Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya’ll missing the forest. The purpose of ECNL is for college recruiting. It helps colleges find players and players find colleges. That’s why there are 44 teams in a “playoff”. Think of it like a job fair. If a player comes back from Seattle with several coach emails and invites (job leads and interviews), it’s a success. If the team wins but no coach interest it’s a failure. To the extent that winning is a goal it is only because it might enhance the true goal and give more chances for college interest. Those of you arguing over playing styles and tactics and national championships are so naive.

And what have you won?

College soccer is terrible. Seriously, next time you see it on TV watch for a while. Especially women's college soccer. Wait until the end of the game and the coaches will start subbing like crazy completely slowing down the game. This will kill any kind of pressure that normally happens coaches have to sit back and watch the players they've picked work like crazy until the game is over. This is when goals generally happen because everyone is tired and likely to make mistakes.

I’m not trying to win anything. My kid enjoys playing college soccer. I enjoy supporting her. If she enjoyed acting in plays or singing or debating I would support her there too. To us soccer is just an activity like any of these others. The entire ECNL ecosystem exists for people like me. It does what it’s supposed to. You want it to be something else. Fine, but maybe you’d be better off starting a whole new ecosystem that was catered for what you want

I think this is right. What ECNL does is provide a platform for those that want to go pro or play national team mostly from the top teams AND provides a platform for college soccer recruitment for the rest. Most of the girls being recruited could have devoted themselves to any number of other sports and been recruited. They chose soccer. Sorry it does not meet your standards but it is a system that works. But they have fun, will enjoy playing in college and without them there would be no grass roots support for women's soccer in the US. It also can get them some money D1 or a leg up in what is hard college admissions process. This is what the stakeholders (kids, parents, coaches, colleges) want.

My DD would love to win a national chamionship. DD went with the mindset that they could advance. They did not. Would have been great. Winning is a goal but not the goal. The goal is college recruitment to a college she wants to go to that fits what she is looking for.

Local team can win a championship the day that coaches end sabotaging the skilled players. Some players are not fully committed to the team e.g attend all practices, do individual training on their own, watch and analyze games, etc. yet coaches grant these players the full game, fixed positions, players never go out their confort zone, they miss practices and still get rewarded with playin time. Coaches never move players to different positions, different formations, etc. Coaches are more committed to these families because of their donations or other incentives than committed to the performance of the team. This is why there are so many players in the transfer portal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I've noticed in other areas versus this area is a more clearly defined hierarchy of clubs. There are many ECNL cubs in Dallas, for example, but everyone there knows Solar is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there year after year. In NY/NJ, there are many ECNL clubs but everyone knows PDA is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there. In this area, you have 5+ ECNL teams all claiming to be the best but our talent is more spread out. When there were only two ECNL teams in the area, the top talent did consolidate and those teams had more success at that national level than we typically see today....

Exactly, we have too many ECNL teams. Brave/Union merger was great imo but we need at least one more merger/consolidation of ECNL teams in the area. We need 1 team for Prince William, 1 team for Loudoun and western Fairfax and 1 team for Fairfax/Alexandria and Arlington. Then teams will be competitive.

Agree with this but we need teams where it is purely based on performance. Not whose mom/dad is on the board, who the coach likes personally, which family donates the most to the club or anything other than soccer ability. That I not the case in this area.

Dumb argument. Less teams will not lead to better players moving. Many at the youger ages would just play travel. People are not going to drive far to get to soccer.

Do you see what happens in the other areas of the country in the "top" teams?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya’ll missing the forest. The purpose of ECNL is for college recruiting. It helps colleges find players and players find colleges. That’s why there are 44 teams in a “playoff”. Think of it like a job fair. If a player comes back from Seattle with several coach emails and invites (job leads and interviews), it’s a success. If the team wins but no coach interest it’s a failure. To the extent that winning is a goal it is only because it might enhance the true goal and give more chances for college interest. Those of you arguing over playing styles and tactics and national championships are so naive.

Ding, ding, ding…we’ve got a winner!

