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Will boys ECNL work?

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    Will boys ECNL work?

    Opinions? I have my doubts but by promoting top NPL teams they move closer to the US Youth model of meritocracy although is isn't open to non NPL teams yet.

    It's not clear to me with so many clubs in USSDA that we need yet another layer. We already know most college money goes to foreign born players with the rest going to USSDA players so what's the goal here? Will parents invest the money especially to get on a plane for a showcase to play less than top teams?

    Now that we are on calendar year I would like to see US Club move to a unified national championship and do away with the concept of teams buying their way into regional championships.

    Dare I dream of a day where the US Club unified champion and US Youth champion play each other and we get a true national champion?

    #2
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    Opinions? I have my doubts but by promoting top NPL teams they move closer to the US Youth model of meritocracy although is isn't open to non NPL teams yet.

    It's not clear to me with so many clubs in USSDA that we need yet another layer. We already know most college money goes to foreign born players with the rest going to USSDA players so what's the goal here? Will parents invest the money especially to get on a plane for a showcase to play less than top teams?

    Now that we are on calendar year I would like to see US Club move to a unified national championship and do away with the concept of teams buying their way into regional championships.

    Dare I dream of a day where the US Club unified champion and US Youth champion play each other and we get a true national champion?
    The boys version is just another league. Until you have consolidation or separation of the various NPL leagues it won't make a huge difference. In my opinion it's not a true replica of the girls ECNL where good players and college coaches will flock too.

    PS there's still plenty of spots to fill for non foreigners and DAP players. Yes the parents will invest the money.

    Comment


      #3
      I think it will work just fine. Like on the girls side with GDA there is going to be a watering down of both leagues. Boys DA will lose some players, especially from pay-to-play non MLS clubs. There are boys who just want to play good soccer AND HS sports and a chance to be seen by college coaches. DA works well for many but not all. It will be the top league for players wanting top D1 opportunities. EPNL/ECNL will also bring players up from NPL, further diluting that group. But it will be a good 2nd tier national platform for plenty of players. DA isn't big enough to fill all the college roster sports in this country

      As for a true national championship? No way. Everyone will have their own trophy

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        I think it will work just fine. Like on the girls side with GDA there is going to be a watering down of both leagues. Boys DA will lose some players, especially from pay-to-play non MLS clubs. There are boys who just want to play good soccer AND HS sports and a chance to be seen by college coaches. DA works well for many but not all. It will be the top league for players wanting top D1 opportunities. EPNL/ECNL will also bring players up from NPL, further diluting that group. But it will be a good 2nd tier national platform for plenty of players. DA isn't big enough to fill all the college roster sports in this country

        As for a true national championship? No way. Everyone will have their own trophy
        It can work but a couple changes may be necessary.

        Many of these kids will play multiple sports. The way it is constituted, there will be too much travel. Should limit this as best as possible, possibly by having smaller conferences. Even if only a handful of teams. They should also play less games. It should be more about showcases.

        Also, there are too many age groups. They should group the age groups in two year brackets like DA. Will bring the quality of play way up.

        Both these suggestions, go for girls as well.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          It can work but a couple changes may be necessary.

          Many of these kids will play multiple sports. The way it is constituted, there will be too much travel. Should limit this as best as possible, possibly by having smaller conferences. Even if only a handful of teams. They should also play less games. It should be more about showcases.

          Also, there are too many age groups. They should group the age groups in two year brackets like DA. Will bring the quality of play way up.

          Both these suggestions, go for girls as well.
          The multi sport kids don't belong in strong regional/NPL/boys ENPL programs. the boys need to take it very serious. By serious soccer should be their primary sport

          There's nothing wrong with playing multi sports but if you are missing a dozen practices a year and missing games you should be playing town or local premier

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            It can work but a couple changes may be necessary.

            Many of these kids will play multiple sports. The way it is constituted, there will be too much travel. Should limit this as best as possible, possibly by having smaller conferences. Even if only a handful of teams. They should also play less games. It should be more about showcases.

            Also, there are too many age groups. They should group the age groups in two year brackets like DA. Will bring the quality of play way up.

