Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The seven clubs that someone listed above would be much more than a sneeze.
It certainly would be if they all moved.
The moves GA has implemented are impressive. They're setting up long term trajectories that will bear fruit over time. ECNLs most recent response was forcing the BY to SY change.
Imagine what would happen if NCAA gave non revenue college soccer to US Soccer. Then US Soccer changed it into a mix of 2nd tier pro and college teams league. Which seems a very likely outcome because NCAA doesnt have to worry about sports that dont make money and US Soccer gets control over the one area of high level soccer they dont currently have a say in.
If this happens instantly recruiters no longer matter because the pro minor league + college teams league would become a situation were college roster spots are a prize for top players. Like how MLS Next acadamies and p2p mlsn clubs function. Basically youth leagues would just merge into college leagues with college scholorships and $$$ provided as a prize for top talent.
What you failed to account for, is the fact that we will be moving to Mars by then, according to Elon Musk.
Oh, by the way, the last time USSF got involved in youth soccer, it resulted in disaster.
College soccer is so bad that even US Soccer can fix it. Mostly by replacing the super duper corrupt college people with only kind of corrupt US Soccer people.
this 100%. GA hats are all excited thinking little Cassandra is gonna blow up in the GA and show the big bad wolves of ECNL. so lets instead of going forward, GA wants to go backwards to US SOCCER after the DISASTROUS management of DA. people will never learn.
And forward to an ECNL monopoly? Monopolies sounds great.
if their goal is to play college soccer and especially at D1 level, yes
And therein lies the problem -- too much power for 1 league because it's not everywhere OR everywhere in adequate size. That actually hurts development of the whole ecosystem. ECNL should welcome competition instead of punching down like it does. It could be its undoing.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The seven clubs that someone listed above would be much more than a sneeze.
It certainly would be if they all moved.
The moves GA has implemented are impressive. They're setting up long term trajectories that will bear fruit over time. ECNLs most recent response was forcing the BY to SY change.
Imagine what would happen if NCAA gave non revenue college soccer to US Soccer. Then US Soccer changed it into a mix of 2nd tier pro and college teams league. Which seems a very likely outcome because NCAA doesnt have to worry about sports that dont make money and US Soccer gets control over the one area of high level soccer they dont currently have a say in.
If this happens instantly recruiters no longer matter because the pro minor league + college teams league would become a situation were college roster spots are a prize for top players. Like how MLS Next acadamies and p2p mlsn clubs function. Basically youth leagues would just merge into college leagues with college scholorships and $$$ provided as a prize for top talent.
What you failed to account for, is the fact that we will be moving to Mars by then, according to Elon Musk.
Oh, by the way, the last time USSF got involved in youth soccer, it resulted in disaster.
College soccer is so bad that even US Soccer can fix it. Mostly by replacing the super duper corrupt college people with only kind of corrupt US Soccer people.
this 100%. GA hats are all excited thinking little Cassandra is gonna blow up in the GA and show the big bad wolves of ECNL. so lets instead of going forward, GA wants to go backwards to US SOCCER after the DISASTROUS management of DA. people will never learn.
And forward to an ECNL monopoly? Monopolies sounds great.
if their goal is to play college soccer and especially at D1 level, yes
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Once again, I dont really have a dog in the fight but there seem to be three things that could significantly impact ECNL at this point.
1. If GA formed actual Academies like what MLS now Homegrown has done. If there were 10-12 true Academy programs in main metro areas, that would siphon off significant talent since most of those rosters on the boys side get into the 30 range
2. If GA stayed BY and then gave a bit of a choice to kids based on their birthdates. Yes some Q3/4 GA kids might migrate to ECNL as well but it potentially impacts the Q1/2 ECNL kids more.
3. If GA actually imposed more of a development curriculum as standard for anyone with a badge. The critics of ECNL suggest they simply recruit away the top kids and never actually develop them. If this is true, and GA could actually develop kids they may, over time, start to catch up to the ECNL kids.
