ECNL forcing Brave & Union Partnership

[Anonymous]

I'm on the Brave girls side, but still want Union to lead coaching slate and college communications. If it's Brave folks, we'll most likely leave.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm on the Brave girls side, but still want Union to lead coaching slate and college communications. If it's Brave folks, we'll most likely leave.

Was the boys the blame as well on the email sent to Brave parents?

[Anonymous]

Not sure how I would have structured it, but each club getting 2 votes seems like a disaster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm on the Brave girls side, but still want Union to lead coaching slate and college communications. If it's Brave folks, we'll most likely leave.

Nice try Union parent! 😂

[Anonymous]

Pretty clear that ECNL is cool with giving the screw job to Union, BRAVE and probably this new entity. Likely payback for Union effectively having de facto 2nd teams in ECNL w/ 1st teams in MLS Next when partnered with SYC. And BRAVE for having their boys program jump ship 2 years ago.

If MYS thinks this through, they may realize that the best move for them right now just might be to see if SYC will take them back as a junior partner. It potentially keeps the older Union girls teams in tact in GA - the only benefit to SYC. For McLean, if their ECNL-RL teams are under “review” - why stay to be the 3rd wheel in FVU and have that hammer (ECNL-RL being on the chopping block) hanging over your head?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm on the Brave girls side, but still want Union to lead coaching slate and college communications. If it's Brave folks, we'll most likely leave.

Was the boys the blame as well on the email sent to Brave parents?

What email?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Creation of Fairfax VA Union

ECNL and ECNL R parents,
I am writing this email on behalf of the MYS Leadership and Board of Directors to give some additional context about the creation of the Fairfax VA Union ECNL club. First, we understand the impact this has on the MYS/VA Union players, coaches, and families. We have been faced with a difficult situation and are working tirelessly to make decisions that are in the best interest of our players and the organization in both the short and long term. 

Earlier this month, we were informed by the ECNL league that our National Program membership for the Virginia Union was in jeopardy due to poor performance, particularly on the boys side. We have had a downward trend and rank near the bottom in our region/nation on several performance metrics that are closely tracked by the league. We were also informed that our ECNL R program is under review and is subject to a hearing and potential removal.

At the request of the MYS Board of Directors, a follow-up meeting was held with ECNL President Christian Lavers. During this meeting, we were informed that ECNL has begun reviewing all participating clubs in order to enhance the level of competition and the player pool. ECNL feels that Fairfax County is an over-saturated market and given our performance in recent years, our boys program was one of the organizations under consideration for expulsion from the league. To maintain an ECNL pathway for our club, ECNL leadership encouraged VA Union/MYS to pursue a merger with another member club. Fairfax Brave was given a similar directive and given our geographic proximity and shared desire to provide an ECNL path for our members, we chose to merge Fairfax Brave and Virginia Union.  

As most of you are already aware, the Fairfax Brave club comprises the Vienna and Braddock Road clubs. In order to merge the VA Union with the Brave, we created a new entity and established the Fairfax VA Union club. This new entity has a three-club founding membership structure and under the agreement, each founding club represents one third of this new organization that has come together to make decisions that are in our best interests. Each club has two member representatives that sit on a Fairfax VA Union board of six directors. According to the bylaws of this new entity, all decisions regarding the new club must be voted on unanimously, including the coaching staff decisions. 

We hope to have the final coaching slate in place by midweek. As much as we want to place all of our existing VA Union/MYS coaches into this new club, we all must understand that it is a collaborative effort involving 3 clubs with talented and skilled coaches. It is our shared objective to ensure we are leveraging the tremendous coaching resources that all three clubs have to position the Fairfax VA Union teams to be competitive and to create better talent pathways for our players. Continuing to create these pathways is what will drive our focus at MYS with our involvement in the Fairfax VA Union for our ECNL level players, and for all our MYS players from recreation to travel.

