ECNL forcing Brave & Union Partnership

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one in their right mind is leaving for GA teams. Your kiddo would be better off at regional ECNL….anyone that knows the youth soccer landscape knows that. Soccer 101 for dummies

How is an ECNL-RL team better than a GA1 team? Sounds like something only an -RL parent would say.

If your kid would play ECNL rl instead of GA… you need to be checked out lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The goal is always to play. Don't take a spot to sit on a bench.

+1

The McLean way is to have large rosters over 20 and they won’t tell you how many they have signed up, so in the fall when 25 of you are in TeamSnap, sorry but, we told you so.

Please consider a club that actually focuses on soccer development as opposed to creating soccer logos and shining what is left of the turd they once called a successful soccer club every few years.

As Union parent I've found quite the opposite — complete focus on development and less about being top in the conference. Yes, roster is larger but not outrageous and (for now) players all get reasonable time. The club is super conscientious about recognizing talent, potential, and growth. I hope that continues with the new partnership.

So here’s my advice: stop the whining, stop the worry, stop the fear. Sign up for an ID session and have your child do their best. Maybe they’re offered a slot, maybe they’ll be 20th on the roster in which case make a choice, maybe they’ll get no love and you’ll have to go with another club. Have them try out many places, meet coaches, see how teammates get a long, and weigh your options. And above all, don’t listen to the stupid squabbles and misinformation on this list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of this is not relevant but a few of the answers are wrong and could be misleading to parents trying to separate signal from noise, so here’s some follow up:

“- ECNL parents are in constant state of FOMO”

Probably accurate, but unimportant of college recruiting- in fact FOMO parents can be unintentionally helpful.

“- GA is more relaxed”
Maybe? I felt like the parents were roughly the same, also not important.

“- There's bottom feeders in both leagues”

True but not super relevant other than as i noted earlier, if there’s better kids then more coaches show up.

“- The top GA teams get as much visibility with recruiters as the better ECNL teams”

Not accurate unfortunately. It’s a numbers game and there are way more college coaches at ECNL showcases and Nats.

“- There's 10ish ECNL clubs that would win in any league they play in. (Most are in California and Texas)”

Sure, but completely irrelevant to recruiting. Winning and losing is only vaguely important.

“- From a rules perspective for games, coaches, and clubs GA and ECNL are nearly identical”

Yep, totally agree.

“- If your kid is a once in a lifetime soccer talent other clubs, other leagues, colleges, and pros will find them no matter where they play”

I am not confident this is accurate, but I’ll agree.

“- For 99% of the players it doesn't matter where you play they'll end up in the same place”

100% wrong. Full stop. This trope that coaches are out there scouring the earth for players is simply wrong. For girls soccer, coaches have limited time and budget. Coaches know they can get enough of the talent they need from going to ECNL and GA tournaments/showcases and a few big club private showcases to fill their slots. College coaches wsnt to win, but it’s a churn business. They have 30 kids on the roster, 1/4 of them will graduate each year. The season is stupid short and brutal. Healthy bodies are almost as important as talent at the end of the season.

If your daughter wants to play upper D1 or high level D3 the chances of breaking through playing NPL or E64 are diminishingly small. My kid has friends who were probably as hood as she was, but they didn’t make the jump to ECNL/GA. A few belatedly tried to get a College spot, but the only interest was from D3 schools just looking for bodies.

My kids are not once in a lifetime talents. they both are good, one hit all met honorable mention and got UNited Coaches player of the week, but no call ups or huge honors. Without a chance to be seen by College coaches over and over, my kid isn’t playing in college today. As a parent, I would be fine with that, but it was her dream and i supported her. ECNL and GA are tools that help support that goal.

lol.. college coaches will get who they want, doesn’t matter the league. Yes ECNL showcases may have more coaches attend, but overall coaches will come see who they want, no matter the league.

Sure. But ECNL has about 70% of the commits to D1 and ECNL girls have a leg up at the D2 and D3 level as well.

If your kid plays on a crap ECNL team… I would rather take my chances at a successful GA team

Bingo.

