ECNL moving to school year not calendar

[Anonymous]

When is the next podcast?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ECNL for Boys = GA for Girls
MLSN for Boys = ENCL for Girls
GA2 or ECNL-RL for both genders = money makers

This is a stupid statement. Have been in 2 MLSN clubs, and I am not impressed. Most starters will be on the bench of the 3 ECNL teams in my area. I will switch to ECNL next season.

That's what keeps this thread going. That one club somewhere in Arkansas that doesn't fit the model. Is there any argument that MLSN is a superior league to ECNL for boys? Shoudn't be...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem for mlsnext is obvious.

If 20% or so of the current mlsnext kids — those with birthdays between August to December — decide being one of the top ECNL players is better than being a bench mlsnext player they shift leagues.

And, who replaces them on the mlsnext squad? The January - June birthday kids currently playing ECNL? No. There are reasons why they aren’t playing mlsnext currently.

That’s the mlsnext problem. They can lose 20% of their kids and not have good replacements. Suddenly the ECNL teams look much “better”.

Seriously stop trying to apply your girl logic to boys.

With boys all the top players play on MLS Academy teams. These players are all under contract through MLS and this is where college recruiters go first when looking for talent. Also with the boys there's much less college spots available so showcases don't carry the same weight as they do on the boys side.

If MLSN stays BY and ECNL goes SY, then MLSN kids are a bit misaligned for college recruiters if colleges want to take advantage of RAE. Will be interesting.

MLS Next has biobanding so RAE doesn't matter. Also the top players on MLS Acadamies are usually playing up 1-2 years.

Your girl dad mind doesn't comprehend how MLS Acadamies function because there's no equivalent for a true Acadamy club on the girls side. (In the US)

For boys college teams are FULL of 24 year old freshman that just recently washed out of XYZ foreign Academy. This is who American youth soccer players are competing for roster spots with on college teams. RAE doesn't matter in this type of environment after u14. You can play in a regular MLS Next club and do biobanding but once you hit puberty it's done. Either you're the next top player or you don't matter.

Makes you wonder why MLSN was threatened enough to try to block the other leagues from going to SY. And why are MLSN rosters mostly Q1 and 2 kids again?

Nobody cares.

I'm sorry that you've just discovered that MLS runs US Soccer.

[Anonymous]

There were 1100 college scouts in St Louis today. That is a compelling argument for the value of ecnl if you want to play in college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There were 1100 college scouts in St Louis today. That is a compelling argument for the value of ecnl if you want to play in college

Proportions for men’s vs. women’s teams?

[Anonymous]

Seriously stop trying to apply your girl logic to boys.

With boys all the top players play on MLS Academy teams. These players are all under contract through MLS and this is where college recruiters go first when looking for talent. Also with the boys there's much less college spots available so showcases don't carry the same weight as they do on the boys side.

So then for boys it sounds like it’s MLS or bust. Which would make MLS Next even less relevant to this whole thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Seriously stop trying to apply your girl logic to boys.

With boys all the top players play on MLS Academy teams. These players are all under contract through MLS and this is where college recruiters go first when looking for talent. Also with the boys there's much less college spots available so showcases don't carry the same weight as they do on the boys side.

So then for boys it sounds like it’s MLS or bust. Which would make MLS Next even less relevant to this whole thing.

I think, whether you like it or not, when you mention ECNL in any thread on this forum and in any other Elite conversation, you are most likely referring to girls. I don't make the rules. I just play by them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem for mlsnext is obvious.

If 20% or so of the current mlsnext kids — those with birthdays between August to December — decide being one of the top ECNL players is better than being a bench mlsnext player they shift leagues.

And, who replaces them on the mlsnext squad? The January - June birthday kids currently playing ECNL? No. There are reasons why they aren’t playing mlsnext currently.

That’s the mlsnext problem. They can lose 20% of their kids and not have good replacements. Suddenly the ECNL teams look much “better”.

Seriously stop trying to apply your girl logic to boys.

With boys all the top players play on MLS Academy teams. These players are all under contract through MLS and this is where college recruiters go first when looking for talent. Also with the boys there's much less college spots available so showcases don't carry the same weight as they do on the boys side.

If MLSN stays BY and ECNL goes SY, then MLSN kids are a bit misaligned for college recruiters if colleges want to take advantage of RAE. Will be interesting.

MLS Next has biobanding so RAE doesn't matter. Also the top players on MLS Acadamies are usually playing up 1-2 years.

Your girl dad mind doesn't comprehend how MLS Acadamies function because there's no equivalent for a true Acadamy club on the girls side. (In the US)

For boys college teams are FULL of 24 year old freshman that just recently washed out of XYZ foreign Academy. This is who American youth soccer players are competing for roster spots with on college teams. RAE doesn't matter in this type of environment after u14. You can play in a regular MLS Next club and do biobanding but once you hit puberty it's done. Either you're the next top player or you don't matter.

Makes you wonder why MLSN was threatened enough to try to block the other leagues from going to SY. And why are MLSN rosters mostly Q1 and 2 kids again?

Nobody cares.

I'm sorry that you've just discovered that MLS runs US Soccer.

Huh? The block attempt didn't work, almost all leagues other than MLSN (and NAL) going to SY in fall 2026 or possibly sooner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When US Club is ready to put a period on the conversation around 2025 they will update their website with the final answer. Hasn't happened yet....and don't tell me it's an IT or software issue. Just let us know division my 2011 is playing in next season. They aren't ready to give you the answer to that yet. Be patient.

I just don’t see them doing anything major as they have many clubs and leagues under their umbrella telling them not to start for Fall 25.

ECNL is the only wild card that “might” but even then I see it as more likely that they just keep things the same until Fall 26.