We appreciate that there is a lot of change happening for our ECNL players during this transition and we will continue to provide our families with timely updates as they become available.

Yours in soccer,
Tim Ryerson
Associate Executive Director
McLean Youth Soccer

Wonder why this was not signed by Louise Waxler, Executive Director.

Wow. I don’t know why the many good female players and their coaches in Union would remain on this ship which is sinking through no fault of their own.

[Anonymous]

Any parent with girls at an ECNL club should be looking at their club's boys' rankings to check and see how the boys are doing. Cause clearly ECNL (and clubs!) only care about the boys' sides. Your weak boys' club is next no matter what your girls' side looks like... Does it matter that none of these ECNL boys will play D1 in college because those rosters are full of international boys and (maybe) some MLS Next players? Nope. Does it matter that ECNL girls actually play D1 in college and play in the NWSL? Nope. All about the boys.

[Anonymous]

Union should have called ECNL's bluff and let them remove the boys' charter. Let them play NCSL. Keep the girls' ECNL teams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Creation of Fairfax VA Union

ECNL and ECNL R parents,
I am writing this email on behalf of the MYS Leadership and Board of Directors to give some additional context about the creation of the Fairfax VA Union ECNL club. First, we understand the impact this has on the MYS/VA Union players, coaches, and families. We have been faced with a difficult situation and are working tirelessly to make decisions that are in the best interest of our players and the organization in both the short and long term. 

Earlier this month, we were informed by the ECNL league that our National Program membership for the Virginia Union was in jeopardy due to poor performance, particularly on the boys side. We have had a downward trend and rank near the bottom in our region/nation on several performance metrics that are closely tracked by the league. We were also informed that our ECNL R program is under review and is subject to a hearing and potential removal.

At the request of the MYS Board of Directors, a follow-up meeting was held with ECNL President Christian Lavers. During this meeting, we were informed that ECNL has begun reviewing all participating clubs in order to enhance the level of competition and the player pool. ECNL feels that Fairfax County is an over-saturated market and given our performance in recent years, our boys program was one of the organizations under consideration for expulsion from the league. To maintain an ECNL pathway for our club, ECNL leadership encouraged VA Union/MYS to pursue a merger with another member club. Fairfax Brave was given a similar directive and given our geographic proximity and shared desire to provide an ECNL path for our members, we chose to merge Fairfax Brave and Virginia Union.  

As most of you are already aware, the Fairfax Brave club comprises the Vienna and Braddock Road clubs. In order to merge the VA Union with the Brave, we created a new entity and established the Fairfax VA Union club. This new entity has a three-club founding membership structure and under the agreement, each founding club represents one third of this new organization that has come together to make decisions that are in our best interests. Each club has two member representatives that sit on a Fairfax VA Union board of six directors. According to the bylaws of this new entity, all decisions regarding the new club must be voted on unanimously, including the coaching staff decisions. 

We hope to have the final coaching slate in place by midweek. As much as we want to place all of our existing VA Union/MYS coaches into this new club, we all must understand that it is a collaborative effort involving 3 clubs with talented and skilled coaches. It is our shared objective to ensure we are leveraging the tremendous coaching resources that all three clubs have to position the Fairfax VA Union teams to be competitive and to create better talent pathways for our players. Continuing to create these pathways is what will drive our focus at MYS with our involvement in the Fairfax VA Union for our ECNL level players, and for all our MYS players from recreation to travel.

We appreciate that there is a lot of change happening for our ECNL players during this transition and we will continue to provide our families with timely updates as they become available.

Yours in soccer,
Tim Ryerson
Associate Executive Director
McLean Youth Soccer

Wonder why this was not signed by Louise Waxler, Executive Director.

Wow. I don’t know why the many good female players and their coaches in Union would remain on this ship which is sinking through no fault of their own.