I guess you could add a number
4. MLSN continues to help leverage ECNL girls to GA with the boys system.
There might be more but this is the basic list I came up with.
To me the interesting thing is the money aspect of all of this. It was only a year or two ago that GA needed a decent sized loan from USSF but there is no transparency into ECNL finances. They could be in trouble as well and you wouldnt know until it was too late, sort of like the DA, which seemed like a combination of funding and really poor management from the governing body.
Can you elaborate on #3? Are you saying that girls Academy programs don’t recruit or add players? ECNL only does this? Where are the players coming from, if not other ECNL programs? Are you saying that girls academy and small town clubs develop all of these players and then ECNL recruits them away? Does the league encourage this or is it just certain clubs? do most ECNL clubs not have teams younger than 13?
This is a serious post. I see this brought up all the time and I don’t understand it.
The criticism of ECNL, right or wrong, suggests that many clubs aggregate top talent from surrounding clubs that actually develop them at the younger ages. The top talent is drawn to the badge and playing with other top talent. Once at the top clubs the focus is more on strategy vs skill development.
In my area, the U12 teams (pre badge) are usually solid but not the top teams in the area. For the u13 (badge) virtually all of these teams have 50%+ new kids if not more.
Again there may be great development clubs in ECNL as well. I am just suggesting the GA could gain an advantage of truly developing the kids through U19. There are a couple of GA clubs, that I know well, that struggle at the younger ages but then perform very well at the high school ages. This suggests more of a development approach as they dont really recruit in new kids that much from original U13 teams.
Please dont take this as gospel just some anecdotal musings.
But GA (at least where I'm at) does the exact same thing as you listed as an issue with ECNL. I guess more anecdotal musings.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Once again, I dont really have a dog in the fight but there seem to be three things that could significantly impact ECNL at this point.
1. If GA formed actual Academies like what MLS now Homegrown has done. If there were 10-12 true Academy programs in main metro areas, that would siphon off significant talent since most of those rosters on the boys side get into the 30 range
2. If GA stayed BY and then gave a bit of a choice to kids based on their birthdates. Yes some Q3/4 GA kids might migrate to ECNL as well but it potentially impacts the Q1/2 ECNL kids more.
3. If GA actually imposed more of a development curriculum as standard for anyone with a badge. The critics of ECNL suggest they simply recruit away the top kids and never actually develop them. If this is true, and GA could actually develop kids they may, over time, start to catch up to the ECNL kids.
I guess you could add a number
4. MLSN continues to help leverage ECNL girls to GA with the boys system.
There might be more but this is the basic list I came up with.
To me the interesting thing is the money aspect of all of this. It was only a year or two ago that GA needed a decent sized loan from USSF but there is no transparency into ECNL finances. They could be in trouble as well and you wouldnt know until it was too late, sort of like the DA, which seemed like a combination of funding and really poor management from the governing body.
Can you elaborate on #3? Are you saying that girls Academy programs don’t recruit or add players? ECNL only does this? Where are the players coming from, if not other ECNL programs? Are you saying that girls academy and small town clubs develop all of these players and then ECNL recruits them away? Does the league encourage this or is it just certain clubs? do most ECNL clubs not have teams younger than 13?
This is a serious post. I see this brought up all the time and I don’t understand it.
The criticism of ECNL, right or wrong, suggests that many clubs aggregate top talent from surrounding clubs that actually develop them at the younger ages. The top talent is drawn to the badge and playing with other top talent. Once at the top clubs the focus is more on strategy vs skill development.
In my area, the U12 teams (pre badge) are usually solid but not the top teams in the area. For the u13 (badge) virtually all of these teams have 50%+ new kids if not more.