            Both these suggestions, go for girls as well.
            Have to agree with the above poster that state level premier or travel is a better avenue for those multisport kids. To have a league that purports serious soccer (nearly DA level but not quite) then you need players who are serious about the sport. This is a league for kids who are serious about soccer, most want to play in college, but either can't do DA (location or maybe not quite good enough) or don't want to do DA. Many of them are multisport athletes but it tends to be their HS teams, not another in another league that's as intense as ECNL. Most kids have given up a "serious" 2nd sport by HS. There are some out there but not many. HS sports works better with their schedules (rarely games on weekends).

            As for age groups? As long as clubs and leagues can fill slots with paying customers that won't change. Don't forget DA has single age U12 U13 U14 and there are talks of the older groups splitting up as well.

            Comment


              #7
              ECNL is just another NPL league. It may be successful in the end but I don't really see it moving the needle one way or another.

              Comment


                #8
                I think comparing it to the girls may be off the mark. The girls never had GDA so we don't know how it will play out. Will there be too many clubs? I don't think the elite player pool will expand in one year but with GDA the supply of teams competing for top players will. Also girls have more athletic scholarship opportunities.

                Boys on the other hand have has USSDA for a while and many argue there are already too many clubs. I believe the majority of clubs for this new league will come from existing NPL teams leaving that platform very weak.

                And US Youth has had National League for 10 years now. I think they made a mistake doubling the number of teams but I think they were basically trying to make it more inclusive for the top US Youth Clubs to defend against the new competition. I guess time will tell but with EDP and NYCSL I just can't see how we need another league on top of that?

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  I think comparing it to the girls may be off the mark. The girls never had GDA so we don't know how it will play out. Will there be too many clubs? I don't think the elite player pool will expand in one year but with GDA the supply of teams competing for top players will. Also girls have more athletic scholarship opportunities.

                  Boys on the other hand have has USSDA for a while and many argue there are already too many clubs. I believe the majority of clubs for this new league will come from existing NPL teams leaving that platform very weak.

                  And US Youth has had National League for 10 years now. I think they made a mistake doubling the number of teams but I think they were basically trying to make it more inclusive for the top US Youth Clubs to defend against the new competition. I guess time will tell but with EDP and NYCSL I just can't see how we need another league on top of that?
                  You are correct in comparing the boys and girls ECNL is off the mark. I also think that ENPL will cherry pick current NPL teams so the only difference will be a new patch on the sleeve

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    You are correct in comparing the boys and girls ECNL is off the mark. I also think that ENPL will cherry pick current NPL teams so the only difference will be a new patch on the sleeve
                    Agree 100%

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      You are correct in comparing the boys and girls ECNL is off the mark. I also think that ENPL will cherry pick current NPL teams so the only difference will be a new patch on the sleeve
                      I agree as well - NPL is going to lose out on this

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Here's an update on boys ECNL aka ENPL ... strange model they are setting up

                        http://usclubsoccer.org/2016/11/23/l...pdate-on-enpl/

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                          Here's an update on boys ECNL aka ENPL ... strange model they are setting up

                          http://usclubsoccer.org/2016/11/23/l...pdate-on-enpl/
                          The whole thing is honestly too confusing. I wouldn't want my kid playing in that mess until it is proven.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                            The whole thing is honestly too confusing. I wouldn't want my kid playing in that mess until it is proven.
                            I don't think it's so bad - unlike GDA they're not trying to take over the world right away but work with what they have. I'm curious to see what happens in this area with EDP or NYCSL NPL groups. Much will depend on what clubs join. Without quality it will flop

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                              I don't think it's so bad - unlike GDA they're not trying to take over the world right away but work with what they have. I'm curious to see what happens in this area with EDP or NYCSL NPL groups. Much will depend on what clubs join. Without quality it will flop
                              It just seems like a mishmash of conference play vs tournament. It's very schizophrenic

                              The Connecticut site states that there will be a 12 team NE conference with mostly ECNL members that have boys sides. In CT that's FSA and CFC. FSA boys currently play in EDP while CFC plays in NEP NPL

                              Comment

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