Comparing GA, ECNL and ECRL

[Guest]

The only nefc team that has complete ecnl level players was the 06 team. And only because they formed during DA

this is either a parent of a player who has aged out, or a 2011 parent who hasn't figured out yet that their 3 foot tall mighty midget ain't gonna do well next year.

Is the 2006 team the ones that hurt you? They will be gone soon.

Even setting aside 2006, if you drop NEFC into ECNL New England they are still mid table in every age group, a couple years better and 2010 a little worse. Sometimes in the top 3, never in the bottom 3. Seems "ECNL-level" to the rest of us.

[Guest]

As a parent of an ECRL (Stars) player I pay the money, for the strong trainings, and competitive teammates. We are a good team. Play competitive teams. But I think a few of us each year go through the process of hoping the club pulls our kid up to a National team
where they will get more opportunities to be seen for college recruitment. I think a lot of Stars ECRL parents have players who are planning to continue playing on a college team but not getting the offer on national blue or white. We have more ECRL 1 and 2 teams then Nationa so chances to get pulled up are dwindling as the mid tier becomes wider. The question many of us have especially at Stars, waiting for offers for a possible shot at national, will we be better off trying out for a GA team? Even if GA is not as good as ECNL, it’s definitely better for recruitment than ECRL. How long do we wait in the pastures hoping for a shot at white or blue or even a spot on Scorpions? Should strong ECRL Stars players head to GA teams? Talking about 2010s for example, there’s been a bunch of regi
onal players invited to tryout with National. Carrot is dangled. But at the tryouts not only are the current players there. Players from CFC, NEFC, are also there. We also have regional players that probably should be invited but they were not likely due to numbers. Those players also excellent. Should they head to a GA team? While everyone is dissing GA and NEFC, maybe they are a “good pathway” for Stars top ECRL players not picked up for Blue or White?

[Guest]

Most of the pathway to college is determined by how well your player plays the game. So the decision should be based mostly on what will make your player a better player. Usually people think of that as a result of:

1 the strength of your teammates - soccer is a team game. you can't play at a high level, and won't even really understand what high level is, unless your teammates are playing at a high level
2 the coach
3 the competition - a player might think they are good, but playing strong teams will show where that is true and where it is not

Of course in real life there are a lot of other factors too, as mentioned in the first post.

[Guest]

Most of the pathway to college is determined by how well your player plays the game. So the decision should be based mostly on what will make your player a better player. Usually people think of that as a result of:

1 the strength of your teammates - soccer is a team game. you can't play at a high level, and won't even really understand what high level is, unless your teammates are playing at a high level
2 the coach
3 the competition - a player might think they are good, but playing strong teams will show where that is true and where it is not

Of course in real life there are a lot of other factors too, as mentioned in the first post.

Exactly. To become a “better” player, with hopes to be a “stand out player” or at the very least “impactful player” happens at the national level, national competition, national coaches, with national level teammates. So you are indirectly suggesting that yes ECRL players, from top ECRL teams, not ECRL2, should play on GA teams if not offered spots on national blue or white?

[Guest]

As a parent of an ECRL (Stars) player I pay the money, for the strong trainings, and competitive teammates. We are a good team. Play competitive teams. But I think a few of us each year go through the process of hoping the club pulls our kid up to a National team
where they will get more opportunities to be seen for college recruitment. I think a lot of Stars ECRL parents have players who are planning to continue playing on a college team but not getting the offer on national blue or white. We have more ECRL 1 and 2 teams then Nationa so chances to get pulled up are dwindling as the mid tier becomes wider. The question many of us have especially at Stars, waiting for offers for a possible shot at national, will we be better off trying out for a GA team? Even if GA is not as good as ECNL, it’s definitely better for recruitment than ECRL. How long do we wait in the pastures hoping for a shot at white or blue or even a spot on Scorpions? Should strong ECRL Stars players head to GA teams? Talking about 2010s for example, there’s been a bunch of regi
onal players invited to tryout with National. Carrot is dangled. But at the tryouts not only are the current players there. Players from CFC, NEFC, are also there. We also have regional players that probably should be invited but they were not likely due to numbers. Those players also excellent. Should they head to a GA team? While everyone is dissing GA and NEFC, maybe they are a “good pathway” for Stars top ECRL players not picked up for Blue or White?

does NEFC want the optics of being the club that takes ECRL players when Stars will not take them?

does NEFC need elite players to win in the northeast GA?

