ECNL Team Fees

[Anonymous]

The travel is a waste of time and energy and money. . They should be using all that time to train instead of traveling. It is expensive, disruptive, interferes with proper sleep, nutrition and warm ups and it costs an f..ing fortune. It is stupid and serves no purpose that has to do with improving as a soccer player.

[Anonymous]

You need a xanax and/or a nap. We know what ecnl does or doesn’t provide for as a league.

My kid would never have developed into the player they are if if they stayed at the closest club regardless of league. Her opponents would have been awful and not the level required to see how vs other regions.

[Anonymous]

I don't need a xanax. I also don't need the stupid travel but I did it with the first and now the second. It is what it is and none of us can do anything about it but call it out on forums but at least we can do that instead of defending the nonsense. Your Dd and mine could be even better players if they were in a better system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 6-10k number is for real. Here is a rough breakdown for a typical year (i.e. not a COVID year). Overnight stays are based on an average of $250/night stay to include hotel, gas, meals. You might spend more or less. Keep in mind that for teams that bus, as a parent, you pay for your kids bus ride, a shared hotel room, and meals. Then you have to get your own room and travel if you plan to go. You might be closer to $6k if you don't go yourself. Note that this does not include any personal training or national finals.

Club dues $2500
team fees $800 team fees (coach travel, referees, video service, incidentals)
uniforms and equipment $200
four league game weekend trips @ $500 ea, $2000 (there are 8 out of state teams in girls MA, each weekend you play two teams, requiring two overnight stays)
three showcase weekend trips @500 each, $1500
1 week trip to national playoffs/showcase, 7 nights@$250, $1750
total $8750

And yet honestly...all the silly travel does not help them improve their soccer. It is a very very wasteful system that is about running a biz and not really about finding and developing soccer talent. If this was the way to find and develop soccer talent, other places would do it and yet..NONE of the great soccer countries do this.


That said. It is what it is and there is no other option for higher level play here unless you have a boy in a funded academy. It is soccer for well off players with very very few exceptions.

The US is different from the other "great soccer countries". Their methods do not work here, and vice versa. It is what it is, if you can afford it, go for it. If not, there are other avenues.
Despite all of this, this system is working, and is keeping the college and NWSL ranks flush with talent (talking girls side here). You can't say that soccer talent isn't being developed amidst all of this.

Lol. Yeah, the US men’s are doing great globally! All that talent! Wonder if all that time and money would’ve been better spent in math

[Anonymous]

2500 or so for the club dues
$400 uniforms every 2 years
Misc fees- $200 or so
4 or 5 away weekends for league games- $350 at least = $1750
Non ecnl tournament Jeff cup $400 or casl tourney $600
Ecnl showcases-
Arizona/Texas/South Carolina/Florida. Depending on which one and of more than one $1000-1500 each depending on details

And then post season if ya make it- Florida trip for playoffs fiver 3-4 days and Richmond this year for nationals for 3-4 days.

It all adds up. 6-10k is spot on

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 6-10k number is for real. Here is a rough breakdown for a typical year (i.e. not a COVID year). Overnight stays are based on an average of $250/night stay to include hotel, gas, meals. You might spend more or less. Keep in mind that for teams that bus, as a parent, you pay for your kids bus ride, a shared hotel room, and meals. Then you have to get your own room and travel if you plan to go. You might be closer to $6k if you don't go yourself. Note that this does not include any personal training or national finals.

Club dues $2500
team fees $800 team fees (coach travel, referees, video service, incidentals)
uniforms and equipment $200
four league game weekend trips @ $500 ea, $2000 (there are 8 out of state teams in girls MA, each weekend you play two teams, requiring two overnight stays)
three showcase weekend trips @500 each, $1500
1 week trip to national playoffs/showcase, 7 nights@$250, $1750
total $8750

And here's my breakdown:

Club fee $2500
Team fee $500
Uniform etc. $150
Weekend trips $150 x 4
Showcase weekends (2 local @ $0, 1 @ $300)

$4K.

Post-season on top of that which I agree can add more.

Check out how the club approaches this. Some aim to keep costs low, others aim for the travel magazine experience.