Again there may be great development clubs in ECNL as well. I am just suggesting the GA could gain an advantage of truly developing the kids through U19. There are a couple of GA clubs, that I know well, that struggle at the younger ages but then perform very well at the high school ages. This suggests more of a development approach as they dont really recruit in new kids that much from original U13 teams.
Please dont take this as gospel just some anecdotal musings.
But GA (at least where I'm at) does the exact same thing as you listed as an issue with ECNL. I guess more anecdotal musings.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Once again, I dont really have a dog in the fight but there seem to be three things that could significantly impact ECNL at this point.
1. If GA formed actual Academies like what MLS now Homegrown has done. If there were 10-12 true Academy programs in main metro areas, that would siphon off significant talent since most of those rosters on the boys side get into the 30 range
2. If GA stayed BY and then gave a bit of a choice to kids based on their birthdates. Yes some Q3/4 GA kids might migrate to ECNL as well but it potentially impacts the Q1/2 ECNL kids more.
3. If GA actually imposed more of a development curriculum as standard for anyone with a badge. The critics of ECNL suggest they simply recruit away the top kids and never actually develop them. If this is true, and GA could actually develop kids they may, over time, start to catch up to the ECNL kids.
I guess you could add a number
4. MLSN continues to help leverage ECNL girls to GA with the boys system.
There might be more but this is the basic list I came up with.
To me the interesting thing is the money aspect of all of this. It was only a year or two ago that GA needed a decent sized loan from USSF but there is no transparency into ECNL finances. They could be in trouble as well and you wouldnt know until it was too late, sort of like the DA, which seemed like a combination of funding and really poor management from the governing body.
Can you elaborate on #3? Are you saying that girls Academy programs don’t recruit or add players? ECNL only does this? Where are the players coming from, if not other ECNL programs? Are you saying that girls academy and small town clubs develop all of these players and then ECNL recruits them away? Does the league encourage this or is it just certain clubs? do most ECNL clubs not have teams younger than 13?
This is a serious post. I see this brought up all the time and I don’t understand it.
The criticism of ECNL, right or wrong, suggests that many clubs aggregate top talent from surrounding clubs that actually develop them at the younger ages. The top talent is drawn to the badge and playing with other top talent. Once at the top clubs the focus is more on strategy vs skill development.
In my area, the U12 teams (pre badge) are usually solid but not the top teams in the area. For the u13 (badge) virtually all of these teams have 50%+ new kids if not more.
Again there may be great development clubs in ECNL as well. I am just suggesting the GA could gain an advantage of truly developing the kids through U19. There are a couple of GA clubs, that I know well, that struggle at the younger ages but then perform very well at the high school ages. This suggests more of a development approach as they dont really recruit in new kids that much from original U13 teams.
Please dont take this as gospel just some anecdotal musings.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Once again, I dont really have a dog in the fight but there seem to be three things that could significantly impact ECNL at this point.
1. If GA formed actual Academies like what MLS now Homegrown has done. If there were 10-12 true Academy programs in main metro areas, that would siphon off significant talent since most of those rosters on the boys side get into the 30 range
2. If GA stayed BY and then gave a bit of a choice to kids based on their birthdates. Yes some Q3/4 GA kids might migrate to ECNL as well but it potentially impacts the Q1/2 ECNL kids more.
3. If GA actually imposed more of a development curriculum as standard for anyone with a badge. The critics of ECNL suggest they simply recruit away the top kids and never actually develop them. If this is true, and GA could actually develop kids they may, over time, start to catch up to the ECNL kids.
I guess you could add a number
4. MLSN continues to help leverage ECNL girls to GA with the boys system.
There might be more but this is the basic list I came up with.
To me the interesting thing is the money aspect of all of this. It was only a year or two ago that GA needed a decent sized loan from USSF but there is no transparency into ECNL finances. They could be in trouble as well and you wouldnt know until it was too late, sort of like the DA, which seemed like a combination of funding and really poor management from the governing body.