I agree but it is more complicated than that. There are not just 44 teams in a playoff in Seattle. There are another 16 in North American Cup, another 16 in Showcase A and another 16 in Showcase B. 92 teams -- all with lots and lots of coaches watching players not teams. Why are they watching -- because highlights have been sent to coaches. Club coaches have called them and they have already seen the people they are interested in at ECNL NC or PHX, or FLA or Dallas. For uncommitted 07s this is a final look for D3s. For 08s this is a hard look but D1s have already seen the 08s they are interested in multiple times already. For 09s -- this could be a first look.

It is all part of an ECNL ecosystem that works really well for what it is intended to do.

Winning in unrealted to the recruiting for the most part. If you don't get to Playoffs no one can watch you there so you do need to win a bit.

This is the game. Some below say oh this is not soccer and college soccer is awful. Maybe. Who cares. The goal of most of the girls in ECNL is to play college soccer. Same as the goal of almost all men with college football. Only very few think they will play pro. They love the game and want to play before they go do other stuff. No guy thinks -- if I do this I will make the NFL better -- who cares. Same with Women's soccer. It could be lax or field hockey. They love the game and play as best they can as they go to college to get ready for the rest of their lives -- very little of which will have anything to do soccer.

An uncommitted 07 who is now scrambling for D3 offers? Those parents have already lost their long-term travel soccer bet. They'll now get to pay out of their anuses for their son or daughter to go to - best case - a high academic school they won't even like. People who have put themselves in that position are just trying to salvage an offer and save some face at the cocktail parties.

Most High academic D3s have not given offers yet. Most of those schools do not give offers until junior year final grades are in unless the kid is top shelf on academics and they have serious D1 interest. Most of those programs are the top D3 programs. D3s are the goals of many smart kids if they cannot pull Ivy or high academic D1.

No s---, Sherlock. The point was that these high academic D3 schools that uncommitted 07 players are waiting for were NOT the plan for them. Maybe for a very small percentage of them it was - but families don't put in a decade-plus of time, travel and $70-100k in order to get into a school that's marginally better academically than one the would have gotten into without soccer. They do it for the glory of signing D1 and/or the scholarship money they've been eyeing since their kid's first tryout. For ECNL players, D3 - even a high academic D3 - represents a total failure.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I've noticed in other areas versus this area is a more clearly defined hierarchy of clubs. There are many ECNL cubs in Dallas, for example, but everyone there knows Solar is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there year after year. In NY/NJ, there are many ECNL clubs but everyone knows PDA is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there. In this area, you have 5+ ECNL teams all claiming to be the best but our talent is more spread out. When there were only two ECNL teams in the area, the top talent did consolidate and those teams had more success at that national level than we typically see today....

Exactly, we have too many ECNL teams. Brave/Union merger was great imo but we need at least one more merger/consolidation of ECNL teams in the area. We need 1 team for Prince William, 1 team for Loudoun and western Fairfax and 1 team for Fairfax/Alexandria and Arlington. Then teams will be competitive.

Agree with this but we need teams where it is purely based on performance. Not whose mom/dad is on the board, who the coach likes personally, which family donates the most to the club or anything other than soccer ability. That I not the case in this area.

Dumb argument. Less teams will not lead to better players moving. Many at the youger ages would just play travel. People are not going to drive far to get to soccer.

Do you see what happens in the other areas of the country in the "top" teams?

Give it a rest. NOVA is diluted. We get it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I've noticed in other areas versus this area is a more clearly defined hierarchy of clubs. There are many ECNL cubs in Dallas, for example, but everyone there knows Solar is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there year after year. In NY/NJ, there are many ECNL clubs but everyone knows PDA is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there. In this area, you have 5+ ECNL teams all claiming to be the best but our talent is more spread out. When there were only two ECNL teams in the area, the top talent did consolidate and those teams had more success at that national level than we typically see today....

Exactly, we have too many ECNL teams. Brave/Union merger was great imo but we need at least one more merger/consolidation of ECNL teams in the area. We need 1 team for Prince William, 1 team for Loudoun and western Fairfax and 1 team for Fairfax/Alexandria and Arlington. Then teams will be competitive.