With FCV players leaving that club en masse to follow their coaching staff to VRSC, is there an opportunity for Union girls to leave en masse for FCV? I hear FCV is looking for some GA coaches, so in this case the coaches could follow their players! They’d all be playing Champions League next season, ironically based on the play of current FCV players who by then will be watching Champions League online from the comfort of Revolution Sportsplex!

[Anonymous]

If only Title IX applied to youth soccer...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any parent with girls at an ECNL club should be looking at their club's boys' rankings to check and see how the boys are doing. Cause clearly ECNL (and clubs!) only care about the boys' sides. Your weak boys' club is next no matter what your girls' side looks like... Does it matter that none of these ECNL boys will play D1 in college because those rosters are full of international boys and (maybe) some MLS Next players? Nope. Does it matter that ECNL girls actually play D1 in college and play in the NWSL? Nope. All about the boys.

So many ECNL parents are GA haters, but maybe this proves there is value in being in a league that prioritizes female athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Creation of Fairfax VA Union

ECNL and ECNL R parents,
I am writing this email on behalf of the MYS Leadership and Board of Directors to give some additional context about the creation of the Fairfax VA Union ECNL club. First, we understand the impact this has on the MYS/VA Union players, coaches, and families. We have been faced with a difficult situation and are working tirelessly to make decisions that are in the best interest of our players and the organization in both the short and long term. 

Earlier this month, we were informed by the ECNL league that our National Program membership for the Virginia Union was in jeopardy due to poor performance, particularly on the boys side. We have had a downward trend and rank near the bottom in our region/nation on several performance metrics that are closely tracked by the league. We were also informed that our ECNL R program is under review and is subject to a hearing and potential removal.

At the request of the MYS Board of Directors, a follow-up meeting was held with ECNL President Christian Lavers. During this meeting, we were informed that ECNL has begun reviewing all participating clubs in order to enhance the level of competition and the player pool. ECNL feels that Fairfax County is an over-saturated market and given our performance in recent years, our boys program was one of the organizations under consideration for expulsion from the league. To maintain an ECNL pathway for our club, ECNL leadership encouraged VA Union/MYS to pursue a merger with another member club. Fairfax Brave was given a similar directive and given our geographic proximity and shared desire to provide an ECNL path for our members, we chose to merge Fairfax Brave and Virginia Union.  

As most of you are already aware, the Fairfax Brave club comprises the Vienna and Braddock Road clubs. In order to merge the VA Union with the Brave, we created a new entity and established the Fairfax VA Union club. This new entity has a three-club founding membership structure and under the agreement, each founding club represents one third of this new organization that has come together to make decisions that are in our best interests. Each club has two member representatives that sit on a Fairfax VA Union board of six directors. According to the bylaws of this new entity, all decisions regarding the new club must be voted on unanimously, including the coaching staff decisions. 

We hope to have the final coaching slate in place by midweek. As much as we want to place all of our existing VA Union/MYS coaches into this new club, we all must understand that it is a collaborative effort involving 3 clubs with talented and skilled coaches. It is our shared objective to ensure we are leveraging the tremendous coaching resources that all three clubs have to position the Fairfax VA Union teams to be competitive and to create better talent pathways for our players. Continuing to create these pathways is what will drive our focus at MYS with our involvement in the Fairfax VA Union for our ECNL level players, and for all our MYS players from recreation to travel.

We appreciate that there is a lot of change happening for our ECNL players during this transition and we will continue to provide our families with timely updates as they become available.

Yours in soccer,
Tim Ryerson
Associate Executive Director
McLean Youth Soccer

Wonder why this was not signed by Louise Waxler, Executive Director.

Wow. I don’t know why the many good female players and their coaches in Union would remain on this ship which is sinking through no fault of their own.

With FCV players leaving that club en masse to follow their coaching staff to VRSC, is there an opportunity for Union girls to leave en masse for FCV? I hear FCV is looking for some GA coaches, so in this case the coaches could follow their players! They’d all be playing Champions League next season, ironically based on the play of current FCV players who by then will be watching Champions League online from the comfort of Revolution Sportsplex!

