Just curious... how many girls move to ECNL from a lower team?

[Anonymous]

Fcv is a good club but with all of the options in ecnl, with a fairly consensus opinion that ecnl is the better league, why keep trying to prop up GA. Let it go so talent can concentrate in one league. I see no need to continue to dilute the talent in this area other than FCV the coaches wanting to retain their paychecks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fcv is a good club but with all of the options in ecnl, with a fairly consensus opinion that ecnl is the better league, why keep trying to prop up GA. Let it go so talent can concentrate in one league. I see no need to continue to dilute the talent in this area other than FCV the coaches wanting to retain their paychecks.

Agreed. Good product in a weak league on girls side. Most players either left Loudoun, so no other option without drastic lifestyle travel change or prefer winning against lesser competition vs. losing against better competition. Niche offering for a highly profit driven club. No different than a small private school carving out a niche and charging high tuition for parents willing to pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fcv is a good club but with all of the options in ecnl, with a fairly consensus opinion that ecnl is the better league, why keep trying to prop up GA. Let it go so talent can concentrate in one league. I see no need to continue to dilute the talent in this area other than FCV the coaches wanting to retain their paychecks.

Agreed. Good product in a weak league on girls side. Most players either left Loudoun, so no other option without drastic lifestyle travel change or prefer winning against lesser competition vs. losing against better competition. Niche offering for a highly profit driven club. No different than a small private school carving out a niche and charging high tuition for parents willing to pay.

Is FCV really that much more than any of the other clubs in the area? Sensible discussion would involve researching before actually making comments that do not reflect reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fcv is a good club but with all of the options in ecnl, with a fairly consensus opinion that ecnl is the better league, why keep trying to prop up GA. Let it go so talent can concentrate in one league. I see no need to continue to dilute the talent in this area other than FCV the coaches wanting to retain their paychecks.

Fairly sure the federation tried to come to ECNL and request they conform to some things and the ECNL did not want to prior to them attempting to establish the DA. The future may hold a time where the federation does it again but I highly doubt it. Might take another few early exits from the world stage before people start seeing that international soccer and what is played here are not the same. The boys side has improved due to MLS Next but we have yet to see anything similar with NWSL and I don't mean any NWSL teams that have youth academies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fcv is a good club but with all of the options in ecnl, with a fairly consensus opinion that ecnl is the better league, why keep trying to prop up GA. Let it go so talent can concentrate in one league. I see no need to continue to dilute the talent in this area other than FCV the coaches wanting to retain their paychecks.

Fairly sure the federation tried to come to ECNL and request they conform to some things and the ECNL did not want to prior to them attempting to establish the DA. The future may hold a time where the federation does it again but I highly doubt it. Might take another few early exits from the world stage before people start seeing that international soccer and what is played here are not the same. The boys side has improved due to MLS Next but we have yet to see anything similar with NWSL and I don't mean any NWSL teams that have youth academies.

MLSnext works because MLS teams have inherent credibility as does their brand. When a youth academy is associated with a pro team, it will attract the best talent in the area and when those teams invite other clubs to play them, that will become the top league. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the NWSL does not have that kind of credibility. As long as ECNL teams place girls on college rosters (which is the goal on the girls side), they will still get the top players. Realistically, then number of players and clubs concerned with the performance of the women's national team is so small that it just doesn't factor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fcv is a good club but with all of the options in ecnl, with a fairly consensus opinion that ecnl is the better league, why keep trying to prop up GA. Let it go so talent can concentrate in one league. I see no need to continue to dilute the talent in this area other than FCV the coaches wanting to retain their paychecks.

Fairly sure the federation tried to come to ECNL and request they conform to some things and the ECNL did not want to prior to them attempting to establish the DA. The future may hold a time where the federation does it again but I highly doubt it. Might take another few early exits from the world stage before people start seeing that international soccer and what is played here are not the same. The boys side has improved due to MLS Next but we have yet to see anything similar with NWSL and I don't mean any NWSL teams that have youth academies.

MLSnext works because MLS teams have inherent credibility as does their brand. When a youth academy is associated with a pro team, it will attract the best talent in the area and when those teams invite other clubs to play them, that will become the top league. I don't think it's a stretch to say that the NWSL does not have that kind of credibility. As long as ECNL teams place girls on college rosters (which is the goal on the girls side), they will still get the top players. Realistically, then number of players and clubs concerned with the performance of the women's national team is so small that it just doesn't factor

Agreed. The NWSL over time may gain more credibility but that depends on how much money can they generate and reinvest if they choose. If they ever get to the point of creating enough revenue where they can establish their own version of MLS Next and offer some fully funded academies it may change some things. The success of the YNT on the boys side has come from primarily fully funded MLS Next academies that draw talent like you say and have found success as of late.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving up to ECNL within one's club is very challenging unless your daughter is one of the top players on her ECNL-R team, and/or there is a need to fill a certain position. Our experience (and from talking to other parents) shows that clubs in this region do not actively promote from within, ie., moving girls up from the second team to the top team. There is a long list of girls in our area wanting to play on the top level, so finding players from outside the club is easy. Also, if parents continue to pay checks for the second/third team, there is no incentive to develop kids and move them up.

