Mid season - where do we stand?

[Unregistered]

September came and it's gone. Youth Soccer is being played all over New England. It's a beautiful thing no matter what.

Does anyone have the knowledge or time to summarize the current state of affairs of our beloved youth soccer leagues, midway through the season?

NEP - ?
NECSL - ?
CCL - ?
EDP - ?
?

[Unregistered]

NEP is doing a wonderful job. Very happy with how they have approached the Fall season.

Enjoy the fall while you can, blink and it will be over.

...winter is coming

[Unregistered]

NEP is doing a wonderful job. Very happy with how they have approached the Fall season.

Enjoy the fall while you can, blink and it will be over.

...winter is coming

I can't speak for the other leagues but have been pleasantly surprised with the NEP. Much smoother than I expected. The one parent rule is annoying but oh well.

[Unregistered]

Agreed

NEP has done a good job so far.

[Unregistered]

Agreed

NEP has done a good job so far.

Not sure why everyone is patting NEP on the back... they have completely abandoned RI teams and clubs this season. Every one of our MA games gets "postponed" which really means cancelled as there is no effort to schedule makeups. The only way a RI team plays a MA team is if they play in CT, which requires the club to set up and change the location and the MA team to accept.

Already had MA teams back out because they were the home team and didn't want to travel to CT when we weren't allowed to play in MA at their home field. We've known about these restrictions for months, and they were in place when the schedule was made. I was told NEP refused to adjust the schedule to accommodate RI teams so it is being done ad-hoc and on a game-by-game basis and if the opposing team doesn't feel like driving, oh well.

If I had known NEP would act this way towards my teams, I would have told the club to bow out of the Fall season, save the league fees, and we'll set up our own schedule of scrimmages and games in CT and RI all fall. Parents are very disappointed as am I.

This was easily foreseen and avoided if addressed months ago. RI plays in RI and RI plays MA in CT.

[Unregistered]

Not sure why everyone is patting NEP on the back... they have completely abandoned RI teams and clubs this season. Every one of our MA games gets "postponed" which really means cancelled as there is no effort to schedule makeups. The only way a RI team plays a MA team is if they play in CT, which requires the club to set up and change the location and the MA team to accept.

Already had MA teams back out because they were the home team and didn't want to travel to CT when we weren't allowed to play in MA at their home field. We've known about these restrictions for months, and they were in place when the schedule was made. I was told NEP refused to adjust the schedule to accommodate RI teams so it is being done ad-hoc and on a game-by-game basis and if the opposing team doesn't feel like driving, oh well.

If I had known NEP would act this way towards my teams, I would have told the club to bow out of the Fall season, save the league fees, and we'll set up our own schedule of scrimmages and games in CT and RI all fall. Parents are very disappointed as am I.

This was easily foreseen and avoided if addressed months ago. RI plays in RI and RI plays MA in CT.

I absolutely 100% agree with this statement and I'm a MA based coach. NEP is doing a great job overall, but this one aspect is a serious problem and shows lack of character and leadership by NEP board and president.

It impacts RI teams tremendously, but it also impacts MA teams. Some teams in MA are down to a 5 game season because of this. This could have been prevented. It's puzzling why it hasn't been addressed by NEP.

[Unregistered]

how much did nep shrink due to the exodus to edp and gps leaving 25% 33% 50%? any one know? competition seems noticably watered down for the ages between ullittles and ubigs in the higher brackets.

[Unregistered]

I absolutely 100% agree with this statement and I'm a MA based coach. NEP is doing a great job overall, but this one aspect is a serious problem and shows lack of character and leadership by NEP board and president.

It impacts RI teams tremendously, but it also impacts MA teams. Some teams in MA are down to a 5 game season because of this. This could have been prevented. It's puzzling why it hasn't been addressed by NEP.

I also agree. This definitely could have been avoided. Plan some "jamboree" weekends in CT and NH and get the games in one way or another. RI is suffering the most, but MA teams are also getting screwed.

