CCL/ECNL Merger

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s an inevitable evolution in a market system. Leagues try to get bigger, become watered down and less exclusive, opening new opportunities for another league to be the more exclusive one.

ECNL expansion is a bad thing. ECNL’s draw is that it gives college exposure to all teams. If it expands too much, not all the teams can get the same exposure because events attended by college coaches are a limited resource. Some teams will grow unhappy and look for something else.

ECNL-R is not ECNL.

The general premise of your post is true but ECNL-R can expand all it wants, and should, if overall ECNL wants Pro/Rel

Lol pro/rel will never happen with the ECNL. None of the existing clubs will agree to pro/rel. ECNL is about making money, protecting clubs and keeping the u little ranks filled. It is not about competition, winning programs or development. It is not a professional league. Winning does not matter to the ECNL. There will always be first and last place teams. The colleges will take ECNL players off the first through last place teams or any other league players because they need players. It is the equivalent of Pop Warner football or little baseball.

ECNL- r sucks because it is an after thought for the ECNL clubs. ECNL club do not care about ECNL-r. It’s the second team.

See bolded. I have no idea what ECNL wants to do BUT if Pro/Rel is on the table at all then it requires more club participation overall. The Pro/Rel could be limited to ECNL-R and not extend into ECNL at all. BUT if ECNL wants to expand ECNL-R via moves like CCL mergers then it needs to offer Regional league clubs the carrot of earning their way into ECNL otherwise there just isn't a whole lot of reason to be nothing more than the B league.

1 B League is probably better than 2 B Leagues (ECNL R and CCL)

They are both the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s an inevitable evolution in a market system. Leagues try to get bigger, become watered down and less exclusive, opening new opportunities for another league to be the more exclusive one.

ECNL expansion is a bad thing. ECNL’s draw is that it gives college exposure to all teams. If it expands too much, not all the teams can get the same exposure because events attended by college coaches are a limited resource. Some teams will grow unhappy and look for something else.

ECNL-R is not ECNL.

The general premise of your post is true but ECNL-R can expand all it wants, and should, if overall ECNL wants Pro/Rel

Lol pro/rel will never happen with the ECNL. None of the existing clubs will agree to pro/rel. ECNL is about making money, protecting clubs and keeping the u little ranks filled. It is not about competition, winning programs or development. It is not a professional league. Winning does not matter to the ECNL. There will always be first and last place teams. The colleges will take ECNL players off the first through last place teams or any other league players because they need players. It is the equivalent of Pop Warner football or little baseball.

ECNL- r sucks because it is an after thought for the ECNL clubs. ECNL club do not care about ECNL-r. It’s the second team.

See bolded. I have no idea what ECNL wants to do BUT if Pro/Rel is on the table at all then it requires more club participation overall. The Pro/Rel could be limited to ECNL-R and not extend into ECNL at all. BUT if ECNL wants to expand ECNL-R via moves like CCL mergers then it needs to offer Regional league clubs the carrot of earning their way into ECNL otherwise there just isn't a whole lot of reason to be nothing more than the B league.

No. They will not do this. The ECNL-r is not important to ECNL clubs. They could careless about ECNL- r teams or clubs. Seriously why would an ECNL club agree to pro/rel? What is in it for them? Nothing but a chance that their club or team would lose the ECNL patch and most of their players. No one will stay at an ECNL club or team that goes down to the ECNL-r. This is not an open system about winning and competition.

[Anonymous]

ECNL clubs will stack year groups. Let’s say you have a good 07’s team. The club will take the best players from the 08’s and play them a year up. This makes the 08’s weak and a candidate for rel. It would be stupid for an ECNL club to agree to Pro/rel. Pro/rel is a pipe dream specially in a glorified kids league.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s an inevitable evolution in a market system. Leagues try to get bigger, become watered down and less exclusive, opening new opportunities for another league to be the more exclusive one.

ECNL expansion is a bad thing. ECNL’s draw is that it gives college exposure to all teams. If it expands too much, not all the teams can get the same exposure because events attended by college coaches are a limited resource. Some teams will grow unhappy and look for something else.

ECNL-R is not ECNL.

