Anonymous wrote:Save ECNL for recruiting ages. Save money

It's a great theory if you have a standout, exceptional player on a non-ECNL team. For a solid, non-stand out, decent player, they often don't catch up with the pace of play if they are a couple years late to the league.

Save ECNL for recruiting ages. Save money

most likely not if there is movement out from that team

You know why don't you just hire an individual trainer to work with your daughter and get her to the level she needs to be at

Unless the roster increases (only 18 can be game rostered) and few folks leave, that's probably not just your ECNL team, it's common to all teams.

I have 3 kids (girls and boys) who had/have gone through McLean ECNL. What I will tell you if they almost never move up from within. My experience is they recruit from outside the club. I've even seen them bring in players that I have not seen as better than existing players. I'm not sure if they believe they have more potential but current players get bumped to the bench, moved to second team or leave the club in disgust. I've seen it all. I only have one left with the club now. The one thing I can tell you about their U14 group is that the team is incredibly weak. I would expect there to be a big recruiting push to get players on that team so if you are not currently with McLean you may be able to break into that team. If it doesn't improve I expect their top players to start looking at BRYC or VDA in the next 2 years. They are currently at the bottom of the ECNL and will start to not be able to go to showcases so girls won't get seen in the recruiting years.

We spent a few years at an ECNL club and not one player ever moved up from within the club. Frankly, it's a revenue issue for the clubs around here. If they take a player from outside that's additional revenue as opposed to a player from inside the club moving up who is already a revenue source. Much easier to recruit new players to the ECNL squad than to recruit new players for the second squad. Sadly, if she does decide she really wants to pursue higher level you will need to look elsewhere.