which club will leave ECNL next

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Holy Christ. I'm so happy that my DD is a rising junior and won't have to deal with all of this BS moving forward.

I realize that many get their rocks off with the speculation of what club is leaving next, in the grad scheme of things, does it really matter?

Maybe if you have girls or boys that are in their younger tween years, yeah, it could matter. But, I really think that if you have quality as a player, you will get seen and end up where you belong.

Good luck.

I think the ECNL continues to target a wealthier, college focused demographic and MLSN focuses on the pro pathway. Incentives drive the outcomes. ECNL will push to send kids to college programs and MLS will attempt to develop players that can be sold.

That said, ECNL teams play MLSN teams several times a year in tourneys and friendlies and both academy scouts and college scouts are at both league events. If the kid is good, they will be seen. Find the club that fits your child best and do not worry so much about acronyms.

MLSN isnt just for playing pro.

Players work their butt off to play professionally but sometimes it doesn't work out. In this situation playing in college is the fallback. Just like how D1 coaches love foreign Academy washouts. They also love MLSN Academy players.

So dont think that MLSN is only for playing professionally. Its both pro and college. ECNL on the other hand is college only. See why MLSN is appealing? If you can make it to the top levels multiple doors are open for you. As a college coach who would you choose? A player that played and practiced with MLS pro players. Or one that played at a club level only?

"As a college coach who would you choose?" The smarter one that can get into college and didn't waste too much time missing school for cross country events.

You chose the smarter one that was able to keep up grades while traveling cross country to do MLSN events. You act like College soccer doesnt do travel during the season. Did you think College stops because of an away game.

Do you own stock in MLSN? It's just a random league that replaced another league and will be replaced by another league in the future.

Sorry your kid did not make team.

Arlington just seems like a better program than Achilles and as someone else showed awhile ago, college placements on the boys side from ECNL and MLSN pay to play were similar.

Crazy to be stumping for a team, crazier to be stumping for a club, craziest to be stumping for a league.

Not sure how Achilles got lumped in but I’ll bite. Achilles is a boutique club that’s a fraction of the size and budget of Arlington. They have a player on USMNT U16 and a U16 starting on a Bundesliga academy team. Can Arlington, with far greater numbers and massive budget, say the same?

Case stuffs are useless for proper analysis. Do you have a numbers?

Please Arlington sends tons of kids to Academies every year and has a far better college track record. Great for the 1 or 2 players at Achilles who has done well with national team but 1
Player does not make a club and isn’t a statistically significant argument. Show me the track record for dozens and I will bite. Arlingtons top teams (as opposed to its huge rec and lower travel programs where most of the budget goes ) do quite well with Academies and D1 soccer.

So serious question, do clubs actively try to get their kids into colleges? Like make unsolicited recommendations?

I’ve not expected clubs to do that but mainly bc I assume clubs are just trying to develop players to be good enough for college soccer and more.

How have Arlington players scouted into academies done? Have they gone on to play pro? For that matter, how have kids recruited into academies from other MLSNext clubs done? Did they end up going pro or just gone ahead to college?

I’m genuinely curious as to what parents expectations are about what clubs can do for them. I know Bethesda is attractive for many because it’s “better” for playing in college. Does that mean they just do better so are able to get to better showcases (flex, cup, etc) or do the coaches do anything extra? All I know about college recruiting is that the player has to actively advocate for themselves. The clubs are just there to verify the players claims that they are a baller or make sure their teams attend certain events. But even then, colleges have ID events too.

Some of the better ECNL clubs have a college coordinator. If you look at their Insta most of the clubs also celebrate when a kids signs with a school.

One complaint I have heard from peers is that clubs will push the college path and discourage MLSN academies even if the kid's desire is different.

Most big clubs -- whether MLSN/GA/ECNL or even USYS -- promote college signings on their social media.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Christ. I'm so happy that my DD is a rising junior and won't have to deal with all of this BS moving forward.

I realize that many get their rocks off with the speculation of what club is leaving next, in the grad scheme of things, does it really matter?

Maybe if you have girls or boys that are in their younger tween years, yeah, it could matter. But, I really think that if you have quality as a player, you will get seen and end up where you belong.

Good luck.

I think the ECNL continues to target a wealthier, college focused demographic and MLSN focuses on the pro pathway. Incentives drive the outcomes. ECNL will push to send kids to college programs and MLS will attempt to develop players that can be sold.

That said, ECNL teams play MLSN teams several times a year in tourneys and friendlies and both academy scouts and college scouts are at both league events. If the kid is good, they will be seen. Find the club that fits your child best and do not worry so much about acronyms.

MLSN isnt just for playing pro.

Players work their butt off to play professionally but sometimes it doesn't work out. In this situation playing in college is the fallback. Just like how D1 coaches love foreign Academy washouts. They also love MLSN Academy players.

So dont think that MLSN is only for playing professionally. Its both pro and college. ECNL on the other hand is college only. See why MLSN is appealing? If you can make it to the top levels multiple doors are open for you. As a college coach who would you choose? A player that played and practiced with MLS pro players. Or one that played at a club level only?

"As a college coach who would you choose?" The smarter one that can get into college and didn't waste too much time missing school for cross country events.

You chose the smarter one that was able to keep up grades while traveling cross country to do MLSN events. You act like College soccer doesnt do travel during the season. Did you think College stops because of an away game.

Do you own stock in MLSN? It's just a random league that replaced another league and will be replaced by another league in the future.

Sorry your kid did not make team.

Arlington just seems like a better program than Achilles and as someone else showed awhile ago, college placements on the boys side from ECNL and MLSN pay to play were similar.

Crazy to be stumping for a team, crazier to be stumping for a club, craziest to be stumping for a league.

Not sure how Achilles got lumped in but I’ll bite. Achilles is a boutique club that’s a fraction of the size and budget of Arlington. They have a player on USMNT U16 and a U16 starting on a Bundesliga academy team. Can Arlington, with far greater numbers and massive budget, say the same?

Case stuffs are useless for proper analysis. Do you have a numbers?

Please Arlington sends tons of kids to Academies every year and has a far better college track record. Great for the 1 or 2 players at Achilles who has done well with national team but 1
Player does not make a club and isn’t a statistically significant argument. Show me the track record for dozens and I will bite. Arlingtons top teams (as opposed to its huge rec and lower travel programs where most of the budget goes ) do quite well with Academies and D1 soccer.

That’s one at the national team and one in a Bundesliga academy. That’s two. Two more than Arlington. Add another 13 to MLS academies. I’m not trying to make this Arlington vs. Achilles. Some poster dropped Achilles into the conversation randomly.

Arlington does have a great track record. Don’t dispute that whatsoever.

No one think Achilles accomplishes much bc they never post on social media when their players leave for MLS academies. I don’t think Bethesda does either for that matter.

They do share when a player posts something about college and when players gets into a Bundesliga academy and U16 national team.

No social media excuse. Got it. FYI, kids are almost 15-30x more likely to suffer sport ending injury than go pro. College is the smarter play.

