What is the difference between RL and ENCL?

The easiest way is via another club. Her goal at tryouts should be to make and RL team somewhere. The year after, she can try for ECNL. That's assuming she's one of the better players on the RL team

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all. She wants to be on a top team not because of status but because she wants to be as good as possible and play in high school and college (I realize how rare that is). She is tall and fast, so I'll just have her keep at it and get her to practice as much as possible. It impossible to break into ecnl if you don't get in the first year?

I would take her to go watch the top team at her club and/or other 2013 teams play to see how big of a difference that is.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all. She wants to be on a top team not because of status but because she wants to be as good as possible and play in high school and college (I realize how rare that is). She is tall and fast, so I'll just have her keep at it and get her to practice as much as possible. It impossible to break into ecnl if you don't get in the first year?

It isn't impossible if you don't get in at U13. There is often movement between U13 and U14.

Definitely not impossible to break in later, but the difference between ANY 3rd team and ECNL is a huge jump. That's not likely to happen in a season or two.

Thank you all. She wants to be on a top team not because of status but because she wants to be as good as possible and play in high school and college (I realize how rare that is). She is tall and fast, so I'll just have her keep at it and get her to practice as much as possible. It impossible to break into ecnl if you don't get in the first year?

Very hard to go from third team to first team. She really needs to be on second team minimally this year at a big club. Train a lot outside on her own and with a private trainer. Sign up for every extra thing - futsal, Super Y, etc. Then hope she doesn't burn out by the time she is 13.

She needs to both improve and move clubs. The odds of being jumped two levels, no mater how well tryouts go, are long

I would talk to the coach see if she could practice up with the 2nd team this year. Work off the field on the own is enough if she’s motivated. Or join the clinic or group session. When the time come, go to tryout at other clubs and don’t wait for your own club to make an offer as she’s being on 3rd team - her own club might move her up to 2nd team first. I hardly see anyone jump from 3rd team to ECNL team.

And if not next year, keep working and come back to tryout the following year.

Have a big kid that runs fast.

Drive an expensive car to tryouts. Make sure the coaches see you picking up and dropping off.

Hire a tall fitness instructor in perfect shape to walk down to the fields and pick your kid up and drop them off at tryouts.

Bonus points if you're famous.

Oh and then there's politics.

Assuming she improves her skills, she likely will need to switch clubs. Her current club sees her as a third team player or at most a second team player and that is very unlikely to change (unless she grows several inches and vastly improves). You are more likely to get a top team offer from another club than the club you are currently at.

Anonymous wrote:She needs to keep getting better. Depending on the club it is sometimes easier to get a spot from the outside then be promoted up. For my kid she had a meeting with the Coach in the fall about what her goals were and asked what she needed to work on. She worked on those things in addition to getting on the ball every day and it worked out.

You have a couple options: 1) Have you child talk with their coach and get feedback on what they need to work on to move up to the 2nd team and eventually the top team. Or 2) change clubs and try and move up through that route.

Cultivate an actual love and joy for the game and stop worrying about status. Players that care about “being be on a top team” either don’t get there or won’t stay there. Understand what you can and can’t do as a player and put energy towards improving what you can…and let the factors outside of your control take care of themselves.

She needs to keep getting better. Depending on the club it is sometimes easier to get a spot from the outside then be promoted up. For my kid she had a meeting with the Coach in the fall about what her goals were and asked what she needed to work on. She worked on those things in addition to getting on the ball every day and it worked out.

My daughter is currently one of the top players on the third team, 2013. She wants to be on a top team. What is the path to securing one of these coveted ECNL spots? We are pretty clueless about the politics that going to all of this.