Anonymous
Post 08/03/2025 16:59     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Arlington and VDA face the “prisoner’s dilemma”. They don’t want to be stuck as the only decent ECNL club in NOVA (FVU may still be flailing around), because it would be the death knell for their boys program. If they don’t jump first, the opportunity might evaporate.


It's a big advantage to being the only ECNL team in an area -- you'll dominate recruiting where the have a much better chance at forming super teams to compete nationally. While it certainly means more on the girls side, it'll likely a pretty decent option for boys, too.


VDA already competes nationally on both the girls and boys side too. As does Arlington. Not sure what good switching does for either of them. None of their girls want to be GA and Next is so watered down in the area with all the recent additions that it’s not all that attractive either for their boys- most of who play HS and earn all the local accolades. My sense is they will stay put while they see how this little experiment plays out. No reason for either club to depart at this stage when they hold the cards with sound funding, strong competitive teams on girls and boys side and academy/college placement that is superior to many in the area… .


Agree. It's not like they don't get exposure to MLSN teams anyways. They have friendlies against the academies, Best of the East, Copa Rayados tourneys etc. The ability to play high school is also attractive to some kids. I am not sure why so many think MLS is going to take over everything. It seems to be oversaturated with mediocre teams trying to get visibility from the MLS association. You could make the argument that the best P2P teams in the Mid-Atlantic are all ECNL. Pipeline, Arlington, VDA, Richmond, NCFC.



Anonymous
Post 08/03/2025 16:53     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Arlington and VDA face the “prisoner’s dilemma”. They don’t want to be stuck as the only decent ECNL club in NOVA (FVU may still be flailing around), because it would be the death knell for their boys program. If they don’t jump first, the opportunity might evaporate.


It's a big advantage to being the only ECNL team in an area -- you'll dominate recruiting where the have a much better chance at forming super teams to compete nationally. While it certainly means more on the girls side, it'll likely a pretty decent option for boys, too.


VDA already competes nationally on both the girls and boys side too. As does Arlington. Not sure what good switching does for either of them. None of their girls want to be GA and Next is so watered down in the area with all the recent additions that it’s not all that attractive either for their boys- most of who play HS and earn all the local accolades. My sense is they will stay put while they see how this little experiment plays out. No reason for either club to depart at this stage when they hold the cards with sound funding, strong competitive teams on girls and boys side and academy/college placement that is superior to many in the area… .

You, it is very evident, don’t know much about the boys side in this area.
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2025 16:48     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Arlington and VDA face the “prisoner’s dilemma”. They don’t want to be stuck as the only decent ECNL club in NOVA (FVU may still be flailing around), because it would be the death knell for their boys program. If they don’t jump first, the opportunity might evaporate.


It's a big advantage to being the only ECNL team in an area -- you'll dominate recruiting where the have a much better chance at forming super teams to compete nationally. While it certainly means more on the girls side, it'll likely a pretty decent option for boys, too.


VDA already competes nationally on both the girls and boys side too. As does Arlington. Not sure what good switching does for either of them. None of their girls want to be GA and Next is so watered down in the area with all the recent additions that it’s not all that attractive either for their boys- most of who play HS and earn all the local accolades. My sense is they will stay put while they see how this little experiment plays out. No reason for either club to depart at this stage when they hold the cards with sound funding, strong competitive teams on girls and boys side and academy/college placement that is superior to many in the area… .
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2025 15:57     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Anonymous wrote:Soon much revisionist history and is only been a couple of months. Yikes

Oops this was for the part 2 thread. Either way this thread is more pointless than that one.
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2025 15:56     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Soon much revisionist history and is only been a couple of months. Yikes
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2025 15:48     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Arlington and VDA face the “prisoner’s dilemma”. They don’t want to be stuck as the only decent ECNL club in NOVA (FVU may still be flailing around), because it would be the death knell for their boys program. If they don’t jump first, the opportunity might evaporate.


It's a big advantage to being the only ECNL team in an area -- you'll dominate recruiting where the have a much better chance at forming super teams to compete nationally. While it certainly means more on the girls side, it'll likely a pretty decent option for boys, too.


Dominate recruiting? You can have league but with crap coaches same result
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2025 15:45     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Arlington and VDA face the “prisoner’s dilemma”. They don’t want to be stuck as the only decent ECNL club in NOVA (FVU may still be flailing around), because it would be the death knell for their boys program. If they don’t jump first, the opportunity might evaporate.


It's a big advantage to being the only ECNL team in an area -- you'll dominate recruiting where the have a much better chance at forming super teams to compete nationally. While it certainly means more on the girls side, it'll likely a pretty decent option for boys, too.