Most colleges don’t want your 18 y/o US player, so…

100% true which is why their favorite players come from MLS Acadamies. It compensates for being 18 years old.

"Most colleges don’t want your 18 y/o US player, so…"

100% true which is why their favorite players come from MLS Acadamies. It compensates for being 18 years old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Christ. I'm so happy that my DD is a rising junior and won't have to deal with all of this BS moving forward.

I realize that many get their rocks off with the speculation of what club is leaving next, in the grad scheme of things, does it really matter?

Maybe if you have girls or boys that are in their younger tween years, yeah, it could matter. But, I really think that if you have quality as a player, you will get seen and end up where you belong.

Good luck.

I think the ECNL continues to target a wealthier, college focused demographic and MLSN focuses on the pro pathway. Incentives drive the outcomes. ECNL will push to send kids to college programs and MLS will attempt to develop players that can be sold.

That said, ECNL teams play MLSN teams several times a year in tourneys and friendlies and both academy scouts and college scouts are at both league events. If the kid is good, they will be seen. Find the club that fits your child best and do not worry so much about acronyms.

MLSN isnt just for playing pro.

Players work their butt off to play professionally but sometimes it doesn't work out. In this situation playing in college is the fallback. Just like how D1 coaches love foreign Academy washouts. They also love MLSN Academy players.

So dont think that MLSN is only for playing professionally. Its both pro and college. ECNL on the other hand is college only. See why MLSN is appealing? If you can make it to the top levels multiple doors are open for you. As a college coach who would you choose? A player that played and practiced with MLS pro players. Or one that played at a club level only?

"As a college coach who would you choose?" The smarter one that can get into college and didn't waste too much time missing school for cross country events.

You chose the smarter one that was able to keep up grades while traveling cross country to do MLSN events. You act like College soccer doesnt do travel during the season. Did you think College stops because of an away game.

Do you own stock in MLSN? It's just a random league that replaced another league and will be replaced by another league in the future.

Sorry your kid did not make team.

Arlington just seems like a better program than Achilles and as someone else showed awhile ago, college placements on the boys side from ECNL and MLSN pay to play were similar.

Crazy to be stumping for a team, crazier to be stumping for a club, craziest to be stumping for a league.

Not sure how Achilles got lumped in but I’ll bite. Achilles is a boutique club that’s a fraction of the size and budget of Arlington. They have a player on USMNT U16 and a U16 starting on a Bundesliga academy team. Can Arlington, with far greater numbers and massive budget, say the same?

Case stuffs are useless for proper analysis. Do you have a numbers?

Please Arlington sends tons of kids to Academies every year and has a far better college track record. Great for the 1 or 2 players at Achilles who has done well with national team but 1
Player does not make a club and isn’t a statistically significant argument. Show me the track record for dozens and I will bite. Arlingtons top teams (as opposed to its huge rec and lower travel programs where most of the budget goes ) do quite well with Academies and D1 soccer.

That’s one at the national team and one in a Bundesliga academy. That’s two. Two more than Arlington. Add another 13 to MLS academies. I’m not trying to make this Arlington vs. Achilles. Some poster dropped Achilles into the conversation randomly.

Arlington does have a great track record. Don’t dispute that whatsoever.

No one think Achilles accomplishes much bc they never post on social media when their players leave for MLS academies. I don’t think Bethesda does either for that matter.

They do share when a player posts something about college and when players gets into a Bundesliga academy and U16 national team.

No social media excuse. Got it. FYI, kids are almost 15-30x more likely to suffer sport ending injury than go pro. College is the smarter play.

Most colleges don’t want your 18 y/o US player, so…

100% true which is why their favorite players come from MLS Acadamies. It compensates for being 18 years old.

"Most colleges don’t want your 18 y/o US player, so…"

100% true which is why their favorite players come from MLS Acadamies. It compensates for being 18 years old.

"Most colleges don’t want your 18 y/o US player, so…"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Christ. I'm so happy that my DD is a rising junior and won't have to deal with all of this BS moving forward.

I realize that many get their rocks off with the speculation of what club is leaving next, in the grad scheme of things, does it really matter?

Maybe if you have girls or boys that are in their younger tween years, yeah, it could matter. But, I really think that if you have quality as a player, you will get seen and end up where you belong.

Good luck.

I think the ECNL continues to target a wealthier, college focused demographic and MLSN focuses on the pro pathway. Incentives drive the outcomes. ECNL will push to send kids to college programs and MLS will attempt to develop players that can be sold.

That said, ECNL teams play MLSN teams several times a year in tourneys and friendlies and both academy scouts and college scouts are at both league events. If the kid is good, they will be seen. Find the club that fits your child best and do not worry so much about acronyms.

MLSN isnt just for playing pro.

Players work their butt off to play professionally but sometimes it doesn't work out. In this situation playing in college is the fallback. Just like how D1 coaches love foreign Academy washouts. They also love MLSN Academy players.

So dont think that MLSN is only for playing professionally. Its both pro and college. ECNL on the other hand is college only. See why MLSN is appealing? If you can make it to the top levels multiple doors are open for you. As a college coach who would you choose? A player that played and practiced with MLS pro players. Or one that played at a club level only?

"As a college coach who would you choose?" The smarter one that can get into college and didn't waste too much time missing school for cross country events.

You chose the smarter one that was able to keep up grades while traveling cross country to do MLSN events. You act like College soccer doesnt do travel during the season. Did you think College stops because of an away game.

Do you own stock in MLSN? It's just a random league that replaced another league and will be replaced by another league in the future.

Sorry your kid did not make team.

Arlington just seems like a better program than Achilles and as someone else showed awhile ago, college placements on the boys side from ECNL and MLSN pay to play were similar.

Crazy to be stumping for a team, crazier to be stumping for a club, craziest to be stumping for a league.

Not sure how Achilles got lumped in but I’ll bite. Achilles is a boutique club that’s a fraction of the size and budget of Arlington. They have a player on USMNT U16 and a U16 starting on a Bundesliga academy team. Can Arlington, with far greater numbers and massive budget, say the same?

Case stuffs are useless for proper analysis. Do you have a numbers?

Please Arlington sends tons of kids to Academies every year and has a far better college track record. Great for the 1 or 2 players at Achilles who has done well with national team but 1
Player does not make a club and isn’t a statistically significant argument. Show me the track record for dozens and I will bite. Arlingtons top teams (as opposed to its huge rec and lower travel programs where most of the budget goes ) do quite well with Academies and D1 soccer.

So serious question, do clubs actively try to get their kids into colleges? Like make unsolicited recommendations?

I’ve not expected clubs to do that but mainly bc I assume clubs are just trying to develop players to be good enough for college soccer and more.

How have Arlington players scouted into academies done? Have they gone on to play pro? For that matter, how have kids recruited into academies from other MLSNext clubs done? Did they end up going pro or just gone ahead to college?

