ECNL wants to switch back to school year from birth year

[Guest]

My son plays rl. They beat younger nl 3:0

Yup. My '13 son is 3rd team player that get to play pre-ECRL with the two higher teams. They regularly play the '14 pre-ECNL team and have never lost. The '14 team is considered one of the best in the region while our '13 3rd team is middle of the pack by pre-ECNL standards. We only have two Q4 kids, my son and the other starting CM. The people saying this change will mean nothing are wrong. The people saying it will be Earth shattering are wrong. It will be somewhere in the middle.

Still don't understand what's so hard about tryouts. After registering, you show up at the field, get your jersey/number/wristband/whatever, and go the assigned field per the registration table. Large age groups (our '13 boys had 170+ kids) are somewhat presorted based on coach evals. Team 1-3 locks go to a field. Fringe (teams 4-7) players go to another. Total unknowns or developmental players go to another area. Kids are evaluated and re-sorted prior to the next day (some are moved mid session when the quality is clear).

This is basic stuff that any club who has their crap together can figure out. 75% of the teams are already set prior to evals, anyway. Our team 1 '13 coach co-coaches teams 2/3. Team 2 coach also coaches team 3 so they can see who needs to be moved. The '14 Team 1 coach also steps in for '13 Team 3, so there is overlap and these coaches know all the top boys in the pool, both a year older and younger.

[Guest]

Will be mostly Sept to December kids trying out. The Jan to July kids won’t be moving unless they get displaced.

There will be plenty of Q1 kids who are displaced by the now bigger faster Q4 kids who "drop down" to their correct school year bracket. Remember these Q4 kids have essentially been playing up their entire lives.

[Guest]

RL kids are typically there for a reason and it’s not because of some mysterious 4 month age gap. Mostly that’s a myth RL parents are telling themselves. You’ll be surprised how little this will matter if it ever does. Watch an ECNL game and watch a ECRL game they’re different. Just because you have success at the RL level doesn’t mean you will at the NL level. Unikely to happen but if it does, you’ll be surprised how little this will change anything

You are mistaken. Entire clubs are built around the top 5-6 ECNL players. Every other NL and top RL players are basically interchangeable. That's not to say they aren't all very talented there just isn't a significant difference in the quality of play. Many Blue RL players play up in ECNL showcases and games. And guess what they actually score.

[Guest]

I think the shake up overall will be a good thing. Been lots of favoritism with Q1 kids and much dismissal of Q4. Mixing up teams helps players grow. Grad year makes sense.

[Guest]

Color me impressed. 180+ pages of beating a dead horse is remarkable.

Of course, I'm obsessively compulsive and have an never-ending need to prove anonymous people on the internet how right I am, so I may not be the best judge ;-)

[Guest]

There will be plenty of Q1 kids who are displaced by the now bigger faster Q4 kids who "drop down" to their correct school year bracket. Remember these Q4 kids have essentially been playing up their entire lives.

agree. Top 2-3 players will be secure as they always are. Everyone else is subject to the tryouts. Our top two players are September and October. There’s zero chance our club would risk losing them to another club by dropping them to RL.

[Guest]

agree. Top 2-3 players will be secure as they always are. Everyone else is subject to the tryouts. Our top two players are September and October. There’s zero chance our club would risk losing them to another club by dropping them to RL.

Players that are Sep and Oct will “drop” to what today is the younger BY team. Those that are both Q4 and top players on a BY team will likely be offered option to remain on that team

[Guest]

Color me impressed. 180+ pages of beating a dead horse is remarkable.

Of course, I'm obsessively compulsive and have an never-ending need to prove anonymous people on the internet how right I am, so I may not be the best judge ;-)

The new podcast seems to have silenced the trolls for the moment. In two days they'll return to say that there's been too long a silence so it's not happening, everyone is stupid for believing it's still being discussed, and they are all just parenting talentless kids who need to shut up and work harder. At that point, we'll easily get to 200. Prepare to continue to be impressed.

[Guest]

I’m looking foreword to another “email” from a commissioner which counters everything the CEO has stated publicly. #200orbust

[Guest]

The fact that person can say it’s only 3% and think that’s okay shows lack of care or understanding outside of MY KID BIG MY KID STRONG, My KID BORN JANUARY.