Moving up to ECNL can many times be a combination of skill, positional awareness, speed, luck, timing, and grace. We found that to be the case this year with our daughter as she moved up at another club. They had a need and she was a match. She tried out at 2 clubs and received an offer from one of them.

Visit and practice with other clubs this fall; don't wait for spring tryouts. Ask if they have openings, if there are positional needs, etc.

At what are do you start trying out with other clubs? My daughter is 2013 with Arlington. Disheartening to see them bring less good players from outside instead of developing within.

For 2013 Arlington, heard that the issues all stem from the Age Group Manager, and less to do with the club as a whole -- although maybe that is what the club does. Hard to develop some of the players when the top teams don't drop anyone who they clearly should.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter was with McLean for 5 years and they never moved anyone from ECNL-regional (formally green) to ECNL. If they had spots (and they had 2-4 per year) they went to girls transferring from other ECNL teams.

two girls from green moved to ECNL u15 this year.

h

At the ECNL level it’ll be dependent on team needs and if an incoming player is good enough to displace a current one. One example would be Union’s 08 team. Seems like they had a lot of movement but they also don’t look like they’re performing either.

And they haven't promoted a player from '08 Green/RL in 4 years, despite cutting/demoting more than a half dozen.

Having watched that team for a few years. Yeah but it seems pretty obvious why girls are not promoted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter was with McLean for 5 years and they never moved anyone from ECNL-regional (formally green) to ECNL. If they had spots (and they had 2-4 per year) they went to girls transferring from other ECNL teams.

two girls from green moved to ECNL u15 this year.

h

At the ECNL level it’ll be dependent on team needs and if an incoming player is good enough to displace a current one. One example would be Union’s 08 team. Seems like they had a lot of movement but they also don’t look like they’re performing either.

And they haven't promoted a player from '08 Green/RL in 4 years, despite cutting/demoting more than a half dozen.

I have seen that 08’ team and there is maybe one girl who could play ECNL.

Another clear example reinforcing posts like this and showing that there’s no clear pathway at any clubs really around here for kids to make it to the top of their respective pyramids. The training environments around aren’t conducive to allow kids to grow without supplementing it individually, which typically in turn allows players to be poached to other teams.

You really can not say that. Some kids do not want to play ECNL because of the time commitment. I have seen some really talented girls who just do not want to play ECNL. It’s a full time job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter was with McLean for 5 years and they never moved anyone from ECNL-regional (formally green) to ECNL. If they had spots (and they had 2-4 per year) they went to girls transferring from other ECNL teams.

two girls from green moved to ECNL u15 this year.

h

At the ECNL level it’ll be dependent on team needs and if an incoming player is good enough to displace a current one. One example would be Union’s 08 team. Seems like they had a lot of movement but they also don’t look like they’re performing either.

And they haven't promoted a player from '08 Green/RL in 4 years, despite cutting/demoting more than a half dozen.

Having watched that team for a few years. Yeah but it seems pretty obvious why girls are not promoted.

Indeed. Development on that team has been abysmal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving up to ECNL within one's club is very challenging unless your daughter is one of the top players on her ECNL-R team, and/or there is a need to fill a certain position. Our experience (and from talking to other parents) shows that clubs in this region do not actively promote from within, ie., moving girls up from the second team to the top team. There is a long list of girls in our area wanting to play on the top level, so finding players from outside the club is easy. Also, if parents continue to pay checks for the second/third team, there is no incentive to develop kids and move them up.

Moving up to ECNL can many times be a combination of skill, positional awareness, speed, luck, timing, and grace. We found that to be the case this year with our daughter as she moved up at another club. They had a need and she was a match. She tried out at 2 clubs and received an offer from one of them.

Visit and practice with other clubs this fall; don't wait for spring tryouts. Ask if they have openings, if there are positional needs, etc.

At what are do you start trying out with other clubs? My daughter is 2013 with Arlington. Disheartening to see them bring less good players from outside instead of developing within.

For 2013 Arlington, heard that the issues all stem from the Age Group Manager, and less to do with the club as a whole -- although maybe that is what the club does. Hard to develop some of the players when the top teams don't drop anyone who they clearly should.