Can you elaborate on #3? Are you saying that girls Academy programs don’t recruit or add players? ECNL only does this? Where are the players coming from, if not other ECNL programs? Are you saying that girls academy and small town clubs develop all of these players and then ECNL recruits them away? Does the league encourage this or is it just certain clubs? do most ECNL clubs not have teams younger than 13?
This is a serious post. I see this brought up all the time and I don’t understand it.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The seven clubs that someone listed above would be much more than a sneeze.
It certainly would be if they all moved.
The moves GA has implemented are impressive. They're setting up long term trajectories that will bear fruit over time. ECNLs most recent response was forcing the BY to SY change.
Imagine what would happen if NCAA gave non revenue college soccer to US Soccer. Then US Soccer changed it into a mix of 2nd tier pro and college teams league. Which seems a very likely outcome because NCAA doesnt have to worry about sports that dont make money and US Soccer gets control over the one area of high level soccer they dont currently have a say in.
If this happens instantly recruiters no longer matter because the pro minor league + college teams league would become a situation were college roster spots are a prize for top players. Like how MLS Next acadamies and p2p mlsn clubs function. Basically youth leagues would just merge into college leagues with college scholorships and $$$ provided as a prize for top talent.
What you failed to account for, is the fact that we will be moving to Mars by then, according to Elon Musk.
Oh, by the way, the last time USSF got involved in youth soccer, it resulted in disaster.
College soccer is so bad that even US Soccer can fix it. Mostly by replacing the super duper corrupt college people with only kind of corrupt US Soccer people.
this 100%. GA hats are all excited thinking little Cassandra is gonna blow up in the GA and show the big bad wolves of ECNL. so lets instead of going forward, GA wants to go backwards to US SOCCER after the DISASTROUS management of DA. people will never learn.
And forward to an ECNL monopoly? Monopolies sounds great.
Anonymous wrote:Once again, I dont really have a dog in the fight but there seem to be three things that could significantly impact ECNL at this point.
1. If GA formed actual Academies like what MLS now Homegrown has done. If there were 10-12 true Academy programs in main metro areas, that would siphon off significant talent since most of those rosters on the boys side get into the 30 range
2. If GA stayed BY and then gave a bit of a choice to kids based on their birthdates. Yes some Q3/4 GA kids might migrate to ECNL as well but it potentially impacts the Q1/2 ECNL kids more.
3. If GA actually imposed more of a development curriculum as standard for anyone with a badge. The critics of ECNL suggest they simply recruit away the top kids and never actually develop them. If this is true, and GA could actually develop kids they may, over time, start to catch up to the ECNL kids.
I guess you could add a number
4. MLSN continues to help leverage ECNL girls to GA with the boys system.
There might be more but this is the basic list I came up with.
To me the interesting thing is the money aspect of all of this. It was only a year or two ago that GA needed a decent sized loan from USSF but there is no transparency into ECNL finances. They could be in trouble as well and you wouldnt know until it was too late, sort of like the DA, which seemed like a combination of funding and really poor management from the governing body.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There are probably more, but some of the big ones are:
St. Louis Scott Gallagher
FC Delco
Bethesda
PDA
Indy Eleven
SD Surf (I think)
Some of the clubs that moved from ECNL to GA this year, like Kings Hammer and Midwest United were former DA who moved to ECNL girls and continued to play boys MLS Next. Up until now the ECNL has been able to use the “we kicked them out” line, which is complete fabricated. That won’t hold up if the big boys start coming over.
To name a few more...
FC Dallas
Real Colorado
DE Anza force
Phoenix Rising
Tampa Bay United
Jacksonville FC
Orlando City
Colorado Rapids
Wait a minute, didn't the off-shoot youth program of Real Colorado just switch from MLSN to ECNL?
No, their top teams are still in MLSN. They apparently have boys teams in both leagues, a real sweetheart deal. I do remember reading somewhere that they were changing ECNL conferences to allow for more year round play or something like that.
