Does league even matter?

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Watching today's game, our ECNL coach did not sub or put the lineup out like he does for ECNL league games. Every game we play all season count towards the standings except for these. This is a chance to get all players in equally and sit the ones that are already committed. You can't read too much into the result in a showcase if the coach is approaching is as such.

So, if all coaches at this showcase are doing the same, you don't think you can determine which teams are better than others when they face each other head to head?

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So, if all coaches at this showcase are doing the same, you don't think you can determine which teams are better than others when they face each other head to head?

Not all coaches do that and it was just an idea to keep it in perspective. My kid's team put up a convincing win over a non-ecnl team so I'm feeling pretty good about our decision to go ECNL.

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So, if all coaches at this showcase are doing the same, you don't think you can determine which teams are better than others when they face each other head to head?

One team could have a decently strong bench and another a very weak one. It also depends on who in the line up is recruited already and is sitting. You can't read too much into showcase results. The primary purpose is to SHOWCASE players. For ECNL teams these don't' count against their ECNL standings, nor do they use GotSoccer points. In other words, they don't get much out of Jeff Cup except some decent competition and showcasing their players

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I guess that’s why it’s called a showcase ,thanks captain obvious .

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Coaches start and play their best players ,especially in a showcase .Unless your roster is 20+ easy to get everyone playtime.

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Quick persusal of the early results today look like NPL teams are faring pretty well against ECNL teams. I guess that whole speed of play discrepancy myth, is just that... a myth. Players and coaching are what separates quality... not a league patch.

There wasn't a lot of games for you to peruse...but ok...let's look at U16 Bolts ECNL. According to GotSoccer they played the #2 team in the country. The Bolts are ranked 11th in their ECNL division (there are 7 ECNL divisions). So we can agree that they are ranked pretty low in ECNL. However they tied the #2 team in the country...and, as another poster noted, this doesn't count for ECNL so the coaches play everyone off the bench equally.

There are absolutely good teams in NPL but it is pretty much the top 3 teams (GPS Red, NEFC NPL and whoever is the strongest in that division...it varies by age) in NPL that are good...the quality drops off a cliff after that. In comparison to ECNL where the whole league (and bench players) are as good, if not better, than the top 3. And DA will beat the top ECNL and NPL teams with probably a 2 goal differential.

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Not all coaches do that and it was just an idea to keep it in perspective. My kid's team put up a convincing win over a non-ecnl team so I'm feeling pretty good about our decision to go ECNL.

So it is really just a made up excuse to justify losses by ECNL (or GDA) teams to the working class scrub teams right?

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I guess that’s why it’s called a showcase ,thanks captain obvious .

Not every coach/club operates that way. Some play showcases to win. Showcasesdo impact your league standings or Got Soccer points. But ECNL teams don't have anything at stake in this one other than showcasing players. Often clubs will move players around to make sure the ones not yet recruited have plenty of chances. Rosters might not be regular league game rosters. So while it may interesting to compare league matchups it's really nothing more than that. We all know there's a lot of overlap with lower half ECNL teams and NPL, same as ECNL and GDA. Nothing is black and white here.

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Not every coach/club operates that way. Some play showcases to win. Showcasesdo impact your league standings or Got Soccer points. But ECNL teams don't have anything at stake in this one other than showcasing players. Often clubs will move players around to make sure the ones not yet recruited have plenty of chances. Rosters might not be regular league game rosters. So while it may interesting to compare league matchups it's really nothing more than that. We all know there's a lot of overlap with lower half ECNL teams and NPL, same as ECNL and GDA. Nothing is black and white here.

Wow are you out of the loop. Gotsoccer points stop mattering once you get to the showcasing years because of the different league sponsored showcases. Years ago they established the brackets, now they are nothing but window dressing and all of the college coaches know that. Most clubs now view the showcase games as little more than friendlies.

[Unregistered]

Wow are you out of the loop. Gotsoccer points stop mattering once you get to the showcasing years because of the different league sponsored showcases. Years ago they established the brackets, now they are nothing but window dressing and all of the college coaches know that. Most clubs now view the showcase games as little more than friendlies.

But they matter if you're not ECNL and DA and want to get into the top events at the younger years. Even HS years matter if you're a newer team/club. Ince established then its.more of a given

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But they matter if you're not ECNL and DA and want to get into the top events at the younger years. Even HS years matter if you're a newer team/club. Ince established then its.more of a given

Even if you get into top events you still need to be on a top team. Huge tournaments might draw in the coaches but the best teams with the best players tend to draw the most attention. Bottom bracket teams tend to attract non D1 schools.

[Unregistered]

Wow are you out of the loop. Gotsoccer points stop mattering once you get to the showcasing years because of the different league sponsored showcases. Years ago they established the brackets, now they are nothing but window dressing and all of the college coaches know that. Most clubs now view the showcase games as little more than friendlies.

Virtually any Gotsoccer event gets the same points whether it’s an NPL tournament or one stacked with NEP or town travel teams. And those points expire exactly 12 months later so no credit if you skip one. Outside of saying whether a team belongs in the top 20, the rankings in Gotsoccer are meaningless.