How many state cups will NEFC win?

[Unregistered]

How many will they win?

[Unregistered]

One, U13 boys.

Runner up for U13 girls.

[Unregistered]

How many will they win?

Maybe 1 on the boys side, perhaps the u-11 girls in the tournament. That's about it. With the #'s they have it should be more.

[Unregistered]

Runner up for U13 girls.

Not likely.

[Unregistered]

If the newly donned NEFC can't have a greater presence than one boys state championship (U13B), then it would be a big disappointment. By the way, the U13B is not a guarantee to win either.
The current U17 Boys team (DT coach) is a combination of last years state champs PUMA U16B + whatever the Eagles had to offer. They also had first place finishes at U14B and U15B.

Anything short of two state championships and 2 finalists could be perceived as disappointing.

Without grand successes this first year that the club numbers will decline rapidly. Without great success in the first two years the numbers will drop to about 20% greater than either of the original clubs (PUMA or Eagles).
The final disappointment for the merged entity will be when they do not get accepted into the Academy. Although you can argue whether or not the Academy is the ultimate in youth soccer or not, it is clearly a big draw for the older divisions....and soon the younger divisions (U15 and U14).
Time will tell

[Unregistered]

I don't really agree. Clubs that have good coaches and significant numbers, plus success at the younger ages rarely lose players.

The only clubs that have done well without necessarily dominating at the youngest ages are Stars and Greater Boston. They have been able to do this through recruiting heavily and by providing good coaches at the older age groups.

NEFC is starting out with good young teams. On the girls side, they will easily surpass Scorpions and others in a couple of years. The question will be can they avoid having their better players plucked by Stars, and can they attract players from Stars. There is room for them next to Stars, but it's not going to be apparent that they can compete with Stars for another couple of years when these younger teams grow up.

The boys side is obviously completely different. Right now all clubs are developing players for Academy clubs with very little exception. But the real question is what is the funding going to look like? In other words, the Revolution are free right now, but if they are not free, their program is going to be less attractive. The Bolts have been able to charge for their program, but they have relied on the success of their younger teams to feed these initial Academy teams. The younger teams aren't as dominant today.

The argument in the past used to be that you would choose the Bolts over the Revolution if you had the income to spend and if professional development was not really your goal (most of these kids are all going to college and stopping there). The same argument could be made for NEFC if they do a good job with their older boys teams. If they go to good showcases and have good coaches with good college contacts, the ability of Bolts to attract them will be very small.

The ability of the Revolution to attract them, however, is greater provided they stay free. If the Revolution can stay free, then NEFC will certainly have a problem retaining their highest level players unless money is totally unimportant to the parents.

NEFC seems to me to be an experiment. Sort of like MPS ten years ago. Ten years ago, the club scene looked very different than today. Ten years from now the club scene will also look different. The ability of NEFC to keep their young talent in house will make all the difference because they are hoarding a lot of it right now at those ages.

[Unregistered]

I don't really agree. Clubs that have good coaches and significant numbers, plus success at the younger ages rarely lose players.

The only clubs that have done well without necessarily dominating at the youngest ages are Stars and Greater Boston. They have been able to do this through recruiting heavily and by providing good coaches at the older age groups.

NEFC is starting out with good young teams. On the girls side, they will easily surpass Scorpions and others in a couple of years. The question will be can they avoid having their better players plucked by Stars, and can they attract players from Stars. There is room for them next to Stars, but it's not going to be apparent that they can compete with Stars for another couple of years when these younger teams grow up.

The boys side is obviously completely different. Right now all clubs are developing players for Academy clubs with very little exception. But the real question is what is the funding going to look like? In other words, the Revolution are free right now, but if they are not free, their program is going to be less attractive. The Bolts have been able to charge for their program, but they have relied on the success of their younger teams to feed these initial Academy teams. The younger teams aren't as dominant today.

The argument in the past used to be that you would choose the Bolts over the Revolution if you had the income to spend and if professional development was not really your goal (most of these kids are all going to college and stopping there). The same argument could be made for NEFC if they do a good job with their older boys teams. If they go to good showcases and have good coaches with good college contacts, the ability of Bolts to attract them will be very small.

The ability of the Revolution to attract them, however, is greater provided they stay free. If the Revolution can stay free, then NEFC will certainly have a problem retaining their highest level players unless money is totally unimportant to the parents.

NEFC seems to me to be an experiment. Sort of like MPS ten years ago. Ten years ago, the club scene looked very different than today. Ten years from now the club scene will also look different. The ability of NEFC to keep their young talent in house will make all the difference because they are hoarding a lot of it right now at those ages.

Very insightful and well put. My question is why do we think NEFC will be different? We already know they have some and talented volatile coaches who have shown they are willing to jump ship if they think the grass is greener and some parents (too many) that think their daughter or son is next great american player. Why won't they eventually splinter off, especially given the large number of young players they have. The "stars" on the 5+ teams they have in the younger B and G teams may not settle for not being THE star and getting them to stay or meld together into a team is quite a challenge and many good clubs and coached before them have failed.

[Unregistered]

Clubs attract kids based on a number of variables: cost, location, quality of coaching, success of the teams, and how the kids progress through high school and thereafter. The player progression (e.g. where they play after high school) will take a few years to establish. Cost and location are very important for many in the current economy. The quality of coaching will be reflected by where the kids play after club, and the success of the teams.
The bottom line is that parents will pay money for success and opportunity reflected in win/loss records, championships, and opportunity to play against top competition....region 1, tournaments etc.

