can someone explain NCSL vs CCL vs ECNL?

[Anonymous]

What is the difference between these leagues? It seems like ECNL is the highest league? It's all so confusing to me.

[Anonymous]

Certainly. I have kids who have played in all. Probably also want to include ODSL and GA.

ODSL is the entry level for travel play. For lack of a better term, this would be the lowest level of travel play in this area. However, there can be some very good teams and players. If you perform well at ODSL, typically the club will try and move you to NCSL.

NCSL would be the next level up. These teams at the younger age groups can be good.

CCL would then be the next level up and on par with EDP. Again, there can be some very good teams that do not have access to ECNL or GA teams because of geography.

ECNL is the highest level of play for girls in the country currently. GA, or girls Academy, is another high-level league that formed because of dissolution of the development Academy. There are phenomenal teams in both ECNL and GA. These are the leagues that most colleges recruit from. Many teams in GA are on par with those in ECNL, but ECNL has been around much longer.

[Anonymous]

I would put NCSL on par with CCL and EDP. As far as I know there isnt a performance requirement to register into any of these leagues. I know parents will argue one way or another so will let them battle it out. Also NCSL has promotion/relegation to keep teams even in each division. In CCL not each team is similar in terms of skill set. I believe EDP has pro/reg also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Certainly. I have kids who have played in all. Probably also want to include ODSL and GA.

ODSL is the entry level for travel play. For lack of a better term, this would be the lowest level of travel play in this area. However, there can be some very good teams and players. If you perform well at ODSL, typically the club will try and move you to NCSL.

NCSL would be the next level up. These teams at the younger age groups can be good.

CCL would then be the next level up and on par with EDP. Again, there can be some very good teams that do not have access to ECNL or GA teams because of geography.

ECNL is the highest level of play for girls in the country currently. GA, or girls Academy, is another high-level league that formed because of dissolution of the development Academy. There are phenomenal teams in both ECNL and GA. These are the leagues that most colleges recruit from. Many teams in GA are on par with those in ECNL, but ECNL has been around much longer.

When you talk about teams at younger age groups being "good," what do you mean by that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would put NCSL on par with CCL and EDP. As far as I know there isnt a performance requirement to register into any of these leagues. I know parents will argue one way or another so will let them battle it out. Also NCSL has promotion/relegation to keep teams even in each division. In CCL not each team is similar in terms of skill set. I believe EDP has pro/reg also.

NCSL and EDP have promotion/relegation. They aren't going to be ECNL/GA level, but I'd put an NCSL division one team against some CCL teams and expect them to win- just look at the LMVSC thread for an example

[Anonymous]

NCSL is not comparable to EDP. The best NCSL teams are only competitive with 3rd and 4th division EDP teams. NCSL is glorified rec.

[Anonymous]

NCSL and EDP have many many levels for some age groups.

It does not make sense to compare big leagues as a whole. You can compare top divisions through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Certainly. I have kids who have played in all. Probably also want to include ODSL and GA.

ODSL is the entry level for travel play. For lack of a better term, this would be the lowest level of travel play in this area. However, there can be some very good teams and players. If you perform well at ODSL, typically the club will try and move you to NCSL.

NCSL would be the next level up. These teams at the younger age groups can be good.

CCL would then be the next level up and on par with EDP. Again, there can be some very good teams that do not have access to ECNL or GA teams because of geography.

ECNL is the highest level of play for girls in the country currently. GA, or girls Academy, is another high-level league that formed because of dissolution of the development Academy. There are phenomenal teams in both ECNL and GA. These are the leagues that most colleges recruit from. Many teams in GA are on par with those in ECNL, but ECNL has been around much longer.

Pretty good summary, but I would put EDP above CCL at least on the boys side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Certainly. I have kids who have played in all. Probably also want to include ODSL and GA.

ODSL is the entry level for travel play. For lack of a better term, this would be the lowest level of travel play in this area. However, there can be some very good teams and players. If you perform well at ODSL, typically the club will try and move you to NCSL.

NCSL would be the next level up. These teams at the younger age groups can be good.

CCL would then be the next level up and on par with EDP. Again, there can be some very good teams that do not have access to ECNL or GA teams because of geography.

ECNL is the highest level of play for girls in the country currently. GA, or girls Academy, is another high-level league that formed because of dissolution of the development Academy. There are phenomenal teams in both ECNL and GA. These are the leagues that most colleges recruit from. Many teams in GA are on par with those in ECNL, but ECNL has been around much longer.

Pretty good summary, but I would put EDP above CCL at least on the boys side.

And probably the girls too

[Anonymous]

Is EDP really promotion/relegation? It's been my understanding that it's subjective and you are placed in your division each season based on merit and not pro-rel...but it is subjective and they do a very good job. If there is a policy in EDPthat states the pro/rel as NCSL does, can someone post the link. I've never been able to find it. Thank you.

So my take is that in order to play in these leagues, your club must meet certain requirements. ODSL allows any team to join it's league. NCSL requires that the club join the league and it provides so many teams to join the league and it has some sort of administrative system, etc. So let's say we create a team called U9 Elite Premier Barca Juniors Development Academy of Excellence. It's the only team in our "club". We couldn't just enter that team in NCSL because our "club" only has one team. CCL requires that your CLUB joins the league and you must send your top two teams in every age group to this league. CCL doesn't except every club. You must have boys and girls teams and multiple teams in each age groups. I may be a bit off there but it's something like this. So CCL only has two divisions. So normally these big clubs with 6 teams per age group will send their 3rd and 4th teams to NCSL and then there 5th and 6th teams to ODSL. If your club doesn't belong to CCL, then you either send you top teams to EDP or NCSL. Again, you might not be able to send your team to NCSL if your club doesn't belong to NCSL, so your only option is EDP or ODSL. So back to our U9 Elite Premier Barca Junior Development Academy of Excellence...we'd be able to join EDP or ODSL. ODSL will take anyone and EDP will vet you as it usually only takes competitive teams.

