Let's Talk NECSL

[Guest]

Not bad for a new League. Will probably be around for a long time

[Guest]

Not bad for a new League. Will probably be around for a long time

The only league that matters for 90%+ of the players in New England.

[Guest]

Seems like a reasonable league. We've found the travel to be a bonus. Our most distant trip was just over an hour. The level of play on my son's team is OK but the parity is very good from one team to the next.

[Guest]

It's been around for a bit, but had expanded. Two years from now who knows what leagues will survive the annual blood letting

[Guest]

Not bad for a new League. Will probably be around for a long time

League won’t last. There will always be a big club in MA starting a new league.

once NEFC and BOLTS get sick of 3Step owning all the clubs and owning the league, they ll start their Own league

[Guest]

Agree, it’s a good league. Not for the most competitive teams, but sufficient for most players who want to have fun

[Guest]

There's enough clubs involved now that the NECSL/NEP split is over to allow most teams to be placed at a competitive level.

Biggest problem, and one that can't be fixed, is the amount of guest players coming in from DPL, Impact, ECNL R and wherever else into as far down as U12 Flight 2 games to pickup wins. But don't know what any league could do to stop that if they cared.

[Guest]

There's enough clubs involved now that the NECSL/NEP split is over to allow most teams to be placed at a competitive level.

Biggest problem, and one that can't be fixed, is the amount of guest players coming in from DPL, Impact, ECNL R and wherever else into as far down as U12 Flight 2 games to pickup wins. But don't know what any league could do to stop that if they cared.

You being sarcastic right? Of course this issue can be avoided! It starts with coaches/clubs being educated about not doing it. Second, freeze the roster a couple of weeks into the season. Third, monitor games by looking at kid's jerseys... DPL patch, ECNL patch... impose a forfeit. Absolutely a problem in the NECSL, but there are so many ways to fix this.

[Guest]

You being sarcastic right? Of course this issue can be avoided! It starts with coaches/clubs being educated about not doing it. Second, freeze the roster a couple of weeks into the season. Third, monitor games by looking at kid's jerseys... DPL patch, ECNL patch... impose a forfeit. Absolutely a problem in the NECSL, but there are so many ways to fix this.

Freezing the roster won't do anything, I've been handed rosters for a U11 game with 32 players on it. The refs check the roster and are simply confirming names to numbers on jerseys, that's it. And technically, a kid can be in a NECSL game with a DPL patch on their uniform and it doesn't matter. The rules for NECSL say a player can't be coming from a higher division team within NECSL. That doesn't apply to a DPL player because DPL isn't a part of NECSL. It's an intentional loophole.

And educating coaches and clubs? Please.

[Guest]

Freezing the roster won't do anything, I've been handed rosters for a U11 game with 32 players on it. The refs check the roster and are simply confirming names to numbers on jerseys, that's it. And technically, a kid can be in a NECSL game with a DPL patch on their uniform and it doesn't matter. The rules for NECSL say a player can't be coming from a higher division team within NECSL. That doesn't apply to a DPL player because DPL isn't a part of NECSL. It's an intentional loophole.

And educating coaches and clubs? Please.

Stop allowing guest players and having players who play 2+ games in a day. Of course that means less "teams".

[Guest]

Freezing the roster won't do anything, I've been handed rosters for a U11 game with 32 players on it. The refs check the roster and are simply confirming names to numbers on jerseys, that's it. And technically, a kid can be in a NECSL game with a DPL patch on their uniform and it doesn't matter. The rules for NECSL say a player can't be coming from a higher division team within NECSL. That doesn't apply to a DPL player because DPL isn't a part of NECSL. It's an intentional loophole.

And educating coaches and clubs? Please.

Please go ahead read what you just wrote.
Do you see the answer to the problem? It's right in there in what you wrote.

[Guest]

But they’re not “guest” players. ECNL, Impact NPL, ECRL, Academy, etc aren’t USYS leagues. There is no relationship. You can’t prohibit players from playing in an unrelated league. They’re fully rostered, or they can be, from day 1 so freezing it would do nothing. It would be like saying you can’t play town rec and NECSL. Or lacrosse and NECSL. They’re entirely unrelated.

I fully agree that it stinks. I just don’t think it can be fixed. In some cases it’s players from within the same club being dual rostered and in others kids play in one league with one club and another unrelated league with another (I.e. Impact NPL with US Club Soccer and NECSL with USYS). It’s annoying that parents want their kids in “elite” leagues and look down on everyone else but then also want their kid to come be the star of an NECSL team. Welcome to youth sports 2023, I guess.

[Guest]

But they’re not “guest” players. ECNL, Impact NPL, ECRL, Academy, etc aren’t USYS leagues. There is no relationship. You can’t prohibit players from playing in an unrelated league. They’re fully rostered, or they can be, from day 1 so freezing it would do nothing. It would be like saying you can’t play town rec and NECSL. Or lacrosse and NECSL. They’re entirely unrelated.

I fully agree that it stinks. I just don’t think it can be fixed. In some cases it’s players from within the same club being dual rostered and in others kids play in one league with one club and another unrelated league with another (I.e. Impact NPL with US Club Soccer and NECSL with USYS). It’s annoying that parents want their kids in “elite” leagues and look down on everyone else but then also want their kid to come be the star of an NECSL team. Welcome to youth sports 2023, I guess.

Again, is it an issue? Yes. Does it hurt the league? Absolutely. Can it be fixed? Of course it can!
Why does it hurt the league? Well, if a team brings "down" players which are higher level and the scores become 7-0, 8-0, etc... the players overall experience suffers. If the players aren't having a good experience, guess what? They might leave. So the league should definitely take this issue seriously and fix it asap.

[Guest]

First there was MAPLE (USYS).
Then there was NEP (US Club).
Now there is NECSL (USYS).

Give them 1-2 years and the USYS incompetence will ruin the league.
Then its a matter of time before the club ownership gets together again and forms a new league at this level outside the USYS influence.
It will go well for 3-4 years.
Then club politics at the leadership level will bring it crumbling down.

Rinse repeat.

[Guest]

My kid's team who was doing really well this season got crushed in a game, something like 9-0. The other team? Several players with jersey numbers 105, 107, 117, 123... the left most digit being a piece of tape on the jersey.
And the NECSL doesn't think this is a problem?