Also eventually ECNL teams will join GA (it's just how things work) either because they're getting tired of getting beat in ECNL or because they think they can run GA and get more visibility for their teams.

This would be believable if there was one example of a ecnl club leaving to join ga.

SYC

SYC didn’t really even have a coach on the ECNL staff so really no coaches and not many players are choosing to leave ECNL. SYC decided they wanted to have their future players compete in the GA.

They decided to go get a GA director that wasn’t even good enough for Arlington. And Arlington is not exactly killing it right now with their staff.

No matter how much you bring up SYC and the GA, anyone that isn’t a current u12 parent or an SYC coach knows that GA is just a glorified EDP right now. They took VA Revolution who is not even a good EDP club.

Both maldonados and tupy had been on the coaching slate in 22-23. Este still on staff for 24-24. Not sure why they started dropping off. Maybe in expectation of GA or maybe they got ousted? Either way, point stands that SYC is leaving ECNL for a lesser league.

A different league better aligned with their model of player development, which is proven again, see boys MLSN at SYC. Plus independence and space from the sinking legacy media ship formerly known as just McLean now it’s McBrave. SYC 100% left Union so yes they left ECNL

SYC never had ECNL, they were nothing more than a feeder club.

I’m not sure why any of this matters. I’m not sure why SYC is in this thread BEGGING kids to tryout at SYC? What with MLSNext and now GA as well as SYC’s world renowned reputation for development surely you don’t need former ECNL players to compete in GA. You should have all that you need right now and develop them into National Champions. I suspect that SYC will be pumping out National Champions in GA just like they do year after year in MLSNext.

[Anonymous]

No ID sessions or coaching slates announced by FXU yet. We’re 4 days away from March 1. Lots of clubs are having their sessions starting March 1 and through the weekend. What happens when Union and Brave girls get 48-hour offers on March 2 or March 3? FXU would be smart to have their ID sessions next weekend if they don’t want to lose a lot of talent by next Monday. But I don’t see FXU moving that fast. Last year it took Union players multiple sessions over multiple days before the Union coaches got themselves together and made offers even to the girls you know would make the team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of this is not relevant but a few of the answers are wrong and could be misleading to parents trying to separate signal from noise, so here’s some follow up:

“- ECNL parents are in constant state of FOMO”

Probably accurate, but unimportant of college recruiting- in fact FOMO parents can be unintentionally helpful.

“- GA is more relaxed”
Maybe? I felt like the parents were roughly the same, also not important.

“- There's bottom feeders in both leagues”

True but not super relevant other than as i noted earlier, if there’s better kids then more coaches show up.

“- The top GA teams get as much visibility with recruiters as the better ECNL teams”

Not accurate unfortunately. It’s a numbers game and there are way more college coaches at ECNL showcases and Nats.

“- There's 10ish ECNL clubs that would win in any league they play in. (Most are in California and Texas)”

Sure, but completely irrelevant to recruiting. Winning and losing is only vaguely important.

“- From a rules perspective for games, coaches, and clubs GA and ECNL are nearly identical”

Yep, totally agree.

“- If your kid is a once in a lifetime soccer talent other clubs, other leagues, colleges, and pros will find them no matter where they play”

I am not confident this is accurate, but I’ll agree.

“- For 99% of the players it doesn't matter where you play they'll end up in the same place”

100% wrong. Full stop. This trope that coaches are out there scouring the earth for players is simply wrong. For girls soccer, coaches have limited time and budget. Coaches know they can get enough of the talent they need from going to ECNL and GA tournaments/showcases and a few big club private showcases to fill their slots. College coaches wsnt to win, but it’s a churn business. They have 30 kids on the roster, 1/4 of them will graduate each year. The season is stupid short and brutal. Healthy bodies are almost as important as talent at the end of the season.

If your daughter wants to play upper D1 or high level D3 the chances of breaking through playing NPL or E64 are diminishingly small. My kid has friends who were probably as hood as she was, but they didn’t make the jump to ECNL/GA. A few belatedly tried to get a College spot, but the only interest was from D3 schools just looking for bodies.

