ECNL-DA club jumping season is upon us

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Of six founding members, 2 clubs carry two teams each in the ECNL. PDA and Stars.

Wrong, 8 of 96 teams are from the same club. Of those 8, 5 are hours apart from one another.

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Wrong, 8 of 96 teams are from the same club. Of those 8, 5 are hours apart from one another.

didn't realize they were all the founding members.

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And, officers of the corporation.

Dreaming that with six + solid girls clubs located in Massachusetts & Connecticut (Stars, NEFC, Select, Scorps, CFC and Oakwood), that it’s a darn shame they can’t all play in the same league (DA, ECNL, NPL, whatever) with a less strenuous traveling schedule to other quality clubs like PDA, etc. I’m sure if it was up to the players, parents and owners of each club they’d prefer to play the more locally based and strong competition. But like everything else that involves politics the wrong people are in command and the best interest of the kids aren’t considered. Oh well. Flip a coin.

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Dreaming that with six + solid girls clubs located in Massachusetts & Connecticut (Stars, NEFC, Select, Scorps, CFC and Oakwood), that it’s a darn shame they can’t all play in the same league (DA, ECNL, NPL, whatever) with a less strenuous traveling schedule to other quality clubs like PDA, etc. I’m sure if it was up to the players, parents and owners of each club they’d prefer to play the more locally based and strong competition. But like everything else that involves politics the wrong people are in command and the best interest of the kids aren’t considered. Oh well. Flip a coin.

There is no perfect system. Everyone would prefer a regionally concentrated league, but the grass isn't always greener. Parents love this idea right up to the point where their kid gets boxed out. Then they seek the new prestigious league. Alternatively, we return to merit-based leagues and reinstitute promotion-relegation at the team level. This forces win-at-all cost coaching decisions, limits player PT, and encourages players to club-hop when their team gets relegated. Clubs created leagues without promo-rele "for the kids", but that came with a velvet rope for just those clubs. When parents couldn't get their kids on the top team at that club in that league, a new prestigious League emerges to serve the demand.

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It didn't take long for the system to devolve into ridiculousness, 8 years or so? When my now college sophomore started with club at U11 almost no one played out of state except maybe for tournaments (which were regional too, no flights). Plenty of great instate competition. Now look at it. Even DA has regular GAMES requiring flights for many teams.

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It didn't take long for the system to devolve into ridiculousness, 8 years or so? When my now college sophomore started with club at U11 almost no one played out of state except maybe for tournaments (which were regional too, no flights). Plenty of great instate competition. Now look at it. Even DA has regular GAMES requiring flights for many teams.

NE GDA parent here, and none of our regular GAMES require flights. Yes, a couple of parents fly to NJ vs. drive. Same as ECNL and Northeast NPL (when it existed) where travel takes/took you to mid-Atlantic states.

[Unregistered]

Dreaming that with six + solid girls clubs located in Massachusetts & Connecticut (Stars, NEFC, Select, Scorps, CFC and Oakwood), that it’s a darn shame they can’t all play in the same league (DA, ECNL, NPL, whatever) with a less strenuous traveling schedule to other quality clubs like PDA, etc. I’m sure if it was up to the players, parents and owners of each club they’d prefer to play the more locally based and strong competition. But like everything else that involves politics the wrong people are in command and the best interest of the kids aren’t considered. Oh well. Flip a coin.

If you had a league of:

Stars
Scorpions
CFC
FSA

And added:

NEFC
Oakwood
SSS
Seacoast

We have endless posts about it’s not fair that FCUSA & GPS & Spirit of Liverpool aren’t admitted blah blah blah.

IMO 6 New England clubs would be perfect with a southern end of the conference being NY & NJ where there are a bunch of great clubs (PDA, Match Fit, World Class, SUSA & EAst Meadow).

So yeah, it basically the existing ECNL teams plus 1 or 2 the GDA teams added in.

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If you had a league of:

Stars
Scorpions
CFC
FSA

And added:

NEFC
Oakwood
SSS
Seacoast

We have endless posts about it’s not fair that FCUSA & GPS & Spirit of Liverpool aren’t admitted blah blah blah.

IMO 6 New England clubs would be perfect with a southern end of the conference being NY & NJ where there are a bunch of great clubs (PDA, Match Fit, World Class, SUSA & EAst Meadow).

So yeah, it basically the existing ECNL teams plus 1 or 2 the GDA teams added in.

Wholeheartedly agree. And, to be clear, I am in no way saying all those teams would be equal and in some ages, some would be terrible. Oh well. Would you rather drive to NH to beat someone 4-0 or drive to Maryland to do the same? You could still have cross-conference games 1-2 times/year where you'd play Metro/Mid-Atlantic clubs.

In time the league will continue to rise, competition would level itself out and the impact of DA would go away. This is a factual statement, as I am privy to some of the conversations. There is one reason why this didn't/won't happen here: FC Stars.

[Unregistered]

NE GDA parent here, and none of our regular GAMES require flights. Yes, a couple of parents fly to NJ vs. drive. Same as ECNL and Northeast NPL (when it existed) where travel takes/took you to mid-Atlantic states.

The games between the Maryland and Massachusetts teams probably qualify as "fly to."

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The games between the Maryland and Massachusetts teams probably qualify as "fly to."

I don't see an Maryland games on any GDA clubs' schedule. I do see a couple Virginia games at the older age groups. These are cross-divisional games which they flip-flop every year (i.e. next year would be home). There are PA games, but those are driveable.

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I don't see an Maryland games on any GDA clubs' schedule. I do see a couple Virginia games at the older age groups. These are cross-divisional games which they flip-flop every year (i.e. next year would be home). There are PA games, but those are driveable.

The fact that you're justify flights for any regular season games says it all. NE teams have had to fly to GA, FL. It is ridiculous.

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NE GDA has it far better than any other conference other than So Cal. Look at the GDA map for the frontier or SE conference. Total joke of a travel schedule. That’s at the top of the list of reasons why it is about to implode.

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The fact that you're justify flights for any regular season games says it all. NE teams have had to fly to GA, FL. It is ridiculous.

Not justifying anything. FL games were showcases (and North Carolina [before it was cancelled] and San Diego). GA was an outlier (you'd have to understand how the Cup competition works to understand).


Not for nothing, but when we were in NPL, I went to Ohio, Colorado, Virginia, Florida, and Kansas (with our futsal team).

[Unregistered]

NE GDA has it far better than any other conference other than So Cal. Look at the GDA map for the frontier or SE conference. Total joke of a travel schedule. That’s at the top of the list of reasons why it is about to implode.

Yes SE was bad already and now they've lost 2 clubs. Traffic in SoCal can mean a game sucks up your entire day. Question is with several top clubs exiting can SoCal hold it together?

[Unregistered]

NE GDA has it far better than any other conference other than So Cal. Look at the GDA map for the frontier or SE conference. Total joke of a travel schedule. That’s at the top of the list of reasons why it is about to implode.

Tough situation out west. On one hand, the idea is we need to be able to reach as many players across this vast country as we can so we can find the best players. On the other, that means more teams than the quality can provide.