Your budget completely doesn't work for ECNL or GA because there are no local cheap showcases at $0 or $300. Even driving to PA (e.g., for the Penn Fusion Winter Showcase which is only 2 days over President's Day), will cost you $300 by the time you pay for gas, tolls, food, and at least one, if not two nights in a hotel. Going to the official ECNL or GA showcases which are definitely not easily drivable most of the time costs way more. I'm not sure why people are arguing about this topic - the cost is the cost. It sucks. It shouldn't be that way. But if you are in these leagues you don't "ask the club how it approaches this" and suggest "maybe you should go to a closer, local, less expensive showcase" and then my player will play for you. You know going in and you accept it. Can you be cost effective by eating PB&J, sure, but you can't make CA, TX, and FL closer than they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 6-10k number is for real. Here is a rough breakdown for a typical year (i.e. not a COVID year). Overnight stays are based on an average of $250/night stay to include hotel, gas, meals. You might spend more or less. Keep in mind that for teams that bus, as a parent, you pay for your kids bus ride, a shared hotel room, and meals. Then you have to get your own room and travel if you plan to go. You might be closer to $6k if you don't go yourself. Note that this does not include any personal training or national finals.

Club dues $2500
team fees $800 team fees (coach travel, referees, video service, incidentals)
uniforms and equipment $200
four league game weekend trips @ $500 ea, $2000 (there are 8 out of state teams in girls MA, each weekend you play two teams, requiring two overnight stays)
three showcase weekend trips @500 each, $1500
1 week trip to national playoffs/showcase, 7 nights@$250, $1750
total $8750

And here's my breakdown:

Club fee $2500
Team fee $500
Uniform etc. $150
Weekend trips $150 x 4
Showcase weekends (2 local @ $0, 1 @ $300)

$4K.

Post-season on top of that which I agree can add more.

Check out how the club approaches this. Some aim to keep costs low, others aim for the travel magazine experience.

Your budget completely doesn't work for ECNL or GA because there are no local cheap showcases at $0 or $300. Even driving to PA (e.g., for the Penn Fusion Winter Showcase which is only 2 days over President's Day), will cost you $300 by the time you pay for gas, tolls, food, and at least one, if not two nights in a hotel. Going to the official ECNL or GA showcases which are definitely not easily drivable most of the time costs way more. I'm not sure why people are arguing about this topic - the cost is the cost. It sucks. It shouldn't be that way. But if you are in these leagues you don't "ask the club how it approaches this" and suggest "maybe you should go to a closer, local, less expensive showcase" and then my player will play for you. You know going in and you accept it. Can you be cost effective by eating PB&J, sure, but you can't make CA, TX, and FL closer than they are.

Well it doesn't work for you at your club. And yet it is what I spent this year, and in preceding years, at ours. So it does work.

Someone else mentioned kids' buses. Another thing to consider is rooming arrangements - do the kids room together, or with parents? Both of these things can reduce the cost if the parent doesn't travel, but more expensive if you plan to go anyway. Different clubs handle these tthings differently - again ask the clubs how they handle this and what the costs are.

I'm not suggesting anyone dictates to any club what they do, rather that the simply ask what the club's plans are for next year. If they are planning on lots of travel and expensive trips then you know it's going to cost more, and when you find a club that plans to keep things less expensive then you know that you won't need to budget as much.

I do not know how many clubs fall into the more expensive budget range and how many into the cheaper range. Clearly from the posts here there is at least one in each category. My advice remains to ask the clubs you are considering what they do and what it typically costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 6-10k number is for real. Here is a rough breakdown for a typical year (i.e. not a COVID year). Overnight stays are based on an average of $250/night stay to include hotel, gas, meals. You might spend more or less. Keep in mind that for teams that bus, as a parent, you pay for your kids bus ride, a shared hotel room, and meals. Then you have to get your own room and travel if you plan to go. You might be closer to $6k if you don't go yourself. Note that this does not include any personal training or national finals.

Club dues $2500
team fees $800 team fees (coach travel, referees, video service, incidentals)
uniforms and equipment $200
four league game weekend trips @ $500 ea, $2000 (there are 8 out of state teams in girls MA, each weekend you play two teams, requiring two overnight stays)
three showcase weekend trips @500 each, $1500
1 week trip to national playoffs/showcase, 7 nights@$250, $1750
total $8750

And here's my breakdown:

Club fee $2500
Team fee $500
Uniform etc. $150
Weekend trips $150 x 4
Showcase weekends (2 local @ $0, 1 @ $300)

$4K.

Post-season on top of that which I agree can add more.

Check out how the club approaches this. Some aim to keep costs low, others aim for the travel magazine experience.