Too late—FCV ID sessions wrapped up tonight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Creation of Fairfax VA Union

ECNL and ECNL R parents,
I am writing this email on behalf of the MYS Leadership and Board of Directors to give some additional context about the creation of the Fairfax VA Union ECNL club. First, we understand the impact this has on the MYS/VA Union players, coaches, and families. We have been faced with a difficult situation and are working tirelessly to make decisions that are in the best interest of our players and the organization in both the short and long term. 

Earlier this month, we were informed by the ECNL league that our National Program membership for the Virginia Union was in jeopardy due to poor performance, particularly on the boys side. We have had a downward trend and rank near the bottom in our region/nation on several performance metrics that are closely tracked by the league. We were also informed that our ECNL R program is under review and is subject to a hearing and potential removal.

At the request of the MYS Board of Directors, a follow-up meeting was held with ECNL President Christian Lavers. During this meeting, we were informed that ECNL has begun reviewing all participating clubs in order to enhance the level of competition and the player pool. ECNL feels that Fairfax County is an over-saturated market and given our performance in recent years, our boys program was one of the organizations under consideration for expulsion from the league. To maintain an ECNL pathway for our club, ECNL leadership encouraged VA Union/MYS to pursue a merger with another member club. Fairfax Brave was given a similar directive and given our geographic proximity and shared desire to provide an ECNL path for our members, we chose to merge Fairfax Brave and Virginia Union.  

As most of you are already aware, the Fairfax Brave club comprises the Vienna and Braddock Road clubs. In order to merge the VA Union with the Brave, we created a new entity and established the Fairfax VA Union club. This new entity has a three-club founding membership structure and under the agreement, each founding club represents one third of this new organization that has come together to make decisions that are in our best interests. Each club has two member representatives that sit on a Fairfax VA Union board of six directors. According to the bylaws of this new entity, all decisions regarding the new club must be voted on unanimously, including the coaching staff decisions. 

We hope to have the final coaching slate in place by midweek. As much as we want to place all of our existing VA Union/MYS coaches into this new club, we all must understand that it is a collaborative effort involving 3 clubs with talented and skilled coaches. It is our shared objective to ensure we are leveraging the tremendous coaching resources that all three clubs have to position the Fairfax VA Union teams to be competitive and to create better talent pathways for our players. Continuing to create these pathways is what will drive our focus at MYS with our involvement in the Fairfax VA Union for our ECNL level players, and for all our MYS players from recreation to travel.

We appreciate that there is a lot of change happening for our ECNL players during this transition and we will continue to provide our families with timely updates as they become available.

Yours in soccer,
Tim Ryerson
Associate Executive Director
McLean Youth Soccer

Wonder why this was not signed by Louise Waxler, Executive Director.

Wow. I don’t know why the many good female players and their coaches in Union would remain on this ship which is sinking through no fault of their own.

With FCV players leaving that club en masse to follow their coaching staff to VRSC, is there an opportunity for Union girls to leave en masse for FCV? I hear FCV is looking for some GA coaches, so in this case the coaches could follow their players! They’d all be playing Champions League next season, ironically based on the play of current FCV players who by then will be watching Champions League online from the comfort of Revolution Sportsplex!

Too late—FCV ID sessions wrapped up tonight.

Don’t worry there will be more coming.

[Anonymous]

I’m not sure why people think coaches will only select their own players…

Coaches and the club both want to win. Almost certainly, all 3 clubs & TDs will be involved in talent assessments and offers, not just the individual coach for each team.

Further, the coaches know the best players on rival teams. In the strongest age groups (like 2010 SYC and Vienna girls), the top players on both squads are well known to all three clubs.

In unbalanced age groups (like Union 2009G and Brave 2008G), the stronger team will probably put more girls onto the roster, regardless of who coaches.