You are better off going to scorpions for ECNL

[Guest]

Suggest you look at New England Soccer Journal college commits list and the lists of clubs you are considering. At least there is some fact-based data from which you can assess college recruiting opportunities versus the hopeful parents in this site justifying their choices. If you can get your daughter on NEFC GA red, a ECNL team at another club that would definitely be better than stars RL looking at these commits list. The new GA teams will likely have the same-ish type of players they currently have and they don’t have much college commit success - similar to mid to lower level GA teams like oakwood. Less college commits than stars blue ecrl.

[Guest]

As a parent of an ECRL (Stars) player I pay the money, for the strong trainings, and competitive teammates. We are a good team. Play competitive teams. But I think a few of us each year go through the process of hoping the club pulls our kid up to a National team
where they will get more opportunities to be seen for college recruitment. I think a lot of Stars ECRL parents have players who are planning to continue playing on a college team but not getting the offer on national blue or white. We have more ECRL 1 and 2 teams then Nationa so chances to get pulled up are dwindling as the mid tier becomes wider. The question many of us have especially at Stars, waiting for offers for a possible shot at national, will we be better off trying out for a GA team? Even if GA is not as good as ECNL, it’s definitely better for recruitment than ECRL. How long do we wait in the pastures hoping for a shot at white or blue or even a spot on Scorpions? Should strong ECRL Stars players head to GA teams? Talking about 2010s for example, there’s been a bunch of regi
onal players invited to tryout with National. Carrot is dangled. But at the tryouts not only are the current players there. Players from CFC, NEFC, are also there. We also have regional players that probably should be invited but they were not likely due to numbers. Those players also excellent. Should they head to a GA team? While everyone is dissing GA and NEFC, maybe they are a “good pathway” for Stars top ECRL players not picked up for Blue or White?

the carrot that you mention is the reason so many regional kids were invited. If they expand the rosters of the national teams, there may be a couple of spots available at the end of White National’s bench up for grabs. They know which of the regional kids rank above the others. There was no need to invite 8-10 to the tryout nights except to keep that carrot ever present and try to stop you from moving to another club.

[Guest]

2nd tier leagues never work (DA, GA, NPL ect…). The only reason ECNL regional world is because it’s attached to ECNL. Regional is the WNBA, similar name but completely different game.
Stop the fighting and just enjoy that your kid is playing a sport instead of tying to come up some math equation to make one B league superior to another B league so you can tell your friends how good your daughters league is and why you have to travel to California to play instead of paying $100 to play town travel

[Guest]

2nd tier leagues never work (DA, GA, NPL ect…). The only reason ECNL regional world is because it’s attached to ECNL.

There is a huge unmet demand for a mid tier league like DPL that offers stronger competition than NECSL without unnecessary travel for league games. Strong high school players want to become better players between seasons, but the vast majority have no plans to play in college. There are plenty of teams within 2 hours of the Boston area to form a league. The issue is that the club owners and league owners have split up the teams between DPL, NAL, and EDP. So none of the leagues has brackets where the competition is even (though sometimes EDP isn't bad).

It's true that ECRL limps along because it is attached to ECNL, but ECRL doesn't actually work. It's a huge amount of travel for what should be DPL level competition. There's no reason to dangle "exposure" to college scouts to most players at this level, but parents fall for it.

When I say ECRL doesn't work, I mean that less than half of the RL players go on to play in college; for example Stars:
https://www.starsofma.org/class-of-2023

Also the range of competition is still uneven (because clubs are chosen only based on having a team in ECNL). Look at the W-L-D and the GD for ECRL teams in the New England conference:
https://theecnl.com/sports/2023/8/8/...808235427.aspx

[Guest]

2nd tier leagues never work (DA, GA, NPL ect…). The only reason ECNL regional world is because it’s attached to ECNL. Regional is the WNBA, similar name but completely different game.
Stop the fighting and just enjoy that your kid is playing a sport instead of tying to come up some math equation to make one B league superior to another B league so you can tell your friends how good your daughters league is and why you have to travel to California to play instead of paying $100 to play town travel

This is true. You will drive yourselves crazy trying to land on the best B team. And the problem with B teams is they get weaker as the best players are placed on A teams when A players are injured. B teams (GA, DPL, ECRL) are a good development program for players helping them be ready for high school. Some will play in college too, mainly NEFC GA and Blue ECRL. But don’t take the fun out of this experience with your kid chasing B teams. Find a team your kid likes, a coach your kid likes and a drive that’s not too far. If your kid suddenly gains height, speed, skill, drive etc they will get noticed and pulled up to ECNL National. If not. It is ok.

