Size5Balls wrote:My first response would be why the heck would you have committed to a VA team when your heart is in MD? You couldn't make "any" practices or games? Really, any? You didn't hold up your part of the bargain, so pay up and try to persuade your club (that you really didn't support) to help you get your son somewhere that he can play.

Heart? I think they should have done more homework on on what they are buying into, but i'm not sure it's "heart." I agree with others, you should be able to get released since you paid the years fee. Going to an EDP team in Maryland should be the easiest.

ECNL is pretty strict about transfers, you would have to get an exception to play on another ECNL team within the season. US club leaves that up to the competition so there is no requirement that I am aware of to force them to release you like in USYS and even if they do you are still club-tied by ECNL rules unless you can get an exception for circumstances. You're best bet is to find a comparable team in a USYS competition such as EDP. You won't even need to worry about the release because USYS and US Club are completely different associations and you can be rostered with both simultaneously.

With the way ECNL schedules around the HS seasons it is difficult for players in this area to cross the river for club soccer with ECNL unless they are skipping HS soccer. A couple players on my daughter's team did it but the parents were committed to a very extreme level and it still didn't really work very well for them. None of they players that tried that one year did it again another year.

My first response would be why the heck would you have committed to a VA team when your heart is in MD? You couldn't make "any" practices or games? Really, any? You didn't hold up your part of the bargain, so pay up and try to persuade your club (that you really didn't support) to help you get your son somewhere that he can play.

MadridFan wrote:ECNL is US Club Soccer, so it is unlikely you can transfer to another club that plays USCS.

You do not need a USCS release to play for a club in US Youth Soccer. So you can move to an EDP club/team without a release.

Our player plays on both a USCS team and a USYS team and has player cards for both entities.

Agree - definitely should not be a problem to card him w/ a USYS team. A new club, though, will probably ask where he is coming from and that he is ‘leaving in good standing’ — so I’d think about how to approach that, i.e. level with them or tell them he hasn’t been playing club because of HS and hope they don’t keep asking questions.

It is hard to go from ECNL to ECNL in the fall, but I’ve seen it a few times where a player has been (or the parent has claimed) mistreated by coaches/teammates and the original club is quick to release them.

ECNL is US Club Soccer, so it is unlikely you can transfer to another club that plays USCS.

You do not need a USCS release to play for a club in US Youth Soccer. So you can move to an EDP club/team without a release.

Our player plays on both a USCS team and a USYS team and has player cards for both entities.

"Since the season is half over at this point I asked about having my son released to look for another team here in Maryland to get a fresh start whoever has an available spot whether EDP ECNL or MLS and he told me that he won't release him till March 1. Is that the rule? Can he do that?"

They have no reason to not release you, but you need to have another club lined up to smooth this process. If you are trying to move to another ECNL team, he is right - you can't do that until after March 1st. In fact, you can't do any activity with another ECNL club until March 1st. So it would make your life much easier to transfer to an EDP club and ask for a release immediately and a transfer of your card to that club. MLS Next is probably not a fit for you because you're not allowed to play high school soccer and play MLS Next. Do people do it? Sure, but they are not sufficiently committed to either b/c MLS Next requires 4 nights of practice per week. And it's not for those who are showing up half the time. Good luck.

Sorry that you haven’t gotten any replies yet. We transferred between clubs in September a few years back at a much lower level (kid was 9 at the time), and it involved writing a letter to the commissioner of the club, letter to a state official and other hoops. We offered to donate club fees to their scholarship fund, but they returned most of it, so we just made a donation of $100 or so.

Check out the website for encl and look at the bylaws. They should describe the policy on transferring clubs. Find the club commissioner and call/email. Look up the state soccer organization and talk to someone there in person as well. Good luck.

Need some advice or help regarding a situation.. My son joined an ECNL team in Virginia although we live in Maryland . He wanted to play HS soccer in MD and I thought he can still continue with a club during the fall at a decent level.. Unfortunately for me practices at his HS have conflicted with his practices at club because the HS training were not after school like previous years.. So we were not able to make any practices or games with the club.. Since the season is half over at this point I asked about having my son released to look for another team here in Maryland to get a fresh start whoever has an available spot whether EDP ECNL or MLS and he told me that he won't release him till March 1. Is that the rule? Can he do that? We have made all are payments with the club and have told them I will pay in full whatever remainder is left to bring them to a whole place as well and he refuses.. Are there any options available?