Future of the New England Girls NPL

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Ok back on topic. Is placing the best of the rest in the NPL with a promotion-relegation the thing to do?

For competitive balance, absolutely. Although same argument should be made for top of NPL and bottom of ECNL.

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Wasn't promo-reg one the reasons the mega clubs left MAPLE and created the NEP in the first place?

Exactly. It's been said before, but NEP's mission is about soccer development. Adding promotion and relegation fosters a "win-at-all-costs" philosophy which is the antithesis to individual development. Imagine play-time for the bottom rostered players when promotion or relegation for the team is on the line?

The other issue with it is that often these club teams reform every year with different rosters as kids move up or down, change clubs and leave the sport for other interests. Promotion of a team to a higher league when that team could be completely different the following year doesn't make much sense. Same with a move down.

Bottom line, NPL is about the win, as is ECNL. NEP is about development. It should be left as such.

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Big part because they simply spend some time watching the game. People minimize this but living and breathing soccer improves the understanding and enhances the player's tactical aspects of the game.

While it is true that in most other countries that soccer is viewed more passionately than in a country like ours, the real issue is in most other countries they start putting a lot of concentrated development work into their best players quite early and by the time those players are roughly 18 most of them are on a soccer only track and not going to school. I doubt that many in this discussion would even consider putting their child on a similar path so why is it even a thought in this topic.

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Professional soccer does not capture the attention of many soccer players - if it did viewership and attendance would be much higher. Even soccer players prefer watching the big 3 sports over soccer. It's part of our lack-of-soccer-culture that plagues this country - there are some who live and breathe it but not many

That is not necessary true. I spent more time watching LaLiga and Bundesliga than NFL, MLB, Basketball and PGA combined. MLS, not. Boring and no different then watching my kids play in their premier leagues. It's getting better. Maybe another 10 years.

[Unregistered]

Ok back on topic. Is placing the best of the rest in the NPL with a promotion-relegation the thing to do?

No. Absolutely not. That is why you have NEP and Maple.

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Each NEP clubs already have access to NPL. Some of the NEW clubs already been giving access to NPL based solely on the competitiveness of their programs. The goal of each clubs is to develop and id players within their clubs and move them base on their development path. Relegations will create less structure and encourage internal competitions which hinders development.

[Unregistered]

Exactly. It's been said before, but NEP's mission is about soccer development. Adding promotion and relegation fosters a "win-at-all-costs" philosophy which is the antithesis to individual development. Imagine play-time for the bottom rostered players when promotion or relegation for the team is on the line?

The other issue with it is that often these club teams reform every year with different rosters as kids move up or down, change clubs and leave the sport for other interests. Promotion of a team to a higher league when that team could be completely different the following year doesn't make much sense. Same with a move down.

Bottom line, NPL is about the win, as is ECNL. NEP is about development. It should be left as such.

Coaches are about development not leagues. The NPL was supposed to be about standards but if you played Bayside or Yankee you quickly the saw the inmates running the asylum. How about the madman at Aztec? You can say what you want but the good coaches do it right and the *******s are going to do whatever they want. The NEP is no different from any other league it's just shinier. I'm glad our coach doesn't preach the league just getting better.

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And that's exactly why US Soccer just created girls DAP.

(By the way, if you stand on an NEP sideline, those coaches care about winning the game they are involved in just as much as the ECNL coaches do. Don't kid yourself. Very few coaches actually play games to develop players equally, as opposed to winning the game they are coaching in the moment.)

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Coaches are about development not leagues. The NPL was supposed to be about standards but if you played Bayside or Yankee you quickly the saw the inmates running the asylum. How about the madman at Aztec? You can say what you want but the good coaches do it right and the *******s are going to do whatever they want. The NEP is no different from any other league it's just shinier. I'm glad our coach doesn't preach the league just getting better.

Wow!!!!! Some nerves. One of the clubs you mentioned happened to produced more national players on the boys side since the inception on NPL.

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Wow!!!!! Some nerves. One of the clubs you mentioned happened to produced more national players on the boys side since the inception on NPL.

Then they should control the girls side because it's embarrassing the way they act!

[Unregistered]

Wow!!!!! Some nerves. One of the clubs you mentioned happened to produced more national players on the boys side since the inception on NPL.

Which club is that?

[Unregistered]

That is not necessary true. I spent more time watching LaLiga and Bundesliga than NFL, MLB, Basketball and PGA combined. MLS, not. Boring and no different then watching my kids play in their premier leagues. It's getting better. Maybe another 10 years.

Check out viewership stats and you'll see you're not in the majority by any stretch. I agree it's getting better but it will take longer than ten years. Football, Basketball and Baseball are the kings (personally I'd rather stick a fork in my eye than watch baseball on TV but to each his own). It isn't just about viewership either but large swaths of adults and kids who follow the sport, can name players, watch it with friends and family regularly (not just WC), talk about it over a few beers.

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Check out viewership stats and you'll see you're not in the majority by any stretch. I agree it's getting better but it will take longer than ten years. Football, Basketball and Baseball are the kings (personally I'd rather stick a fork in my eye than watch baseball on TV but to each his own). It isn't just about viewership either but large swaths of adults and kids who follow the sport, can name players, watch it with friends and family regularly (not just WC), talk about it over a few beers.

It's a generational thing. Growing up, we had very little soccer to watch. So, I didn't get it from my parents, and though starting playing at a young age and still do, only in the last 10 years has there been good coverage to watch.

It's now passed to my daughter, who watches EPL every weekend, and others when time permits. Other than football, which is a social activity more than anything, it's the only sport she watches.

Really, today's youth are the first generation where they have this exposure here in the States

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It's a generational thing. Growing up, we had very little soccer to watch. So, I didn't get it from my parents, and though starting playing at a young age and still do, only in the last 10 years has there been good coverage to watch.

It's now passed to my daughter, who watches EPL every weekend, and others when time permits. Other than football, which is a social activity more than anything, it's the only sport she watches.

Really, today's youth are the first generation where they have this exposure here in the States

I bet you most boys her age watch one of the top 3 sports, even if they play soccer. Men dominate tv sports viewership and it will take time to pry that away from the NBA< NFL and MLB.

Not the OP

[Unregistered]

Check out viewership stats and you'll see you're not in the majority by any stretch. I agree it's getting better but it will take longer than ten years. Football, Basketball and Baseball are the kings (personally I'd rather stick a fork in my eye than watch baseball on TV but to each his own). It isn't just about viewership either but large swaths of adults and kids who follow the sport, can name players, watch it with friends and family regularly (not just WC), talk about it over a few beers.

Stats are pretty clear soccer is gaining on the big three. In the next 10 years viewership will surpassed NBA and MLB. Currently average attendance is higher the NBA, NHL and gaining on MLB. Obviously NFL is still ahead by a wide margin but given greater focus on the impact of CTE, parents will be less incline to let their children participate in the gain. Also, soccer is played by both genders so the potential to greater.