Anonymous wrote:For the boys given the choice between MLS league and ECNL I think a majority of parents would want MLS. Only issue is what to do in off years, but suspect an EDP league of off year MLS academies might be created.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just thinking this. FYI there is small chance fall soccer will happen. Mostly likely will be spring before anyone can play beyond some drills. That is the reality. We have a bunch of crazies who are not going to social distance and it will cause a problem for the rest of us and this will also affect when sports can start. I think the social distance issue will put us back by months. I have already told my kids to just practice and understand that life may not look normal for a long long time. Not worth obsessing on which league is better than what.

Even if everybody stayed inside now, what would be your criteria for returning to youth sports? There is still virus. There will be risk. I don’t understand the logic of when you think you will get an all-clear or otherwise feel comfortable short of vaccine. If kids are in school in the fall, do you think they won’t be safe to play sports?

Anonymous wrote:GIANT!!!
Guys, why do not you go for a walk, come back in one week, and read what is actually going to happen?
Hundreds of people will still die every day from Covid-19, tens of millions will be jobless, but you will at last be able to relax, basking in the certainty that your DC is playing in the best league in the US youth soccer universe, making 2020 the ultimate annus mirabilis.

Anonymous wrote:For the boys given the choice between MLS league and ECNL I think a majority of parents would want MLS. Only issue is what to do in off years, but suspect an EDP league of off year MLS academies might be created.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly I am not sure they will be in school. That is the point. NYC is having an uptick again. This is not done. Not by a long shot. People getting crazy and going out in some of these states are not helping. I think we may have to appreciate that we may not get back as soon as we like. These leagues will have to follow school rules (if you use school fields) and the leagues themselves will be worried about liability. I would really like to be back to normal but I am starting to see that maybe this is going to be longer. I talk with docs in this field and many are not optimistic. I am trying to be positive but people with more education on this than me are saying that it is not over.

At some point MAYBE the more rational people who are caught up in this whole thing will realize that the at risk people could stay in and everyone else could go out an things would be better. Look at CDC stats for deaths in the age groups from 5-24 (sorry, that's as close as I can get to school age, but maybe okay given it covers college too).... 18 total people. 18. How many people in those age groups die in two months in car crashes or from other illnesses? I HOPE we are back in school. If not at soccer, so be it, but there is a lot at risk -- health and well being and long term -- in not going back to school too. New York city is not the rest of the country....

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid19/index.htm

Okay, COVID rant over. back to your regularly scheduled argument on whether Arlington plays ECNL.

Anonymous wrote:Honestly I am not sure they will be in school. That is the point. NYC is having an uptick again. This is not done. Not by a long shot. People getting crazy and going out in some of these states are not helping. I think we may have to appreciate that we may not get back as soon as we like. These leagues will have to follow school rules (if you use school fields) and the leagues themselves will be worried about liability. I would really like to be back to normal but I am starting to see that maybe this is going to be longer. I talk with docs in this field and many are not optimistic. I am trying to be positive but people with more education on this than me are saying that it is not over.

Anonymous wrote:I was just thinking this. FYI there is small chance fall soccer will happen. Mostly likely will be spring before anyone can play beyond some drills. That is the reality. We have a bunch of crazies who are not going to social distance and it will cause a problem for the rest of us and this will also affect when sports can start. I think the social distance issue will put us back by months. I have already told my kids to just practice and understand that life may not look normal for a long long time. Not worth obsessing on which league is better than what.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is a tight club. The girls who started there will most likely stay together. The ones just in for a year or two more likely to leave. The top players though have been there for years.

I am not sure that will be the case - especially with younger teams below 03. The 04 team can really on say they are all ASA legacy - and they a very good team. Many will move on to find a better path for their DD I would assume, as they have D1 talent across team. 02 top talent vacated long ago to other clubs (MYS and BYRC). 03 is mix of ASA and LMVS and others and they are in important time too to stay in college focus as most are juniors on that team now with one year left. 05 totally recruited and rebuilt with not many ASA - so they will scatter out as they came in. 06 is mix of ASA, MYS, and DC and too young to tell but a strong team when you look at their DA results. O7 and 08 who knows....too young.

I don't see Arlington's top players staying with the club to play in an unproven league with no track record of college recruitment, when several ECNL programs are within a short driving distance. The only thing that might slow down the departures in the older age groups is the inability to tryout with other clubs due to COVID19 lockdown. Arlington might be able to do better in retaining players in the younger age groups, but will most likely struggle to talent from outside without the DA badge.

This thread. Arlington on the girls side has been trying to build from a regional club to a college-placement club over the last 5 years. The 03s, 04s, and 05s are the first three years where the DA and the potential for college placement became a reality. And there are girls who are Arlington for Life on those teams who are good players, but some of those girls and the ones who came to Arlington expressly for the college opportunity have stayed there because of the possibility of DA-level showcasing and recruitment. If that all goes away, so will 50% of the rosters. It’s not all about friends and stuff at the recruiting ages. It might be about what Clyde can do for your daughter now that DA is gone.

Mclean is now the top girls club as it was before girls DA. Mclean will draw from a large population base of very affluent households - NW DC, Arlington, Alexandria, Mclean, etc. It seems the boys side is driving the Arlington decision. The problem is there is no good option for the boys. The MLS path is for maybe 32 boys spread over a few age groups. MLS thing will be good for MLS not clubs. ECNL option is not strong for the boys because DA dominated the boys side for so many years. This could change. Without ECNL for the girls Arlington will be just a feeder club for mclean. Best take the sure thing with the girls and put the boys in the ECNL. BSC and other strong clubs could do the same thing and you will actually be able to get some concessions from ECNL(like who you play) because they want the boys side.. In a year or two reevaluate the situation.