My Problem with the Whole ECNL Thing....

[Unregistered]

Aside from the fact that there are just too many bleeping threads about ECNL (that's why I had to start another to get above all the noise! ;).

I really can live with the fact that it may be the league with the most talent and currently the most scouted by college scouts. What really bothers me is when anyone tries to convince me that ECNL is good for anyone other than the 18-20 girls on THAT team. All of these numerous threads (currently Jax has the most of this kind) that are begging for "clubs to come together for the common good of North Florida because that is what's best for the kids." Let's be really clear. The more direct, honest request would be "all surrounding clubs cough up the 1-2 truly outstanding kids in our age group and give them to us so that we can have 18-20 kids that just run away from the pack and receive all kinds of benefits." So I ask, why would ANYONE want to help with that?

I hear phrases like "this area really needs talent aggregation around ECNL for this area to play at the national level" which is a fancier way of saying what I describe above. OK, so let's just say all the surrounding clubs coughed up their best kids and the talent aggregated and that ECNL team rolled to a National Championship, etc. How SPECIFICALLY does the 10-12 county area that fed that talent into that ECNL team benefit?

Like I said at the beginning, I actually have no problem with ECNL. I think it is a wonderful platform for the 100 girls in each age group (25 X 4 teams) in Florida that can swing it. But let's call it for it is - a great opportunity for those 100 kids in each age group in Florida - not this regional engine that improves soccer for many teams in an area. And if I sound grumpy, I'm not actually. Just trying to enjoy the end of one season and the beginning of another without this constant drum beat of ECNL propaganda.

Cheers!

[Unregistered]

Thanks for another bleeping thread. No I didn't read a word of what you wrote.

[Unregistered]

Aside from the fact that there are just too many bleeping threads about ECNL (that's why I had to start another to get above all the noise! ;).

I really can live with the fact that it may be the league with the most talent and currently the most scouted by college scouts. What really bothers me is when anyone tries to convince me that ECNL is good for anyone other than the 18-20 girls on THAT team. All of these numerous threads (currently Jax has the most of this kind) that are begging for "clubs to come together for the common good of North Florida because that is what's best for the kids." Let's be really clear. The more direct, honest request would be "all surrounding clubs cough up the 1-2 truly outstanding kids in our age group and give them to us so that we can have 18-20 kids that just run away from the pack and receive all kinds of benefits." So I ask, why would ANYONE want to help with that?

I hear phrases like "this area really needs talent aggregation around ECNL for this area to play at the national level" which is a fancier way of saying what I describe above. OK, so let's just say all the surrounding clubs coughed up their best kids and the talent aggregated and that ECNL team rolled to a National Championship, etc. How SPECIFICALLY does the 10-12 county area that fed that talent into that ECNL team benefit?

Like I said at the beginning, I actually have no problem with ECNL. I think it is a wonderful platform for the 100 girls in each age group (25 X 4 teams) in Florida that can swing it. But let's call it for it is - a great opportunity for those 100 kids in each age group in Florida - not this regional engine that improves soccer for many teams in an area. And if I sound grumpy, I'm not actually. Just trying to enjoy the end of one season and the beginning of another without this constant drum beat of ECNL propaganda.

Cheers!

Well said

[Unregistered]

Best thread about Boca United on TS. It really says it all.