My kids are not once in a lifetime talents. they both are good, one hit all met honorable mention and got UNited Coaches player of the week, but no call ups or huge honors. Without a chance to be seen by College coaches over and over, my kid isn’t playing in college today. As a parent, I would be fine with that, but it was her dream and i supported her. ECNL and GA are tools that help support that goal.

lol.. college coaches will get who they want, doesn’t matter the league. Yes ECNL showcases may have more coaches attend, but overall coaches will come see who they want, no matter the league.

Sure. But ECNL has about 70% of the commits to D1 and ECNL girls have a leg up at the D2 and D3 level as well.

If your kid plays on a crap ECNL team… I would rather take my chances at a successful GA team

Bingo.

Also eventually ECNL teams will join GA (it's just how things work) either because they're getting tired of getting beat in ECNL or because they think they can run GA and get more visibility for their teams.

This would be believable if there was one example of a ecnl club leaving to join ga.

SYC

SYC didn’t really even have a coach on the ECNL staff so really no coaches and not many players are choosing to leave ECNL. SYC decided they wanted to have their future players compete in the GA.

They decided to go get a GA director that wasn’t even good enough for Arlington. And Arlington is not exactly killing it right now with their staff.

No matter how much you bring up SYC and the GA, anyone that isn’t a current u12 parent or an SYC coach knows that GA is just a glorified EDP right now. They took VA Revolution who is not even a good EDP club.

Both maldonados and tupy had been on the coaching slate in 22-23. Este still on staff for 24-24. Not sure why they started dropping off. Maybe in expectation of GA or maybe they got ousted? Either way, point stands that SYC is leaving ECNL for a lesser league.

A different league better aligned with their model of player development, which is proven again, see boys MLSN at SYC. Plus independence and space from the sinking legacy media ship formerly known as just McLean now it’s McBrave. SYC 100% left Union so yes they left ECNL

SYC never had ECNL, they were nothing more than a feeder club.

I’m not sure why any of this matters. I’m not sure why SYC is in this thread BEGGING kids to tryout at SYC? What with MLSNext and now GA as well as SYC’s world renowned reputation for development surely you don’t need former ECNL players to compete in GA. You should have all that you need right now and develop them into National Champions. I suspect that SYC will be pumping out National Champions in GA just like they do year after year in MLSNext.

You really should just stop embarrassing yourself with the nonstop ECNL cheerleading. It’s sad 😞

[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:Most of this is not relevant but a few of the answers are wrong and could be misleading to parents trying to separate signal from noise, so here’s some follow up:

“- ECNL parents are in constant state of FOMO”

Probably accurate, but unimportant of college recruiting- in fact FOMO parents can be unintentionally helpful.

“- GA is more relaxed”
Maybe? I felt like the parents were roughly the same, also not important.

“- There's bottom feeders in both leagues”

True but not super relevant other than as i noted earlier, if there’s better kids then more coaches show up.

“- The top GA teams get as much visibility with recruiters as the better ECNL teams”

Not accurate unfortunately. It’s a numbers game and there are way more college coaches at ECNL showcases and Nats.

“- There's 10ish ECNL clubs that would win in any league they play in. (Most are in California and Texas)”

Sure, but completely irrelevant to recruiting. Winning and losing is only vaguely important.

“- From a rules perspective for games, coaches, and clubs GA and ECNL are nearly identical”

Yep, totally agree.

“- If your kid is a once in a lifetime soccer talent other clubs, other leagues, colleges, and pros will find them no matter where they play”

I am not confident this is accurate, but I’ll agree.

“- For 99% of the players it doesn't matter where you play they'll end up in the same place”

100% wrong. Full stop. This trope that coaches are out there scouring the earth for players is simply wrong. For girls soccer, coaches have limited time and budget. Coaches know they can get enough of the talent they need from going to ECNL and GA tournaments/showcases and a few big club private showcases to fill their slots. College coaches wsnt to win, but it’s a churn business. They have 30 kids on the roster, 1/4 of them will graduate each year. The season is stupid short and brutal. Healthy bodies are almost as important as talent at the end of the season.

