Reply to MLSNext watered down

Forum Index » Soccer

Reply to "MLSNext watered down"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Outside of the fully funded academies, what big purpose is there for the other leagues MLSNext/ECNL, other than rich families showing off a patch?  This is a serious question.  Can pay for play boys get a pro contract or scholarship to college?  If not, is this just an expensive recreational youth sport?[/quote]

I think it is sort of the only option for kids that will likely never be academy material but still want a higher level of competition.  That said, parents I talk with are wising up to the situation and with the economy and high cost/time of travel, there is going to be a breaking point in the MLSN model.  Some of the better players are passing up MLSN1for 2 or ECNL/RL for less travel and chance to play high school.  MLSN becoming too exclusive and their player pool is going to become more of what you are talking about, we much don’t necessarily represent the best players but the ones with parents (and kids) that want and can afford all the fees/time/travel costs.[/quote]

I think it’s myopic to say that the players who continue to stay in MLSNext are not the best players just because players leave because of the fee/time/travel costs. Those who decide to drop down to a different level have done the cost benefit analysis (which families do regularly) where the fees/time/travel costs are not worth it because perhaps the player cannot keep up with the competition (not a lot of playing time for example) despite the time and effort put in, perhaps their goals have changed. Another reason is that their families are going a different way to get to academies and a pro career. The latter is more common in families where a parent or relative has had an accomplished soccer career alrdy (d1 and above) and know what to do to develop their kid and expose them.

Most families know what they’re getting into in MLSNext. Because it’s hard to get on a team in the first place! It can be a bit of a reality check especially for players who may have been at the MLSNext club and assumed that they’d get on the team but instead a whole lot of outsiders are selected. But there is a lot of development going on at small grassroots clubs.

But the purpose of MLSNext and ECNL is for academies to recruit from. Sure, there are recruits outside of these  platforms but the majority are from these leagues.  If your player is not one of the very few that the club is hoping to develop to get onto an academy, or not academy level as the PP says, it still make sense to stay if one wants to play in college (any level), it’s still the easiest gauge of skill level for college scouts and allows you to say, hey, I know you’re going to be at this tournament, I will be too, please come watch me bc I want to play for u, etc.

But yes, unless ur goal is academy or college, I don’t think MLSNext/ECNL is the best platform for u. Everyone on DS team and a goal of academy or college soccer.

I do think MLSNext2 is unnecessary, it’s rebranding of existing leagues that cater to those who don’t want the MLSNext investment or who can’t get into an MLSNext team just yet. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics