there for a strong GA team that been able to retain their players, I think you will find that ECNL teams in SoCal are better than GA teams across the board. There is certainly more of a debate when you compared ECRL teams to GA teams, but there is no way that GA teams in SoCal are "better than most RL teams". I'd still put my kid in GA over ECRL, but only because I think the exposure to college coaches at events is better (not because the competition is better).
USYS Elite 64
- Thread starter G07KeeperMom
- Start date
what-happened
GOLD
This is where the GA will continue to demonstrate "value". Of course the better teams are in ECNL, hard to change that. Parents are more concerend about how "good" the leagues than college coaches. There are roster spots for almost every player who wants one. The GAs infrastructure is good, their leadership is respected, and they have established the fact that their showcases are well run. Plenty of coaches show up to them. They continue to expand. Not every player is going to play at a P5 conference, a Santa Clara, etc. There is plenty of room for two "top" leagues. They will let the parents argue over which one is best. Your DDs first day on the pitch in college isn't going to be spent comparing leagues.
Primetime
SILVER ELITE
Ya your right, I'll retract that statement. I went back and looked and definitely found plenty of instances where RL teams beat or tied GA teams but overall it looked like GA is bout smack in the middle. Competitive with the top end of RL and the bottom end of ECNL (in General)
What age group were you looking at?
The reason I ask is as players get older power shifts from Clubs to Parents. This is because of injuries, players dropping out, less new talent adding into the funnel.
Once kids get to later middle school / early high school Players, Coaches, and Parents all know each other. Play becomes less about winning as a team (you still want to win as a team) + more about getting noticed by College/Pro scouts/coaches.
ECNL and GA and Next and Etc all have great platforms for showcasing talent + in the end top players will get noticed.
This is spot on. ECNL is far superior to GA in So Cal. Big club ERCL (Slammers, Surf, Blues ECRL teams) are better than GA. The big club ECRL teams are packed with ECNL capable players, that would get significant playing time at the minnow ECNL clubs or GA. They stay at the bigger clubs for a variety of reasons; however the recent trend is a movement away from ECRL bigger clubs.
ECNL screwed the pooch at the recent Phoenix showcase. ECNL and ECRL events hosted at the same time about a 1 hour drive apart. Showcase for the ECRL? Take a wild guess as to which location all the college coaches went to scout. ECRL is attempting to provide dedicated showcases next year (Fall 2022 and beyond) and a national tournament in Seattle this June (once again, the same time as the ECNL tourney….fool me once, fool me twice…).
At a minimum, The GA provides dedicated showcases, that college coaches (ok, assistant coaches) will attend. So there is exposure for the players in GA.
Overall, the big club ECRL programs are losing some players to the weaker ECNL clubs and some GA. This trend will continue until ECRL gets their plan together on national showcases. For now, if you play ECRL and have a desire to play college ball, your best way in is to show well at the ID camps, because coaches are not seeing you play.
VegasParent
SILVER ELITE
There were large numbers of power 5 and other D1 head coaches at the GA showcase in NC last weekend. But even if only assistant coaches were attending GA showcases why is that a problem? Pretty sure assistant coaches attend ECNL showcases also. One of the best things I have seen someone post on here is that colleges recruit players, not teams or leagues.
what-happened
GOLD
The idea that GA showcases are being shunned by head coaches is interesting and is 100% parent driven. They aren't being shunned at all. Again, colleges will let the parents fret over the alphabet. They will recruit where they need to recruit and where they can recruit.
For now it appears that DPL is the better organized second league in terms of showcases. Not saying the talent is better, but their organization is better - plenty of success stories for DPL players moving on to the next level, to include D1 P5 schools. More are going to non D1 schools but doesn't diminish the fact that the DPL platform is well organized.
It seems as if ECNL as an organization is more worried about how "good" they are VS what good they are doing for their players. It appears as if the GA has embraced their role as the next best league, populated with players that have the desire and talent to play at the next level. They are cleverly positioning their brand to attract players and parents. Doesn't hurt that their leadership is rather well established in the soccer community.
Plenty of room in the soccer landscape for two "elite" leagues. Players and colleges will benefit.
