Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Multiple and many leagues are fine and it promotes competition and alternatives. However, it would be fun for the kids to have state/regional/national cups and tournaments that cross all leagues, are open to all, and aren’t shunned by certain leagues or organizational bodies. Not everything is about college recruiting. It’s a sport and sometimes having the best play against the best is what it’s all about.

I agree with this. We are an ECNL family and think more teams the better. The dirty secret is you have families whose kid got in ECNL U13 and hated the DA because it meant more kids were developing at a higher level and also competing nationally. Without that you have a fairly small subset of kids who are really being developed and the ones who didn’t make ECNL at U13 sort of fall away and some even quit by U15. In old times many who got U13 opportunity had an in with their team with parents in board etc. That is not good because kids really can develop various ages. Not everyone also has parents who politically savvy in these leagues. Our daughter really came into her speed and confidence later. Having that extra league enabled her in a team u13. I hope the GA works because there are more kids who fit that description and should not be sent packing developmentwise in middle school.

As a parent of a late bloomer, would you recommend for a U13 player to stay on the B team within the ECNL club and hope that there will be tryouts next year and a meaningful opportunity to break into ECNL team, or would you recommend leaving the club for one of GA teams? Without tryouts, our club pretty much left the teams the way they were last year.

I would suggest moving to a GA team. It is very difficult to move up and until more people move their kids, these teams to continue to ignore the second team. There are many terrific GA teams. I know there is a lot said about Metro but that is a team committed to development. Do not turn your nose at that. My kid grew five inches when she was 13 and then needed a year to adjust being lanky. It should be development much longer than some parents would have. Parents need to also stop talking about dilution like their kid is going on World Cup. Do you know how rare this is? It is so much better if more kids have the chance to play in college. So what if it is a small school, playing sports in college keeps you focused on your work and out of trouble with the partying. This is a good thing. It is also a good thing to help your child continue their development and not give up. Just because one coach doesn't see something, another will. I have also realized that coaches want different things and sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it does not. Anyway, I am glad GA is here and hope they continue to thrive and also would be nice for some GA vs ECNL play. Parents also stop with the running down the opposite league, our kids are looking to us as role models. I really find myself exhausted listening to some of this junk and it is junk. Good luck to all and let's hope we actually have some sort of season.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Multiple and many leagues are fine and it promotes competition and alternatives. However, it would be fun for the kids to have state/regional/national cups and tournaments that cross all leagues, are open to all, and aren’t shunned by certain leagues or organizational bodies. Not everything is about college recruiting. It’s a sport and sometimes having the best play against the best is what it’s all about.

I agree with this. We are an ECNL family and think more teams the better. The dirty secret is you have families whose kid got in ECNL U13 and hated the DA because it meant more kids were developing at a higher level and also competing nationally. Without that you have a fairly small subset of kids who are really being developed and the ones who didn’t make ECNL at U13 sort of fall away and some even quit by U15. In old times many who got U13 opportunity had an in with their team with parents in board etc. That is not good because kids really can develop various ages. Not everyone also has parents who politically savvy in these leagues. Our daughter really came into her speed and confidence later. Having that extra league enabled her in a team u13. I hope the GA works because there are more kids who fit that description and should not be sent packing developmentwise in middle school.

As a parent of a late bloomer, would you recommend for a U13 player to stay on the B team within the ECNL club and hope that there will be tryouts next year and a meaningful opportunity to break into ECNL team, or would you recommend leaving the club for one of GA teams? Without tryouts, our club pretty much left the teams the way they were last year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Multiple and many leagues are fine and it promotes competition and alternatives. However, it would be fun for the kids to have state/regional/national cups and tournaments that cross all leagues, are open to all, and aren’t shunned by certain leagues or organizational bodies. Not everything is about college recruiting. It’s a sport and sometimes having the best play against the best is what it’s all about.

I agree with this. We are an ECNL family and think more teams the better. The dirty secret is you have families whose kid got in ECNL U13 and hated the DA because it meant more kids were developing at a higher level and also competing nationally. Without that you have a fairly small subset of kids who are really being developed and the ones who didn’t make ECNL at U13 sort of fall away and some even quit by U15. In old times many who got U13 opportunity had an in with their team with parents in board etc. That is not good because kids really can develop various ages. Not everyone also has parents who politically savvy in these leagues. Our daughter really came into her speed and confidence later. Having that extra league enabled her in a team u13. I hope the GA works because there are more kids who fit that description and should not be sent packing developmentwise in middle school.

As a parent of a late bloomer, would you recommend for a U13 player to stay on the B team within the ECNL club and hope that there will be tryouts next year and a meaningful opportunity to break into ECNL team, or would you recommend leaving the club for one of GA teams? Without tryouts, our club pretty much left the teams the way they were last year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Multiple and many leagues are fine and it promotes competition and alternatives. However, it would be fun for the kids to have state/regional/national cups and tournaments that cross all leagues, are open to all, and aren’t shunned by certain leagues or organizational bodies. Not everything is about college recruiting. It’s a sport and sometimes having the best play against the best is what it’s all about.

I agree with this. We are an ECNL family and think more teams the better. The dirty secret is you have families whose kid got in ECNL U13 and hated the DA because it meant more kids were developing at a higher level and also competing nationally. Without that you have a fairly small subset of kids who are really being developed and the ones who didn’t make ECNL at U13 sort of fall away and some even quit by U15. In old times many who got U13 opportunity had an in with their team with parents in board etc. That is not good because kids really can develop various ages. Not everyone also has parents who politically savvy in these leagues. Our daughter really came into her speed and confidence later. Having that extra league enabled her in a team u13. I hope the GA works because there are more kids who fit that description and should not be sent packing developmentwise in middle school.

