Anonymous wrote:Too bad they are separated. It would have been interesting to see what happened if the 3rd or 4th travel team in a club got crushed by their own rec team in league play

I think you know what would happen. The travel parents would get angry, and the club would eventually lose players/teams/MONEY.

But you've got me thinking of something...: Rec teams vs lower tier travel teams as a travel team fundraiser.

Let's say rec team puts up $200 to play against a travel team.
Travel team keeps $200 to use toward whatever (like tournament registration fees).
Rec team plays for fun and bragging rights.

Too bad they are separated. It would have been interesting to see what happened if the 3rd or 4th travel team in a club got crushed by their own rec team in league play

Per the NCSL board meeting notes from March:

"The league is still in talks with the Suburban Friendship League. Former executive director Ryan Rich had met with all clubs that are in SFL to talk about what they like, don’t like, suggestions for improvements, etc. He took notes and has shared them with Richard. NCSL is ready for the transition; we are waiting for SFL to confirm the timing. SFL will be a rec league; no travel players will play in SFL and no rec players will play on NCSL league teams. Registration and scheduling for SFL will be done electronically (it was previously done by hand).

There was a question about SFL fees and how field loading will be handled. Richard said that SFL had fees that supported the league but then reduced the fees as they were preparing to transition out of managing the league. NCSL will look at the costs of managing the games and price the team registration accordingly. Richard said we will work with the clubs once field permits are loaded, e.g., prioritizing rec games on Saturdays, He expects field use to be more efficient with access to more permits. Referee coverage may be boosted as well.

In response to a question, Richard said that SFL will be a Virginia rec league only."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope NCSL is just helping with admin & web stuff, which they are good at.

A simple, inter-club rec league for the local area just makes too much sense, so I guess that means there is always a risk someone will want to "improve" or rethink it.

Nope, SFL is shutting down and NCSL is taking over the whole league. Our rec kids would LOVE to play some travel teams, but I am sure they will keep the groups separate to avoid irate travel clubs.

If those teams are in the same league, a lot of travel parents are going to ask why they are paying 20 times as much

Sounds like a them problem. Why are they paying 20 times as much to be as good as a $100 rec team?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope NCSL is just helping with admin & web stuff, which they are good at.

A simple, inter-club rec league for the local area just makes too much sense, so I guess that means there is always a risk someone will want to "improve" or rethink it.

Nope, SFL is shutting down and NCSL is taking over the whole league. Our rec kids would LOVE to play some travel teams, but I am sure they will keep the groups separate to avoid irate travel clubs.

If those teams are in the same league, a lot of travel parents are going to ask why they are paying 20 times as much

Anonymous wrote:I hope NCSL is just helping with admin & web stuff, which they are good at.

A simple, inter-club rec league for the local area just makes too much sense, so I guess that means there is always a risk someone will want to "improve" or rethink it.

Nope, SFL is shutting down and NCSL is taking over the whole league. Our rec kids would LOVE to play some travel teams, but I am sure they will keep the groups separate to avoid irate travel clubs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any feedback on SFL? Is it fun? My child wants to try it this fall. He is dropping travel soccer to focus more on another sport, but thought SFL could be a way to stay involved in soccer to a lesser degree.

I've always heard good things about it. Basically it is there for clubs that are too small to have their own house league, so they will play against other clubs' house leagues. I think even Loudoun Soccer enters it for years with less signups.

Almost all the soccer orgs around here use it for their middle school and high school teams. Very few orgs can run an inhouse league for those ages.

Anonymous wrote:Any feedback on SFL? Is it fun? My child wants to try it this fall. He is dropping travel soccer to focus more on another sport, but thought SFL could be a way to stay involved in soccer to a lesser degree.

I've always heard good things about it. Basically it is there for clubs that are too small to have their own house league, so they will play against other clubs' house leagues. I think even Loudoun Soccer enters it for years with less signups.

I hope NCSL is just helping with admin & web stuff, which they are good at.

A simple, inter-club rec league for the local area just makes too much sense, so I guess that means there is always a risk someone will want to "improve" or rethink it.

I would love for our SFL team to play some travel teams. That would be kind of hilarious. Most of our kids don't even have uniforms, just old t-shirts with numbers ironed-on.

Anonymous wrote:Our club's better SFL teams easily beat the bottom travel teams whenever they scrimmage. I'm not sure a parent paying $2,500 a year wants to see their kids' team play rec teams in the regular season though.

There are many SFL teams that would beat lower level travel teams. It would probably be bad for NCSL's business to mix rec and travel. I imagine they would have separate leagues, just to keep their Division 10 travel customers operating under the illusion that they are superior to rec.

Yes, SFL is well-run. I am sure the individual experience depends on the club, but my kid's SFL teams practice twice a week and then it was 7-8 games, half were home games.

Any feedback on SFL? Is it fun? My child wants to try it this fall. He is dropping travel soccer to focus more on another sport, but thought SFL could be a way to stay involved in soccer to a lesser degree.

Our club's better SFL teams easily beat the bottom travel teams whenever they scrimmage. I'm not sure a parent paying $2,500 a year wants to see their kids' team play rec teams in the regular season though.

Does anyone know the details on this? I heard that in spring, NCSL was going to add all the rec players to their league.