[Guest]

There is a huge unmet demand for a mid tier league like DPL that offers stronger competition than NECSL without unnecessary travel for league games. Strong high school players want to become better players between seasons, but the vast majority have no plans to play in college. There are plenty of teams within 2 hours of the Boston area to form a league. The issue is that the club owners and league owners have split up the teams between DPL, NAL, and EDP. So none of the leagues has brackets where the competition is even (though sometimes EDP isn't bad).

It's true that ECRL limps along because it is attached to ECNL, but ECRL doesn't actually work. It's a huge amount of travel for what should be DPL level competition. There's no reason to dangle "exposure" to college scouts to most players at this level, but parents fall for it.

When I say ECRL doesn't work, I mean that less than half of the RL players go on to play in college; for example Stars:
https://www.starsofma.org/class-of-2023

Also the range of competition is still uneven (because clubs are chosen only based on having a team in ECNL). Look at the W-L-D and the GD for ECRL teams in the New England conference:
https://theecnl.com/sports/2023/8/8/...808235427.aspx

This is true. We have a strong varsity HS team, and 95% of the players would be happy to play in a league that offered good competition without stupid travel.

[Guest]

This is true. You will drive yourselves crazy trying to land on the best B team. And the problem with B teams is they get weaker as the best players are placed on A teams when A players are injured. B teams (GA, DPL, ECRL) are a good development program for players helping them be ready for high school. Some will play in college too, mainly NEFC GA and Blue ECRL. But don’t take the fun out of this experience with your kid chasing B teams. Find a team your kid likes, a coach your kid likes and a drive that’s not too far. If your kid suddenly gains height, speed, skill, drive etc they will get noticed and pulled up to ECNL National. If not. It is ok.

I see that ECRL coaches are still trying to sell the GA = ECRL. They know this is not true but they are probably concerned to lose some top ECRL players to one of the new RI GA teams. No, GA is not a 2nd tier league. It is an elite league where some of the best clubs in the country play their top teams. DPL and ECRL New England OTOH is where some of the best clubs in the country play their 2nd top teams. ECRL Northeast is a mix of 3rd teams from ECNL clubs and 1st teams from clubs that do not have ECNL. All are great and competitive leagues, but they are not the same. You can definitely make the argument that ECNL is currently stronger than GA and that is all good, but ECRL is not the same as GA.

[Guest]

I see that ECRL coaches are still trying to sell the GA = ECRL. They know this is not true but they are probably concerned to lose some top ECRL players to one of the new RI GA teams. No, GA is not a 2nd tier league. It is an elite league where some of the best clubs in the country play their top teams. DPL and ECRL New England OTOH is where some of the best clubs in the country play their 2nd top teams. ECRL Northeast is a mix of 3rd teams from ECNL clubs and 1st teams from clubs that do not have ECNL. All are great and competitive leagues, but they are not the same. You can definitely make the argument that ECNL is currently stronger than GA and that is all good, but ECRL is not the same as GA.

The arguement makes no sense

For ECNL clubs the top team playes in ECNL league and the 2nd team plays in ECRL

For GA clubs the top team plays in GA and the 2nd team usually plays in DPL. But this might be different if local leagues are stronger.

Each club ECNL or GA will be providing their top coaching, facilities, etc at their top teams. ECRL, DPL, etc will get whatever left.

Unfortunately ECNL pom pom team members love trying to convince people of things that logically just don't make sense.

[Guest]

I see that ECRL coaches are still trying to sell the GA = ECRL. They know this is not true but they are probably concerned to lose some top ECRL players to one of the new RI GA teams. No, GA is not a 2nd tier league. It is an elite league where some of the best clubs in the country play their top teams. DPL and ECRL New England OTOH is where some of the best clubs in the country play their 2nd top teams. ECRL Northeast is a mix of 3rd teams from ECNL clubs and 1st teams from clubs that do not have ECNL. All are great and competitive leagues, but they are not the same. You can definitely make the argument that ECNL is currently stronger than GA and that is all good, but ECRL is not the same as GA.

This is generally true, but again:

- There is a big variation between teams and clubs in each league, in this area. For example, you can't make blanket statements about ECNL teams in Mass. vs each other or vs the teams they will play.

- Be clear on what your player's goals are (soccer and non-soccer) and how they fits with the team. The Mass. team you are looking at joining should, as much as possible, fit your player and her goals.

[Guest]

ECNL just posted platform stats on social media channels.. worth a read.