The general premise of your post is true but ECNL-R can expand all it wants, and should, if overall ECNL wants Pro/Rel

Lol pro/rel will never happen with the ECNL. None of the existing clubs will agree to pro/rel. ECNL is about making money, protecting clubs and keeping the u little ranks filled. It is not about competition, winning programs or development. It is not a professional league. Winning does not matter to the ECNL. There will always be first and last place teams. The colleges will take ECNL players off the first through last place teams or any other league players because they need players. It is the equivalent of Pop Warner football or little baseball.

ECNL- r sucks because it is an after thought for the ECNL clubs. ECNL club do not care about ECNL-r. It’s the second team.

See bolded. I have no idea what ECNL wants to do BUT if Pro/Rel is on the table at all then it requires more club participation overall. The Pro/Rel could be limited to ECNL-R and not extend into ECNL at all. BUT if ECNL wants to expand ECNL-R via moves like CCL mergers then it needs to offer Regional league clubs the carrot of earning their way into ECNL otherwise there just isn't a whole lot of reason to be nothing more than the B league.

No. They will not do this. The ECNL-r is not important to ECNL clubs. They could careless about ECNL- r teams or clubs. Seriously why would an ECNL club agree to pro/rel? What is in it for them? Nothing but a chance that their club or team would lose the ECNL patch and most of their players. No one will stay at an ECNL club or team that goes down to the ECNL-r. This is not an open system about winning and competition.

ECNL-R clubs care about why they are joining the league. ECNL has to provide some carrot to these clubs in order to get them to join. Better pathway, better competition whatever they can put on their club website is what ECNL needs to throw at these clubs to draw them in.

On the flip side, if ECNL hopes to keep the top performing clubs eventually they need to demonstrate that the league is doing what it can to address poor performing clubs.

Considering ECNL is club to club this is nearly impossible to actually achieve in a traditional relegation system so you can relax. But, make no mistake that expanding ECNL-R does proved the potential at least within ECNL-R to have Pro/Rel within a tiered system of its own. The reward for those top clubs would be to participate in ECNL showcases outright as a CLUB not team by team. Those top performing clubs can then be rewarded at some point with more ECNL competition or outright admission.

[Anonymous]

It needs to be a true geographical league with a true North, South, and West. ECNL RL teams have no business traveling 3 to 4 hours for one game when they can play adequate competition within an hour and half. Top 2 teams from each division advance on to a playoff and that's when you can travel. The players that are good enough can travel greater distances and play in the ECNL National League or MLS Next.

Why would a northern va club travel to Blacksburg, VA or Roanoke, VA when they can play someone right down the road. Why would Beach travel to NRU or Roanoke when they can travel to Richmond for matches and play clubs along the way.

I would make the North into two divisions, the South and the West. Everyone south of Fredericksburg into the West.

Of course the model above makes too much sense for the ego's and the clubs afraid of a local derby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It needs to be a true geographical league with a true North, South, and West. ECNL RL teams have no business traveling 3 to 4 hours for one game when they can play adequate competition within an hour and half. Top 2 teams from each division advance on to a playoff and that's when you can travel. The players that are good enough can travel greater distances and play in the ECNL National League or MLS Next.

Why would a northern va club travel to Blacksburg, VA or Roanoke, VA when they can play someone right down the road. Why would Beach travel to NRU or Roanoke when they can travel to Richmond for matches and play clubs along the way.

I would make the North into two divisions, the South and the West. Everyone south of Fredericksburg into the West.

Of course the model above makes too much sense for the ego's and the clubs afraid of a local derby.

This is the way

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s an inevitable evolution in a market system. Leagues try to get bigger, become watered down and less exclusive, opening new opportunities for another league to be the more exclusive one.

ECNL expansion is a bad thing. ECNL’s draw is that it gives college exposure to all teams. If it expands too much, not all the teams can get the same exposure because events attended by college coaches are a limited resource. Some teams will grow unhappy and look for something else.

ECNL-R is not ECNL.