Look, what you all don't seem to understand is that the current BU teams including and especially the u14 team are so far behind ECNL level it's ridiculous. You all in south Florida have no ideal idea how strong the other ECNL teams are. I am not exaggerating that average level ECNL teams would beat the current BU teams 8-0 easy, and please don't take that as bashing it's the truth. BU has very average club teams and that's a fact. None made it to round of 8 but one team and that u14 team had the easiest road you could have and struggled then got beat very badly in final four. For a south Florida team to really compete you would need enough top players so that literally only maybe one or two current BU players even make their own ECNL team! Again that's just the facts it's not bashing BU. I'm not sure what level you think the other ECNL teams are but they are all top players in the area, they aren't just regular average club teams who go ECNL. The only way BU will be competitive is if all the areas top players go there, not just a few and that's the entire problem. No top player should or wants to go to a weak ECNL team that gets hammered all the time because they will look horrible as an individual player. A top player could definitely hurt their development and recruitment ability playing on a weak ECNL team. Now in BU's case you also have to add in the fact that the BU staff has never shown they are proficient at developing anyone or any team so now you don't even have the benefit of top training. At least if you could say your daughter's team is getting beat up in games but still getting top training that would at least be something positive and maybe still something to consider if there wasn't such a crazy high cost. But that doesn't even seem to be the case at BU since their teams have arguably gotten worse over the past few years and not better so where is the quality training? That's definitely the case for at least the 14s and 17's for sure and all the others haven't improved either, certainly not of any significance. That is why I think it's safe to say that most parents will not want to take a chance on wasting important years sending their daughter to Boca United if they are already on a solid club team that attends good showcase tournaments. Now if there on a weak team that goes nowhere that's a different story and that's exactly who was at tryouts and I anticipate will continue to be at tryouts. But my friends, that will not even be close to enough good players to make BU competitive! That's why the only prudent thing to do is sit back and watch a year, watch the training, see who the coaches really are and not just listen to promises, and then make an intelligent decision instead of a spontaneous ignorant one.
----Sincerely, a true voice of reason who understands real ECNL competition & development.

[Unregistered]

Aside from the fact that there are just too many bleeping threads about ECNL (that's why I had to start another to get above all the noise! ;).

I really can live with the fact that it may be the league with the most talent and currently the most scouted by college scouts. What really bothers me is when anyone tries to convince me that ECNL is good for anyone other than the 18-20 girls on THAT team. All of these numerous threads (currently Jax has the most of this kind) that are begging for "clubs to come together for the common good of North Florida because that is what's best for the kids." Let's be really clear. The more direct, honest request would be "all surrounding clubs cough up the 1-2 truly outstanding kids in our age group and give them to us so that we can have 18-20 kids that just run away from the pack and receive all kinds of benefits." So I ask, why would ANYONE want to help with that?

I hear phrases like "this area really needs talent aggregation around ECNL for this area to play at the national level" which is a fancier way of saying what I describe above. OK, so let's just say all the surrounding clubs coughed up their best kids and the talent aggregated and that ECNL team rolled to a National Championship, etc. How SPECIFICALLY does the 10-12 county area that fed that talent into that ECNL team benefit?

Like I said at the beginning, I actually have no problem with ECNL. I think it is a wonderful platform for the 100 girls in each age group (25 X 4 teams) in Florida that can swing it. But let's call it for it is - a great opportunity for those 100 kids in each age group in Florida - not this regional engine that improves soccer for many teams in an area. And if I sound grumpy, I'm not actually. Just trying to enjoy the end of one season and the beginning of another without this constant drum beat of ECNL propaganda.

Cheers!

I will happily hand over my best players at u14+ if the are going to play on your ECNL or DA team but not for your pre ECNL or Pre Academy team that you are using to just fund your club selling them some dream that is no different than the dream they could have while still playing at our club. Once you do sign my top players, send me a development fee for the past 5+ years I put into that player so now maybe I have additional resources to develop more players for you.

[Unregistered]

I will happily hand over my best players at u14+ if the are going to play on your ECNL or DA team but not for your pre ECNL or Pre Academy team that you are using to just fund your club selling them some dream that is no different than the dream they could have while still playing at our club. Once you do sign my top players, send me a development fee for the past 5+ years I put into that player so now maybe I have additional resources to develop more players for you.