ECNL has the data and it’s around 20% of team are Q3/4 for ECNL teams. Which is still too low. But don’t think ECNL trapped players are the only reason they want to switch. They want to be the ultimate college platform for boys and girls and what would do that GY.

If a Sept 2011 isn’t as good as a March 2012 guess what your teams won’t change if they are better your team and competition just improved. Win/Win for anyone but kids who are just holding on to those roster spots because they are more developed physically and mentally.

By your words then Q4 would make up 10% of a team. That’s two kids. There aren’t two trapped kids on very many teams. The reality is those Q4 kids will be nearly an entire year more developed than Q3 kids in same grade. Those Q3 kids won’t catch up to them until halfway through high school…. Which is often late for girl recruits. When a coach watches they probably single out the top 2 or 3 kids from each team and those kids get the vote for conference. By your estimates…. That could be all the Q4… cause MY KID BIG MY KID STRONG. So yes eventually everyone catches up but it’s past the windows of opportunity for exposure. If ECNL is so focused on College, then they should implement something to showcase younger players who are disadvantaged. However they work it, there will be a group of players who will constantly be overlooked because of age disparity. You help one group and hurt another.

[Guest]

agree. Top 2-3 players will be secure as they always are. Everyone else is subject to the tryouts. Our top two players are September and October. There's zero chance our club would risk losing them to another club by dropping them to RL.

Agree with this. The best player amongst our 170+ kids in my son's AG is a Q4 birthday. There is no advantage to him moving down and he will undoubtedly "play up" with his current NL team. Q4 "stars" won't move. The pressure of bigger/stronger/older kids make them better versus being the oldest and obliterating the "younger" AG. The real advantage will be to NL/RL fringe kids like mine who are late Dec. birthdays who are technically capable, but far from physical maturity (10/11yo boys can be wildly different physically, maybe not as big a gap as girls). In my son's case, if he has the choice to remain on his current team but doesn't get selected for the younger NL team, my preference is to stay with the older group. It's a marathon, not a sprint!

[Guest]

There will be plenty of Q1 kids who are displaced by the now bigger faster Q4 kids who "drop down" to their correct school year bracket. Remember these Q4 kids have essentially been playing up their entire lives.

This is my kid. She’s a Q4 and just getting to the age where size and maturing matters. We couldn’t be happier about this possibility.

[Guest]

What will happen to the March, April, May, June kids. Will they now be dropped down to RL because the Sept, Oct, Nov, December kids now qualify for the team? So everyone excited for this change do you feel for these kids now becasue they will be dropped to RL because now there the youngest.

In both decisions someone always gets screwed so instead of the trapped players you will have end of school year players screwed.

[Guest]

What will happen to the March, April, May, June kids. Will they now be dropped down to RL because the Sept, Oct, Nov, December kids now qualify for the team? So everyone excited for this change do you feel for these kids now becasue they will be dropped to RL because now there the youngest.

In both decisions someone always gets screwed so instead of the trapped players you will have end of school year players screwed.

The only difference is ODP, or other national team ID will still be birth year so Jan-June kids still have that advantage. But I’m sure kids that are ECNL now will be moved down and some kids that are RL will be moved up. The kids who are top players on their teams now will be fine this will mainly affect kids who are on the lower end of each roster. The only people who are against this are the ones trying to keep their kid on ECNL which is understandable but in the end if they put in the work they will be fine. The change will objectively be better for everyone as now the teams are better, the competition is better and kids can either play with friends, and the process makes it easier for college recruiters.

Don’t worry about a thing because every little thing is going to be alright.

[Guest]

The only difference is ODP, or other national team ID will still be birth year so Jan-June kids still have that advantage. But I’m sure kids that are ECNL now will be moved down and some kids that are RL will be moved up. The kids who are top players on their teams now will be fine this will mainly affect kids who are on the lower end of each roster. The only people who are against this are the ones trying to keep their kid on ECNL which is understandable but in the end if they put in the work they will be fine. The change will objectively be better for everyone as now the teams are better, the competition is better and kids can either play with friends, and the process makes it easier for college recruiters.

Don’t worry about a thing because every little thing is going to be alright.

Or maybe the March - June kids have worked there asses off to be on a team and then a organza nation can up and change things that screw up a different set of kids. Either way some kids get screwed whether being trapped or being the youngest in there grade year. Also what about the kids that are born after 8/1 but are in the grade above due to different states have different cut offs. So now they are not playing with there GY they are playing down.