If your daughter wants to play upper D1 or high level D3 the chances of breaking through playing NPL or E64 are diminishingly small. My kid has friends who were probably as hood as she was, but they didn’t make the jump to ECNL/GA. A few belatedly tried to get a College spot, but the only interest was from D3 schools just looking for bodies.

My kids are not once in a lifetime talents. they both are good, one hit all met honorable mention and got UNited Coaches player of the week, but no call ups or huge honors. Without a chance to be seen by College coaches over and over, my kid isn’t playing in college today. As a parent, I would be fine with that, but it was her dream and i supported her. ECNL and GA are tools that help support that goal.

lol.. college coaches will get who they want, doesn’t matter the league. Yes ECNL showcases may have more coaches attend, but overall coaches will come see who they want, no matter the league.

Sure. But ECNL has about 70% of the commits to D1 and ECNL girls have a leg up at the D2 and D3 level as well.

If your kid plays on a crap ECNL team… I would rather take my chances at a successful GA team

Bingo.

Also eventually ECNL teams will join GA (it's just how things work) either because they're getting tired of getting beat in ECNL or because they think they can run GA and get more visibility for their teams.

This would be believable if there was one example of a ecnl club leaving to join ga.

SYC

SYC didn’t really even have a coach on the ECNL staff so really no coaches and not many players are choosing to leave ECNL. SYC decided they wanted to have their future players compete in the GA.

They decided to go get a GA director that wasn’t even good enough for Arlington. And Arlington is not exactly killing it right now with their staff.

No matter how much you bring up SYC and the GA, anyone that isn’t a current u12 parent or an SYC coach knows that GA is just a glorified EDP right now. They took VA Revolution who is not even a good EDP club.

Both maldonados and tupy had been on the coaching slate in 22-23. Este still on staff for 24-24. Not sure why they started dropping off. Maybe in expectation of GA or maybe they got ousted? Either way, point stands that SYC is leaving ECNL for a lesser league.

A different league better aligned with their model of player development, which is proven again, see boys MLSN at SYC. Plus independence and space from the sinking legacy media ship formerly known as just McLean now it’s McBrave. SYC 100% left Union so yes they left ECNL

SYC never had ECNL, they were nothing more than a feeder club.

I’m not sure why any of this matters. I’m not sure why SYC is in this thread BEGGING kids to tryout at SYC? What with MLSNext and now GA as well as SYC’s world renowned reputation for development surely you don’t need former ECNL players to compete in GA. You should have all that you need right now and develop them into National Champions. I suspect that SYC will be pumping out National Champions in GA just like they do year after year in MLSNext.

You really should just stop embarrassing yourself with the nonstop ECNL cheerleading. It’s sad 😞

This is a mad McLean parent that SYC decided not to be their partner anymore. They will have fun with Brave now

[Anonymous]

When is the coaching slate coming out? The fact they haven’t released it means there is lots of issues behind the scenes.

[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:Most of this is not relevant but a few of the answers are wrong and could be misleading to parents trying to separate signal from noise, so here’s some follow up:

“- ECNL parents are in constant state of FOMO”

Probably accurate, but unimportant of college recruiting- in fact FOMO parents can be unintentionally helpful.

“- GA is more relaxed”
Maybe? I felt like the parents were roughly the same, also not important.

“- There's bottom feeders in both leagues”

True but not super relevant other than as i noted earlier, if there’s better kids then more coaches show up.

“- The top GA teams get as much visibility with recruiters as the better ECNL teams”

Not accurate unfortunately. It’s a numbers game and there are way more college coaches at ECNL showcases and Nats.

“- There's 10ish ECNL clubs that would win in any league they play in. (Most are in California and Texas)”

Sure, but completely irrelevant to recruiting. Winning and losing is only vaguely important.

“- From a rules perspective for games, coaches, and clubs GA and ECNL are nearly identical”

Yep, totally agree.

“- If your kid is a once in a lifetime soccer talent other clubs, other leagues, colleges, and pros will find them no matter where they play”

I am not confident this is accurate, but I’ll agree.