Agree with this but we need teams where it is purely based on performance. Not whose mom/dad is on the board, who the coach likes personally, which family donates the most to the club or anything other than soccer ability. That I not the case in this area.

Dumb argument. Less teams will not lead to better players moving. Many at the youger ages would just play travel. People are not going to drive far to get to soccer.

Do you see what happens in the other areas of the country in the "top" teams?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I've noticed in other areas versus this area is a more clearly defined hierarchy of clubs. There are many ECNL cubs in Dallas, for example, but everyone there knows Solar is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there year after year. In NY/NJ, there are many ECNL clubs but everyone knows PDA is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there. In this area, you have 5+ ECNL teams all claiming to be the best but our talent is more spread out. When there were only two ECNL teams in the area, the top talent did consolidate and those teams had more success at that national level than we typically see today....

Exactly, we have too many ECNL teams. Brave/Union merger was great imo but we need at least one more merger/consolidation of ECNL teams in the area. We need 1 team for Prince William, 1 team for Loudoun and western Fairfax and 1 team for Fairfax/Alexandria and Arlington. Then teams will be competitive.

Agree with this but we need teams where it is purely based on performance. Not whose mom/dad is on the board, who the coach likes personally, which family donates the most to the club or anything other than soccer ability. That I not the case in this area.

Dumb argument. Less teams will not lead to better players moving. Many at the youger ages would just play travel. People are not going to drive far to get to soccer.

Dumber response. When this area had only two ECNL teams, the top-to-bottom roster quality was certainly higher. And those teams competed nationally. And yes, shockingly, people drive further to be a part of one of those two teams.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I've noticed in other areas versus this area is a more clearly defined hierarchy of clubs. There are many ECNL cubs in Dallas, for example, but everyone there knows Solar is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there year after year. In NY/NJ, there are many ECNL clubs but everyone knows PDA is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there. In this area, you have 5+ ECNL teams all claiming to be the best but our talent is more spread out. When there were only two ECNL teams in the area, the top talent did consolidate and those teams had more success at that national level than we typically see today....

Exactly, we have too many ECNL teams. Brave/Union merger was great imo but we need at least one more merger/consolidation of ECNL teams in the area. We need 1 team for Prince William, 1 team for Loudoun and western Fairfax and 1 team for Fairfax/Alexandria and Arlington. Then teams will be competitive.

Agree with this but we need teams where it is purely based on performance. Not whose mom/dad is on the board, who the coach likes personally, which family donates the most to the club or anything other than soccer ability. That I not the case in this area.

Dumb argument. Less teams will not lead to better players moving. Many at the youger ages would just play travel. People are not going to drive far to get to soccer.

Dumber response. When this area had only two ECNL teams, the top-to-bottom roster quality was certainly higher. And those teams competed nationally. And yes, shockingly, people drive further to be a part of one of those two teams.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I've noticed in other areas versus this area is a more clearly defined hierarchy of clubs. There are many ECNL cubs in Dallas, for example, but everyone there knows Solar is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there year after year. In NY/NJ, there are many ECNL clubs but everyone knows PDA is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there. In this area, you have 5+ ECNL teams all claiming to be the best but our talent is more spread out. When there were only two ECNL teams in the area, the top talent did consolidate and those teams had more success at that national level than we typically see today....

Exactly, we have too many ECNL teams. Brave/Union merger was great imo but we need at least one more merger/consolidation of ECNL teams in the area. We need 1 team for Prince William, 1 team for Loudoun and western Fairfax and 1 team for Fairfax/Alexandria and Arlington. Then teams will be competitive.

Agree with this but we need teams where it is purely based on performance. Not whose mom/dad is on the board, who the coach likes personally, which family donates the most to the club or anything other than soccer ability. That I not the case in this area.

Dumb argument. Less teams will not lead to better players moving. Many at the youger ages would just play travel. People are not going to drive far to get to soccer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I've noticed in other areas versus this area is a more clearly defined hierarchy of clubs. There are many ECNL cubs in Dallas, for example, but everyone there knows Solar is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there year after year. In NY/NJ, there are many ECNL clubs but everyone knows PDA is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there. In this area, you have 5+ ECNL teams all claiming to be the best but our talent is more spread out. When there were only two ECNL teams in the area, the top talent did consolidate and those teams had more success at that national level than we typically see today....