I’m genuinely curious as to what parents expectations are about what clubs can do for them. I know Bethesda is attractive for many because it’s “better” for playing in college. Does that mean they just do better so are able to get to better showcases (flex, cup, etc) or do the coaches do anything extra? All I know about college recruiting is that the player has to actively advocate for themselves. The clubs are just there to verify the players claims that they are a baller or make sure their teams attend certain events. But even then, colleges have ID events too.

Some of the better ECNL clubs have a college coordinator. If you look at their Insta most of the clubs also celebrate when a kids signs with a school.

One complaint I have heard from peers is that clubs will push the college path and discourage MLSN academies even if the kid's desire is different.

Its because if ECNL players leave for MLSN theres nothing they can brag about online to entice new players/parents into the scam.

I've seen several ECNL clubs announcing MLS Academy signing this year on social media. I suspect it is more because they have to than want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Christ. I'm so happy that my DD is a rising junior and won't have to deal with all of this BS moving forward.

I realize that many get their rocks off with the speculation of what club is leaving next, in the grad scheme of things, does it really matter?

Maybe if you have girls or boys that are in their younger tween years, yeah, it could matter. But, I really think that if you have quality as a player, you will get seen and end up where you belong.

Good luck.

I think the ECNL continues to target a wealthier, college focused demographic and MLSN focuses on the pro pathway. Incentives drive the outcomes. ECNL will push to send kids to college programs and MLS will attempt to develop players that can be sold.

That said, ECNL teams play MLSN teams several times a year in tourneys and friendlies and both academy scouts and college scouts are at both league events. If the kid is good, they will be seen. Find the club that fits your child best and do not worry so much about acronyms.

MLSN isnt just for playing pro.

Players work their butt off to play professionally but sometimes it doesn't work out. In this situation playing in college is the fallback. Just like how D1 coaches love foreign Academy washouts. They also love MLSN Academy players.

So dont think that MLSN is only for playing professionally. Its both pro and college. ECNL on the other hand is college only. See why MLSN is appealing? If you can make it to the top levels multiple doors are open for you. As a college coach who would you choose? A player that played and practiced with MLS pro players. Or one that played at a club level only?

"As a college coach who would you choose?" The smarter one that can get into college and didn't waste too much time missing school for cross country events.

You chose the smarter one that was able to keep up grades while traveling cross country to do MLSN events. You act like College soccer doesnt do travel during the season. Did you think College stops because of an away game.

Do you own stock in MLSN? It's just a random league that replaced another league and will be replaced by another league in the future.

Sorry your kid did not make team.

Arlington just seems like a better program than Achilles and as someone else showed awhile ago, college placements on the boys side from ECNL and MLSN pay to play were similar.

Crazy to be stumping for a team, crazier to be stumping for a club, craziest to be stumping for a league.

Not sure how Achilles got lumped in but I’ll bite. Achilles is a boutique club that’s a fraction of the size and budget of Arlington. They have a player on USMNT U16 and a U16 starting on a Bundesliga academy team. Can Arlington, with far greater numbers and massive budget, say the same?

Case stuffs are useless for proper analysis. Do you have a numbers?

Please Arlington sends tons of kids to Academies every year and has a far better college track record. Great for the 1 or 2 players at Achilles who has done well with national team but 1
Player does not make a club and isn’t a statistically significant argument. Show me the track record for dozens and I will bite. Arlingtons top teams (as opposed to its huge rec and lower travel programs where most of the budget goes ) do quite well with Academies and D1 soccer.

So serious question, do clubs actively try to get their kids into colleges? Like make unsolicited recommendations?

I’ve not expected clubs to do that but mainly bc I assume clubs are just trying to develop players to be good enough for college soccer and more.

How have Arlington players scouted into academies done? Have they gone on to play pro? For that matter, how have kids recruited into academies from other MLSNext clubs done? Did they end up going pro or just gone ahead to college?

I’m genuinely curious as to what parents expectations are about what clubs can do for them. I know Bethesda is attractive for many because it’s “better” for playing in college. Does that mean they just do better so are able to get to better showcases (flex, cup, etc) or do the coaches do anything extra? All I know about college recruiting is that the player has to actively advocate for themselves. The clubs are just there to verify the players claims that they are a baller or make sure their teams attend certain events. But even then, colleges have ID events too.

Make no mistake. A well respected club coach or TD with college connections opens a lot of doors. Yes, no matter ECNL or MLSN players must own their own recruiting process. Unless you are top 10 in the country you need to have film and engage. BUT if you are at a club that has a relationship coaches you get looks. Certain TDs get calls from colleges asking who is up and coming that they should look at. The club is not going to do the job for you--but they can help in many ways.

Men or Women's - makes a huge difference. The D1 landscape for US college men is really tough. My nephew is a rising senior and just committed the past Spring to play D1, P4 soccer. It was a slog to get to that point. It is his "dream" school and was willing to wait them out and was ecstatic to get a spot despite not having a ton of athletic money sent his way.

Agree with the relationship aspect. Having a well connect coach and/or technical director makes a difference in terms of knowing programs, college coaches, who does what when in recruiting and reputation of the program. My DD is a rising HS junior and is right in the thick of this - she's on an official visit now with Mom. I would say that our club overall has done a pretty good job of passing along information, sharing thoughts and being available to answer questions. We just brought on an official position of someone as college recruiting coordinator, so up to this point, it's been the TD and club coach that have been guiding the process.

What has been interesting is the $$ that is available - schools with large football programs - think Big10 and SEC - seem to have more $$ to throw around than other schools, even those in the ACC. Not every ACC school, but some are just not forking out the $$. Just interesting to see how things are progressing with the settlement and roster cap of 28 and being able to offer 28 scholarships if you have the cash.

Oh yeah. Just to contribute to the thread topic. I struggle to see how the GA would absorb another club in Northern VA whether it's Arlington, VDA or whatever. There are already three clubs within spitting distance with VRSC, NVA and LS. I'm at a point as well as not caring much either with a DD who only has two years left and is in position to commit to a college in a few weeks. The biggest goal then becomes staying healthy and fit and working with the selected school on a development plan for the next two years. Good Luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Christ. I'm so happy that my DD is a rising junior and won't have to deal with all of this BS moving forward.

I realize that many get their rocks off with the speculation of what club is leaving next, in the grad scheme of things, does it really matter?

Maybe if you have girls or boys that are in their younger tween years, yeah, it could matter. But, I really think that if you have quality as a player, you will get seen and end up where you belong.

Good luck.

I think the ECNL continues to target a wealthier, college focused demographic and MLSN focuses on the pro pathway. Incentives drive the outcomes. ECNL will push to send kids to college programs and MLS will attempt to develop players that can be sold.

That said, ECNL teams play MLSN teams several times a year in tourneys and friendlies and both academy scouts and college scouts are at both league events. If the kid is good, they will be seen. Find the club that fits your child best and do not worry so much about acronyms.

MLSN isnt just for playing pro.

Players work their butt off to play professionally but sometimes it doesn't work out. In this situation playing in college is the fallback. Just like how D1 coaches love foreign Academy washouts. They also love MLSN Academy players.