LOL development fee. OK Mr. GM

While development is certainly important, its all about the genes. If you think for one second development is what makes the great great, you are seriously disillusioned. Its either in the genes or not. Development makes the great greater, the average better, and the truly great superstars, but doesn't make an ECNL player or not. It may make them better, but the genes and natural ability is either there or not. That's why so many parents miss the boat and try make their kids stars when its just not there and they live vicariously through them. They were not good enough so now as parents they are pushing it blindly through their kids with overbearing training and not seeing the real truths

[Unregistered]

LOL development fee. OK Mr. GM

While development is certainly important, its all about the genes. If you think for one second development is what makes the great great, you are seriously disillusioned. Its either in the genes or not. Development makes the great greater, the average better, and the truly great superstars, but doesn't make an ECNL player or not. It may make them better, but the genes and natural ability is either there or not. That's why so many parents miss the boat and try make their kids stars when its just not there and they live vicariously through them. They were not good enough so now as parents they are pushing it blindly through their kids with overbearing training and not seeing the real truths

LMAO! So why exactly do all these apparently idiotic parents pay all this money for coaches, DOC'c, private training, camps, etc???? Let's just test their DNA makeup and birth for a 1 time fee and if you meet the required genetic composition then bring your certificate to the field when you're 13 and we'll put you on the ECNL team. Everyone else enjoy the recreational fields at the back of the park.

[Unregistered]

I may be in the minority but I have actually encouraged past players to move on to the next level. I'm at a small club that has some talent but I certainly don't have delusions of grandeur. Which is why, if a player has true potential and deserves to be seen in regional/national showcases that I know my team would have no bsiness attending I reccommend them to local clubs that I know will get them seen.

[Unregistered]

I may be in the minority but I have actually encouraged past players to move on to the next level. I'm at a small club that has some talent but I certainly don't have delusions of grandeur. Which is why, if a player has true potential and deserves to be seen in regional/national showcases that I know my team would have no bsiness attending I reccommend them to local clubs that I know will get them seen.

Wow impressive.

[Unregistered]

I may be in the minority but I have actually encouraged past players to move on to the next level. I'm at a small club that has some talent but I certainly don't have delusions of grandeur. Which is why, if a player has true potential and deserves to be seen in regional/national showcases that I know my team would have no bsiness attending I reccommend them to local clubs that I know will get them seen.

Wow, it's nice to know that there are coaches like you that still exist! It keeps me from being completely jaded in these days of soccer as a business instead of a sport. I understand the need to bring in revenue, but to keep good players down and stop them from reaching their full potential is incredibly selfish on a coaches and/or DOC's part. Thanks for letting us know the true coaches are still alive & well and doing right by the players!! :)

[Unregistered]

LMAO! So why exactly do all these apparently idiotic parents pay all this money for coaches, DOC'c, private training, camps, etc???? Let's just test their DNA makeup and birth for a 1 time fee and if you meet the required genetic composition then bring your certificate to the field when you're 13 and we'll put you on the ECNL team. Everyone else enjoy the recreational fields at the back of the park.

My goodness - you just don't get it. EVERY study ever done will tell you that either you have the genes or you don't. Mia Hamm, Lebron James, etc and anybody else you want to come up with would be great regardless of how good their coaching/development is, but perhaps became GREATER because of it. Neither Antonio Gates nor Tony Gonzales played a down of football in college (read "ZERO TRAINING!") as they were basketball players in college , yet ware drafted in NFL and will go down as two of the greatest Tight Ends in NFL history. Were they drafted because the NFL knew they had great football training? LOL. are they Hall of Famers because of their many years of great Private football workouts? Duh- they had the genes. Babe Didrikson Zaharias – won three Olympic medals (two gold and one silver) in track & field, and realized there was no money in TF, so took up Golf at the age of 24 and became the greatest woman golfer ever with ZERO GOLF training before the age of 24- so smart guy genes or training. and the list goes on and on and on. Science and real life examples show it

The guy (or Gal) with the black socks in gym class who can't walk and chew bubble gum at the same time will not be a player no matter how much money parents spend to train them You must be one of the parents who was made fun of in gym class but swear your little Jonny or Sallie will become a player Dagonit even if I have to spend my life's savings to do it

[Unregistered]

LMAO! So why exactly do all these apparently idiotic parents pay all this money for coaches, DOC'c, private training, camps, etc???? Let's just test their DNA makeup and birth for a 1 time fee and if you meet the required genetic composition then bring your certificate to the field when you're 13 and we'll put you on the ECNL team. Everyone else enjoy the recreational fields at the back of the park.