Arlington has one coach and two teams at the younger ages. This is means 30ish girls with one coach. It is opposite of accepted developmental age guidelines. I have watched the practices. In reality the coach works with the 6 top players while all the others do things in their own. This along with the lack technical instruction and locking players in to a position at u9 really hurt the girls by u16.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter was with McLean for 5 years and they never moved anyone from ECNL-regional (formally green) to ECNL. If they had spots (and they had 2-4 per year) they went to girls transferring from other ECNL teams.

two girls from green moved to ECNL u15 this year.

h

At the ECNL level it’ll be dependent on team needs and if an incoming player is good enough to displace a current one. One example would be Union’s 08 team. Seems like they had a lot of movement but they also don’t look like they’re performing either.

And they haven't promoted a player from '08 Green/RL in 4 years, despite cutting/demoting more than a half dozen.

Having watched that team for a few years. Yeah but it seems pretty obvious why girls are not promoted.

Indeed. Development on that team has been abysmal.

Not everyone develops and the problems run deeper on that team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Moving up to ECNL within one's club is very challenging unless your daughter is one of the top players on her ECNL-R team, and/or there is a need to fill a certain position. Our experience (and from talking to other parents) shows that clubs in this region do not actively promote from within, ie., moving girls up from the second team to the top team. There is a long list of girls in our area wanting to play on the top level, so finding players from outside the club is easy. Also, if parents continue to pay checks for the second/third team, there is no incentive to develop kids and move them up.

Moving up to ECNL can many times be a combination of skill, positional awareness, speed, luck, timing, and grace. We found that to be the case this year with our daughter as she moved up at another club. They had a need and she was a match. She tried out at 2 clubs and received an offer from one of them.

Visit and practice with other clubs this fall; don't wait for spring tryouts. Ask if they have openings, if there are positional needs, etc.

At what are do you start trying out with other clubs? My daughter is 2013 with Arlington. Disheartening to see them bring less good players from outside instead of developing within.

For 2013 Arlington, heard that the issues all stem from the Age Group Manager, and less to do with the club as a whole -- although maybe that is what the club does. Hard to develop some of the players when the top teams don't drop anyone who they clearly should.

Arlington has one coach and two teams at the younger ages. This is means 30ish girls with one coach. It is opposite of accepted developmental age guidelines. I have watched the practices. In reality the coach works with the 6 top players while all the others do things in their own. This along with the lack technical instruction and locking players in to a position at u9 really hurt the girls by u16.

Didn't realize it was different at other clubs. Any reason why Arlington does it this way? Coaches get paid more?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have a girl that loves soccer, U13. Didn't make an ECNL team. Agree that she isn't ready. But she is a really hard worker, self-motivated, works outside of regular practices a lot, just loves to play. Do any kids ever move up from ECNL-R teams to ECNL or is it mostly just movement of players between ECNL teams? This is in Northern Virginia.

In NJ most clubs try to promote 1 or 2 girls a year (not 1 or 2 per age group, 1 or 2 per club) to give the allusion of advancement. These 2 are usually from very vocal parents that threaten to leave the club if not promoted. Sadly for these girls they go from being a top player on their team to a bench warmer on the higher team. If the player was really going to help the higher level team the club would have moved her without the threats. But either way, the club gets their money. This is also similar for the case of PDA Blue and PDA White which are both ECNL and in the same league, and have 1 C team in ECRL (PDA Blue ECRL is actually a different location than PDA Blue/PDA White/PDA White ECRL). In this case, there is some movement between the 3 (mostly downwards so they can keep the money).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have a girl that loves soccer, U13. Didn't make an ECNL team. Agree that she isn't ready. But she is a really hard worker, self-motivated, works outside of regular practices a lot, just loves to play. Do any kids ever move up from ECNL-R teams to ECNL or is it mostly just movement of players between ECNL teams? This is in Northern Virginia.

In NJ most clubs try to promote 1 or 2 girls a year (not 1 or 2 per age group, 1 or 2 per club) to give the allusion of advancement. These 2 are usually from very vocal parents that threaten to leave the club if not promoted. Sadly for these girls they go from being a top player on their team to a bench warmer on the higher team. If the player was really going to help the higher level team the club would have moved her without the threats. But either way, the club gets their money. This is also similar for the case of PDA Blue and PDA White which are both ECNL and in the same league, and have 1 C team in ECRL (PDA Blue ECRL is actually a different location than PDA Blue/PDA White/PDA White ECRL). In this case, there is some movement between the 3 (mostly downwards so they can keep the money).

Same thing happens around here usually. If there is movement between RL and ECNL it’s typically the ECNL teams players that don’t get much time and decide to move down or if they leave the team it gets filled with an RL player that in turn won’t get much time, rinse and repeat the following year. Movement between ECNL teams happens but typically due to something occurring at the club, like some type of staff change or environment change where the players leave for greener pastures.