Your budget completely doesn't work for ECNL or GA because there are no local cheap showcases at $0 or $300. Even driving to PA (e.g., for the Penn Fusion Winter Showcase which is only 2 days over President's Day), will cost you $300 by the time you pay for gas, tolls, food, and at least one, if not two nights in a hotel. Going to the official ECNL or GA showcases which are definitely not easily drivable most of the time costs way more. I'm not sure why people are arguing about this topic - the cost is the cost. It sucks. It shouldn't be that way. But if you are in these leagues you don't "ask the club how it approaches this" and suggest "maybe you should go to a closer, local, less expensive showcase" and then my player will play for you. You know going in and you accept it. Can you be cost effective by eating PB&J, sure, but you can't make CA, TX, and FL closer than they are.

For a parent who's kid is not of that age yet, what do you actually get out of these Showcase games? Is there any feedback on performance from evaluators who are at them?

[Anonymous]

The showcases are not needed for the younger ages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The showcases are not needed for the younger ages.

Why not? It’s like any long distance tournament. Except this one helps prop up the larger league events rather than by club.

[Anonymous]

If spending a lot time money and energy to prop up a leagues event is valuable to you, than the events for the youngsters are perfect for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
So, Clubs fees are $2,500. How about Team fees/Travel fees?

How much do you actually spend?

Looking to see if ECNL fits the budget. Got two kids.

VDA
$3,325 fee
NVA
$3,000 fee + team fee
FVU
$3,200 fee + 500 team fee

I assume about $3k is normal?
FVU fees seem kind of high...

[Anonymous]

https://www.vdasoccer.org/policies

VDA team fees range from $420-$895 and you're not even accounting for the amount of travel. On the girls side at the ECNL MA U13/14 groups they play 22-24 league games, everybody is played twice home/away, so you'll have to also add in the cost of travel and hotel for about 3 weekends to NC for league play alone, not accounting for any out of state events.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 6-10k number is for real. Here is a rough breakdown for a typical year (i.e. not a COVID year). Overnight stays are based on an average of $250/night stay to include hotel, gas, meals. You might spend more or less. Keep in mind that for teams that bus, as a parent, you pay for your kids bus ride, a shared hotel room, and meals. Then you have to get your own room and travel if you plan to go. You might be closer to $6k if you don't go yourself. Note that this does not include any personal training or national finals.

Club dues $2500
team fees $800 team fees (coach travel, referees, video service, incidentals)
uniforms and equipment $200
four league game weekend trips @ $500 ea, $2000 (there are 8 out of state teams in girls MA, each weekend you play two teams, requiring two overnight stays)
three showcase weekend trips @500 each, $1500
1 week trip to national playoffs/showcase, 7 nights@$250, $1750
total $8750

And here's my breakdown:

Club fee $2500
Team fee $500
Uniform etc. $150
Weekend trips $150 x 4
Showcase weekends (2 local @ $0, 1 @ $300)

$4K.

Post-season on top of that which I agree can add more.

Check out how the club approaches this. Some aim to keep costs low, others aim for the travel magazine experience.

Your budget completely doesn't work for ECNL or GA because there are no local cheap showcases at $0 or $300. Even driving to PA (e.g., for the Penn Fusion Winter Showcase which is only 2 days over President's Day), will cost you $300 by the time you pay for gas, tolls, food, and at least one, if not two nights in a hotel. Going to the official ECNL or GA showcases which are definitely not easily drivable most of the time costs way more. I'm not sure why people are arguing about this topic - the cost is the cost. It sucks. It shouldn't be that way. But if you are in these leagues you don't "ask the club how it approaches this" and suggest "maybe you should go to a closer, local, less expensive showcase" and then my player will play for you. You know going in and you accept it. Can you be cost effective by eating PB&J, sure, but you can't make CA, TX, and FL closer than they are.

For a parent who's kid is not of that age yet, what do you actually get out of these Showcase games? Is there any feedback on performance from evaluators who are at them?

If your player is past June 15th of their sophomore year you'll hear from them only if there is interest otherwise there is no feedback. Evaluators aren't just walking around randomly watching games to find players. Scouts are there to see specific players who are already on their radar because the player has contacted them, sent them game film, attended one of their college camps and ID sessions. They'll watch a player for maybe 20-30 minutes and then move on to someone else on their list.

[Anonymous]

$5-10k on travel with ECNL.