Anyone who tries to tell you that NYC and NJ are further away than Wilmington, Charlotte, and Raleigh has serious issues. |
Dude/Dudette, serious issues? Let's see, drive times from my DC: Wilmington 5:40 Charlotte 6:14 Raleigh 4:23 Manhattan: 3:53 (no team there but just want to exercise the point) Delaware County, PA: 2:17 Wilmington, DE: 1:55 Adjust for Springfield, Arlington, etc. and the same pattern will emerge. You must have voted for the orange man because you are fake news like a MF! This is the fake news that keeps this whole process expensive and convoluted for DMV parents. We have enough talent locally to not travel if you wake the FU. ECNL Mid-Atlantic needs to fold and bring the NOVA teams into MLS Next. Heck, we do that we can export the NY, PA and DE teams to their own conference. Just stop spitting this stupid nonsense because it is crazy to be in ECNL Mid-Atlantic. Make Arlington Great Again and play DMV teams in the Beltway with a max travel time of 1:15. You are not that good to travel 4-6 hours. |
Uhm - their 2009 just had 5 kids sign with an academy. I would call that ‘something else’ in the scheme of things… |
Arlington is a big fish in a small pond. ECNL mid-Atlantic is a mediocre division with just 2-3 strong teams. With any MLSNext team in the area, you are squaring off twice a year with multiple MLS Academy teams and a host of much stronger clubs than you’d face if you were ECNL. The pace and speed of play is also slower than most MLSNext teams. Watered-down competition and slower speed of play don’t raise the bar. |
08s - losing record, 09s - .500, 10s - losing record. They had good momentum in their program, but ECNL just doesn’t draw like MLS Next and it’s hurting their program. |
Adjust for Springfield, Arlington, etc. and the same pattern will emerge.
You must have voted for the orange man because you are fake news like a MF! This is the fake news that keeps this whole process expensive and convoluted for DMV parents. We have enough talent locally to not travel if you wake the FU. ECNL Mid-Atlantic needs to fold and bring the NOVA teams into MLS Next. Heck, we do that we can export the NY, PA and DE teams to their own conference. Just stop spitting this stupid nonsense because it is crazy to be in ECNL Mid-Atlantic. Make Arlington Great Again and play DMV teams in the Beltway with a max travel time of 1:15. You are not that good to travel 4-6 hours. Wow, Trump Derangement Syndrome is alive and well in Arlington. |
what really needs to happen is that MD needs to be back in the mid Atlantic fold. That would make things really convenient with Pipeline, Celtic and MD United like it used to be. But HS seasons screwed that up across state. FWIW- No ECNL team drives 4 or even 8 different times to NC- Wilmington, Charlotte and Raleigh. There is a single NC trip per season (fall and spring) and multiple games scheduled each trip weekend to make it simpler. No idea whether MLS Next batch schedules the same way or if it’s a single trip for one game against a PA or DE or NY team. I would assume they probably batch too. With 11-12 Next away games vs ECNL 6-7 away games would suspect there is the same amount of overall driving per season… not sure driving is a big differentiator in the whole scheme of things… |
Great synopsis and the problem is solved. ECNL is making decisions based on kids playing high school. That is a totally different market than the MLS Next kids who many are in alternative/virtual programming. Arlington is a great program with terrific coaches. The have plenty of fields in good locations. ECNL is a sinking ship for the top 10% though on the boys side simply because the landscaped shifted when our top league entered into the space. I hope they figure it out though. Their coaches want my child and we like those coaches but that would be a backwards move from where we are, who we play week in and week out, and my child’s goals. |
Wow, Trump Derangement Syndrome is alive and well in Arlington. lol man I’ll have whatever your drinking. Plus, it makes sense! I’d love for the local DMV top tier jump into MLSNext, so travel (2+ hours) would be a thing of the past. |
Yep, I’m all for it |