The alphabet soup of youth club sports. If you buy into it, you really "BUY' into it. DPL, Academy, yadda yadda, oh my. In the end they are kids and lucky if they get to play Division III. Go to a TOCA training center and see former Academy players training kids for $15/hour. Probably cost their parents $50k in soccer training to get that job. "Lighten up Francis" and other gung-ho dads on here.

Anonymous wrote:As a team/player/coach you play who is in front of you, putting the team mindset that a there is only value to a W when it's prestigious is just BS.

In the end, it's an opportunity for the players to do something together as a unit and those memories will last much longer than if they were in DA or whatever level you all define as meaningful. Most of these kids will end up in the workforce with the rest of us. Parents like you all focus on the "prestigious" tag, kids just want to play and win.

I never said it wasn't meaningful. I never said it wasn't worth doing. I said it was a fun tournament. I said kids get to play against clubs they otherwise would never play. It isn't prestigious. If I said the same thing about ODP nobody would get so defensive. It can be all those things you have said and still not be prestigious. Hell, it isn't even the only State Cup tournament anymore if you want to count NP'Ls State Cup which effectively took a few top teams out of VYSA's real State Cup.

State Cup just isn't what it used to be.

As a team/player/coach you play who is in front of you, putting the team mindset that a there is only value to a W when it's prestigious is just BS.

In the end, it's an opportunity for the players to do something together as a unit and those memories will last much longer than if they were in DA or whatever level you all define as meaningful. Most of these kids will end up in the workforce with the rest of us. Parents like you all focus on the "prestigious" tag, kids just want to play and win.

Anonymous wrote:Someone said there are some very good teams in the State Cup. That doesn’t mean they consider the competition and participants as a whole to be prestigious. You said that.

I said State Cup isn't prestigious, so sue me. I didn't deny claiming it wasn't prestigious and I didn't say they were wrong either. State Cup can both have really good teams and still not be prestigious. It used to be but ECNL and DA ruined that.

I'm not sure what you are arguing against. Yes, I added my editorial.

Someone said there are some very good teams in the State Cup. That doesn’t mean they consider the competition and participants as a whole to be prestigious. You said that.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think anyone said it was “prestigious”. You’re the one who came on here and is trying to put down its “prestige”.

I was replying directly to a comment stating that there are some very good teams that play in State Cup. That is true, but just clarifying that the occasional elite level team does not mean the tournament is itself elite. "State Cup" implies that it would have the best teams in the State but by no fault of its own that is not the case. The cache of the name and structure implies prestige where none really exists.

I don’t think anyone said it was “prestigious”. You’re the one who came on here and is trying to put down its “prestige”.

Anonymous wrote:I know of a lot of top players in the area opted not to do DA/ECNL at the earlier ages (U12-U13) due to the practice commitments. In fact my neighbor's son plays on a top U12 team that could go toe to toe with any of the DA team. They opted to stay together as a team and from I've heard from the family the coach is very good. There are probably a few other teams in the area that fit that same description so I wouldn't write them off.

It was stated already that there are some good teams but the point still holds, State Cup is no longer that prestigious. A few Unicorn teams here and there don’t really matter in the scheme of things. It is still a fun tournament that lets teams play against some teams they do not normally face in league play. So overall it is worth playing and a good experience but don’t try and sell it as prestigious.

I know of a lot of top players in the area opted not to do DA/ECNL at the earlier ages (U12-U13) due to the practice commitments. In fact my neighbor's son plays on a top U12 team that could go toe to toe with any of the DA team. They opted to stay together as a team and from I've heard from the family the coach is very good. There are probably a few other teams in the area that fit that same description so I wouldn't write them off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are new to the travel scene and people keep bringing these 2 up and I continue to nod as if I know what they are talking about. Travel soccer is too hard to keep up with so if you have a simple answer, I would appreciate it.

The Presidents Cup is essentially a B Team tournament.

The regular State Cup is essentially a A team tournament.

State Cup overall is watered down and not what it used to be because ECNL and DA teams do not participate. There are some quality teams in State Cup, but they are far and few between. For the kids involved it is still a fun tournament though.

State Cup is still a good tourney for U12 and U13 before ECNL and DA takes over on the girls side. State Cup is not prestigious at any age on the boys side.

Some of the best clubs in the state at U11, U12, U13 including local team do not participate in the State Cup. It's just another tournament. Jeff Cup is a bigger tournament at those ages.

I agree that State Cup is not what it used to be. The B teams at ECNL/DA clubs will enter the State Cup. Also, let's be clear, the winner of the State Cup could beat all but the top ECNL teams in the state and might even beat them.

Not the PP, but the reason they don't post is that technically, some of the teams in the President's Cup are A teams. It's just that they're from smaller and/or less successful clubs. In other words, VYSA let's each team decide which competition is right for them.

As an example, Burke had a team a few years back that won the National President's Cup. It was their A team for that age group but the team was realistic and realized they had no chance of winning State Cup so they opted for President's Cup.

OP here, thank you. Why can't they just post that on the site!

Anonymous wrote:We are new to the travel scene and people keep bringing these 2 up and I continue to nod as if I know what they are talking about. Travel soccer is too hard to keep up with so if you have a simple answer, I would appreciate it.

The Presidents Cup is essentially a B Team tournament.

The regular State Cup is essentially a A team tournament.

State Cup overall is watered down and not what it used to be because ECNL and DA teams do not participate. There are some quality teams in State Cup, but they are far and few between. For the kids involved it is still a fun tournament though.

State Cup is still a good tourney for U12 and U13 before ECNL and DA takes over on the girls side. State Cup is not prestigious at any age on the boys side.

We are new to the travel scene and people keep bringing these 2 up and I continue to nod as if I know what they are talking about. Travel soccer is too hard to keep up with so if you have a simple answer, I would appreciate it.