I don't think it will be a hard switch for ECNL. If possible, they would prefer a smooth transition starting 25/26 and will not let it be wasted.

It sounds like they may just be focusing on the 2011-2013 at the moment, as the timing of this is most critical to those age groups.

Why is timing most critical to this group vs others? Many other groups impacted most notably 2008/2009…

Cold (but true) answer is your ship has sailed if you're a 2008. Im sorry but if your kid is a junior and they aren't already heavily into the recruiting process that's not a good sign. If they don't have any recruiting activity, then college is potentially off the table altogether. So not meaning any offense but where a 2008 is in their journey vs the 2012's and 2013's is far different.

The other issue is trapped. If you were a trapped 2008 you statistically already dropped out of soccer. We can save the next generation if we move quick.

2009 and trapped 2008 are right about to start their recruiting journey. They are freshman and sophomores (not juniors) so arguably the most impacted by both trapped player eventuality in 2026-2027 and the recruiting debacle of a ghost year in 2025. This is the same group that got screwed 8 years ago with the initial moves From an ECNL business perspective if this is about pleasing college coaches who hate BY, 2008 trapped and 2009 shows immediate ROI in fixing the problem across the next 2-3 years whereas 8th graders trapped has a longer tail …Not saying all are not important just saying some have a 1-2 year lead and others have a 4-5 year lead on impact to the model…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were 1100 college scouts in St Louis today. That is a compelling argument for the value of ecnl if you want to play in college

Proportions for men’s vs. women’s teams?

That was women only.

As a comparator—There were @700 for the boys SC showcase last weekend (not all age groups were eligible for it)…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were 1100 college scouts in St Louis today. That is a compelling argument for the value of ecnl if you want to play in college

Proportions for men’s vs. women’s teams?

This is a girl's team event. Boys event was last week in SC. Looks live several hundred colleges --- so similar numbers perhaps.

[Anonymous]

As far as I’m aware, club teams can’t just choose to join MLS or open an MLS Academy. So MLS is a closed system and only has boys teams.

If MLS Next does BY and ECNL does SY, then boys who are not selected to play on MLS teams/academies will no doubt decide between ECNL teams and MLS Next teams based on which situation is best for them.

So why would ECNL be influenced by MLS when: 1) MLS is not under US Club soccer, 2) going to birth year would help differentiate ECNL from MLS Next, and 3) ECNL was formed in 2009 as a girls league (and didn’t have any boys teams for the first 8 or 9 years of its existence).

So yes, I would imagine ECNL would have no issues going in an opposite direction from MLS.

[Anonymous]

For the person that asked, I think the next ECNL podcast is 12/18.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As far as I’m aware, club teams can’t just choose to join MLS or open an MLS Academy. So MLS is a closed system and only has boys teams.

If MLS Next does BY and ECNL does SY, then boys who are not selected to play on MLS teams/academies will no doubt decide between ECNL teams and MLS Next teams based on which situation is best for them.

So why would ECNL be influenced by MLS when: 1) MLS is not under US Club soccer, 2) going to birth year would help differentiate ECNL from MLS Next, and 3) ECNL was formed in 2009 as a girls league (and didn’t have any boys teams for the first 8 or 9 years of its existence).

So yes, I would imagine ECNL would have no issues going in an opposite direction from MLS.

The thing is MLSN and GA don't tell clubs that you can't have GA if you don't have MLSN and vice versa.

MLSN doesn't care what you do on the girls side. They also don't care what other leagues clubs play in on the boys side. GA also doesn't care which leagues GA clubs participate in on the boys side. This is why many MLSN clubs tend to choose GA for their girls.

ECNL does try to force clubs to participate in boys ECNL if they want girls ECNL. ECNL also takes girls ECNL away from clubs if they bring on MLSN. My personal opinion is that this is a form of tieing and it's illegal. But nobody has brought a case yet to clarify.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem for mlsnext is obvious.

If 20% or so of the current mlsnext kids — those with birthdays between August to December — decide being one of the top ECNL players is better than being a bench mlsnext player they shift leagues.

And, who replaces them on the mlsnext squad? The January - June birthday kids currently playing ECNL? No. There are reasons why they aren’t playing mlsnext currently.

That’s the mlsnext problem. They can lose 20% of their kids and not have good replacements. Suddenly the ECNL teams look much “better”.

Seriously stop trying to apply your girl logic to boys.

With boys all the top players play on MLS Academy teams. These players are all under contract through MLS and this is where college recruiters go first when looking for talent. Also with the boys there's much less college spots available so showcases don't carry the same weight as they do on the boys side.

If MLSN stays BY and ECNL goes SY, then MLSN kids are a bit misaligned for college recruiters if colleges want to take advantage of RAE. Will be interesting.

MLS Next has biobanding so RAE doesn't matter. Also the top players on MLS Acadamies are usually playing up 1-2 years.

Your girl dad mind doesn't comprehend how MLS Acadamies function because there's no equivalent for a true Acadamy club on the girls side. (In the US)

For boys college teams are FULL of 24 year old freshman that just recently washed out of XYZ foreign Academy. This is who American youth soccer players are competing for roster spots with on college teams. RAE doesn't matter in this type of environment after u14. You can play in a regular MLS Next club and do biobanding but once you hit puberty it's done. Either you're the next top player or you don't matter.

Makes you wonder why MLSN was threatened enough to try to block the other leagues from going to SY. And why are MLSN rosters mostly Q1 and 2 kids again?

Nobody cares.

I'm sorry that you've just discovered that MLS runs US Soccer.

Huh? The block attempt didn't work, almost all leagues other than MLSN (and NAL) going to SY in fall 2026 or possibly sooner.

Huh? When and where exactly have all these leagues announced these Fall 2026 plans officially? That’s right, not 1 has— but nice try.