So dont think that MLSN is only for playing professionally. Its both pro and college. ECNL on the other hand is college only. See why MLSN is appealing? If you can make it to the top levels multiple doors are open for you. As a college coach who would you choose? A player that played and practiced with MLS pro players. Or one that played at a club level only?

"As a college coach who would you choose?" The smarter one that can get into college and didn't waste too much time missing school for cross country events.

You chose the smarter one that was able to keep up grades while traveling cross country to do MLSN events. You act like College soccer doesnt do travel during the season. Did you think College stops because of an away game.

Do you own stock in MLSN? It's just a random league that replaced another league and will be replaced by another league in the future.

Sorry your kid did not make team.

Arlington just seems like a better program than Achilles and as someone else showed awhile ago, college placements on the boys side from ECNL and MLSN pay to play were similar.

Crazy to be stumping for a team, crazier to be stumping for a club, craziest to be stumping for a league.

Not sure how Achilles got lumped in but I’ll bite. Achilles is a boutique club that’s a fraction of the size and budget of Arlington. They have a player on USMNT U16 and a U16 starting on a Bundesliga academy team. Can Arlington, with far greater numbers and massive budget, say the same?

Case stuffs are useless for proper analysis. Do you have a numbers?

Please Arlington sends tons of kids to Academies every year and has a far better college track record. Great for the 1 or 2 players at Achilles who has done well with national team but 1
Player does not make a club and isn’t a statistically significant argument. Show me the track record for dozens and I will bite. Arlingtons top teams (as opposed to its huge rec and lower travel programs where most of the budget goes ) do quite well with Academies and D1 soccer.

That’s one at the national team and one in a Bundesliga academy. That’s two. Two more than Arlington. Add another 13 to MLS academies. I’m not trying to make this Arlington vs. Achilles. Some poster dropped Achilles into the conversation randomly.

Arlington does have a great track record. Don’t dispute that whatsoever.

No one think Achilles accomplishes much bc they never post on social media when their players leave for MLS academies. I don’t think Bethesda does either for that matter.

They do share when a player posts something about college and when players gets into a Bundesliga academy and U16 national team.

No social media excuse. Got it. FYI, kids are almost 15-30x more likely to suffer sport ending injury than go pro. College is the smarter play.

Social media excuse, what does that even mean? Being on an MLS academy team doesn’t guarantee anything. I know that, you should know that, Achilles FC knows that. It’s safe to assume 99% of all youth football kids in the US are headed to college, semi-pro or another career that doesn’t involve playing ball.

Now that we’ve set the baseline, Achilles chooses to highlight when kids advance to the big leagues. I believe they also post when a player gets into collegiate level soccer—that’s also a big accomplishment for players. So what’s wrong with that?

“Social Media” is one big circle jerk to stroke parents egos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Christ. I'm so happy that my DD is a rising junior and won't have to deal with all of this BS moving forward.

I realize that many get their rocks off with the speculation of what club is leaving next, in the grad scheme of things, does it really matter?

Maybe if you have girls or boys that are in their younger tween years, yeah, it could matter. But, I really think that if you have quality as a player, you will get seen and end up where you belong.

Good luck.

I think the ECNL continues to target a wealthier, college focused demographic and MLSN focuses on the pro pathway. Incentives drive the outcomes. ECNL will push to send kids to college programs and MLS will attempt to develop players that can be sold.

That said, ECNL teams play MLSN teams several times a year in tourneys and friendlies and both academy scouts and college scouts are at both league events. If the kid is good, they will be seen. Find the club that fits your child best and do not worry so much about acronyms.

MLSN isnt just for playing pro.

Players work their butt off to play professionally but sometimes it doesn't work out. In this situation playing in college is the fallback. Just like how D1 coaches love foreign Academy washouts. They also love MLSN Academy players.

So dont think that MLSN is only for playing professionally. Its both pro and college. ECNL on the other hand is college only. See why MLSN is appealing? If you can make it to the top levels multiple doors are open for you. As a college coach who would you choose? A player that played and practiced with MLS pro players. Or one that played at a club level only?

"As a college coach who would you choose?" The smarter one that can get into college and didn't waste too much time missing school for cross country events.

You chose the smarter one that was able to keep up grades while traveling cross country to do MLSN events. You act like College soccer doesnt do travel during the season. Did you think College stops because of an away game.

Do you own stock in MLSN? It's just a random league that replaced another league and will be replaced by another league in the future.

Sorry your kid did not make team.

Arlington just seems like a better program than Achilles and as someone else showed awhile ago, college placements on the boys side from ECNL and MLSN pay to play were similar.

Crazy to be stumping for a team, crazier to be stumping for a club, craziest to be stumping for a league.

Not sure how Achilles got lumped in but I’ll bite. Achilles is a boutique club that’s a fraction of the size and budget of Arlington. They have a player on USMNT U16 and a U16 starting on a Bundesliga academy team. Can Arlington, with far greater numbers and massive budget, say the same?

Case stuffs are useless for proper analysis. Do you have a numbers?

Please Arlington sends tons of kids to Academies every year and has a far better college track record. Great for the 1 or 2 players at Achilles who has done well with national team but 1
Player does not make a club and isn’t a statistically significant argument. Show me the track record for dozens and I will bite. Arlingtons top teams (as opposed to its huge rec and lower travel programs where most of the budget goes ) do quite well with Academies and D1 soccer.

So serious question, do clubs actively try to get their kids into colleges? Like make unsolicited recommendations?

I’ve not expected clubs to do that but mainly bc I assume clubs are just trying to develop players to be good enough for college soccer and more.

How have Arlington players scouted into academies done? Have they gone on to play pro? For that matter, how have kids recruited into academies from other MLSNext clubs done? Did they end up going pro or just gone ahead to college?

I’m genuinely curious as to what parents expectations are about what clubs can do for them. I know Bethesda is attractive for many because it’s “better” for playing in college. Does that mean they just do better so are able to get to better showcases (flex, cup, etc) or do the coaches do anything extra? All I know about college recruiting is that the player has to actively advocate for themselves. The clubs are just there to verify the players claims that they are a baller or make sure their teams attend certain events. But even then, colleges have ID events too.

Make no mistake. A well respected club coach or TD with college connections opens a lot of doors. Yes, no matter ECNL or MLSN players must own their own recruiting process. Unless you are top 10 in the country you need to have film and engage. BUT if you are at a club that has a relationship coaches you get looks. Certain TDs get calls from colleges asking who is up and coming that they should look at. The club is not going to do the job for you--but they can help in many ways.

Men or Women's - makes a huge difference. The D1 landscape for US college men is really tough. My nephew is a rising senior and just committed the past Spring to play D1, P4 soccer. It was a slog to get to that point. It is his "dream" school and was willing to wait them out and was ecstatic to get a spot despite not having a ton of athletic money sent his way.

