Learn what? How to illegally tie one product with another so customers have to buy both? I give it a week and the truth comes out. |
Since this is an anonymous forum and you won’t get called out, could you please provide this secret list provided by the ECNL that you apparently have access to that shows which 15 GA clubs applied to ECNL and were rejected. This could help us determine once and for all how truly dominant the ECNL is as a league. Are they turning down the CUP, Tophat, SC Del Sol, FC United, Michigan Jags types, or lesser clubs? This is all so interesting. Please let us know. |
If FC Wisconsin recruits players, they are not very good at it. Their teams are absolutely terrible. SC Wave, a GA club, is the best in Wisconsin. |
Elmbrook United is best club in WI now. And they are newly promoted to GA. |
I have always found it interesting that C.L. the President of the ECNL and one of its original founders runs one of the most trash clubs in the league, yet other clubs are kicked out due to “poor performance”. Super sketchy. |
It’s about market share. Neither league is concerned with bringing in the so called “best clubs.” Best clubs come and go. |
Similar deal in Chicago with Eclipse. Funny how Chicago, the third largest city in America with a metro population of 9.5 million, only had one ECNL club for the first 13 years of the leagues existence. R.D. Didn’t want any competition. Now that there are other options in Chicago, 3 GA clubs and 2 ECNL clubs, Eclipse is sliding. |
Chicago has three ECNL clubs now if you count Rockford Raptors, which is 85 miles from Chicago, but made up of mostly Chicago metro kids. |
Maybe the DMV [b] could learn something from Chicago and not have 6[?] Ecnl clubs and next year [10? 11?] GA clubs |
The Hawks have an excellent track record, no doubt, but I wonder if they might just be entering the toughest climate to succeed. The Wolves (MLSN) -- who they share facilities with -- is starting a girls program. With more GA clubs in MI, they may lose some of clubs that normally feed them top talent. The Nationals -- now in ECNL and in the same market -- are off to a more than solid start and may currently have a better reputation in terms of organization and coaching, which for the Hawks recently has been a bit of a carousel. |
Nationals may have had the most rapid ascension as a program in the last five years. Not sure the reason but I remember Nationals teams being good, but they are excellent now. Hawks are also excellent, something in the water in Detroit. No clue if Nationals will overtake Hawks, but two clubs of that level within 30 mins of each other is something I wish DC had. |
For a long time, the Hawks didn't have any ECNL competition in metro Detroit and could easily form super teams and offer 2 teams at the ECNL level (which provided another way to horde talent). They continue to use that reputation to attract top level players and have excellent teams, but the changes in youth soccer and competition by the Nationals, among others, is putting pressure on whether they can keep their second team, which often struggles. And some say the coaching there has become a complete dumpster fire and they only continue win despite it -- thanks to the talent -- and as a result skating now on really thin ice. |
Looking at their website it seems all the ECNL teams are coached by Doug L and Michelle K, who seem to have been there a long time. Have Nationals had new coaches? It wouldn't be the ECNL access only as that is new and they were amazing in the GA.. like I said in my last post they might be the biggest "glow up" (as my daughter used to say) I have seen in a long time. New director? coaches? All I know is their u19 team kicked our ass this year. |
2 people for all age groups for one of the nations top clubs? All I'll say that's not how the season started. |
Do tell ![]() |