Before ECNL came to the region top players U14 -16 with their eye on playing at the next level tended to play for clubs with traveling teams and currently spend $4-5,000 for the club & tournament fees AND travel. The first round of ODP varies depending upon if you were in or out of OYSA but the bulk of the better girls were in the OPL so the costs of participation in the first round was $350 plus the cost of travel to practice. If they participated in the regional tournament add in another $600-800. For the top players sent to Regional Camp add in another $400 so the total for the best players ran approximately $5,000 - 6,600.
The value of the additional training in ODP varied greatly each year with the quality of the coaching. The value of the games played in the local ODP tournament is a shadow of what is was when teams from Cali and back East would come in to provide a real measuring stick. Now the ODP teams only get meaningful competition when they go to the regional tournament.
So a top player's choices are participating on a local traveling team where the value of the games played in EITHER local league is limited to one or two other teams which means 2 or 4 games plus the 8-10 quality games they will get at the various out of state tournaments like Mustang, Vegas and for select teams Surf & OYSA Regionals.
Over the career of a top local club player from U14-U16 they would have the opportunity to play 24-30 quality club team games plus 3-6 quality OPD games for a total of 28-36 quality games for at least an average of at least $5,000 per year over those three years.
The anti ECNL crowd makes their case against ECNL as an unnecessary extra expense saying the status quo provides an equal opportunity for exposure and development and points to the historical placement of local player who were identified prior to ECNL's dominance of the recruiting process..
Dealing with just the economics and value of the current system it is instructive to actually compare cost vs. value.
Regardless of the initial success of any one team ECNL team the decision for the better top players and their parents needs to be made with all the facts clearly laid out. The costs for a U14 ECNL team will run between $6,500 and $7,000 depending upon how many summer and or other additional tournaments they decide to participate in. In their league they will have 12 games 6 of which will be against quality teams. In their one ECNL showcase they will face at least 2 quality opponents which translates to 8 quality games. They will also pay in the first round of the National play offs where they will get at least 2 more quality games. Assuming that the local teams will play 2 additional quality tournaments adding at least 4 more quality games for the U14 year for a total of 20 for the U14 season.
The U15's play 2 showcase events meaning they will play 2 more quality teams that year however they will probably only play one out of league tournament like Vegas/Surf or Mustang in addition to the first round of the national playoff. So for roughly the same $6,500 - $7,000 this group will again play 20 meaningful games.
The U16's play 3 showcase events and the National playoffs so you can swap the 2 quality games that come with a nonleague showcase for the ECNL show case however the cost of the travel to Florida & Texas and the National playoff will take the cost of participation to between $8,100 and $8,500 to get those same 20 meaningful games.
So an HONEST cost/value comparison between the status quo for a club/ODP player is at best 36 quality games for at BEST $15,000 vs. 60 quality games for at WORST $23,000. In other words strictly looking at cost the a U14-16 Club/OPD career a player is looking at spending $416 per game where as an ECNL player is looking at $383 per game. For just the COST value to be equal the ECNL costs which have ALREADY been adjusted upward by $1,500 from the ECNL club's projected budgets have to be FURTHER understated by 9% which is not supported by the experience of ECNL parents OR the cost of flights & Hotels on any booking service. I would also point out to the anti ECNL crowd that increasing travel costs affects the status quo traveling club teams too.
The value of the additional training in ODP varied greatly each year with the quality of the coaching. The value of the games played in the local ODP tournament is a shadow of what is was when teams from Cali and back East would come in to provide a real measuring stick. Now the ODP teams only get meaningful competition when they go to the regional tournament.
So a top player's choices are participating on a local traveling team where the value of the games played in EITHER local league is limited to one or two other teams which means 2 or 4 games plus the 8-10 quality games they will get at the various out of state tournaments like Mustang, Vegas and for select teams Surf & OYSA Regionals.
Over the career of a top local club player from U14-U16 they would have the opportunity to play 24-30 quality club team games plus 3-6 quality OPD games for a total of 28-36 quality games for at least an average of at least $5,000 per year over those three years.
The anti ECNL crowd makes their case against ECNL as an unnecessary extra expense saying the status quo provides an equal opportunity for exposure and development and points to the historical placement of local player who were identified prior to ECNL's dominance of the recruiting process..
Dealing with just the economics and value of the current system it is instructive to actually compare cost vs. value.
Regardless of the initial success of any one team ECNL team the decision for the better top players and their parents needs to be made with all the facts clearly laid out. The costs for a U14 ECNL team will run between $6,500 and $7,000 depending upon how many summer and or other additional tournaments they decide to participate in. In their league they will have 12 games 6 of which will be against quality teams. In their one ECNL showcase they will face at least 2 quality opponents which translates to 8 quality games. They will also pay in the first round of the National play offs where they will get at least 2 more quality games. Assuming that the local teams will play 2 additional quality tournaments adding at least 4 more quality games for the U14 year for a total of 20 for the U14 season.
The U15's play 2 showcase events meaning they will play 2 more quality teams that year however they will probably only play one out of league tournament like Vegas/Surf or Mustang in addition to the first round of the national playoff. So for roughly the same $6,500 - $7,000 this group will again play 20 meaningful games.
The U16's play 3 showcase events and the National playoffs so you can swap the 2 quality games that come with a nonleague showcase for the ECNL show case however the cost of the travel to Florida & Texas and the National playoff will take the cost of participation to between $8,100 and $8,500 to get those same 20 meaningful games.
So an HONEST cost/value comparison between the status quo for a club/ODP player is at best 36 quality games for at BEST $15,000 vs. 60 quality games for at WORST $23,000. In other words strictly looking at cost the a U14-16 Club/OPD career a player is looking at spending $416 per game where as an ECNL player is looking at $383 per game. For just the COST value to be equal the ECNL costs which have ALREADY been adjusted upward by $1,500 from the ECNL club's projected budgets have to be FURTHER understated by 9% which is not supported by the experience of ECNL parents OR the cost of flights & Hotels on any booking service. I would also point out to the anti ECNL crowd that increasing travel costs affects the status quo traveling club teams too.
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