As a parent of a late bloomer, would you recommend for a U13 player to stay on the B team within the ECNL club and hope that there will be tryouts next year and a meaningful opportunity to break into ECNL team, or would you recommend leaving the club for one of GA teams? Without tryouts, our club pretty much left the teams the way they were last year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Multiple and many leagues are fine and it promotes competition and alternatives. However, it would be fun for the kids to have state/regional/national cups and tournaments that cross all leagues, are open to all, and aren’t shunned by certain leagues or organizational bodies. Not everything is about college recruiting. It’s a sport and sometimes having the best play against the best is what it’s all about.

I agree with this. We are an ECNL family and think more teams the better. The dirty secret is you have families whose kid got in ECNL U13 and hated the DA because it meant more kids were developing at a higher level and also competing nationally. Without that you have a fairly small subset of kids who are really being developed and the ones who didn’t make ECNL at U13 sort of fall away and some even quit by U15. In old times many who got U13 opportunity had an in with their team with parents in board etc. That is not good because kids really can develop various ages. Not everyone also has parents who politically savvy in these leagues. Our daughter really came into her speed and confidence later. Having that extra league enabled her in a team u13. I hope the GA works because there are more kids who fit that description and should not be sent packing developmentwise in middle school.

Anonymous wrote:Multiple and many leagues are fine and it promotes competition and alternatives. However, it would be fun for the kids to have state/regional/national cups and tournaments that cross all leagues, are open to all, and aren’t shunned by certain leagues or organizational bodies. Not everything is about college recruiting. It’s a sport and sometimes having the best play against the best is what it’s all about.

Anonymous wrote:I think y'all are just butt hurt that you didn't get in. If ECNL was the only game in town, it would be cheaper. GA fees will likely be higher than ECNL this year.

Anonymous wrote:College coaches go to see players, not teams or leagues. I think PP's point is that economics is a factor as well, especially with reducing budgets. So if there has to be a choice, they will go wherever they can scout most efficiently. That could mean GA or ECNL, but since ECNL has the numbers, and higher level of play on average, it will probably average higher scout attendance this year.

Anonymous wrote:I think y'all are just butt hurt that you didn't get in. If ECNL was the only game in town, it would be cheaper. GA fees will likely be higher than ECNL this year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't need two elite national leagues. Period. We just don't. The GA was formed so that parents and club directs could save face. If you want to kill off EDP/National League than admit that but don't try to argue that you are going to compete against ECNL because that ship has sailed.

Signed, Non-ECNL/DA/GA parent.

A country our size doesn't NEED two elite national leagues, but it would aid the development of future NT players if we had a two league tiered system. As it is, NT caliber players are spread far and wide, and would probably develop better if they were all playing together in a smaller league under federation support. One league does not allow this format, unless it was tiered and had pro/rel. However, with our pay to play culture, a pro/rel system is problematic because relegation would kill clubs financially. ECNL will not do that to member clubs. As it stands today, ECNL and GA both support the college aspirations of the mostly elite, but do a poor job for those players at the highest skill level.

We are talking about middle and high school soccer. Players develop at different rates and at different ages. Many of the star players in middle school will be over taken by other payers by high school. Look at all the national team call ups a u15/16 that are never heard from again. If you are really concerned about developing players for the national team you need a very large pool of players, less barriers to play(cost, travel, etc) and competitive pressure on clubs. One league for the country will leave a lot of players out, keep marginal coaches propped up and kills innovation.

Look at Rose Lavelle. Under the system you want she would not be playing on the national team. She had one option to play for an ECNL club in her hometown. She did not play for that club. She was either a late developer or more likely the coaches did not know what to do with her. She did not play for the national team till college.

If you have been around travel soccer you know clubs can be petty, coaching style and personality make a big difference and many coaches are very limited in the type of player they want(specially in the younger ages). Not much out side the box thinking. More options and more competition is the best thing to develop players. Let’s face it. If your daughter makes an ECNL team at u13 she will most likely remain on that team. There is very little competitive pressure on ECNL clubs.

+1,000

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't need two elite national leagues. Period. We just don't. The GA was formed so that parents and club directs could save face. If you want to kill off EDP/National League than admit that but don't try to argue that you are going to compete against ECNL because that ship has sailed.

Signed, Non-ECNL/DA/GA parent.

A country our size doesn't NEED two elite national leagues, but it would aid the development of future NT players if we had a two league tiered system. As it is, NT caliber players are spread far and wide, and would probably develop better if they were all playing together in a smaller league under federation support. One league does not allow this format, unless it was tiered and had pro/rel. However, with our pay to play culture, a pro/rel system is problematic because relegation would kill clubs financially. ECNL will not do that to member clubs. As it stands today, ECNL and GA both support the college aspirations of the mostly elite, but do a poor job for those players at the highest skill level.

We are talking about middle and high school soccer. Players develop at different rates and at different ages. Many of the star players in middle school will be over taken by other payers by high school. Look at all the national team call ups a u15/16 that are never heard from again. If you are really concerned about developing players for the national team you need a very large pool of players, less barriers to play(cost, travel, etc) and competitive pressure on clubs. One league for the country will leave a lot of players out, keep marginal coaches propped up and kills innovation.

Look at Rose Lavelle. Under the system you want she would not be playing on the national team. She had one option to play for an ECNL club in her hometown. She did not play for that club. She was either a late developer or more likely the coaches did not know what to do with her. She did not play for the national team till college.

If you have been around travel soccer you know clubs can be petty, coaching style and personality make a big difference and many coaches are very limited in the type of player they want(specially in the younger ages). Not much out side the box thinking. More options and more competition is the best thing to develop players. Let’s face it. If your daughter makes an ECNL team at u13 she will most likely remain on that team. There is very little competitive pressure on ECNL clubs.