The general premise of your post is true but ECNL-R can expand all it wants, and should, if overall ECNL wants Pro/Rel

Lol pro/rel will never happen with the ECNL. None of the existing clubs will agree to pro/rel. ECNL is about making money, protecting clubs and keeping the u little ranks filled. It is not about competition, winning programs or development. It is not a professional league. Winning does not matter to the ECNL. There will always be first and last place teams. The colleges will take ECNL players off the first through last place teams or any other league players because they need players. It is the equivalent of Pop Warner football or little baseball.

ECNL- r sucks because it is an after thought for the ECNL clubs. ECNL club do not care about ECNL-r. It’s the second team.

See bolded. I have no idea what ECNL wants to do BUT if Pro/Rel is on the table at all then it requires more club participation overall. The Pro/Rel could be limited to ECNL-R and not extend into ECNL at all. BUT if ECNL wants to expand ECNL-R via moves like CCL mergers then it needs to offer Regional league clubs the carrot of earning their way into ECNL otherwise there just isn't a whole lot of reason to be nothing more than the B league.

No. They will not do this. The ECNL-r is not important to ECNL clubs. They could careless about ECNL- r teams or clubs. Seriously why would an ECNL club agree to pro/rel? What is in it for them? Nothing but a chance that their club or team would lose the ECNL patch and most of their players. No one will stay at an ECNL club or team that goes down to the ECNL-r. This is not an open system about winning and competition.

ECNL-R clubs care about why they are joining the league. ECNL has to provide some carrot to these clubs in order to get them to join. Better pathway, better competition whatever they can put on their club website is what ECNL needs to throw at these clubs to draw them in.

On the flip side, if ECNL hopes to keep the top performing clubs eventually they need to demonstrate that the league is doing what it can to address poor performing clubs.

Considering ECNL is club to club this is nearly impossible to actually achieve in a traditional relegation system so you can relax. But, make no mistake that expanding ECNL-R does proved the potential at least within ECNL-R to have Pro/Rel within a tiered system of its own. The reward for those top clubs would be to participate in ECNL showcases outright as a CLUB not team by team. Those top performing clubs can then be rewarded at some point with more ECNL competition or outright admission.

No ECNL does not have to provide a carrot for clubs to join the ECNL-r. The CCL is dead and ECNL-r is a regional league for the ECNL. They do not need more teams or clubs. There are no concerns about poor performing clubs in the ECNL. You really do not understand youth soccer. It is not a professional league. There is no pressure to win. It’s about selling the dream of playing in college and collecting money from the parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s an inevitable evolution in a market system. Leagues try to get bigger, become watered down and less exclusive, opening new opportunities for another league to be the more exclusive one.

ECNL expansion is a bad thing. ECNL’s draw is that it gives college exposure to all teams. If it expands too much, not all the teams can get the same exposure because events attended by college coaches are a limited resource. Some teams will grow unhappy and look for something else.

ECNL-R is not ECNL.

The general premise of your post is true but ECNL-R can expand all it wants, and should, if overall ECNL wants Pro/Rel

Lol pro/rel will never happen with the ECNL. None of the existing clubs will agree to pro/rel. ECNL is about making money, protecting clubs and keeping the u little ranks filled. It is not about competition, winning programs or development. It is not a professional league. Winning does not matter to the ECNL. There will always be first and last place teams. The colleges will take ECNL players off the first through last place teams or any other league players because they need players. It is the equivalent of Pop Warner football or little baseball.

ECNL- r sucks because it is an after thought for the ECNL clubs. ECNL club do not care about ECNL-r. It’s the second team.

See bolded. I have no idea what ECNL wants to do BUT if Pro/Rel is on the table at all then it requires more club participation overall. The Pro/Rel could be limited to ECNL-R and not extend into ECNL at all. BUT if ECNL wants to expand ECNL-R via moves like CCL mergers then it needs to offer Regional league clubs the carrot of earning their way into ECNL otherwise there just isn't a whole lot of reason to be nothing more than the B league.

No. They will not do this. The ECNL-r is not important to ECNL clubs. They could careless about ECNL- r teams or clubs. Seriously why would an ECNL club agree to pro/rel? What is in it for them? Nothing but a chance that their club or team would lose the ECNL patch and most of their players. No one will stay at an ECNL club or team that goes down to the ECNL-r. This is not an open system about winning and competition.

