ECNL-RL has been a little all over the place especially around NoVa. Last year for 21-22 the league only had 8 teams and they didn’t experiment with having the U12’s play 11v11 in the spring season. This year the area expanded to 12 teams and split them into 2 red and blue divisions and with crossover we at least had 8 fall games. The spring was light due to some teams not fielding teams for 11v11. Looking to next year there will be one less team for boys/girls because of the Villareal/BRYC alliance so that will be interesting to see how they setup but it probably won’t be much different. They will likely just add another crossover game between the divisions.

ECNL-RL is such a mixed bag once U13 comes. Teams and kids disband because most of these clubs have some sort of alliance that tries to funnel kids into ECNL.

And the VPSL site is and always has been terrible. Scoring is hardly ever updated on time. Not much different than even the actual ECNL site sometimes when trying to find ECNL scores.

clt-dad wrote:In NC at u13 ENCL-R we played 24 league games over the year, 8 in the fall, 16 in the Spring.

Plus a showcase, tournaments etc. It was frankly overwhelming at times.

North Atlantic (MD-NJ) is the same.

VA is a weird bird where they have multiple, VA-only leagues (including a parallel state cup.) Seems like less driving...but a whole lot less soccer.

BunchlineDC wrote:

soccermomsrule wrote:U13 (2010) ECNL RL is the same... 5 league games in the spring even though these kids are too young for high school and showcases.

ECNL needs to combine the NOVA brackets into one.

They did for the spring. They only did the red / blue thing in the fall.

This also leads to the irritating point that it is the second half of May, the season is literally over (all ECNL-R 2010 girls' games have been played), and both the schedule and standings have not been uploaded to the ECNLgirls website (it still only shows the fall). You have to go to the VPSL website to see it:

https://www.vapremierleague.com/rlschedules

For the 2010s, Arlington, McLean, PWSI, Stafford, GFR, and BRYC played 4 league games this spring. Loudoun and VSA only played 3!

Some of these games were played as both state cup and a league game, so not all state cup games were incremental to this schedule, and teams that didn't make the semis only got 3 games.

Many of these girls are 6th graders, so HS soccer is a long way off.

Our club at least plays 6 tournaments / showcases per year, plus state cup, plus scrimmages, but the ECNL-R schedule seems incredibly anemic. What a massive difference with full ECNL, where teams are sitting at 24 games played (over double many ECNL-R teams' schedules).

In NC at u13 ENCL-R we played 24 league games over the year, 8 in the fall, 16 in the Spring.

Plus a showcase, tournaments etc. It was frankly overwhelming at times.

soccermomsrule wrote:U13 (2010) ECNL RL is the same... 5 league games in the spring even though these kids are too young for high school and showcases.

ECNL needs to combine the NOVA brackets into one.

U13 (2010) ECNL RL is the same... 5 league games in the spring even though these kids are too young for high school and showcases.

CampChairCoffee wrote:

BunchlineDC wrote:

CampChairCoffee wrote:

BunchlineDC wrote:

CampChairCoffee wrote:I dunno, but my kid was pretty bummed when they realized how many more games their NCSL sibling got to play.

Even if it’s to accommodate HS, not sure why that should limit the younger ages. For the money you spend, it would be nice for the kids to… play games.

@campchaircoffee - What age group is your kid in? If u14 and lower, this shouldn't be the case. I can certainly understand being frustrated in that scenario. Have you reached out to the club?

2011, and they only had 6 games this spring, plus state cup. The club set up a couple scrimmages, which is okay, but we do this because my kid loves to play. A lot. So fewer games was disappointing.

To be clear, have not seen anything scheduled beyond this month. But the league also hasn’t posted any results for spring, which seems lame (and which NCSL has also managed to do). Would be helpful to see when kids are considering moves….

ECNL doesn't start until U13 (2010 this year). Are you sure they are in ECNL-R? Or are they playing up this year?

Yes, talking about pre-ECNL. Have been a bit underwhelmed.

Well, certainly worth getting a sense of what you are or are not getting next year, for sure. Or change clubs.

BunchlineDC wrote:

CampChairCoffee wrote:

BunchlineDC wrote:

CampChairCoffee wrote:I dunno, but my kid was pretty bummed when they realized how many more games their NCSL sibling got to play.

