How far will you travel for ECNL/DA

[Anonymous]

I have heard stories of families driving hours for just a hour practice. I'm asking y'all what is your average? my commute is about a hour during rush hour but 45 min with no traffic is that normal? this is for a CCL club and next year we are thinking of joining a ECNL/DA team but all are far for us. Is it really worth it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have heard stories of families driving hours for just a hour practice. I'm asking y'all what is your average? my commute is about a hour during rush hour but 45 min with no traffic is that normal? this is for a CCL club and next year we are thinking of joining a ECNL/DA team but all are far for us. Is it really worth it?

We have a 1.5 hr drive one way for DD DA/ECNL team and we’re not the only one’s on the team who do. We sit down each season and evaluate if it is still worth it to our family. The things we take into account are:

-does DD still have the goal of pursuing college soccer
-is she still developing with that coach/club
-does she still enjoy teammates/coach
-is the commute effecting the family in any negative ways (marriage, academics, other children, financially, etc)

We make the commitment season to season. For our family it has worked well so far. DD loves team/coach, we get quality time together in the car and she also gets all her homework done during the drive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have heard stories of families driving hours for just a hour practice. I'm asking y'all what is your average? my commute is about a hour during rush hour but 45 min with no traffic is that normal? this is for a CCL club and next year we are thinking of joining a ECNL/DA team but all are far for us. Is it really worth it?

Do not factor into your decision what other families do. That is a rat race with no end in youth soccer and many other things. I kid you not that families have actually relocated to accommodate youth sports.

Make a decision based on your circumstances which are unique to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have heard stories of families driving hours for just a hour practice. I'm asking y'all what is your average? my commute is about a hour during rush hour but 45 min with no traffic is that normal? this is for a CCL club and next year we are thinking of joining a ECNL/DA team but all are far for us. Is it really worth it?

We have a 1.5 hr drive one way for DD DA/ECNL team and we’re not the only one’s on the team who do. We sit down each season and evaluate if it is still worth it to our family. The things we take into account are:

-does DD still have the goal of pursuing college soccer
-is she still developing with that coach/club
-does she still enjoy teammates/coach
-is the commute effecting the family in any negative ways (marriage, academics, other children, financially, etc)

We make the commitment season to season. For our family it has worked well so far. DD loves team/coach, we get quality time together in the car and she also gets all her homework done during the drive.

but now that she hasn't been selected to the national training center... is it still worth it? She's not the super star at FCV that she was at the other clubs. She's a small fish in a big pond of excellent players.

[Anonymous]

A different perspective on this, now that my daughter has left to play in college I was quite surprised to find out one of the things I miss the most are the talks alone in the car to and from practice which I used to complain about all the time. Precious times.

We never had to drive that far for practices though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A different perspective on this, now that my daughter has left to play in college I was quite surprised to find out one of the things I miss the most are the talks alone in the car to and from practice which I used to complain about all the time. Precious times.

We never had to drive that far for practices though.

^^Absolutely this! We drive 30-45 minutes one way and it provide the opportunities for some really good conversations with my DD. I would not trade it for all the money in the world.

[Anonymous]

ECNL/DA is the best way to be recruited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ECNL/DA is the best way to be recruited.

By colleges that want to recruit affluent players with lots of time and money to spend traveling far and wide to play youth soccer.

[Anonymous]

Something to consider is that when kids get older the practice times are later so you can wind up not getting home until 11.

[Anonymous]

We commute 45 minutes to practice on a typical day (actual trip is 20 minutes with zero traffic but practices are ALWAYS during some phase of rush hour).
Practice is 90 minutes, 3 days per week and we carpool with 2 other families. With drop-offs and pick-ups and the time it takes to walk to the field before/after the practices the kids are gone from their home 3.5 hours per practice. It's a lot and getting more significant as the kids get older., Spending 3.5 hours to practice soccer was no big deal in 6th grade. Now in 9th grade it comes at a cost: the kids are up really late for homework and aren't able to do much besides play soccer (really anything besides play soccer). My guess is my child will not be playing college soccer (she's low on an ECNL roster) so I'm almost at the point of pulling the plug and joining a closer (but less competitive) club. More importantly I think she's getting there too. It's hard to spend this much time on the road each week for a single activity when you're in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We commute 45 minutes to practice on a typical day (actual trip is 20 minutes with zero traffic but practices are ALWAYS during some phase of rush hour).
Practice is 90 minutes, 3 days per week and we carpool with 2 other families. With drop-offs and pick-ups and the time it takes to walk to the field before/after the practices the kids are gone from their home 3.5 hours per practice. It's a lot and getting more significant as the kids get older., Spending 3.5 hours to practice soccer was no big deal in 6th grade. Now in 9th grade it comes at a cost: the kids are up really late for homework and aren't able to do much besides play soccer (really anything besides play soccer). My guess is my child will not be playing college soccer (she's low on an ECNL roster) so I'm almost at the point of pulling the plug and joining a closer (but less competitive) club. More importantly I think she's getting there too. It's hard to spend this much time on the road each week for a single activity when you're in high school.

I am with you. Waiting for the day DD is ready to move on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ECNL/DA is the best way to be recruited.

By colleges that want to recruit affluent players with lots of time and money to spend traveling far and wide to play youth soccer.

They may have money but money will not keep you on a DA team. I agree that it cost too much to play DA but make no mistake those kids are very good. If your kid is not good, he will not be on the team regardless of how much money you have.

[Anonymous]

My DD's grades got better when we moved to the DA. The road time made for a perfect study hall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ECNL/DA is the best way to be recruited.

By colleges that want to recruit affluent players with lots of time and money to spend traveling far and wide to play youth soccer.

They may have money but money will not keep you on a DA team. I agree that it cost too much to play DA but make no mistake those kids are very good. If your kid is not good, he will not be on the team regardless of how much money you have.

Point was it is a limited pond. They are good among the players in that pond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ECNL/DA is the best way to be recruited.

By colleges that want to recruit affluent players with lots of time and money to spend traveling far and wide to play youth soccer.

They may have money but money will not keep you on a DA team. I agree that it cost too much to play DA but make no mistake those kids are very good. If your kid is not good, he will not be on the team regardless of how much money you have.

Point was it is a limited pond. They are good among the players in that pond.

Ah, I see, yes, you are right. Wish there was a way for DA to get high level players from all socioeconomic backgrounds for like top level football, basketball, and baseball but the model to sustain that is just not available in the US yet.