What if.....Girls side

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Soccer is more diluted in NOVA and we have more people. Both are true. From the many ECNL games I have seen North Carolina coaching is also superior. Why? I have no idea but it is.

You've watched NC coaches run a single game. That is not encompassing coaching. While some ages NC teams are great, others they are so-so. Guess what, same applies to NOVA clubs too! *gasp* Some teams in NOVA smoke NC teams. I watched CESA (U16) coach scream the most negative comments at his players the entire game... no wonder they lost. Full blown degrading, forced them to stand the entire half out of punishment in the sun, then had them play 2nd half. So, you're anecdotal 'evidence' NC coaches are better is just that... pure opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why it would be better to have fewer local ECNL teams that were national contenders. It wouldn't be better for the players who could no longer make a ECNL team. It wouldn't be better for the players who would need to travel further to practice fields. It wouldn't be better for clubs who rely on having ECNL to recruit young players to their teams.

Other than having bragging rights to say DC area has a top national team, where is the benefit?

Those are odd points. The idea is that the strongest players practice together and get better. Right now, if you are one of the strongest on the team you are likely not maximizing you’re training time. Lots a kids on ECNL teams probably shouldn’t be there if we were true to the elite moniker. Travel to practice fields may be an issue, but with some smart consolidation, that can be mitigated. Who cares about the club.

The strongest players at high school ages don’t practice and play with each other in other sports like basketball and football, and it doesn’t seem to stop them from developing. These kids play with whoever else goes to their high school. Why does soccer require specialized elite leagues in order for players to develop?

This sounds like club talk trying to keep players from leaving. It is a fact that training with stronger players will result in better development than training with weaker players. If you want to go look at the studies get your google machine working ( you’ll also find that work groups of talented people outperform work groups of mixed talent). I would argue there are no truly elite leagues in soccer, the focus shifted long ago from caring about players to caring about making money off of gullible parents. If we were to do it right, a top league would be funded by US Soccer and they could make the elite designation more of a meritocracy. This whole devolution in soccer feels like the push to get rid of TAG programs and reduce academic standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why it would be better to have fewer local ECNL teams that were national contenders. It wouldn't be better for the players who could no longer make a ECNL team. It wouldn't be better for the players who would need to travel further to practice fields. It wouldn't be better for clubs who rely on having ECNL to recruit young players to their teams.

Other than having bragging rights to say DC area has a top national team, where is the benefit?

Those are odd points. The idea is that the strongest players practice together and get better. Right now, if you are one of the strongest on the team you are likely not maximizing you’re training time. Lots a kids on ECNL teams probably shouldn’t be there if we were true to the elite moniker. Travel to practice fields may be an issue, but with some smart consolidation, that can be mitigated. Who cares about the club.

The strongest players at high school ages don’t practice and play with each other in other sports like basketball and football, and it doesn’t seem to stop them from developing. These kids play with whoever else goes to their high school. Why does soccer require specialized elite leagues in order for players to develop?

This sounds like club talk trying to keep players from leaving. It is a fact that training with stronger players will result in better development than training with weaker players. If you want to go look at the studies get your google machine working ( you’ll also find that work groups of talented people outperform work groups of mixed talent). I would argue there are no truly elite leagues in soccer, the focus shifted long ago from caring about players to cari about making money off of gullible parents. If we were to do it right, a top league would be funded by US Soccer and they could make the elite designation more of a meritocracy. This whole devolution in soccer feels like the push to get rid of TAG programs and reduce academic standards.

You really do not know what you are talking about. Consolidating anything before 17 or 18 would be harmful to the development of the players. You would have a much higher drop out rate and a much smaller pool of players each age group. The over talent level would drop.