ECNL moving to school year not calendar

[Anonymous]

Everything is fine everything is fine everything is fine Everything is fine everything is fine everything is fine….

[Anonymous]

One of our club directors said MLSN and MLSN2 were staying BY. No clue if this holds weight. I have always been in the MLSN will be forced to change to SY but maybe I was wrong. Director said the clubs plan was to stay BY even at the younger ages and just play up. Seems like a way to lose recruiting power for U Littles. I don't see many parents of Sept to Dec 7 and 8 year olds wanting to play up and give away RAE advantage by joining the club. Seems like nearly all Sept to Dec kids would look elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of our club directors said MLSN and MLSN2 were staying BY. No clue if this holds weight. I have always been in the MLSN will be forced to change to SY but maybe I was wrong. Director said the clubs plan was to stay BY even at the younger ages and just play up. Seems like a way to lose recruiting power for U Littles. I don't see many parents of Sept to Dec 7 and 8 year olds wanting to play up and give away RAE advantage by joining the club. Seems like nearly all Sept to Dec kids would look elsewhere.

That is one way to lose business!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of our club directors said MLSN and MLSN2 were staying BY. No clue if this holds weight. I have always been in the MLSN will be forced to change to SY but maybe I was wrong. Director said the clubs plan was to stay BY even at the younger ages and just play up. Seems like a way to lose recruiting power for U Littles. I don't see many parents of Sept to Dec 7 and 8 year olds wanting to play up and give away RAE advantage by joining the club. Seems like nearly all Sept to Dec kids would look elsewhere.

Yeah I've got a Q4 U-little and I'd look elsewhere, especially at U-little ages. Moving back to MLS Next after hes had the cummlative advantages of RAE at an ECNL platform club seems like a better idea than being bottom of the roster or on a second team at an MLS Next club.

[Anonymous]

No wonder they want to wait after tryout season to make that announcement

[Anonymous]

The top team playing up at the u-little age at mlsnext clubs sounds like it could work, but these clubs almost always have second and sometimes third and fourth teams. These teams are all going to play up? Or have some BY some SY teams?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everything is fine everything is fine everything is fine Everything is fine everything is fine everything is fine….

Not really. Virtually nothing is fine in DC area with youth soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of our club directors said MLSN and MLSN2 were staying BY. No clue if this holds weight. I have always been in the MLSN will be forced to change to SY but maybe I was wrong. Director said the clubs plan was to stay BY even at the younger ages and just play up. Seems like a way to lose recruiting power for U Littles. I don't see many parents of Sept to Dec 7 and 8 year olds wanting to play up and give away RAE advantage by joining the club. Seems like nearly all Sept to Dec kids would look elsewhere.

The 'director' is either messing with you or an idiot... The large MLSN clubs make 95% of their revenue from 2nd, 3rd, 4th teams from U8-U19. There is a 0% chance they 'just have those teams play up'.

[Anonymous]

What is the upside for MLSN staying BY? Some have said international tourneys. That doesn’t seem like enough given the downsides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did any clubs favor the Q4s in tryouts this year or did it seem like most clubs created teams to win for 25/26 and will address the age change for 26/27?

Done with the ECNL tryouts. No favor is given for Q4. My kid and possibly another one are the only Q4s, both belong to the team. The coach did not even bring Q4 in RL to our group.

[Anonymous]

Be ready everyone NWSL will eventually merge with GA similar to MLS/MLSN will be rebranded
as NWSLN. Will not just be a pro pathway but also completion platform that attracts players who want to goto college will have showcases and all the jazz parents want.

Clubs are going to pull out of ECNL before Fall 26 and more by Fall 27. So Boys can be MLSN and girls can be NWSLN.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the upside for MLSN staying BY? Some have said international tourneys. That doesn’t seem like enough given the downsides.

Few…other than just appeasing the BY crowd at this point…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the upside for MLSN staying BY? Some have said international tourneys. That doesn’t seem like enough given the downsides.

Inertia. Fear of change. For the academies, international play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Be ready everyone NWSL will eventually merge with GA similar to MLS/MLSN will be rebranded
as NWSLN. Will not just be a pro pathway but also completion platform that attracts players who want to goto college will have showcases and all the jazz parents want.

Clubs are going to pull out of ECNL before Fall 26 and more by Fall 27. So Boys can be MLSN and girls can be NWSLN.

I hope that if they do this, they come up with a good nickname, because "NWSLN" is awful to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the upside for MLSN staying BY? Some have said international tourneys. That doesn’t seem like enough given the downsides.

The people actually in MLSN have said they don't really play in any meaningful international competitions, despite that being the most cited reason. It's very expensive to add in international travel. BY leagues are more likely to attract the kids who will go on to play for youth national teams, being disproportionately Jan-Jul. If that is a significant marketing angle ("All the ynt players are coming from our league"), that could be their main advantage.