Agree with the relationship aspect. Having a well connect coach and/or technical director makes a difference in terms of knowing programs, college coaches, who does what when in recruiting and reputation of the program. My DD is a rising HS junior and is right in the thick of this - she's on an official visit now with Mom. I would say that our club overall has done a pretty good job of passing along information, sharing thoughts and being available to answer questions. We just brought on an official position of someone as college recruiting coordinator, so up to this point, it's been the TD and club coach that have been guiding the process.

What has been interesting is the $$ that is available - schools with large football programs - think Big10 and SEC - seem to have more $$ to throw around than other schools, even those in the ACC. Not every ACC school, but some are just not forking out the $$. Just interesting to see how things are progressing with the settlement and roster cap of 28 and being able to offer 28 scholarships if you have the cash.

Oh yeah. Just to contribute to the thread topic. I struggle to see how the GA would absorb another club in Northern VA whether it's Arlington, VDA or whatever. There are already three clubs within spitting distance with VRSC, NVA and LS. I'm at a point as well as not caring much either with a DD who only has two years left and is in position to commit to a college in a few weeks. The biggest goal then becomes staying healthy and fit and working with the selected school on a development plan for the next two years. Good Luck.

Truth of the matter is there is not a lot of soccer scholarship money because it is a money loser at Division 1 as it has little student/fan interest and zero TV exposure. Hardly anyone cares to watch or attend college soccer games except perhaps playoffs. Not going to change anytime soon so chasing that rainbow does not have a pot of gold with it for most kids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Christ. I'm so happy that my DD is a rising junior and won't have to deal with all of this BS moving forward.

I realize that many get their rocks off with the speculation of what club is leaving next, in the grad scheme of things, does it really matter?

Maybe if you have girls or boys that are in their younger tween years, yeah, it could matter. But, I really think that if you have quality as a player, you will get seen and end up where you belong.

Good luck.

I think the ECNL continues to target a wealthier, college focused demographic and MLSN focuses on the pro pathway. Incentives drive the outcomes. ECNL will push to send kids to college programs and MLS will attempt to develop players that can be sold.

That said, ECNL teams play MLSN teams several times a year in tourneys and friendlies and both academy scouts and college scouts are at both league events. If the kid is good, they will be seen. Find the club that fits your child best and do not worry so much about acronyms.

MLSN isnt just for playing pro.

Players work their butt off to play professionally but sometimes it doesn't work out. In this situation playing in college is the fallback. Just like how D1 coaches love foreign Academy washouts. They also love MLSN Academy players.

So dont think that MLSN is only for playing professionally. Its both pro and college. ECNL on the other hand is college only. See why MLSN is appealing? If you can make it to the top levels multiple doors are open for you. As a college coach who would you choose? A player that played and practiced with MLS pro players. Or one that played at a club level only?

"As a college coach who would you choose?" The smarter one that can get into college and didn't waste too much time missing school for cross country events.

You chose the smarter one that was able to keep up grades while traveling cross country to do MLSN events. You act like College soccer doesnt do travel during the season. Did you think College stops because of an away game.

Do you own stock in MLSN? It's just a random league that replaced another league and will be replaced by another league in the future.

Sorry your kid did not make team.

Arlington just seems like a better program than Achilles and as someone else showed awhile ago, college placements on the boys side from ECNL and MLSN pay to play were similar.

Crazy to be stumping for a team, crazier to be stumping for a club, craziest to be stumping for a league.

Not sure how Achilles got lumped in but I’ll bite. Achilles is a boutique club that’s a fraction of the size and budget of Arlington. They have a player on USMNT U16 and a U16 starting on a Bundesliga academy team. Can Arlington, with far greater numbers and massive budget, say the same?

Case stuffs are useless for proper analysis. Do you have a numbers?

Please Arlington sends tons of kids to Academies every year and has a far better college track record. Great for the 1 or 2 players at Achilles who has done well with national team but 1
Player does not make a club and isn’t a statistically significant argument. Show me the track record for dozens and I will bite. Arlingtons top teams (as opposed to its huge rec and lower travel programs where most of the budget goes ) do quite well with Academies and D1 soccer.

That’s one at the national team and one in a Bundesliga academy. That’s two. Two more than Arlington. Add another 13 to MLS academies. I’m not trying to make this Arlington vs. Achilles. Some poster dropped Achilles into the conversation randomly.

Arlington does have a great track record. Don’t dispute that whatsoever.

No one think Achilles accomplishes much bc they never post on social media when their players leave for MLS academies. I don’t think Bethesda does either for that matter.

They do share when a player posts something about college and when players gets into a Bundesliga academy and U16 national team.

No social media excuse. Got it. FYI, kids are almost 15-30x more likely to suffer sport ending injury than go pro. College is the smarter play.

Social media excuse, what does that even mean? Being on an MLS academy team doesn’t guarantee anything. I know that, you should know that, Achilles FC knows that. It’s safe to assume 99% of all youth football kids in the US are headed to college, semi-pro or another career that doesn’t involve playing ball.

Now that we’ve set the baseline, Achilles chooses to highlight when kids advance to the big leagues. I believe they also post when a player gets into collegiate level soccer—that’s also a big accomplishment for players. So what’s wrong with that?

“Social Media” is one big circle jerk to stroke parents egos.

Especially when 5-7 kids get cut from the roster every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Christ. I'm so happy that my DD is a rising junior and won't have to deal with all of this BS moving forward.

I realize that many get their rocks off with the speculation of what club is leaving next, in the grad scheme of things, does it really matter?

Maybe if you have girls or boys that are in their younger tween years, yeah, it could matter. But, I really think that if you have quality as a player, you will get seen and end up where you belong.

Good luck.

I think the ECNL continues to target a wealthier, college focused demographic and MLSN focuses on the pro pathway. Incentives drive the outcomes. ECNL will push to send kids to college programs and MLS will attempt to develop players that can be sold.

That said, ECNL teams play MLSN teams several times a year in tourneys and friendlies and both academy scouts and college scouts are at both league events. If the kid is good, they will be seen. Find the club that fits your child best and do not worry so much about acronyms.

MLSN isnt just for playing pro.

Players work their butt off to play professionally but sometimes it doesn't work out. In this situation playing in college is the fallback. Just like how D1 coaches love foreign Academy washouts. They also love MLSN Academy players.

So dont think that MLSN is only for playing professionally. Its both pro and college. ECNL on the other hand is college only. See why MLSN is appealing? If you can make it to the top levels multiple doors are open for you. As a college coach who would you choose? A player that played and practiced with MLS pro players. Or one that played at a club level only?

"As a college coach who would you choose?" The smarter one that can get into college and didn't waste too much time missing school for cross country events.

You chose the smarter one that was able to keep up grades while traveling cross country to do MLSN events. You act like College soccer doesnt do travel during the season. Did you think College stops because of an away game.

Do you own stock in MLSN? It's just a random league that replaced another league and will be replaced by another league in the future.

Sorry your kid did not make team.

Arlington just seems like a better program than Achilles and as someone else showed awhile ago, college placements on the boys side from ECNL and MLSN pay to play were similar.

Crazy to be stumping for a team, crazier to be stumping for a club, craziest to be stumping for a league.