Genetic makeup is correct so I will have to agree with it. You can LMAO but you are really only laughing at yourself. Excerpts below from the great book “Warrior Girls” by Michale Sokolove. (See "DNA", "genetic pool" If you haven’t read and have a daughter athlete I highly suggest reading!

Pages 198-200

"The concept of the “self-made” athlete is one of the most persistent myths in sports. Strictly speaking it doesn’t exist. Elite athletes all come through the same genetically gifted pool, those with the particular traits their sport demands……An athlete can sometimes jump herself up one level through hard work and dedication- a bench player may crack the starting lineup; a pretty good varsity player can work extra hard and become the team’s star. But in sports, perhaps more so than in most realms, DNA is destiny. Athletic talent can be flagrantly squandered, but the extent to which it can be acquired is limited

David Donatucci, director of IMG's International Performance Institute ""What we've got here are kids with parents who were not athletes who say 'I couldn't do this, so I am going to give you what you need so you can do it"

……Ken Bolek, Head Baseball Coach at IMG said “Every now and then, you get a kid with great genetics, a real quick kid or a big, exceptionally strong kid. But those are the exceptions."

Trevor Moaward, a sports Psychologist at IMG, told me “We’re not here to burst anybody’s bubble. But let’s be honest. DNA plays a role. Maria Sharapova came here” --- at eight years old---- “ already a champion. Whatever it is, she had it.”

[Unregistered]

My goodness - you just don't get it. EVERY study ever done will tell you that either you have the genes or you don't. Mia Hamm, Lebron James, etc and anybody else you want to come up with would be great regardless of how good their coaching/development is, but perhaps became GREATER because of it. Neither Antonio Gates nor Tony Gonzales played a down of football in college (read "ZERO TRAINING!") as they were basketball players in college , yet ware drafted in NFL and will go down as two of the greatest Tight Ends in NFL history. Were they drafted because the NFL knew they had great football training? LOL. are they Hall of Famers because of their many years of great Private football workouts? Duh- they had the genes. Babe Didrikson Zaharias – won three Olympic medals (two gold and one silver) in track & field, and realized there was no money in TF, so took up Golf at the age of 24 and became the greatest woman golfer ever with ZERO GOLF training before the age of 24- so smart guy genes or training. and the list goes on and on and on. Science and real life examples show it

The guy (or Gal) with the black socks in gym class who can't walk and chew bubble gum at the same time will not be a player no matter how much money parents spend to train them You must be one of the parents who was made fun of in gym class but swear your little Jonny or Sallie will become a player Dagonit even if I have to spend my life's savings to do it

To the poster, arguing with this "it's in the genes" guy that posted this garbage above, it is not worth the effort.

[Unregistered]

Aside from the fact that there are just too many bleeping threads about ECNL (that's why I had to start another to get above all the noise! ;).

I really can live with the fact that it may be the league with the most talent and currently the most scouted by college scouts. What really bothers me is when anyone tries to convince me that ECNL is good for anyone other than the 18-20 girls on THAT team. All of these numerous threads (currently Jax has the most of this kind) that are begging for "clubs to come together for the common good of North Florida because that is what's best for the kids." Let's be really clear. The more direct, honest request would be "all surrounding clubs cough up the 1-2 truly outstanding kids in our age group and give them to us so that we can have 18-20 kids that just run away from the pack and receive all kinds of benefits." So I ask, why would ANYONE want to help with that?

