Anonymous wrote:NL 2025 looks pretty dominant in HoCo this year. How are the rest of their teams doing versus DCE?
Anonymous wrote:Really thought that DCE 2022 would have more recruits by now given how high the team is ranked. The current batch is certainly impressive, but seems there are really good players in the next tier that should have gotten more looks and offers. Maybe its just really competitive out there.
Anonymous wrote:All of the above is good advice, but it all leads to the same conclusion. You should play for ML, NL, DCE, or VLC. And then between those go whatever one is best for that year that you are one of the top 16-18 players that get highlighted.
Anonymous wrote:You have to be on one of the top teams (usually NLF affiliated) to get into top tournaments. That is why club decision is important.
Anonymous wrote:The us club rankings are essentially an RPI. NL 2023 went 9-3 against the number 6 strength of schedule. VLC 2023 went 7-2 against the 44th ranked strength of schedule. The big difference in SOS explains the discrepancy in rankings between NL at 5 and VLC at 20.
The way for VLC to climb the rankings to the extent they care is to increase the SOS in the summer. People think Madlax and Team 91 get special treatment in the rankings, but what is actually happening is that those clubs are good at scheduling tournaments that increase the SOS and they win more than they lose against strong competition. As the US Club rankings become more prominent you’ll see more clubs that are more careful about scheduling. This should over time actually make tournaments better because there is now no incentive to play in a weak tournament that you dominate. Going undefeated against weak competition can end up hurting your ranking more than losing to a quality team the way an RPI works.