So their top teams are MLSN and their second teams are ECNL?
I grant it's super confusing where the MLS academy remains the same BUT the rest of youth program has gone ECNL. Sorry, that's a loss for MLSN. ... https://theecnl.com/news/2025/5/1/real-colorado-academy-colorado-rapids-youth-join-ecnl-texas-conference.aspx
Again Real Colorado top team will be in MLSNext for the 25/26 season. Their next best team that competes in ECNL have moved conferences from the mountain conference to the Texas conference because it allows for more months of play throughout the season. Again Real Colorado will be participating in MLSNext at all age groups for the 25/26 season.
If I am reading this correctly, they are moving their top team from MLSN to ECNL texas , while keeping their next team in ECNL mountain.
https://www.soccerwire.com/news/real-colorado-and-colorado-rapids-youth-join-ecnl-boys-texas-conference/
And if you go to the club website , there is no more mention of MLSN , only ECNL
You are both right. The MLS Academy remains the TOP youth team named "Real Colorado". The youth organization with the same name switched to ENCL. The end.
I know "Colorado Rapids" has its MLS academy.
But I didn't know "Real Colorado" has one ...
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There are probably more, but some of the big ones are:
St. Louis Scott Gallagher
FC Delco
Bethesda
PDA
Indy Eleven
SD Surf (I think)
Some of the clubs that moved from ECNL to GA this year, like Kings Hammer and Midwest United were former DA who moved to ECNL girls and continued to play boys MLS Next. Up until now the ECNL has been able to use the “we kicked them out” line, which is complete fabricated. That won’t hold up if the big boys start coming over.
To name a few more...
FC Dallas
Real Colorado
DE Anza force
Phoenix Rising
Tampa Bay United
Jacksonville FC
Orlando City
Colorado Rapids
Wait a minute, didn't the off-shoot youth program of Real Colorado just switch from MLSN to ECNL?
No, their top teams are still in MLSN. They apparently have boys teams in both leagues, a real sweetheart deal. I do remember reading somewhere that they were changing ECNL conferences to allow for more year round play or something like that.
So their top teams are MLSN and their second teams are ECNL?
I grant it's super confusing where the MLS academy remains the same BUT the rest of youth program has gone ECNL. Sorry, that's a loss for MLSN. ... https://theecnl.com/news/2025/5/1/real-colorado-academy-colorado-rapids-youth-join-ecnl-texas-conference.aspx
Again Real Colorado top team will be in MLSNext for the 25/26 season. Their next best team that competes in ECNL have moved conferences from the mountain conference to the Texas conference because it allows for more months of play throughout the season. Again Real Colorado will be participating in MLSNext at all age groups for the 25/26 season.
If I am reading this correctly, they are moving their top team from MLSN to ECNL texas , while keeping their next team in ECNL mountain.
https://www.soccerwire.com/news/real-colorado-and-colorado-rapids-youth-join-ecnl-boys-texas-conference/
And if you go to the club website , there is no more mention of MLSN , only ECNL
You are both right. The MLS Academy remains the TOP youth team named "Real Colorado". The youth organization with the same name switched to ENCL. The end.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There are probably more, but some of the big ones are:
St. Louis Scott Gallagher
FC Delco
Bethesda
PDA
Indy Eleven
SD Surf (I think)
Some of the clubs that moved from ECNL to GA this year, like Kings Hammer and Midwest United were former DA who moved to ECNL girls and continued to play boys MLS Next. Up until now the ECNL has been able to use the “we kicked them out” line, which is complete fabricated. That won’t hold up if the big boys start coming over.
To name a few more...
FC Dallas
Real Colorado
DE Anza force
Phoenix Rising
Tampa Bay United
Jacksonville FC
Orlando City
Colorado Rapids
Wait a minute, didn't the off-shoot youth program of Real Colorado just switch from MLSN to ECNL?