[Unregistered]

I also agree. This definitely could have been avoided. Plan some "jamboree" weekends in CT and NH and get the games in one way or another. RI is suffering the most, but MA teams are also getting screwed.

I certainly won't speak for all facilities in NH, but many of them have been active already with the leagues their teams play in hosting all their games in NH, and with other tournaments being held. Add in most of the multi-field locations also have field hockey, lacrosse, etc. there aren't facilities sitting around waiting for another MA invasion.

[Unregistered]

I absolutely 100% agree with this statement and I'm a MA based coach. NEP is doing a great job overall, but this one aspect is a serious problem and shows lack of character and leadership by NEP board and president.

It impacts RI teams tremendously, but it also impacts MA teams. Some teams in MA are down to a 5 game season because of this. This could have been prevented. It's puzzling why it hasn't been addressed by NEP.

Because the league fees were already paid and it's just a few smallish RI clubs left in NEP: Bayside, Bruno, Liverpool. Surf RI is EDP. Not sure what's left. The fact that NEP basically abandoned these clubs, families and players is a pretty clear indication of why we now have the mess of leagues we currently have: NEP, EDP, DPL, MLS, GAL, ECNL, CCL, etc.

I mean, if your whole point to exist is to provide a platform to match teams with other teams for games in your geographic area and you basically fail at that because you can't/won't navigate the .gov's COVID restrictions, why do you continue to exist and why should anyone pay you?

FWIW, what I'm hearing from ECNL, at least for the Scorpions, is that ECNL home games will all be played in CT, not MA. Granted much can change between now and the traditional start of HS ECNL play in December/January, but the fact that they are ahead of this, refuse to bow down to MYSA's ridiculous COVID rules, and are ensuring continuity of play for it's teams and families is what I expect for a club and league.

Kids in the recruiting pipeline can't afford to have games postponed and cancelled, missing out on video and potentially college coaches attending games (I know, NCAA blackout until Jan 1). Bottom line, ECNL takes it's responsibilities seriously. I'm not sure I can say the same about NEP given the current state of things...

[Unregistered]

FWIW, what I'm hearing from ECNL, at least for the Scorpions, is that ECNL home games will all be played in CT, not MA. Granted much can change between now and the traditional start of HS ECNL play in December/January, but the fact that they are ahead of this, refuse to bow down to MYSA's ridiculous COVID rules, and are ensuring continuity of play for it's teams and families is what I expect for a club and league.

Kids in the recruiting pipeline can't afford to have games postponed and cancelled, missing out on video and potentially college coaches attending games (I know, NCAA blackout until Jan 1). Bottom line, ECNL takes it's responsibilities seriously. I'm not sure I can say the same about NEP given the current state of things...

"Ahead of this?"

What are ECNL clubs doing now that have games?

[Unregistered]

"Ahead of this?"

What are ECNL clubs doing now that have games?

Don't know as my kid is older and her team doesn't pick up until after the HS season ends. The point is that they are letting families that this impacts know well ahead of time, which I greatly appreciate. The logistics of every game being 70+ minutes to 6 hours away requires planning, but is well worth it if players play soccer without the MA restrictions (college coaches don't want to see watered down BS) and games aren't cancelled.

[Unregistered]

"Ahead of this?"

What are ECNL clubs doing now that have games?

Just looking at the U14 Northeast schedule, it looks like almost everything is being played in CT for Stars and Scorpions...

https://public.totalglobalsports.com...schedules/8960

[Unregistered]

"Ahead of this?"

What are ECNL clubs doing now that have games?

Stars ECNL home games this past weekend were played in NH. I believe Scorpions is playing in CT. ECNL will not allow league games to be played in MA with the rule changes.

[Unregistered]

"Ahead of this?"

What are ECNL clubs doing now that have games?

Scorpions "hosted" East Meadow and SUSA (both from Long Island) in Farmington, CT at the FSA facility this past weekend.

While everyone would have certainly preferred to play in Taunton, the club and league is making the best of a tough situation.