The ECNL Sales Pitch - Fact or Fiction

[Unregistered]

When you think about it that is the real crazy part of all of this. The clubs spend all of their time recruiting the top end talent because they basically use them to sell roster spots to B/C teamers. The money in club sports is in the B/C teams not the A team but unless you have real good A team no one wants to be on your B/C teams.

[Unregistered]

When you think about it that is the real crazy part of all of this. The clubs spend all of their time recruiting the top end talent because they basically use them to sell roster spots to B/C teamers. The money in club sports is in the B/C teams not the A team but unless you have real good A team no one wants to be on your B/C teams.

Pretty sure they call it a loss leader in the retail world.

[Unregistered]

Pretty sure they call it a loss leader in the retail world.

Its a crazy illusion with the whole multi tiered club soccer scene.

First you have multiple leagues that compete and say they have the best teams. Each have their angles, National and we only play the best, Regional because you play the best in a region to lineup for ODP, or developmental league or the original quality league or the low stress competitive league. (ECNL, R1, NEP, MAPLE, MASC)

Second you have the A team, B teams, C teams and D teams. They all are spread across the 5 leagues so that ultimately instead of having revenue of one team per age group you can have 1 for each league, maybe more

Then there is regionalization of a club approach where it’s all about the areas in Massachusetts. Even though they compete against each other they ultimately are trying to capture multiple teams for each age group to raise the revenue.

Some of the approaches are better than others but ultimately you need a mentor and great leader that can truly teach in order for your young one to improve. Whether you believe traveling 1000+ miles is needed is a preference but not necessarily required to develop. If you are to travel anywhere, go overseas. They play differently and have a different methodology that you will not experience in the US. Going to Cali does not mean the competition is better, it just means you went to Cali.

Set a budget, find a skilled coach with a reputation of treating your child with respect and look for where they feel most comfortable and yet are challenged beyond their ability. You will get much better results this way.

[Unregistered]

Its a crazy illusion with the whole multi tiered club soccer scene.

First you have multiple leagues that compete and say they have the best teams. Each have their angles, National and we only play the best, Regional because you play the best in a region to lineup for ODP, or developmental league or the original quality league or the low stress competitive league. (ECNL, R1, NEP, MAPLE, MASC)

Second you have the A team, B teams, C teams and D teams. They all are spread across the 5 leagues so that ultimately instead of having revenue of one team per age group you can have 1 for each league, maybe more

Then there is regionalization of a club approach where it’s all about the areas in Massachusetts. Even though they compete against each other they ultimately are trying to capture multiple teams for each age group to raise the revenue.

Some of the approaches are better than others but ultimately you need a mentor and great leader that can truly teach in order for your young one to improve. Whether you believe traveling 1000+ miles is needed is a preference but not necessarily required to develop. If you are to travel anywhere, go overseas. They play differently and have a different methodology that you will not experience in the US. Going to Cali does not mean the competition is better, it just means you went to Cali.

Set a budget, find a skilled coach with a reputation of treating your child with respect and look for where they feel most comfortable and yet are challenged beyond their ability. You will get much better results this way.

Great advice and people are starting to catch on.

[Unregistered]

Its a crazy illusion with the whole multi tiered club soccer scene.

First you have multiple leagues that compete and say they have the best teams. Each have their angles, National and we only play the best, Regional because you play the best in a region to lineup for ODP, or developmental league or the original quality league or the low stress competitive league. (ECNL, R1, NEP, MAPLE, MASC)

Second you have the A team, B teams, C teams and D teams. They all are spread across the 5 leagues so that ultimately instead of having revenue of one team per age group you can have 1 for each league, maybe more

Then there is regionalization of a club approach where it’s all about the areas in Massachusetts. Even though they compete against each other they ultimately are trying to capture multiple teams for each age group to raise the revenue.