“- For 99% of the players it doesn't matter where you play they'll end up in the same place”

100% wrong. Full stop. This trope that coaches are out there scouring the earth for players is simply wrong. For girls soccer, coaches have limited time and budget. Coaches know they can get enough of the talent they need from going to ECNL and GA tournaments/showcases and a few big club private showcases to fill their slots. College coaches wsnt to win, but it’s a churn business. They have 30 kids on the roster, 1/4 of them will graduate each year. The season is stupid short and brutal. Healthy bodies are almost as important as talent at the end of the season.

If your daughter wants to play upper D1 or high level D3 the chances of breaking through playing NPL or E64 are diminishingly small. My kid has friends who were probably as hood as she was, but they didn’t make the jump to ECNL/GA. A few belatedly tried to get a College spot, but the only interest was from D3 schools just looking for bodies.

My kids are not once in a lifetime talents. they both are good, one hit all met honorable mention and got UNited Coaches player of the week, but no call ups or huge honors. Without a chance to be seen by College coaches over and over, my kid isn’t playing in college today. As a parent, I would be fine with that, but it was her dream and i supported her. ECNL and GA are tools that help support that goal.

lol.. college coaches will get who they want, doesn’t matter the league. Yes ECNL showcases may have more coaches attend, but overall coaches will come see who they want, no matter the league.

Sure. But ECNL has about 70% of the commits to D1 and ECNL girls have a leg up at the D2 and D3 level as well.

If your kid plays on a crap ECNL team… I would rather take my chances at a successful GA team

Bingo.

Also eventually ECNL teams will join GA (it's just how things work) either because they're getting tired of getting beat in ECNL or because they think they can run GA and get more visibility for their teams.

This would be believable if there was one example of a ecnl club leaving to join ga.

SYC

SYC didn’t really even have a coach on the ECNL staff so really no coaches and not many players are choosing to leave ECNL. SYC decided they wanted to have their future players compete in the GA.

They decided to go get a GA director that wasn’t even good enough for Arlington. And Arlington is not exactly killing it right now with their staff.

No matter how much you bring up SYC and the GA, anyone that isn’t a current u12 parent or an SYC coach knows that GA is just a glorified EDP right now. They took VA Revolution who is not even a good EDP club.

Both maldonados and tupy had been on the coaching slate in 22-23. Este still on staff for 24-24. Not sure why they started dropping off. Maybe in expectation of GA or maybe they got ousted? Either way, point stands that SYC is leaving ECNL for a lesser league.

A different league better aligned with their model of player development, which is proven again, see boys MLSN at SYC. Plus independence and space from the sinking legacy media ship formerly known as just McLean now it’s McBrave. SYC 100% left Union so yes they left ECNL

SYC never had ECNL, they were nothing more than a feeder club.

I’m not sure why any of this matters. I’m not sure why SYC is in this thread BEGGING kids to tryout at SYC? What with MLSNext and now GA as well as SYC’s world renowned reputation for development surely you don’t need former ECNL players to compete in GA. You should have all that you need right now and develop them into National Champions. I suspect that SYC will be pumping out National Champions in GA just like they do year after year in MLSNext.

You really should just stop embarrassing yourself with the nonstop ECNL cheerleading. It’s sad 😞

This is a thread about ECNL clubs. You’re the one in here ambulance chasing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No ID sessions or coaching slates announced by FXU yet. We’re 4 days away from March 1. Lots of clubs are having their sessions starting March 1 and through the weekend. What happens when Union and Brave girls get 48-hour offers on March 2 or March 3? FXU would be smart to have their ID sessions next weekend if they don’t want to lose a lot of talent by next Monday. But I don’t see FXU moving that fast. Last year it took Union players multiple sessions over multiple days before the Union coaches got themselves together and made offers even to the girls you know would make the team.

Union is typically slow with offers. If you are that nervous about it, try out other places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is one big game of chess and ECNL is running out of moves

ECNL is fine for now but MLSN is the top league for boys. If MLSN cared about dominating the youth soccer market they easily could.

ECNL girls is also fine for now but parents are starting to figure out that GA is the same thing. The only difference is the clubs involved.

The big unknown right now is if/how NWSL will partner with youth soccer. A working framework has been established by MLS and implemented via MLSN. Logically if NWSL was to follow MLSs footsteps they’d partner with GA and create NWSLN. If this was to happen there would be 20+ ECNL to GA defections year one.

