The ECNL Sales Pitch - Fact or Fiction

[Unregistered]

Clubs can't exist solely on ECNL. It actually can take a lot of energy away from the core programs of a club. Also, ECNL alone doesn't mean players will fall in line. Today's economy is making spending $7000 - $10,000 a year harder to handle. Unless more colleges come up with full ride scholarships across the ECNL player ranks, a player and their family have to ask if it really worth the money or can you get the training and competition by being on a top regional team and playing in a good high school program. The league is developed assuming families have an open check-book..tested the first year when the championships caused everyone on the east coast to fly to Seattle. While the regional brackets make it better, it is a different time.

[Unregistered]

Clubs can't exist solely on ECNL. It actually can take a lot of energy away from the core programs of a club. Also, ECNL alone doesn't mean players will fall in line. Today's economy is making spending $7000 - $10,000 a year harder to handle. Unless more colleges come up with full ride scholarships across the ECNL player ranks, a player and their family have to ask if it really worth the money or can you get the training and competition by being on a top regional team and playing in a good high school program. The league is developed assuming families have an open check-book..tested the first year when the championships caused everyone on the east coast to fly to Seattle. While the regional brackets make it better, it is a different time.

Stop with the nonsense about HS programs. HS soccer has 0 to do with college soccer recruiting (outside of some local d3 schools).

[Unregistered]

Stop with the nonsense about HS programs. HS soccer has 0 to do with college soccer recruiting (outside of some local d3 schools).

You missed the point. If a good high school program is used by good players to fill in for a off-season, then it serves a purpose for a couple months a year. Most good high school players were good club players first. ECNL will never cover all the good teams or good players in this country. The US is too big. We will always have a dual system...USYS and USCS.

[Unregistered]

Non ECNL parent here....It is hard to argue with the data. 46 D1 recruits, 6 D2 and 3 D3? Pretty impressive. I think some of this is chicken/egg. You have some very driven, very talented young women playing for this club. Many of them were drawn by the ECNL and the success of the Scorps. The fact that Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Brown are mentioned as schools these kids are going to proves that they have talents outside of soccer (soccer surely did not hurt). This is definitely a sales pitch. Not untrue but it is not intended to show the other side of the argument. I don't think one can reasonably disagree with anything that was presented. ECNL is the top level of competition, one may argue that there are other avenues that rival it but it is certainly a plausible statement.

ECNL is not for everyone. It is great for some, undesirable for some and honestly unattainable for most (either talent or money).

You have a balanced arguement, but don't confuse recruits to Princeton, Harvard, Brown with top level soccer players. Really wonder if these players could have been recruited without ECNL because they have the academic side down. When all ECNL players get full rides to Stanford, Duke, Wake Forest, other SEC schools and the Big ten, then it shows a combination of top skills for top dollar. So many of these school pick among ECNL ranks as well as many non-ECNL teams to this day.

[Unregistered]

You have a balanced arguement, but don't confuse recruits to Princeton, Harvard, Brown with top level soccer players. Really wonder if these players could have been recruited without ECNL because they have the academic side down. When all ECNL players get full rides to Stanford, Duke, Wake Forest, other SEC schools and the Big ten, then it shows a combination of top skills for top dollar. So many of these school pick among ECNL ranks as well as many non-ECNL teams to this day.

From the recruiting spreadsheet
Stanford: 16/19 from ECNL teams
Duke: 11/16 from ECNL teams
Wake Forest: 5/12 from ECNL teams

[Unregistered]

"McKenzie Meehan from the U17 ECNL team was just called into the United States Under 18 Womens National Team based solely on her performance in the league (see article here: http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-...opped_aid24340."

Soley on her performance in the league? Bunch of bull. Guess no one noticed she led the nation in scoring as a HS senior! She is the reason Scorpions are even ECNL not the other way around!

I thought it was the Mewis sisters that got them in? Which is it?

Honestly, I see nothing wrong with this sales pitch. Who in their right mind thinks that doesn't take hard work to get to a Div 1 recruitment level? It goes without saying. This paradigm shift has certainly upset the apple cart, but at the end of the day college recruiting is about the individual player more than the team. In the past, you needed a great team to get exposure to get into the top showcases. As for HS, I think 44 goals in 20 ECNL games is much more impressive than 80 goals in 22 games from a Rhode Island HS.

[Unregistered]

From the recruiting spreadsheet
Stanford: 16/19 from ECNL teams
Duke: 11/16 from ECNL teams
Wake Forest: 5/12 from ECNL teams

Not much to do I guess....Proud of ya!!!

[Unregistered]

The truth is ECNL rosters only hold a certain number of players. The majority of players do not make it. There is one ECNL team per age group U13+ at Scorps and Stars. This leaves hundreds of girls with less resources or perceived talent to be developed and showcased at the other levels. Clubs would do well to market not only their ECNL teams (because it's a long shot at best for most kids); but also their second and third teams.