Some of the approaches are better than others but ultimately you need a mentor and great leader that can truly teach in order for your young one to improve. Whether you believe traveling 1000+ miles is needed is a preference but not necessarily required to develop. If you are to travel anywhere, go overseas. They play differently and have a different methodology that you will not experience in the US. Going to Cali does not mean the competition is better, it just means you went to Cali.

Set a budget, find a skilled coach with a reputation of treating your child with respect and look for where they feel most comfortable and yet are challenged beyond their ability. You will get much better results this way.

Bingo, save the money and go to the carribean for vacation if you have to travel. It's a business to just get your money. Why do you think they built an alliance with world cup. MONEY!!!!

[Unregistered]

I'm soo glad NEFC, MPS, Aztecs and Scorpions (all of which have multiple teams) are not like that. Thank goodness we have these posters who can show us how completely differently those clubs operate!

Umm, err well how exactly are they different other than you don't hate them?

[Unregistered]

Its a crazy illusion with the whole multi tiered club soccer scene.

First you have multiple leagues that compete and say they have the best teams. Each have their angles, National and we only play the best, Regional because you play the best in a region to lineup for ODP, or developmental league or the original quality league or the low stress competitive league. (ECNL, R1, NEP, MAPLE, MASC)

Second you have the A team, B teams, C teams and D teams. They all are spread across the 5 leagues so that ultimately instead of having revenue of one team per age group you can have 1 for each league, maybe more

Then there is regionalization of a club approach where it’s all about the areas in Massachusetts. Even though they compete against each other they ultimately are trying to capture multiple teams for each age group to raise the revenue.

Some of the approaches are better than others but ultimately you need a mentor and great leader that can truly teach in order for your young one to improve. Whether you believe traveling 1000+ miles is needed is a preference but not necessarily required to develop. If you are to travel anywhere, go overseas. They play differently and have a different methodology that you will not experience in the US. Going to Cali does not mean the competition is better, it just means you went to Cali.

Set a budget, find a skilled coach with a reputation of treating your child with respect and look for where they feel most comfortable and yet are challenged beyond their ability. You will get much better results this way.

To clairify the ECNL team is a club A team.

[Unregistered]

Sounds like the parents weren't too happy with under .500 records. Winning is a strong lure.

Unless Stars and Scorps can uprade their respective "B" teams to SC winners they might suffer a similar decline in prestige and profits.

Yeah...but how much of the team record is the responsibility of the coach. If the president of the ECNL can't coach his own player pool to success, maybe it has something to do with him and the ECNL model and not giving kids enough time in their early teens to make mistakes and focus on development, fun, and not winning which is really still the focus in ECNL... Watch this midwest spin off club to see if it makes a difference and then we in NE need to see if this will be the same trend to have spinoff standalone type programs.

[Unregistered]

Holy crap where is everyone!!! I'm sitting at tryouts and there are only a few of the same returning players.

[Unregistered]

Holy crap where is everyone!!! I'm sitting at tryouts and there are only a few of the same returning players.

Most of the player they want to return got their contracts over the weekend.

[Unregistered]

what tryout???? where??? did we miss one?????

[Unregistered]

No one tries out for ECNL teams. They all get in the back door through coach contacts or secret invites to practices. There are too few slots for a ton of kids to show up blind at a tryout and thats as early as U13 ECNL. Why bother? The process of "trying out" doesn't work.

[Unregistered]

you ecnl parents are a hoot. now even tryouts are too pedestrian for your self-annointed princesses. incredible.

[Unregistered]

you ecnl parents are a hoot. now even tryouts are too pedestrian for your self-annointed princesses. incredible.

Has anyone told you that you have a great sense of humor?

[Unregistered]

you ecnl parents are a hoot. now even tryouts are too pedestrian for your self-annointed princesses. incredible.

It was inevitable. Not one girl shows up as an unknown at a tryout and gets a spot on ECNL. It's a fact. You could be the best player on the field against the entire current roster and you wouldn't get a spot that way. Has never happened. Never will. Second team slots, maybe. ECNL forget it--even at U13.