Nah, for the boys it is dog s-.
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2025 15:27     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Anonymous wrote:Arlington and VDA face the “prisoner’s dilemma”. They don’t want to be stuck as the only decent ECNL club in NOVA (FVU may still be flailing around), because it would be the death knell for their boys program. If they don’t jump first, the opportunity might evaporate.


It's a big advantage to being the only ECNL team in an area -- you'll dominate recruiting where the have a much better chance at forming super teams to compete nationally. While it certainly means more on the girls side, it'll likely a pretty decent option for boys, too.
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2025 14:34     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What about GFR? They are not going to stay without a pathway past this year. The question is whether they go ECNL or GA.


Who would they team up with?


Do they need to team up with anyone for GA?


For next year? Yes, their older girls teams are all falling apart. 2007-2010 are weak and likely won't be top 5 RL teams even just in VA North.

Teams are falling apart because they don’t have ECNL or GA so the top girls leave since RL is getting so weak. If they went GA those girls would stay.


So GFR can only go as high as RL right now?


even their directors will tell you that. i honestly don't think gfr has the intention of going to a national platform or they would have done it when they had great teams or merged with another club. maybe they still could merge with mclean but not sure who else there is that isn't already aligned with FVU.
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2025 13:50     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Arlington and VDA face the “prisoner’s dilemma”. They don’t want to be stuck as the only decent ECNL club in NOVA (FVU may still be flailing around), because it would be the death knell for their boys program. If they don’t jump first, the opportunity might evaporate.
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2025 13:28     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Anonymous wrote:We are 6 months out from rampant speculation. Who will it be? They might not even know themselves right now.

Bethesda--already has MLSN for boys and ECNL for girls. If ECNL makes them consolidate they could move their girls to GA and do really well. The girls could be GA national contenders in some ages.

Arlington--there was the memo. There is the history with GA. But do they like losing their top boys to other clubs? Move their girls to GA and could do very well too.

VDA--makes most sense to me. Their boys are very good, better then other clubs, but losing them because they don't have MLSN. B Pup is already very familar with GA. The girls could be GA national contenders in some ages.

FVU--not by choice. They are entirely dependent on ECNL, wouldn't leave unless let go.


Revolution already regretting going GA instead of ECNL. Sorry, forgot ECNL has closed the door in their faces 4 years in a row.

Anonymous
Post 08/03/2025 13:28     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Anonymous wrote:We are 6 months out from rampant speculation. Who will it be? They might not even know themselves right now.

Bethesda--already has MLSN for boys and ECNL for girls. If ECNL makes them consolidate they could move their girls to GA and do really well. The girls could be GA national contenders in some ages.

Arlington--there was the memo. There is the history with GA. But do they like losing their top boys to other clubs? Move their girls to GA and could do very well too.

Revolution already regretting going GA instead of ECNL. Sorry, forgot ECNL has closed the door in their faces 4 years in a row.

VDA--makes most sense to me. Their boys are very good, better then other clubs, but losing them because they don't have MLSN. B Pup is already very familar with GA. The girls could be GA national contenders in some ages.

FVU--not by choice. They are entirely dependent on ECNL, wouldn't leave unless let go.
Anonymous
Post 08/03/2025 00:14     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Anonymous wrote:I would be stunned if Arlington left, but only because of their Instagram post some months ago. That said, they’re a sneaky bunch who’ve never hesitated to use the dagger in the past.

Time will tell.
would be the biggest not surprise in the area. However the staff would have an egg soufflé on their face for the previous seasons theatrics and letters and posts etc.

Ultimately would still be a smack in the face to the girls.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 23:57     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
I would be stunned if Arlington left, but only because of their Instagram post some months ago. That said, they’re a sneaky bunch who’ve never hesitated to use the dagger in the past.

Time will tell.
Anonymous
Post 08/02/2025 22:54     Subject: which club will leave ECNL next
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:What about GFR? They are not going to stay without a pathway past this year. The question is whether they go ECNL or GA.


Who would they team up with?


Do they need to team up with anyone for GA?


For next year? Yes, their older girls teams are all falling apart. 2007-2010 are weak and likely won't be top 5 RL teams even just in VA North.

Teams are falling apart because they don’t have ECNL or GA so the top girls leave since RL is getting so weak. If they went GA those girls would stay.


So GFR can only go as high as RL right now?


Where else would gfr go? ECNL national?

They are going nowhere fast, because their directors have evidently been preoccupied with FVU, BSC, and trying to get players to switch from one to the other.