With new leagues forming every day us it safe to say NPL willno longer hold any appeal for college coaches scouting for players.
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Actually what you will now have is 3 watered down leagues. Disgraceful system. Money grab for all. ECNL is trying so hard to sell the dream! Lol.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post -
College coaches are cheap, lazy, and don't have that much free time.
They'll take the least number of trips possible to recruit players.
They hit DA showcases because they aggregate the greatest concentration of talent.
Whether ECNL can manage the same draw remains to be seen. If it does then NPL will become significanlty less relevant.Comment
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DA won't be watered down. It's the top of the pyramid. The bottom of the pyramid will essentially be under water, not just watered down.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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And the new bottom is NPL and lower leagues. All that's happening is a new middle level is being jammed into the pyramid at the 2nd level, forcing other leagues below ECNL.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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Not so much cheap but have limited budgets. Soccer isn't a revenue sport so they don't have as much to spend for scouting like the big sports do. ECNL and other leagues does make it easier, more efficient and less expensive for themOriginally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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And USSF adding GDA to the system is what? Also a money/power grab. In the end it's all a business and everyone is fighting over the same pie. Find the best place for your players and try to ignore the noise. What might be the best place for them to play may not be the supposedly best league or club.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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ECNL backers are positioning this as a given that it will supplant NPL, while lots of people on here question that presumption. The info on here is inconsistent (and likely biased) so it's hard to know what's going on at ECNL try-outs and what that might suggest about the leagues. Sounds mostly like ECNL is getting kids cut by DA, and not clear if that results in better quality than NPL. Overall, I'd guess the ECNL league would be better competition across-the-board than NPL. But locally, not sure that a Stars ECNL team with kids cut by DA will be better than a GPS/NEFC team. If it's about exposure, not clear where the ECNL thing lands- probably depends on what you're aiming for. if you want D1, wouldn't you play DA? If you want local D3, not clear you'll get better looks at ECNL. If the D3 coach gets one plane flight to recruit, is the hope that they're going to drop the DA showcase for ECNL showcase? But maybe the thinking is that ECNL will be close enough to DA to get D1 looks, but without having to sacrifice HS soccer (meaning you get more mid-to-low D1s?).Comment
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Been there done that
One of the unintended consequences of all this watering down - is the increase in travel costs associated with playing teams further away.
As a veteran parent of travel soccer, I could never understand the group of parents/coaches that equated travel distance with quality of competition .Meanwhile , there is plenty of quality competition in your backyard , but they're not in your league ...so, getting up at 4am and driving to Manhattan on a Saturday morning, or flying to Texas for 3 games in 2 days becomes the solution. You ask me -that is the definition of insanity.Comment
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People that think the talent of local competition in lower leagues is commensurate to the talent inherrent to the top leagues in larger markets like NYC/NJ or PA have little experience outside their small geographic bubble.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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IF that happens, it's because it's a money grab by clubs and the organizations involved. There is no reason for all that travel for these kids. People act as if suddenly there will be MORE quality players in the area. LOL. It's the same kids guys. They won't all be significantly better players due to playing in ECNL vs. NPL. And yes, it will water down DA too. What a mess. Either way, ECNL needs it's many kinks worked out before I would consider it as an option. Some other families can pay to be the guinea pigs.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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DA is the top of the food chain. They are combining older ages and concentrating the talent. By definition that would be the opposite of dilution.Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
The hope is that ECNL will take DA players that just missed the cut and combine them with top NPL players from several different clubs to create a very strong alternative to DA.
That would leave NPL watered down.Comment
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But as parents we have no control over league structure or where our clubs play. Sure we could have our kids just not play, but 1) that isn't fair to our kids in the very real here and now, and 2) it would take an army of parents doing the same thing for clubs and leagues to get it and change things. That just isn't happening. Do I like the system? No. But as an individual I can't do anything about it. All I can do is help guide my kids through a f'd up system.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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Add to that ECNL is a proven platform on the girls side and the parent of boys and coaches at men's college programs know that. ECNL has mastered college recruiting (for all the good and bad that brings). NPL has not. ECNL will become #2.Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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Again, work out the kinks and get back to me. Sounds like a money grab for those who think you need to travel all around the country when realistically you don't need to. That will get very old for people if we are talking about a B League (which is what everyone is saying). B League teams don't need to travel so much (in case that is shocking to people).Originally posted by Unregistered View PostComment
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