Not sure how Achilles got lumped in but I’ll bite. Achilles is a boutique club that’s a fraction of the size and budget of Arlington. They have a player on USMNT U16 and a U16 starting on a Bundesliga academy team. Can Arlington, with far greater numbers and massive budget, say the same?

Case stuffs are useless for proper analysis. Do you have a numbers?

Please Arlington sends tons of kids to Academies every year and has a far better college track record. Great for the 1 or 2 players at Achilles who has done well with national team but 1
Player does not make a club and isn’t a statistically significant argument. Show me the track record for dozens and I will bite. Arlingtons top teams (as opposed to its huge rec and lower travel programs where most of the budget goes ) do quite well with Academies and D1 soccer.

So serious question, do clubs actively try to get their kids into colleges? Like make unsolicited recommendations?

I’ve not expected clubs to do that but mainly bc I assume clubs are just trying to develop players to be good enough for college soccer and more.

How have Arlington players scouted into academies done? Have they gone on to play pro? For that matter, how have kids recruited into academies from other MLSNext clubs done? Did they end up going pro or just gone ahead to college?

I’m genuinely curious as to what parents expectations are about what clubs can do for them. I know Bethesda is attractive for many because it’s “better” for playing in college. Does that mean they just do better so are able to get to better showcases (flex, cup, etc) or do the coaches do anything extra? All I know about college recruiting is that the player has to actively advocate for themselves. The clubs are just there to verify the players claims that they are a baller or make sure their teams attend certain events. But even then, colleges have ID events too.

Make no mistake. A well respected club coach or TD with college connections opens a lot of doors. Yes, no matter ECNL or MLSN players must own their own recruiting process. Unless you are top 10 in the country you need to have film and engage. BUT if you are at a club that has a relationship coaches you get looks. Certain TDs get calls from colleges asking who is up and coming that they should look at. The club is not going to do the job for you--but they can help in many ways.

Men or Women's - makes a huge difference. The D1 landscape for US college men is really tough. My nephew is a rising senior and just committed the past Spring to play D1, P4 soccer. It was a slog to get to that point. It is his "dream" school and was willing to wait them out and was ecstatic to get a spot despite not having a ton of athletic money sent his way.

Agree with the relationship aspect. Having a well connect coach and/or technical director makes a difference in terms of knowing programs, college coaches, who does what when in recruiting and reputation of the program. My DD is a rising HS junior and is right in the thick of this - she's on an official visit now with Mom. I would say that our club overall has done a pretty good job of passing along information, sharing thoughts and being available to answer questions. We just brought on an official position of someone as college recruiting coordinator, so up to this point, it's been the TD and club coach that have been guiding the process.

What has been interesting is the $$ that is available - schools with large football programs - think Big10 and SEC - seem to have more $$ to throw around than other schools, even those in the ACC. Not every ACC school, but some are just not forking out the $$. Just interesting to see how things are progressing with the settlement and roster cap of 28 and being able to offer 28 scholarships if you have the cash.

Oh yeah. Just to contribute to the thread topic. I struggle to see how the GA would absorb another club in Northern VA whether it's Arlington, VDA or whatever. There are already three clubs within spitting distance with VRSC, NVA and LS. I'm at a point as well as not caring much either with a DD who only has two years left and is in position to commit to a college in a few weeks. The biggest goal then becomes staying healthy and fit and working with the selected school on a development plan for the next two years. Good Luck.

“P4 Men’s Soccer” isn’t a thing. SEC and Big 12 don’t have men’s soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Christ. I'm so happy that my DD is a rising junior and won't have to deal with all of this BS moving forward.

I realize that many get their rocks off with the speculation of what club is leaving next, in the grad scheme of things, does it really matter?

Maybe if you have girls or boys that are in their younger tween years, yeah, it could matter. But, I really think that if you have quality as a player, you will get seen and end up where you belong.

Good luck.

I think the ECNL continues to target a wealthier, college focused demographic and MLSN focuses on the pro pathway. Incentives drive the outcomes. ECNL will push to send kids to college programs and MLS will attempt to develop players that can be sold.

That said, ECNL teams play MLSN teams several times a year in tourneys and friendlies and both academy scouts and college scouts are at both league events. If the kid is good, they will be seen. Find the club that fits your child best and do not worry so much about acronyms.

MLSN isnt just for playing pro.

Players work their butt off to play professionally but sometimes it doesn't work out. In this situation playing in college is the fallback. Just like how D1 coaches love foreign Academy washouts. They also love MLSN Academy players.

So dont think that MLSN is only for playing professionally. Its both pro and college. ECNL on the other hand is college only. See why MLSN is appealing? If you can make it to the top levels multiple doors are open for you. As a college coach who would you choose? A player that played and practiced with MLS pro players. Or one that played at a club level only?

"As a college coach who would you choose?" The smarter one that can get into college and didn't waste too much time missing school for cross country events.

You chose the smarter one that was able to keep up grades while traveling cross country to do MLSN events. You act like College soccer doesnt do travel during the season. Did you think College stops because of an away game.

Do you own stock in MLSN? It's just a random league that replaced another league and will be replaced by another league in the future.

Sorry your kid did not make team.

Arlington just seems like a better program than Achilles and as someone else showed awhile ago, college placements on the boys side from ECNL and MLSN pay to play were similar.

Crazy to be stumping for a team, crazier to be stumping for a club, craziest to be stumping for a league.

Not sure how Achilles got lumped in but I’ll bite. Achilles is a boutique club that’s a fraction of the size and budget of Arlington. They have a player on USMNT U16 and a U16 starting on a Bundesliga academy team. Can Arlington, with far greater numbers and massive budget, say the same?

Case stuffs are useless for proper analysis. Do you have a numbers?

Please Arlington sends tons of kids to Academies every year and has a far better college track record. Great for the 1 or 2 players at Achilles who has done well with national team but 1
Player does not make a club and isn’t a statistically significant argument. Show me the track record for dozens and I will bite. Arlingtons top teams (as opposed to its huge rec and lower travel programs where most of the budget goes ) do quite well with Academies and D1 soccer.

So serious question, do clubs actively try to get their kids into colleges? Like make unsolicited recommendations?

I’ve not expected clubs to do that but mainly bc I assume clubs are just trying to develop players to be good enough for college soccer and more.

How have Arlington players scouted into academies done? Have they gone on to play pro? For that matter, how have kids recruited into academies from other MLSNext clubs done? Did they end up going pro or just gone ahead to college?

I’m genuinely curious as to what parents expectations are about what clubs can do for them. I know Bethesda is attractive for many because it’s “better” for playing in college. Does that mean they just do better so are able to get to better showcases (flex, cup, etc) or do the coaches do anything extra? All I know about college recruiting is that the player has to actively advocate for themselves. The clubs are just there to verify the players claims that they are a baller or make sure their teams attend certain events. But even then, colleges have ID events too.

