College Coaches (Div 1) @ ECNL VS DA Girls Showcases 2019

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GDA costs more than ECNL. GDA showcases are over the course of 5 days versus 3 day showcases for ECNL. Add in the extra cost of league travel and the cost of the extra day of training that is passed on to the players, ECNL is cheaper.

More missed school too. Usually you have to miss two days for GDA, just one for ECNL - and PDA is over a holiday weekend

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Differentiating DA and ECNL on cost is like differentiating a Tundra and a Yukon on MPGs

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Differentiating DA and ECNL on cost is like differentiating a Tundra and a Yukon on MPGs

HA! True that. For the typical well off soccer family it won't matter. They'll pick which ever is the best option for their player in terms of coaching, location, playing HS or not etc.

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ECNL seems to like showcases. Why not go the route of the GDA? Pick two times of the year and have your nationals. No wonder why people are livid about the costs of these leagues.

Pick one:
a) When choosing between DA or ECNL, cost isn't the driving issue
b) Multiple Regional Showcases lower costs by allowing teams to stay within their region

as prior poster points out, GDA vs. ECNL is not about cost.
GDA positions itself as route to National Team, and has all National Showcases
ECNL positions itself as pathway to college and has regional showcases because most players attend college within their region.

[Unregistered]

Pick one:
a) When choosing between DA or ECNL, cost isn't the driving issue
b) Multiple Regional Showcases lower costs by allowing teams to stay within their region

as prior poster points out, GDA vs. ECNL is not about cost.
GDA positions itself as route to National Team, and has all National Showcases
ECNL positions itself as pathway to college and has regional showcases because most players attend college within their region.

Regional events are cheaper for college coaches too if they're close by. Flying from MA to CA to watch east coast players makes little sense (unless you're a top college program recruiting from all over). They'd rather go to PDA.

[Unregistered]

GDA costs more than ECNL. GDA showcases are over the course of 5 days versus 3 day showcases for ECNL. Add in the extra cost of league travel and the cost of the extra day of training that is passed on to the players, ECNL is cheaper.

Some found GDA cheaper. the add'l showcase days were offset by not attending other ancillary tourneys like WAGS, CASL, Jeff Cup, Disney, NEWS, etc. as they were not even an option. So saved a lot there. League travel were day trips usually.

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Regional events are cheaper for college coaches too if they're close by. Flying from MA to CA to watch east coast players makes little sense (unless you're a top college program recruiting from all over). They'd rather go to PDA.

PDA is one of the only ECNL events that has games for non-ECNL as well. More bang for your buck.

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PDA is one of the only ECNL events that has games for non-ECNL as well. More bang for your buck.

Agreed, I think PDA has overcome Jefferson Cup and Bethesda

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So don't go. We're dumb, you win.

In the meantime, I had a great time. Phoenix weather was perfect and those same local coaches, who have coming to regular season games, and local friendlies, came to our games halfway across the country to check on their commits/recruits and cast a few more lines into their favorite fishing hole.

What a fool. Go ahead and plan your vacation around some dumb soccer tournament if you want. The naive here will follow you but the smart ones know how the recruiting game is actually played an save their money for what really makes a difference— additional training — and save their travel money for something really memorable.

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Some found GDA cheaper. the add'l showcase days were offset by not attending other ancillary tourneys like WAGS, CASL, Jeff Cup, Disney, NEWS, etc. as they were not even an option. So saved a lot there. League travel were day trips usually.

Most ECNL clubs don't do those events any longer. So maybe it's cheaper than a good NPL team, but relatively similar to most ECNL teams. In theory GDA teams are supposed to make every effort to reduce their fees to make it more affordable. That does happen in more often in BDA because the non MLS clubs have to compete with the free MLS clubs. But it seems GDA clubs aren't taking up the charge there. Fees might be a little lower and it's a better price value based on hour of training. But add in travel and it's more or less awash. Most families pick based on fit/coaching, not price.

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What a fool. Go ahead and plan your vacation around some dumb soccer tournament if you want. The naive here will follow you but the smart ones know how the recruiting game is actually played an save their money for what really makes a difference— additional training — and save their travel money for something really memorable.

If your child needs a lot of expensive additional training you probably should focus more locally and take soccer less seriously, on that we agree.

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What a fool. Go ahead and plan your vacation around some dumb soccer tournament if you want. The naive here will follow you but the smart ones know how the recruiting game is actually played an save their money for what really makes a difference— additional training — and save their travel money for something really memorable.

So, you get to decide what is a memorable vacation and what isn't? Are their any other family decisions we need to run by you first? Could you list them out?

We've structured our family vacations around soccer tournaments as well. To each their own.

I'd rather watch a soccer game and see the local attractions than park my ass on a beach for 5 days anyway.

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If your child needs a lot of expensive additional training you probably should focus more locally and take soccer less seriously, on that we agree.

Travel money is wasted. Please find me another place that invests so much of their youth soccer development resources in plane tickets and hotels. Good luck. You wont find one because it is stupid and does not benefit the development of the players.

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So, you get to decide what is a memorable vacation and what isn't? Are their any other family decisions we need to run by you first? Could you list them out?

We've structured our family vacations around soccer tournaments as well. To each their own.

I'd rather watch a soccer game and see the local attractions than park my ass on a beach for 5 days anyway.

So you pull your other kids out of school for a few days also, spouse skips work, so you can go watch your player? There are so many other ways I'd rather spend our family's precious time together, even more so the siblings. Often times the game schedules interfere with sight seeing and you don't want your player getting overly tired going for a great hike. We're not beach people either, or even amusement parks - we vacation for experiences everyone wants to do.

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So you pull your other kids out of school for a few days also, spouse skips work, so you can go watch your player? There are so many other ways I'd rather spend our family's precious time together, even more so the siblings. Often times the game schedules interfere with sight seeing and you don't want your player getting overly tired going for a great hike. We're not beach people either, or even amusement parks - we vacation for experiences everyone wants to do.

Yes. We'll watch that player for 90 minutes. Then, we'll spend the day doing exactly what we'd be doing otherwise - being tourists.

Been able to see much of the country we likely wouldn't have otherwise. And, grab a day or two on the front or back end and extend it out and see more. All good.

But, spend your money how you wish and I'll do the same. This authoritarian approach that everyone has to do what I want them to do otherwise it's silly is a bit much.