Which clubs could go under in 2020/21

[Unregistered]

So true and yet so many people stick around....why??

As stated earlier, what is the perceived value in the Boys ECNL? If people stick around then the Boys ECNL has value to the youth soccer customer. It would then behoove Match Fit to protect its access to the Boys ECNL or spread the access to strategic business partners like STA and PSA.

[Unregistered]

I think value is the key word here - if people think whatever their kid is getting from whatever the level they play at whatever club - they will be continue to pay what they can. For sure the crisis is going to make people examine how they spend their money and the clubs, and or teams that don’t provide value will be the ones hurt the most. It will be much harder for people to justify spending a boat load of money on soccer if there is little to no return on that money. It all comes down to economics! If what you are offering is a great product you will have the customers, if your product is weak they will not stick around.

I mostly agree with this.

At first, I thought a good # of smaller/weaker private (non-town) clubs would fold but the more I think about it, I think the pandemic will result in more shifting than closures. As long as enough parents are able/willing to spend a few thousand a year, most clubs will stay in business but have to settle with weaker players since a good # of players of all abilities will shift from private clubs to town clubs due to cost (and even after the economic hit, there will be enough of those families to do so, especially since it'll mean their kids will
play for clubs and be on teams they wouldn't have been able to otherwise).

I also think a good # of private club B/C teams won't be around for the 2020/2021 season due to the aforementioned value proposition. In the best of times, most of those players were likely just as well off on their town's A teams but with discretionary spending down, those parents will likely opt for the cheaper town club option (which is a good decision IMO in many cases).

Personally, I'm most familiar with the north NJ boys landscape (younger age groups) and there are definitely a few private clubs I can see folding or seriously retrenching for a year due to existing small #s and poor on-field results but since I don't know their situations well enough, I'm hesitant to speculate.

One last thought - in addition to player shifting, I think there's a good chance there will be a league shifting as well. I think a decent # of clubs/teams that used to or planned to play EDP will likely shift to leagues like Northern Counties for at least a year.

[Unregistered]

apparently us soccer is not even considering refunds

https://www.usclubsoccer.org/news_article/show/1098682

[Unregistered]

My only issue with the said above comment is I don’t agree why “A” team players would leave to go to local town organizations. However, I may have interpreted what you said incorrectly.
Maybe B or C team players, yes. But the local town teams with travel just don’t have the exposure or opportunities for big tournaments. It’s the exact reason I took my son out of our local town organization.

I do hope every club recovers and all our kids get back to playing. Be well, everyone.

[Unregistered]

My only issue with the said above comment is I don’t agree why “A” team players would leave to go to local town organizations. However, I may have interpreted what you said incorrectly.
Maybe B or C team players, yes. But the local town teams with travel just don’t have the exposure or opportunities for big tournaments. It’s the exact reason I took my son out of our local town organization.

I do hope every club recovers and all our kids get back to playing. Be well, everyone.

I posted the prior sort of long post I think this post replied to.

I think its *less* likely an A team player would move to a town club versus a B/C team player mainly due to the aforementioned value proposition (also, an A team player is more likely to get a discount if truly needed). However, I'm pretty sure even A team players will have to move to cheaper clubs due to family finances.

I think there's a wide range of town *travel* clubs - some play in rec leagues (nothing wrong with this IMO), some play in leagues like Northern Counties (a very good town travel league IMO) and some play in the higher EDP flights and hold their own (some also play in lower EDP flights and their results are so weak, I really wonder why their coaches picked EDP over NCSA but that's another conversation).

I agree with you that most town travel teams are a lot less likely to get into the best tournaments and/or the higher tournament flights. That'll always be one of the trade-offs but I think there are enough decent events around that almost any team that wants it can find decent-to-good competition in tournaments.

[Unregistered]

I posted the prior sort of long post I think this post replied to.

I think its *less* likely an A team player would move to a town club versus a B/C team player mainly due to the aforementioned value proposition (also, an A team player is more likely to get a discount if truly needed). However, I'm pretty sure even A team players will have to move to cheaper clubs due to family finances.

I think there's a wide range of town *travel* clubs - some play in rec leagues (nothing wrong with this IMO), some play in leagues like Northern Counties (a very good town travel league IMO) and some play in the higher EDP flights and hold their own (some also play in lower EDP flights and their results are so weak, I really wonder why their coaches picked EDP over NCSA but that's another conversation).

I agree with you that most town travel teams are a lot less likely to get into the best tournaments and/or the higher tournament flights. That'll always be one of the trade-offs but I think there are enough decent events around that almost any team that wants it can find decent-to-good competition in tournaments.

I agree with your assessment and yes there are some really good teams (can play toe with ECNL and DA teams) in town clubs out there but for sure the exception rather than the rule. My daughter’s academy faces off against some of these teams from time to time and I’m amazed how competitive they are. How do they attract and retain players??? How is their training that good to translate on the field??? They also seem to get into top flights in high level tourneys as we’ve seen them there as well. In any regard, if their proximity and cost is more attractive I’m worried they may steal a few players given the current COVID situation. Stay healthy, safe and sane all and hope we can get back to some soccer soon!