Make no mistake. A well respected club coach or TD with college connections opens a lot of doors. Yes, no matter ECNL or MLSN players must own their own recruiting process. Unless you are top 10 in the country you need to have film and engage. BUT if you are at a club that has a relationship coaches you get looks. Certain TDs get calls from colleges asking who is up and coming that they should look at. The club is not going to do the job for you--but they can help in many ways.

Men or Women's - makes a huge difference. The D1 landscape for US college men is really tough. My nephew is a rising senior and just committed the past Spring to play D1, P4 soccer. It was a slog to get to that point. It is his "dream" school and was willing to wait them out and was ecstatic to get a spot despite not having a ton of athletic money sent his way.

Agree with the relationship aspect. Having a well connect coach and/or technical director makes a difference in terms of knowing programs, college coaches, who does what when in recruiting and reputation of the program. My DD is a rising HS junior and is right in the thick of this - she's on an official visit now with Mom. I would say that our club overall has done a pretty good job of passing along information, sharing thoughts and being available to answer questions. We just brought on an official position of someone as college recruiting coordinator, so up to this point, it's been the TD and club coach that have been guiding the process.

What has been interesting is the $$ that is available - schools with large football programs - think Big10 and SEC - seem to have more $$ to throw around than other schools, even those in the ACC. Not every ACC school, but some are just not forking out the $$. Just interesting to see how things are progressing with the settlement and roster cap of 28 and being able to offer 28 scholarships if you have the cash.

Oh yeah. Just to contribute to the thread topic. I struggle to see how the GA would absorb another club in Northern VA whether it's Arlington, VDA or whatever. There are already three clubs within spitting distance with VRSC, NVA and LS. I'm at a point as well as not caring much either with a DD who only has two years left and is in position to commit to a college in a few weeks. The biggest goal then becomes staying healthy and fit and working with the selected school on a development plan for the next two years. Good Luck.

“P4 Men’s Soccer” isn’t a thing. SEC and Big 12 don’t have men’s soccer.

OP here. Ok, nitpicker. There are traditional SEC and Big 12 schools that have men's soccer. They may not play in the SEC and Big12, but there are programs at those schools. South Carolina and WVU are my two examples. Nephew is playing in at Big10 program. So, I will say P2 - whatver. Signing out!

[Anonymous]

So back on topic...which club makes first move

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Christ. I'm so happy that my DD is a rising junior and won't have to deal with all of this BS moving forward.

I realize that many get their rocks off with the speculation of what club is leaving next, in the grad scheme of things, does it really matter?

Maybe if you have girls or boys that are in their younger tween years, yeah, it could matter. But, I really think that if you have quality as a player, you will get seen and end up where you belong.

Good luck.

I think the ECNL continues to target a wealthier, college focused demographic and MLSN focuses on the pro pathway. Incentives drive the outcomes. ECNL will push to send kids to college programs and MLS will attempt to develop players that can be sold.

That said, ECNL teams play MLSN teams several times a year in tourneys and friendlies and both academy scouts and college scouts are at both league events. If the kid is good, they will be seen. Find the club that fits your child best and do not worry so much about acronyms.

MLSN isnt just for playing pro.

Players work their butt off to play professionally but sometimes it doesn't work out. In this situation playing in college is the fallback. Just like how D1 coaches love foreign Academy washouts. They also love MLSN Academy players.

So dont think that MLSN is only for playing professionally. Its both pro and college. ECNL on the other hand is college only. See why MLSN is appealing? If you can make it to the top levels multiple doors are open for you. As a college coach who would you choose? A player that played and practiced with MLS pro players. Or one that played at a club level only?

"As a college coach who would you choose?" The smarter one that can get into college and didn't waste too much time missing school for cross country events.

You chose the smarter one that was able to keep up grades while traveling cross country to do MLSN events. You act like College soccer doesnt do travel during the season. Did you think College stops because of an away game.

Do you own stock in MLSN? It's just a random league that replaced another league and will be replaced by another league in the future.

Sorry your kid did not make team.

Arlington just seems like a better program than Achilles and as someone else showed awhile ago, college placements on the boys side from ECNL and MLSN pay to play were similar.

Crazy to be stumping for a team, crazier to be stumping for a club, craziest to be stumping for a league.

Not sure how Achilles got lumped in but I’ll bite. Achilles is a boutique club that’s a fraction of the size and budget of Arlington. They have a player on USMNT U16 and a U16 starting on a Bundesliga academy team. Can Arlington, with far greater numbers and massive budget, say the same?

Case stuffs are useless for proper analysis. Do you have a numbers?

Please Arlington sends tons of kids to Academies every year and has a far better college track record. Great for the 1 or 2 players at Achilles who has done well with national team but 1
Player does not make a club and isn’t a statistically significant argument. Show me the track record for dozens and I will bite. Arlingtons top teams (as opposed to its huge rec and lower travel programs where most of the budget goes ) do quite well with Academies and D1 soccer.

So serious question, do clubs actively try to get their kids into colleges? Like make unsolicited recommendations?

I’ve not expected clubs to do that but mainly bc I assume clubs are just trying to develop players to be good enough for college soccer and more.

How have Arlington players scouted into academies done? Have they gone on to play pro? For that matter, how have kids recruited into academies from other MLSNext clubs done? Did they end up going pro or just gone ahead to college?

I’m genuinely curious as to what parents expectations are about what clubs can do for them. I know Bethesda is attractive for many because it’s “better” for playing in college. Does that mean they just do better so are able to get to better showcases (flex, cup, etc) or do the coaches do anything extra? All I know about college recruiting is that the player has to actively advocate for themselves. The clubs are just there to verify the players claims that they are a baller or make sure their teams attend certain events. But even then, colleges have ID events too.

Make no mistake. A well respected club coach or TD with college connections opens a lot of doors. Yes, no matter ECNL or MLSN players must own their own recruiting process. Unless you are top 10 in the country you need to have film and engage. BUT if you are at a club that has a relationship coaches you get looks. Certain TDs get calls from colleges asking who is up and coming that they should look at. The club is not going to do the job for you--but they can help in many ways.

Men or Women's - makes a huge difference. The D1 landscape for US college men is really tough. My nephew is a rising senior and just committed the past Spring to play D1, P4 soccer. It was a slog to get to that point. It is his "dream" school and was willing to wait them out and was ecstatic to get a spot despite not having a ton of athletic money sent his way.

Agree with the relationship aspect. Having a well connect coach and/or technical director makes a difference in terms of knowing programs, college coaches, who does what when in recruiting and reputation of the program. My DD is a rising HS junior and is right in the thick of this - she's on an official visit now with Mom. I would say that our club overall has done a pretty good job of passing along information, sharing thoughts and being available to answer questions. We just brought on an official position of someone as college recruiting coordinator, so up to this point, it's been the TD and club coach that have been guiding the process.

What has been interesting is the $$ that is available - schools with large football programs - think Big10 and SEC - seem to have more $$ to throw around than other schools, even those in the ACC. Not every ACC school, but some are just not forking out the $$. Just interesting to see how things are progressing with the settlement and roster cap of 28 and being able to offer 28 scholarships if you have the cash.