This is where Scorpions and possibly Stars are missing the boat. Show you're the best club by producing top teams in *every* level you offer. Put some of the top coaches there. Sell the "B" teams to consumers. Do the work of truly developing these teams for region1, State Cup, etc. Make THOSE teams competitive, in addition to your ECNL teams and you will then have my vote as the best club around.

[Unregistered]

You have a balanced arguement, but don't confuse recruits to Princeton, Harvard, Brown with top level soccer players. Really wonder if these players could have been recruited without ECNL because they have the academic side down. When all ECNL players get full rides to Stanford, Duke, Wake Forest, other SEC schools and the Big ten, then it shows a combination of top skills for top dollar. So many of these school pick among ECNL ranks as well as many non-ECNL teams to this day.

What other SEC schools? None of the schools you listed were SEC. You listed one west coast school (WCC I think) and two ACC schools. The fact you don't know the leagues is a little concerning if we are to rely on what you've written..

Why does ECNL have to have all its players all get full rides (when there are only 14 on most teams) - but non ecnl doesn't. And don't go down the elite player road - it is elite clubs national league not clubs with team completely filled with elite players league.

[Unregistered]

If ECNL was truely a elite league it would be run not by allowing certain clubs to enter but allow any team worthy of participating getting a shot and any team that was participating and getting killed relegation... to many clubs rely on 1 or 2 teams to get in and all the other teams are not of the quality.

[Unregistered]

If ECNL was truely a elite league it would be run not by allowing certain clubs to enter but allow any team worthy of participating getting a shot and any team that was participating and getting killed relegation... to many clubs rely on 1 or 2 teams to get in and all the other teams are not of the quality.

Welcome to real world amigo. That's how most things in the country operate, colleges included. IMO the reason why it make sense to be club based is so that the league can control it

[Unregistered]

From the recruiting spreadsheet
Stanford: 16/19 from ECNL teams
Duke: 11/16 from ECNL teams
Wake Forest: 5/12 from ECNL teams

Great for those girls on the ecnl teams, but I hope your not trying to suggest that they all received scholarships to play. The money just aint there like they are trying to suggest. So recognizing this, the families had to pay what $8,000 to $10,000/year to play to begin with and are now also footing a hefty tuition bill. Thanks but, NO. My daughter will get into a good school without the ecnl and that extra money I would have had to pay for ecnl will just be going towards the tuition. Now for those of you with the $$$, go for it, you can spend it any way you want. Me, well i'm gonna make sure I get the best cost benefit for mine and ecnl aint it. Just ask the doc's if they guarantee a scholarship in the end. They can't. When they were recruiting my daughter, they told me that the only way to get into the best schools was through their ecnl program. I aint a sheep and i'm not buying it.

[Unregistered]

If ECNL was truely a elite league it would be run not by allowing certain clubs to enter but allow any team worthy of participating getting a shot and any team that was participating and getting killed relegation... to many clubs rely on 1 or 2 teams to get in and all the other teams are not of the quality.

To the earlier poster's point, its the Elite Club National League (ECNL) not the Elite Teams National League (ETNL).

Feel free to launch the ETNL if you think it is warranted. I'm sure you'll get some interest.

[Unregistered]

Great for those girls on the ecnl teams, but I hope your not trying to suggest that they all received scholarships to play. The money just aint there like they are trying to suggest. So recognizing this, the families had to pay what $8,000 to $10,000/year to play to begin with and are now also footing a hefty tuition bill. Thanks but, NO. My daughter will get into a good school without the ecnl and that extra money I would have had to pay for ecnl will just be going towards the tuition. Now for those of you with the $$$, go for it, you can spend it any way you want. Me, well i'm gonna make sure I get the best cost benefit for mine and ecnl aint it. Just ask the doc's if they guarantee a scholarship in the end. They can't. When they were recruiting my daughter, they told me that the only way to get into the best schools was through their ecnl program. I aint a sheep and i'm not buying it.

The only people bringing scholarships into the discussion are the anti-ECNL folks. I haven't seen anyone imply anything about a scholarship in the thread in connection to a pro-ECNL post.

[Unregistered]

The only people bringing scholarships into the discussion are the anti-ECNL folks. I haven't seen anyone imply anything about a scholarship in the thread in connection to a pro-ECNL post.

O.k., well just the same. I'm not necessarily anti ecnl, just pro- my wallet. The thing i didn't like when my kid was being recruited was the strong sales pitch. I'm skeptical of anyone trying to sell me something that suggests they're the best thing since sliced bread and the only avenue to top colleges. And I don't think it can be argued that for all the investment, one will receive just a portion of it back. That in my mind is a fools investment. Like I said, if you got the $$$ and it isn't a concern then go for it. But for those of us with more modest means, don't Pi$$ on my face and tell me it's raining.