So CCL is just a league of the biggest clubs top two teams. Some suck. Some are good. There are lots of complaints about it not being very competitive in certain age groups.
NCSL consists of many of the biggest clubs (the CCL club's) 3rd and 4th teams and then the top teams of most of the other clubs.
EDP tends to be mostly MD teams and usually non-CCL top teams that kind of are dominating NCSL's top division or the feel they are too good for NCSL.
ODSL is for the CCL clubs 5th and 6th teams and the teams that are just one offs and want to play. Keep in mind that a club who belongs to NCSL can put their top team in ODSL if they feel it's just too weak even for the lower divisions of NCSL.

ECNL on the boys side is relativly new. This again is a CLUB based league where the clubs promise to send their top teams to this league. Then their 2nd teams can play NCSL or EDP depending on what they decided to do. Their 3rd teams who certainly be in NCSL. The current ECNL league is McLean, BRYC, Loudoun, VDA, and Richmond on the boys side.

NCSl is pro-rel starting U12 I think. Maybe Spring U11.

The top teams in D1 NCSL are very competitive teams in the area in most age groups....but the competition can vary obviously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NCSL is not comparable to EDP. The best NCSL teams are only competitive with 3rd and 4th division EDP teams. NCSL is glorified rec.

I agree with your first point but completely disagree with your second point about NCSL being a glorified Rec. I guess you haven’t seen many rec teams play.

[Anonymous]

Fees $ are also a factor. Some of the leagues that presume to be more competitive have few clubs participating. It means fewer games resulting in fewer opportunities for players to get real experience in the field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is EDP really promotion/relegation? It's been my understanding that it's subjective and you are placed in your division each season based on merit and not pro-rel...but it is subjective and they do a very good job. If there is a policy in EDPthat states the pro/rel as NCSL does, can someone post the link. I've never been able to find it. Thank you.

So my take is that in order to play in these leagues, your club must meet certain requirements. ODSL allows any team to join it's league. NCSL requires that the club join the league and it provides so many teams to join the league and it has some sort of administrative system, etc. So let's say we create a team called U9 Elite Premier Barca Juniors Development Academy of Excellence. It's the only team in our "club". We couldn't just enter that team in NCSL because our "club" only has one team. CCL requires that your CLUB joins the league and you must send your top two teams in every age group to this league. CCL doesn't except every club. You must have boys and girls teams and multiple teams in each age groups. I may be a bit off there but it's something like this. So CCL only has two divisions. So normally these big clubs with 6 teams per age group will send their 3rd and 4th teams to NCSL and then there 5th and 6th teams to ODSL. If your club doesn't belong to CCL, then you either send you top teams to EDP or NCSL. Again, you might not be able to send your team to NCSL if your club doesn't belong to NCSL, so your only option is EDP or ODSL. So back to our U9 Elite Premier Barca Junior Development Academy of Excellence...we'd be able to join EDP or ODSL. ODSL will take anyone and EDP will vet you as it usually only takes competitive teams.

So CCL is just a league of the biggest clubs top two teams. Some suck. Some are good. There are lots of complaints about it not being very competitive in certain age groups.
NCSL consists of many of the biggest clubs (the CCL club's) 3rd and 4th teams and then the top teams of most of the other clubs.
EDP tends to be mostly MD teams and usually non-CCL top teams that kind of are dominating NCSL's top division or the feel they are too good for NCSL.
ODSL is for the CCL clubs 5th and 6th teams and the teams that are just one offs and want to play. Keep in mind that a club who belongs to NCSL can put their top team in ODSL if they feel it's just too weak even for the lower divisions of NCSL.

ECNL on the boys side is relativly new. This again is a CLUB based league where the clubs promise to send their top teams to this league. Then their 2nd teams can play NCSL or EDP depending on what they decided to do. Their 3rd teams who certainly be in NCSL. The current ECNL league is McLean, BRYC, Loudoun, VDA, and Richmond on the boys side.

NCSl is pro-rel starting U12 I think. Maybe Spring U11.

The top teams in D1 NCSL are very competitive teams in the area in most age groups....but the competition can vary obviously.

+1. That some clubs are not willing to pay the ridiculous fees of other leagues don’t make them less competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would put NCSL on par with CCL and EDP. As far as I know there isnt a performance requirement to register into any of these leagues. I know parents will argue one way or another so will let them battle it out. Also NCSL has promotion/relegation to keep teams even in each division. In CCL not each team is similar in terms of skill set. I believe EDP has pro/reg also.

No. THere are some strong teams in NCSL's division 1, but after that they cannot compete.

[Anonymous]

My kid played NCSL Div 1 and dominated two years straight then moved over to CCL when the club went that route. The level of play at CCL is a mixed bag as you might expect. Some very high caliber team and a few low caliber cellar dwellars. Overall CCL is much more competitive than NCSL Div 1.

Just my experience and specific to the age group my kid is in.

I cant imagine what Div 2,3,4 and beyond is like if Div 1 was so easy