Oh yeah. Just to contribute to the thread topic. I struggle to see how the GA would absorb another club in Northern VA whether it's Arlington, VDA or whatever. There are already three clubs within spitting distance with VRSC, NVA and LS. I'm at a point as well as not caring much either with a DD who only has two years left and is in position to commit to a college in a few weeks. The biggest goal then becomes staying healthy and fit and working with the selected school on a development plan for the next two years. Good Luck.

“P4 Men’s Soccer” isn’t a thing. SEC and Big 12 don’t have men’s soccer.

And not everyone in the ACC and Big Ten has men’s soccer either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about GFR? They are not going to stay without a pathway past this year. The question is whether they go ECNL or GA.

Who would they team up with?

Do they need to team up with anyone for GA?

For next year? Yes, their older girls teams are all falling apart. 2007-2010 are weak and likely won't be top 5 RL teams even just in VA North.

Teams are falling apart because they don’t have ECNL or GA so the top girls leave since RL is getting so weak. If they went GA those girls would stay.

So GFR can only go as high as RL right now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What about GFR? They are not going to stay without a pathway past this year. The question is whether they go ECNL or GA.

Who would they team up with?

Do they need to team up with anyone for GA?

For next year? Yes, their older girls teams are all falling apart. 2007-2010 are weak and likely won't be top 5 RL teams even just in VA North.

Teams are falling apart because they don’t have ECNL or GA so the top girls leave since RL is getting so weak. If they went GA those girls would stay.

So GFR can only go as high as RL right now?

Where else would gfr go? ECNL national?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Holy Christ. I'm so happy that my DD is a rising junior and won't have to deal with all of this BS moving forward.

I realize that many get their rocks off with the speculation of what club is leaving next, in the grad scheme of things, does it really matter?

Maybe if you have girls or boys that are in their younger tween years, yeah, it could matter. But, I really think that if you have quality as a player, you will get seen and end up where you belong.

Good luck.

I think the ECNL continues to target a wealthier, college focused demographic and MLSN focuses on the pro pathway. Incentives drive the outcomes. ECNL will push to send kids to college programs and MLS will attempt to develop players that can be sold.

That said, ECNL teams play MLSN teams several times a year in tourneys and friendlies and both academy scouts and college scouts are at both league events. If the kid is good, they will be seen. Find the club that fits your child best and do not worry so much about acronyms.

MLSN isnt just for playing pro.

Players work their butt off to play professionally but sometimes it doesn't work out. In this situation playing in college is the fallback. Just like how D1 coaches love foreign Academy washouts. They also love MLSN Academy players.

So dont think that MLSN is only for playing professionally. Its both pro and college. ECNL on the other hand is college only. See why MLSN is appealing? If you can make it to the top levels multiple doors are open for you. As a college coach who would you choose? A player that played and practiced with MLS pro players. Or one that played at a club level only?

"As a college coach who would you choose?" The smarter one that can get into college and didn't waste too much time missing school for cross country events.

You chose the smarter one that was able to keep up grades while traveling cross country to do MLSN events. You act like College soccer doesnt do travel during the season. Did you think College stops because of an away game.

Do you own stock in MLSN? It's just a random league that replaced another league and will be replaced by another league in the future.

Sorry your kid did not make team.

Arlington just seems like a better program than Achilles and as someone else showed awhile ago, college placements on the boys side from ECNL and MLSN pay to play were similar.

Crazy to be stumping for a team, crazier to be stumping for a club, craziest to be stumping for a league.

Not sure how Achilles got lumped in but I’ll bite. Achilles is a boutique club that’s a fraction of the size and budget of Arlington. They have a player on USMNT U16 and a U16 starting on a Bundesliga academy team. Can Arlington, with far greater numbers and massive budget, say the same?

Case stuffs are useless for proper analysis. Do you have a numbers?

Please Arlington sends tons of kids to Academies every year and has a far better college track record. Great for the 1 or 2 players at Achilles who has done well with national team but 1
Player does not make a club and isn’t a statistically significant argument. Show me the track record for dozens and I will bite. Arlingtons top teams (as opposed to its huge rec and lower travel programs where most of the budget goes ) do quite well with Academies and D1 soccer.

So serious question, do clubs actively try to get their kids into colleges? Like make unsolicited recommendations?

I’ve not expected clubs to do that but mainly bc I assume clubs are just trying to develop players to be good enough for college soccer and more.

How have Arlington players scouted into academies done? Have they gone on to play pro? For that matter, how have kids recruited into academies from other MLSNext clubs done? Did they end up going pro or just gone ahead to college?

I’m genuinely curious as to what parents expectations are about what clubs can do for them. I know Bethesda is attractive for many because it’s “better” for playing in college. Does that mean they just do better so are able to get to better showcases (flex, cup, etc) or do the coaches do anything extra? All I know about college recruiting is that the player has to actively advocate for themselves. The clubs are just there to verify the players claims that they are a baller or make sure their teams attend certain events. But even then, colleges have ID events too.

Make no mistake. A well respected club coach or TD with college connections opens a lot of doors. Yes, no matter ECNL or MLSN players must own their own recruiting process. Unless you are top 10 in the country you need to have film and engage. BUT if you are at a club that has a relationship coaches you get looks. Certain TDs get calls from colleges asking who is up and coming that they should look at. The club is not going to do the job for you--but they can help in many ways.

Men or Women's - makes a huge difference. The D1 landscape for US college men is really tough. My nephew is a rising senior and just committed the past Spring to play D1, P4 soccer. It was a slog to get to that point. It is his "dream" school and was willing to wait them out and was ecstatic to get a spot despite not having a ton of athletic money sent his way.

Agree with the relationship aspect. Having a well connect coach and/or technical director makes a difference in terms of knowing programs, college coaches, who does what when in recruiting and reputation of the program. My DD is a rising HS junior and is right in the thick of this - she's on an official visit now with Mom. I would say that our club overall has done a pretty good job of passing along information, sharing thoughts and being available to answer questions. We just brought on an official position of someone as college recruiting coordinator, so up to this point, it's been the TD and club coach that have been guiding the process.

What has been interesting is the $$ that is available - schools with large football programs - think Big10 and SEC - seem to have more $$ to throw around than other schools, even those in the ACC. Not every ACC school, but some are just not forking out the $$. Just interesting to see how things are progressing with the settlement and roster cap of 28 and being able to offer 28 scholarships if you have the cash.

Oh yeah. Just to contribute to the thread topic. I struggle to see how the GA would absorb another club in Northern VA whether it's Arlington, VDA or whatever. There are already three clubs within spitting distance with VRSC, NVA and LS. I'm at a point as well as not caring much either with a DD who only has two years left and is in position to commit to a college in a few weeks. The biggest goal then becomes staying healthy and fit and working with the selected school on a development plan for the next two years. Good Luck.

“P4 Men’s Soccer” isn’t a thing. SEC and Big 12 don’t have men’s soccer.

And not everyone in the ACC and Big Ten has men’s soccer either.

+1. Very little of P4s post made much sense or rung true.