I hear phrases like "this area really needs talent aggregation around ECNL for this area to play at the national level" which is a fancier way of saying what I describe above. OK, so let's just say all the surrounding clubs coughed up their best kids and the talent aggregated and that ECNL team rolled to a National Championship, etc. How SPECIFICALLY does the 10-12 county area that fed that talent into that ECNL team benefit?

Like I said at the beginning, I actually have no problem with ECNL. I think it is a wonderful platform for the 100 girls in each age group (25 X 4 teams) in Florida that can swing it. But let's call it for it is - a great opportunity for those 100 kids in each age group in Florida - not this regional engine that improves soccer for many teams in an area. And if I sound grumpy, I'm not actually. Just trying to enjoy the end of one season and the beginning of another without this constant drum beat of ECNL propaganda.

Cheers!

Good points. Now a few from the other side of the fence. I honestly do not think there are many soccer families in Florida that really understand ECNL and their goals. As you said, it really is a great platform for those that aspire to be the best that they can be. ECNL is about development, exposure, and competition...end of story. It is definitely not for every girl. But for those that want to put in the work and have the talent to match, it is above and beyond any league they may have played with in the past. Of those 25 players per team you mention, some will get it and others will not. It can be expensive! It can put more pressure on families than you can imagine! But again, it is not for those that just want to "play" ECNL for the sake of playing in that league. With all of this said, players that want to play ECNL in Florida have a better chance than ever now that the majority of Florida is covered by ECNL clubs. I laugh when I read that "so and so" ECNL team has a bad record and they must be really bad. But knowing ECNL, and I really do, bad records in ECNL mean next to nothing. Unless they are getting blown out, these teams are very talented and will learn and develop much faster than a standard league team blowing out an opponent 5-0 each week. The ECNL competiton is intense and fast. The intensity is equal to the final 4, or final of State Cup, every game! It takes a lot of courage for a player to step out on a limb, away from their current club team, and try out for ECNL. They worry if they are good enough, or if it will hurt the feelings of their current teammates. That is big stuff to deal with for a teenager! But if they have the drive, talent, and determination to be the best, and play with the best, ECNL is available in all quads of Florida.

[Unregistered]

Good points. Now a few from the other side of the fence. I honestly do not think there are many soccer families in Florida that really understand ECNL and their goals. As you said, it really is a great platform for those that aspire to be the best that they can be. ECNL is about development, exposure, and competition...end of story. It is definitely not for every girl. But for those that want to put in the work and have the talent to match, it is above and beyond any league they may have played with in the past. Of those 25 players per team you mention, some will get it and others will not. It can be expensive! It can put more pressure on families than you can imagine! But again, it is not for those that just want to "play" ECNL for the sake of playing in that league. With all of this said, players that want to play ECNL in Florida have a better chance than ever now that the majority of Florida is covered by ECNL clubs. I laugh when I read that "so and so" ECNL team has a bad record and they must be really bad. But knowing ECNL, and I really do, bad records in ECNL mean next to nothing. Unless they are getting blown out, these teams are very talented and will learn and develop much faster than a standard league team blowing out an opponent 5-0 each week. The ECNL competiton is intense and fast. The intensity is equal to the final 4, or final of State Cup, every game! It takes a lot of courage for a player to step out on a limb, away from their current club team, and try out for ECNL. They worry if they are good enough, or if it will hurt the feelings of their current teammates. That is big stuff to deal with for a teenager! But if they have the drive, talent, and determination to be the best, and play with the best, ECNL is available in all quads of Florida.

Be real, the one thing the ECNL is NOT about is development. ECNL is about recruiting the best players, even if they live hours away and will never be at a practice. ECNL teams are desperate to add talent that already exists, they are not interested in developing talent. If you look at the make up of the current ECNL teams you would know that. And if you are from ECNL that you know how some teams are skirting the location rules just to get more talent on the team.