You don't have to look much further than the Scorpion and Stars girls to realize that the best way to keep talent and to be able to maintain multiple teams in multiple age groups is to have successful elite teams.

NEFC is an experiment. They are smart to have kept the cost down and to have regionalized their teams. However, there are a number of ticked off parents whose kids went from being part of a top team to the 'B' team. For NEFC, if their top teams aren't 'successful' and their 'B' teams don't remain in the first divisions....or even the second divisions, then these parents will take their kids elsewhere and the final club size will decline significantly.

If the club teams do not win the championships that they have hoped and they don't get an Academy spot then they will diminish more.

On the other hand, if they win some titles and both A and B teams do well, then they will be the best boys club (?? girls) and best overall club in the Northeast............but they will have to win some championships.....or at least make the finals...make sure most teams play regional play...

[Unregistered]

Troll...Troll...Troll

Listen to the club representatives having at it. NEFC will have as many state titles as they win. Are these the same people telling us about the Pats win over the G Men a couple of years back? No one knows who will win what and as far as NEFC goes, don't you think they will need a year or two to see how things shake out after all the movement? They'll loose a couple of teams and they'll secure their stronger groups, only then can you really even address the question. I love the prognosticator who says anything less than two state cups AND two final appearances will be a dissapointment. Too funny. One and three means they suck? What about 3 and 1. What about 1 and 4? This is as good as "the Big Show" on EEI.

[Unregistered]

I guess if you aren't doing Stars you should be doing NEFC. Have some patience parents. All the talent is concentrated with NEFC on the young teams. What a bunch of crap.

[beentheredonethat]

If the newly donned NEFC can't have a greater presence than one boys state championship (U13B), then it would be a big disappointment. By the way, the U13B is not a guarantee to win either.
The current U17 Boys team (DT coach) is a combination of last years state champs PUMA U16B + whatever the Eagles had to offer. They also had first place finishes at U14B and U15B.

Anything short of two state championships and 2 finalists could be perceived as disappointing.

Without grand successes this first year that the club numbers will decline rapidly. Without great success in the first two years the numbers will drop to about 20% greater than either of the original clubs (PUMA or Eagles).
The final disappointment for the merged entity will be when they do not get accepted into the Academy. Although you can argue whether or not the Academy is the ultimate in youth soccer or not, it is clearly a big draw for the older divisions....and soon the younger divisions (U15 and U14).
Time will tell

Following your logic, then some other entity will benefit from this. Care to put your money where your mouth is and tell us who it will be?

[Unregistered]

If the newly donned NEFC can't have a greater presence than one boys state championship (U13B), then it would be a big disappointment. By the way, the U13B is not a guarantee to win either.
The current U17 Boys team (DT coach) is a combination of last years state champs PUMA U16B + whatever the Eagles had to offer. They also had first place finishes at U14B and U15B.

Anything short of two state championships and 2 finalists could be perceived as disappointing.

Without grand successes this first year that the club numbers will decline rapidly. Without great success in the first two years the numbers will drop to about 20% greater than either of the original clubs (PUMA or Eagles).
The final disappointment for the merged entity will be when they do not get accepted into the Academy. Although you can argue whether or not the Academy is the ultimate in youth soccer or not, it is clearly a big draw for the older divisions....and soon the younger divisions (U15 and U14).
Time will tell

U17 Boys is a very strong team that should (stress should) win the State Cup and do well in Regionals.

[Unregistered]

Following your logic, then some other entity will benefit from this. Care to put your money where your mouth is and tell us who it will be?

Your guess is no better than mine....look at the regions where the families come from: Stars, Blazers, Benefica, FC United, Shalri Joseph Lions, SV Vikings, maybe the Bolts, maybe even MPS especially considering that this latter team has a growing interest in playing in the MAPLE leagues.
If you think that there are only a few clubs in the area with good coaching and enough opportunity to play at competitive levels then you are not paying attention to the growing landscape. The downside of the expansion in league size may be dilution and weaker Massachusetts teams compared to out of state clubs. Nevertheless, players can still get some great training.

[Unregistered]

Very insightful and well put. My question is why do we think NEFC will be different? We already know they have some and talented volatile coaches who have shown they are willing to jump ship if they think the grass is greener and some parents (too many) that think their daughter or son is next great american player. Why won't they eventually splinter off, especially given the large number of young players they have. The "stars" on the 5+ teams they have in the younger B and G teams may not settle for not being THE star and getting them to stay or meld together into a team is quite a challenge and many good clubs and coached before them have failed.

I think the two big challenges will be keeping the second and third teams intact. Any player who belives he is good enough to play on the first team, but does not make it, will be inclined to tryout at another club in an effort to make their first team.This could lead to high turnover of players at this level.

The second challenge will be retaining the better player as they approach DA age (u15). Most of those players will be very tempted to leave for a DA club if they are acccepted or recruited. Ultimately, the success of the long term vision of NEFC will depend on getting into the DA. I wish them well. They have some great coaches and teams.

[Unregistered]

Following your logic, then some other entity will benefit from this. Care to put your money where your mouth is and tell us who it will be?

NEFC U13 Boys are very talented and will win the State Cup! They have shown they are the team to beat!