Even if it’s to accommodate HS, not sure why that should limit the younger ages. For the money you spend, it would be nice for the kids to… play games.

@campchaircoffee - What age group is your kid in? If u14 and lower, this shouldn't be the case. I can certainly understand being frustrated in that scenario. Have you reached out to the club?

2011, and they only had 6 games this spring, plus state cup. The club set up a couple scrimmages, which is okay, but we do this because my kid loves to play. A lot. So fewer games was disappointing.

To be clear, have not seen anything scheduled beyond this month. But the league also hasn’t posted any results for spring, which seems lame (and which NCSL has also managed to do). Would be helpful to see when kids are considering moves….

ECNL doesn't start until U13 (2010 this year). Are you sure they are in ECNL-R? Or are they playing up this year?

Yes, talking about pre-ECNL. Have been a bit underwhelmed.

CampChairCoffee wrote:

BunchlineDC wrote:

CampChairCoffee wrote:I dunno, but my kid was pretty bummed when they realized how many more games their NCSL sibling got to play.

Even if it’s to accommodate HS, not sure why that should limit the younger ages. For the money you spend, it would be nice for the kids to… play games.

@campchaircoffee - What age group is your kid in? If u14 and lower, this shouldn't be the case. I can certainly understand being frustrated in that scenario. Have you reached out to the club?

2011, and they only had 6 games this spring, plus state cup. The club set up a couple scrimmages, which is okay, but we do this because my kid loves to play. A lot. So fewer games was disappointing.

To be clear, have not seen anything scheduled beyond this month. But the league also hasn’t posted any results for spring, which seems lame (and which NCSL has also managed to do). Would be helpful to see when kids are considering moves….

ECNL doesn't start until U13 (2010 this year). Are you sure they are in ECNL-R? Or are they playing up this year?

BunchlineDC wrote:

CampChairCoffee wrote:I dunno, but my kid was pretty bummed when they realized how many more games their NCSL sibling got to play.

Even if it’s to accommodate HS, not sure why that should limit the younger ages. For the money you spend, it would be nice for the kids to… play games.

@campchaircoffee - What age group is your kid in? If u14 and lower, this shouldn't be the case. I can certainly understand being frustrated in that scenario. Have you reached out to the club?

2011, and they only had 6 games this spring, plus state cup. The club set up a couple scrimmages, which is okay, but we do this because my kid loves to play. A lot. So fewer games was disappointing.

To be clear, have not seen anything scheduled beyond this month. But the league also hasn’t posted any results for spring, which seems lame (and which NCSL has also managed to do). Would be helpful to see when kids are considering moves….

BunchlineDC wrote:

CampChairCoffee wrote:I dunno, but my kid was pretty bummed when they realized how many more games their NCSL sibling got to play.

Even if it’s to accommodate HS, not sure why that should limit the younger ages. For the money you spend, it would be nice for the kids to… play games.

@campchaircoffee - What age group is your kid in? If u14 and lower, this shouldn't be the case. I can certainly understand being frustrated in that scenario. Have you reached out to the club?

Also, sorry, where are you already seeing next year's schedule?

CampChairCoffee wrote:I dunno, but my kid was pretty bummed when they realized how many more games their NCSL sibling got to play.

Even if it’s to accommodate HS, not sure why that should limit the younger ages. For the money you spend, it would be nice for the kids to… play games.

@campchaircoffee - What age group is your kid in? If u14 and lower, this shouldn't be the case. I can certainly understand being frustrated in that scenario. Have you reached out to the club?

I dunno, but my kid was pretty bummed when they realized how many more games their NCSL sibling got to play.

Even if it’s to accommodate HS, not sure why that should limit the younger ages. For the money you spend, it would be nice for the kids to… play games.

Assuming you are looking at the 09 age group? Yes, this is why. Most of the better clubs plan around their players HS schedules (the era of banning HS play is passe). So more games and training during the off-season. Additionally, they should also be increasing the number of tournaments/showcases with the decreased league play.

7 games in the fall, and only 4-5 games in the spring? Doesn’t that feel crazy light?

Fortunately, State Cup games added a bit, but NCSL plays 9 games.

Do they do this to allow for HS soccer in VA?