Announcement

**Unregistered** · 03-05-2019, 12:31 PM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

NEFC is dropping GDA. Seacoast got theirs when Stars dropped last year and SSS is getting theirs because NEFC is dropping out.

Is that for sure or are you just guessing NEFC is dropping DA. What league will they play in?

**Unregistered** · 03-05-2019, 12:47 PM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

Is that for sure or are you just guessing NEFC is dropping DA. What league will they play in?

This is based on ECNL-club-generated rumors and "my buddy who's kid plays for them and that's what they heard". ECNL is going to magically open their doors for the first time to allow the Mafia's biggest rival in.

Seems likely.

**Unregistered** · 03-05-2019, 01:32 PM

Never happen.Ever.

**Unregistered** · 03-05-2019, 05:28 PM

Never happen.Ever.

That's what they said when Stars did. They said it again when they made a "B/West" ECNL.

**Unregistered** · 03-05-2019, 09:41 PM

Never happen.Will not be allowed.

**Unregistered** · 03-07-2019, 04:06 PM

When are Ecnl tryouts held.?

**Unregistered** · 03-07-2019, 05:55 PM

Haven�t seen Scorps or Stars exact dates posted yet, but will be early May.

**Unregistered** · 03-08-2019, 09:52 AM

Are the DA tryouts the same time?

**Unregistered** · 03-20-2019, 08:06 AM

GPS NPL ID events scheduled for

April 12th and May 11th for Girls
April 6th and May 11th for Boys

**Unregistered** · 03-23-2019, 07:53 PM

Select DA ID event March 28th

**Unregistered** · 03-23-2019, 09:17 PM

https://www.nefc.us/events2019

**Unregistered** · 03-24-2019, 06:39 PM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

Wouldn�t ECNL be a decent option on the boys side if your kid wanted to play high school (not allowed by DA) or wasn�t good enough to make a DA team (but was still a solid player) or lived too far from a DA team? What�s a better New England option other than DA?

Boys ECNL is not different or even weaker than the top Boys NPL teams.
In fact, I would bet that the GPS 2002 red team would beat any of the area 2002 ECNL teams easily.
I would be that the NEFC or GPS 2001 Red teams would beat any of the area 2001 ECNL teams.

**Unregistered** · 03-25-2019, 10:45 AM

Originally posted by Unregistered View Post

Boys ECNL is not different or even weaker than the top Boys NPL teams.
In fact, I would bet that the GPS 2002 red team would beat any of the area 2002 ECNL teams easily.
I would be that the NEFC or GPS 2001 Red teams would beat any of the area 2001 ECNL teams.

Setting DA aside, for U15+ boys GPS Red and NEFC NPL are more often than not the best teams and are a great situation if you can make the team and get playing time. They are a common landing spot for kids who bounce out of DA as kids get into HS.

Bolts and Stars ECNL may be a notch below but are increasingly competitive with them.

Taking the top couple of teams (GPS Red/ NEFC) out of the picture I do think the average team in ECNL is better than the average team in NPL - there are lots of bad teams in local NPL once you get out of the top couple.

Re travel: ECNL you usually have 2-3 away weekends per year for league games (but one of those might only be in CT which can happen in NPL too). The top NPL teams incur just as much travel for tournaments and showcases as ECNL teams do, if not more. And teams from both leagues compete for ENPL postseason and State/National Cup.

I do not think ECNL club fees are much higher - they may in fact be lower than the GPS MA Elite program at least - not sure about NEFC.

Recruiting/exposure is a consideration. GPS Red and NEFC travel to top tournaments and qualify for top brackets there (Disney, Jeff Cup and others). These are well attended by college coaches. ECNL has their own showcases (teams typically attend 2 per year) but because Boys ECNL is new they are not drawing as many coaches yet as the well established tournaments. Nothing prevents ECNL teams from traveling to additional tournaments except for conflicts (ECNL Florida Showcase conflicts with Disney for example)

I feel that the Boys ECNL has definitely been a positive addition to MA boys soccer.

Here are some head to head results from this past weekend NEFC Showcase- I saw a few of these and it is good soccer/competitive games:

U15 GPS Red vs Bolts ECNL 0-0
U15 Stars vs NEFC 1-3
U16 Stars vs NEFC 0-2
U16 NEFC vs Bolts 3-1
U17 Bolts vs NEFC 1-1
U17 Stars vs GPS Red 0-2
U19 NEFC vs Stars 0-1

And last year MA State Cup Winners:

15-U boys: Bolts 03 ECNL (over GPS Red)
16-U boys: GPSRed 02 (over NEFC)
17-U boys: NEFC 01 NPL (over NEFC)
18-U boys: NEFC 99/00 (over GPS)
19-U boys: GPS White 99 (over Bolts)