All true. In the college game, the assistant coaches do ALL the heavy lifting on recruiting. They screen the emails, the video, the instagram etc…they are the initial filter. And it’s usually the “newer” asst coach doing this. The one who is making poverty level wages and running 3 club teams. In the end, the head coach is the decision maker—more than likely he/she is only looking at that player because the player passed muster with the assistant coach.
A new head coach who was contemplating travel to a hot humid location for recruiting one weekend was so aptly advised, “Hey coach, that’s what assistant coaches are for”.
You mean kinda what’s happening to Cal South and Coast?Good info and helpful to understand the potential E64 landscape.
As much as I am a critic of the outrageous list of letter leagues and the BS that goes with the marketing and promotion of them all, I do think it's possible that we end up in a position in a few years whereby the well organized, stronger leagues survive and the others collapse; then we move back to less number of leagues with more of a focus on quality over quantity and local/regional games with less travel. Perhaps some parallels with politics; everything expands and becomes more polarized until it reaches a critical point where the BS bubble finally explodes and we revert back to some sanity
You’re right though…collapse would probably be the next best thing to happen
Strikers FC North just joined Elite 64. Girls teams are also joining GA.
Soccerfambam
BRONZE
Was there an announcement regarding Strikers girls joining GA? I only see their Elite 64 announcement.
gauchos1991
BRONZE
Tim a lot of club teams are rec soccer, just practice more and carry the label club. Honestly that is ok. Let the kids play, stay fit, and grow to love the sport.
The elite leagues or teams are geared to college aspiring players and to be honest based on the level of play, college is simply and extension of club soccer at the adult level, avg skill with the exception of 5-10 big programs. MLS Next teams and USL academy teams are the elite youth teams. The recent high level of play shown at the 2022 Adidas youth cup by MLS teams who went toe to teo with europes big clubs was great to see.
Girls college soccer tends to be direct to the fastest forward.
Top level Club teams tend to be posession.
Slightly different types of play.
From the Spot
SILVER
Heard they weren't accepted into GA? Lot's of Striker's girls at tryouts all over SoCal.
Fortheloveofsoccer
BRONZE
Here's my take on it. If your player is good, they are good and colleges will find you, but are you going to get good playing against low caliber teams? If you look at the 07 USYNT ID roster it is spread out over top ECNL teams, lower ECNL teams and even a few GA teams. It'll be intresteing to see who fo those advance and if the GA players can hold up when playing against ECNL players. In Socal it is heavily unbalanced with the best teams being in ECNL and then there is a HUGE drop to GA and ECNLR teams, but that is Socal. It also doesn't make sense for anyone to be on a top team or an ECNL team unless they're seeing a good amount of playing time on the team...or else what good is going to events with college scout exposure if your player hardly touches the field? My advice if your in Socal, go to a ECNL team where you will be getting the most playing time that way you will have the exposure not just from going to these events, but from scouts seeing you play at these events, which is the most important. If you're not seeing playing time go to a lower ECNL team and if you're still not happy with palying then I would suggest GA.
what-happened
GOLD
As a parent, YNT shoudn't be in your calculation, unless you have a proven unicorn who's regularly attended ID centers since U14. It's such a small population and the funnel gets smaller as they get older. With that said, continued invites to ID centers and a regional camp here and there makes for good resume stuff.
Solid advice to a parent is to pick a league/club that is within reasonable driving distance that your DD can consistently get minutes and develop. The calculus should likely include access to showcases, proven club relationships with colleges. If your GOAT at U15/16 is that much better than anyone else, then socal ECNL is great, as are the top SOCAL GA clubs. Both will have equal pathways. I promise you college coaches aren't including ECNL/GA in their decsion criteria for a player.
Parents often get caught up with keeping up with jones. This costs your DD playing time and development. There are only so many roster slots at Surf, Slammers (both), Legends, Beach, etc. If you are good enough to sit their bench and attend practice, you are likley good enough to fill a roster spot with more playing time and better exposure somewhere else that has just as good a pathway. Besides,when players get to U16, it becomes more about them than the team.