ECNL-R clubs care about why they are joining the league. ECNL has to provide some carrot to these clubs in order to get them to join. Better pathway, better competition whatever they can put on their club website is what ECNL needs to throw at these clubs to draw them in.

On the flip side, if ECNL hopes to keep the top performing clubs eventually they need to demonstrate that the league is doing what it can to address poor performing clubs.

Considering ECNL is club to club this is nearly impossible to actually achieve in a traditional relegation system so you can relax. But, make no mistake that expanding ECNL-R does proved the potential at least within ECNL-R to have Pro/Rel within a tiered system of its own. The reward for those top clubs would be to participate in ECNL showcases outright as a CLUB not team by team. Those top performing clubs can then be rewarded at some point with more ECNL competition or outright admission.

No ECNL does not have to provide a carrot for clubs to join the ECNL-r. The CCL is dead and ECNL-r is a regional league for the ECNL. They do not need more teams or clubs. There are no concerns about poor performing clubs in the ECNL. You really do not understand youth soccer. It is not a professional league. There is no pressure to win. It’s about selling the dream of playing in college and collecting money from the parents.

Sorry, but leagues do have to sell their merits to clubs especially when all that is being offered is another B league. There has to be positive incentive to get all the clubs in a league to agree to jump ship.

If CCL is planning on closing its doors, ala DA then this isn't a merger but simply a streamlined way of absorbing those clubs who wish to join ECNL-R. If CCL has no interest or need to close their doors then this is silly conversation because it is still up to the clubs to do what they want to do.

And yes, these are not professional leagues, they are year to year commitments from local clubs to an organization who manages scheduling, insurance and the administrative tasks associated with organized play. If a club is going to pay fees to a league they want to know why they should pay that money to this league versus another league. And if the particular league wants that money they have to provide a competitive product and reason.

[Pinksoccerball]

Has anyone else heard any update on this? Just wondering if it's some sort of partnership or an actual merger of both leagues.

[DMVParent]

This merger is not going to happen. As someone pointed out previously, CCL is under USYS and ECNL-R is under US Club soccer.

[soccer_dc]

This entire thread was pure speculation based on zero actual information. Now that only registered users can post maybe this won't happen as much.

[vasoccerdad]

Im new to this site and topic. I found it via google search for CCl ECNL Merge.

I was at the Adidas National Cup this weekend where my son's team was playing in the "Super Group". At the event there were a lot of National League Alliance signs, so it is obvious that the CCl is now affiliated with the NLA. However, I also heard a lot of "rumors" about the CCL going into the ECNL-R. I overheard the coach of a team saying that because of their standing in the CCL, they would be going to a USCS tournament, and if placed there they would go on to the USCS regional. He referenced it as a "New Development" in the CCL.

Any thoughts?

[PICKMECOACH]

vasoccerdad wrote:Im new to this site and topic. I found it via google search for CCl ECNL Merge.

I was at the Adidas National Cup this weekend where my son's team was playing in the "Super Group". At the event there were a lot of National League Alliance signs, so it is obvious that the CCl is now affiliated with the NLA. However, I also heard a lot of "rumors" about the CCL going into the ECNL-R. I overheard the coach of a team saying that because of their standing in the CCL, they would be going to a USCS tournament, and if placed there they would go on to the USCS regional. He referenced it as a "New Development" in the CCL.

Any thoughts?

What age bracket was Super Group?

[vasoccerdad]

Each age bracket (U12-U19) had several competition levels with 6-8 teams in each level. The Super Group was the highest competition level in each age. The SG had teams from Alaska, Florida, New York, Virginia, Maryland, etc. From my research, all of the teams in this level were fairly competitive within their respective leagues. The tournament included many teams from clubs outside of the CCL, some of them traveling quite far to play.

[PICKMECOACH]

vasoccerdad wrote:Each age bracket (U12-U19) had several competition levels with 6-8 teams in each level. The Super Group was the highest competition level in each age. The SG had teams from Alaska, Florida, New York, Virginia, Maryland, etc. From my research, all of the teams in this level were fairly competitive within their respective leagues. The tournament included many teams from clubs outside of the CCL, some of them traveling quite far to play.

Thank you...