Exactly, we have too many ECNL teams. Brave/Union merger was great imo but we need at least one more merger/consolidation of ECNL teams in the area. We need 1 team for Prince William, 1 team for Loudoun and western Fairfax and 1 team for Fairfax/Alexandria and Arlington. Then teams will be competitive.

Agree with this but we need teams where it is purely based on performance. Not whose mom/dad is on the board, who the coach likes personally, which family donates the most to the club or anything other than soccer ability. That I not the case in this area.

Dumb argument. Less teams will not lead to better players moving. Many at the youger ages would just play travel. People are not going to drive far to get to soccer.

Anonymous wrote:So did ANY dmv teams actually make it to Richmond?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What I've noticed in other areas versus this area is a more clearly defined hierarchy of clubs. There are many ECNL cubs in Dallas, for example, but everyone there knows Solar is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there year after year. In NY/NJ, there are many ECNL clubs but everyone knows PDA is the "best" and the top talent consolidates there. In this area, you have 5+ ECNL teams all claiming to be the best but our talent is more spread out. When there were only two ECNL teams in the area, the top talent did consolidate and those teams had more success at that national level than we typically see today....

Exactly, we have too many ECNL teams. Brave/Union merger was great imo but we need at least one more merger/consolidation of ECNL teams in the area. We need 1 team for Prince William, 1 team for Loudoun and western Fairfax and 1 team for Fairfax/Alexandria and Arlington. Then teams will be competitive.

Agree with this but we need teams where it is purely based on performance. Not whose mom/dad is on the board, who the coach likes personally, which family donates the most to the club or anything other than soccer ability. That I not the case in this area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ya’ll missing the forest. The purpose of ECNL is for college recruiting. It helps colleges find players and players find colleges. That’s why there are 44 teams in a “playoff”. Think of it like a job fair. If a player comes back from Seattle with several coach emails and invites (job leads and interviews), it’s a success. If the team wins but no coach interest it’s a failure. To the extent that winning is a goal it is only because it might enhance the true goal and give more chances for college interest. Those of you arguing over playing styles and tactics and national championships are so naive.

Ding, ding, ding…we’ve got a winner!

I agree but it is more complicated than that. There are not just 44 teams in a playoff in Seattle. There are another 16 in North American Cup, another 16 in Showcase A and another 16 in Showcase B. 92 teams -- all with lots and lots of coaches watching players not teams. Why are they watching -- because highlights have been sent to coaches. Club coaches have called them and they have already seen the people they are interested in at ECNL NC or PHX, or FLA or Dallas. For uncommitted 07s this is a final look for D3s. For 08s this is a hard look but D1s have already seen the 08s they are interested in multiple times already. For 09s -- this could be a first look.

It is all part of an ECNL ecosystem that works really well for what it is intended to do.

Winning in unrealted to the recruiting for the most part. If you don't get to Playoffs no one can watch you there so you do need to win a bit.

This is the game. Some below say oh this is not soccer and college soccer is awful. Maybe. Who cares. The goal of most of the girls in ECNL is to play college soccer. Same as the goal of almost all men with college football. Only very few think they will play pro. They love the game and want to play before they go do other stuff. No guy thinks -- if I do this I will make the NFL better -- who cares. Same with Women's soccer. It could be lax or field hockey. They love the game and play as best they can as they go to college to get ready for the rest of their lives -- very little of which will have anything to do soccer.

An uncommitted 07 who is now scrambling for D3 offers? Those parents have already lost their long-term travel soccer bet. They'll now get to pay out of their anuses for their son or daughter to go to - best case - a high academic school they won't even like. People who have put themselves in that position are just trying to salvage an offer and save some face at the cocktail parties.

Most High academic D3s have not given offers yet. Most of those schools do not give offers until junior year final grades are in unless the kid is top shelf on academics and they have serious D1 interest. Most of those programs are the top D3 programs. D3s are the goals of many smart kids if they cannot pull Ivy or high academic D1.