Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Oh my, the ignorance is strong here.
Last time I checked the NCAA Div I had a National Championship. So did Div II, and DIV III. All called National Championships. Oh, wait, we also have the same structure in State High School Championships. Not to mention AAU basketball and NBA Youth, AAU Track and USTAF track.
ECNL, GA or USYS is no different. All are "leagues" that create a National Championship playoff to see who comes out on top from around the US. To say it does not mean something is absolutely ignorant. Even the young players in USYS Presidents' Cup are having a great time competing to win.
Is there a difference in the level of talent and competition? Certainly. Some players are gifted with talent and work hard as compared to others. Many are also gifted into families with a lot of money to invest in training. Do you think if Olivia Moultrie, Christian Pulisic, or Claudio Reyna were born into lower middle class families, they would be where they are today? Of course not. But what they were born into is not there fault.
Look, life is not fair. That's just how it is. We compete to try to win. If we knew who would win every game, we wouldn't play. Would the GA Nat'l Champ beat the ECNL Nat'l Champ? I have no idea other than it would be a great game. One thing I do know, College coaches were there watching both teams on the way to win there respective Nat'l Championship. You know where else College coaches were? They were attending games of players on other fields who have spent the time emailing them all while they were practicing and trying to keep excellent grades.
Playoffs matter and showcases matter.
You are free to enjoy the experience but it also doesn't matter. Who said anything about it being fair? I don't think you understand what a "closed league" means. It means that there is no promotion or relegation. The league allows participation to CLUBS via a application process. It shuts out smaller clubs who might have teams or the ability to retain teams that could compete at this level.
It is a "National Championship" of self selected participants and is not open to all capable participants. On top of it there are TWO national leagues further dilution and fracturing the overall product.
This isn't about Socio Economic access, this is about a true merit based tournament. ECNL and GA are both nothing more than Echo Chambers.
I'm not saying your kid or team are not good at soccer. I'm not saying the competition isn't good. I am saying that it is ultimately meaningless, especially if your goal is simply to get recruited to the best school possible. But beyond your clubs social media or your own Facebook posts to Grandma, literally nobody else cares about the results. Not a soul here could tell you who won the U17 ECNL Championship 3 years ago. Nobody here could tell you who is even still alive now without looking it up. NOBODY CARES! There are no parades, ESPN will not report it, your local paper won't mention it. Your kid can't get an endorsement deal out of it. It has no tangible value.
And getting booted in group play has absolutely no value either. Whether they had a championship or not ECNL would have seeded the showcase the exact same way. Whether GA had a Championship or not would not have changed how they would have seeded the event. They just want YOU to put more emphases on it for their own marketing. It is a gimmick.