No, their top teams are still in MLSN. They apparently have boys teams in both leagues, a real sweetheart deal. I do remember reading somewhere that they were changing ECNL conferences to allow for more year round play or something like that.
So their top teams are MLSN and their second teams are ECNL?
I grant it's super confusing where the MLS academy remains the same BUT the rest of youth program has gone ECNL. Sorry, that's a loss for MLSN. ... https://theecnl.com/news/2025/5/1/real-colorado-academy-colorado-rapids-youth-join-ecnl-texas-conference.aspx
Again Real Colorado top team will be in MLSNext for the 25/26 season. Their next best team that competes in ECNL have moved conferences from the mountain conference to the Texas conference because it allows for more months of play throughout the season. Again Real Colorado will be participating in MLSNext at all age groups for the 25/26 season.
If I am reading this correctly, they are moving their top team from MLSN to ECNL texas , while keeping their next team in ECNL mountain.
https://www.soccerwire.com/news/real-colorado-and-colorado-rapids-youth-join-ecnl-boys-texas-conference/
And if you go to the club website , there is no more mention of MLSN , only ECNL
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There are probably more, but some of the big ones are:
St. Louis Scott Gallagher
FC Delco
Bethesda
PDA
Indy Eleven
SD Surf (I think)
Some of the clubs that moved from ECNL to GA this year, like Kings Hammer and Midwest United were former DA who moved to ECNL girls and continued to play boys MLS Next. Up until now the ECNL has been able to use the “we kicked them out” line, which is complete fabricated. That won’t hold up if the big boys start coming over.
To name a few more...
FC Dallas
Real Colorado
DE Anza force
Phoenix Rising
Tampa Bay United
Jacksonville FC
Orlando City
Colorado Rapids
Wait a minute, didn't the off-shoot youth program of Real Colorado just switch from MLSN to ECNL?
No, their top teams are still in MLSN. They apparently have boys teams in both leagues, a real sweetheart deal. I do remember reading somewhere that they were changing ECNL conferences to allow for more year round play or something like that.
So their top teams are MLSN and their second teams are ECNL?
I grant it's super confusing where the MLS academy remains the same BUT the rest of youth program has gone ECNL. Sorry, that's a loss for MLSN. ... https://theecnl.com/news/2025/5/1/real-colorado-academy-colorado-rapids-youth-join-ecnl-texas-conference.aspx
Again Real Colorado top team will be in MLSNext for the 25/26 season. Their next best team that competes in ECNL have moved conferences from the mountain conference to the Texas conference because it allows for more months of play throughout the season. Again Real Colorado will be participating in MLSNext at all age groups for the 25/26 season.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:There are probably more, but some of the big ones are:
St. Louis Scott Gallagher
FC Delco
Bethesda
PDA
Indy Eleven
SD Surf (I think)
Some of the clubs that moved from ECNL to GA this year, like Kings Hammer and Midwest United were former DA who moved to ECNL girls and continued to play boys MLS Next. Up until now the ECNL has been able to use the “we kicked them out” line, which is complete fabricated. That won’t hold up if the big boys start coming over.
To name a few more...
FC Dallas
Real Colorado
DE Anza force
Phoenix Rising
Tampa Bay United
Jacksonville FC
Orlando City
Colorado Rapids
Wait a minute, didn't the off-shoot youth program of Real Colorado just switch from MLSN to ECNL?
No, their top teams are still in MLSN. They apparently have boys teams in both leagues, a real sweetheart deal. I do remember reading somewhere that they were changing ECNL conferences to allow for more year round play or something like that.
So their top teams are MLSN and their second teams are ECNL?
I grant it's super confusing where the MLS academy remains the same BUT the rest of youth program has gone ECNL. Sorry, that's a loss for MLSN. ... https://theecnl.com/news/2025/5/1/real-colorado-academy-colorado-rapids-youth-join-ecnl-texas-conference.aspx