That bolded part is so wrong.....

792 D1 verbal commitments for the 2025 class & breakdown by platform.

#ECNL -575 (72.6%)
#GirlsAcademy -166 (21%)
All Others -27 (3.4%)
🇨🇦 -24 (3%)

There’s a twitter handle that is tracking all this.

What is the name of this twitter handle?

https://twitter.com/ImYouthSoccer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No ID sessions or coaching slates announced by FXU yet. We’re 4 days away from March 1. Lots of clubs are having their sessions starting March 1 and through the weekend. What happens when Union and Brave girls get 48-hour offers on March 2 or March 3? FXU would be smart to have their ID sessions next weekend if they don’t want to lose a lot of talent by next Monday. But I don’t see FXU moving that fast. Last year it took Union players multiple sessions over multiple days before the Union coaches got themselves together and made offers even to the girls you know would make the team.

Early May to be exact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is one big game of chess and ECNL is running out of moves

ECNL is fine for now but MLSN is the top league for boys. If MLSN cared about dominating the youth soccer market they easily could.

ECNL girls is also fine for now but parents are starting to figure out that GA is the same thing. The only difference is the clubs involved.

The big unknown right now is if/how NWSL will partner with youth soccer. A working framework has been established by MLS and implemented via MLSN. Logically if NWSL was to follow MLSs footsteps they’d partner with GA and create NWSLN. If this was to happen there would be 20+ ECNL to GA defections year one.

That bolded part is so wrong.....

792 D1 verbal commitments for the 2025 class & breakdown by platform.

#ECNL -575 (72.6%)
#GirlsAcademy -166 (21%)
All Others -27 (3.4%)
🇨🇦 -24 (3%)

There’s a twitter handle that is tracking all this.

What is the name of this twitter handle?

@imyouthsoccer

Nowhere near a complete list. Have seen numerous commits that don’t show up on these lists. Same with TDS. You have to have an account or notify them.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s funny how the SYC parents think they’re the only ones happy that McLean and SYC split. Best thing that could have happened for Union was to split away from that crowd. Best of luck with GA,
We truly wish you the best!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one in their right mind is leaving for GA teams. Your kiddo would be better off at regional ECNL….anyone that knows the youth soccer landscape knows that. Soccer 101 for dummies

How is an ECNL-RL team better than a GA1 team? Sounds like something only an -RL parent would say.

If your kid would play ECNL rl instead of GA… you need to be checked out lol

EcNL RL and GA are literally the same level. The only difference in our area was FCV and that was based on history and BP. Playing ecnl RL is getting the same level of competition without driving far distances.
Both are not going to have many coaches at their events. ECNL is at least leveraging their NL events to try to get coaches at the RL events. The recruiting will be done for GA and ecnl RL teams at the mixed events like wags, Bethesda, ncfc, and Jeff cup. At those levels, you will need a coach that has college connections. None of the ga coaches have that or they would be coaching in the ecnl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one in their right mind is leaving for GA teams. Your kiddo would be better off at regional ECNL….anyone that knows the youth soccer landscape knows that. Soccer 101 for dummies

How is an ECNL-RL team better than a GA1 team? Sounds like something only an -RL parent would say.

If your kid would play ECNL rl instead of GA… you need to be checked out lol

EcNL RL and GA are literally the same level. The only difference in our area was FCV and that was based on history and BP. Playing ecnl RL is getting the same level of competition without driving far distances.
Both are not going to have many coaches at their events. ECNL is at least leveraging their NL events to try to get coaches at the RL events. The recruiting will be done for GA and ecnl RL teams at the mixed events like wags, Bethesda, ncfc, and Jeff cup. At those levels, you will need a coach that has college connections. None of the ga coaches have that or they would be coaching in the ecnl.

That’s just false. This is the GA event in Florida in March. https://girlsacademyleague.com/champions-cup-finals/

There are far more colleges attending than would for any RL event
https://app.scoutingzone.com/RegLink/2024%20GA%20Champions%20Cup%20Finals/ScoutAttendees