2009 boys central NJ options for college hopeful

[Guest]

My son is a 2009 player and like most has a desire to play in college (D1-D3) and I an trying to position him to play on the best team possible but within a reasonable driving distance for practice. I live in Central Jersey.

My understanding of the landscape is:

Cedar Stars Monmouth:
- They have 2 teams. One team is MLS Next and the other plays in the Northeast Academy League which is sort of a "B" team for MLS Next. Both practice in Tinton Falls.

PSA
- They have 2 teams. One team is Elite64 and the other is EDP division 5. Both practice in Tinton Falls.

Matchfit
- They don't have a 2009 Shore team but they do have an ECNL/ECRL team in West Windsor. There is also a Matchfit Ocean team that plays NL division 2 in Toms River.

NJ Blaze:
- They are starting a brand new team and unsure whether they will be placed into NL division 2 or EDP 3. They practice in Tinton Falls

PDA:
- They have a MLS Next, ECNL, and ECRL teams. They play in Somerset.

Marlboro:
- They have a EDP division 3 team that plays in Marlboro.

Based on what I've heard, the soccer pyramid for boys at this age level is:
1) MLS Next and ECNL
3) NL Pro (This is basically the best teams in Elite64)
4) Northeast Academy League
5) ECRL
6) Elite64
7) NL division 1
8) NL division 2
9) EDP division 3
10) EDP division 4-7

It is also my understanding that you must be at a minimum of EDP division 3 to be invited to showcases and the quality of the showcase and the number of showcase acceptances will increases as you go up the pyramid. As with any generic pyramid, there will be some top teams on lower levels that can be the worst teams at the higher level.

I would love to know if I am missing any significant teams or if my pyramid looks accurate.

[Guest]

Hi -

I'm in the same boat - 2009 player. Your assessment of the Leagues is pretty accurate as far as I know. Although I would rank MLS Next as a clear 1 and ECNL as 2. I also think you'll find that the competition isn't so cut and dry after the first 2 tiers. i.e. you might find that there are more competitive teams say in NL Div 1 vs E64 or Northeast Academy. This more has to do with the Academy teams and how deep they are. The more players they field overall the more teams they take on and more leagues they enter.

For example if you look at PDA, they have the following:

MLS Next
ECNL
ECRL
E64
NL Div 1

So you might find that smaller clubs only have 2 teams and if both clubs are in NL Div 1 for instance. The smaller club is playing with their "B team" and the larger club(in this case PDA) is playing with their "E team" so you may notice a huge discrepancy.

What I'm finding regarding the pathway is that PDA and Cedar Stars are clear winners and perhaps PSA and Match Fit would be next in line. I wouldn't look at town teams if the overall goal is to get your son recruited for college. Not at this age anyways.

Would love to hear others chime in here.

Thanks!

[Guest]

The statement about EDP prem3 and above being invited to anything is wrong. At the HS ages, the top showcases are put together by the leagues, ECNL, MLS Next and DPL. There are also other bigger tournaments that have decent college coach attendance, but those are very exclusive and the coaches only attend the top flights, not the fifth flight games.

[Guest]

Is E64 any good for boys? I know it is pretty weak on the girls side

[Guest]

My son is a 2009 player and like most has a desire to play in college (D1-D3) and I an trying to position him to play on the best team possible but within a reasonable driving distance for practice. I live in Central Jersey.


Based on what I've heard, the soccer pyramid for boys at this age level is:
1) MLS Next and ECNL
3) NL Pro (This is basically the best teams in Elite64)
4) Northeast Academy League
5) ECRL
6) Elite64
7) NL division 1
8) NL division 2
9) EDP division 3
10) EDP division 4-7

Sorry to hijack your thread a little...I really like how you depicted this for boys. What is the equivalent pyramid for Girls? I have a young daughter (U9) and wondered what the pyramid is...does it work out to this (roughly)?

1) ECNL
2) Girls Academy
3) NL Pro
4) ECRL
5) Elite64
6) NL division 1
7) NL division 2
8) EDP division 3
9) EDP division 4-7

[Guest]

To answer the previous question about Elite64

In MLS Next is:
1) Cedar Stars Bergen
2) Cedar Stars Monmouth
3) PDA
4) Real Jersey FC
5) TSF Academy

In ECNL/ECRL is
1) Matchfit
2) PDA

In NorthEast Academy League is
1) Cedar Stars Bergen
2) Cedar Starts Monmouth
3) TSF Academy
4) IronBound

In Elite64 is
1) Cedar Stars Bergen
2) Cedar Starts Monmouth
3) PSA
4) STA
5) PDA

So what that means is that Elite64 is the "C" team for Cedar Stars and potentially the "D" or "C" team for PDA but the "A" team for PSA/STA.
NorthEast Academy is the "B" team for Cedar Stars and TSF but the "A" team for IronBound
ECNL is the "B" team for PDA but the "A" team for Matchfit
and there are zero NJ teams that are in National PRO at this age group currently.

[Guest]

Sorry to hijack your thread a little...I really like how you depicted this for boys. What is the equivalent pyramid for Girls? I have a young daughter (U9) and wondered what the pyramid is...does it work out to this (roughly)?

1) ECNL
2) Girls Academy
3) NL Pro
4) ECRL
5) Elite64
6) NL division 1
7) NL division 2
8) EDP division 3
9) EDP division 4-7

For girls ECNL/GA are on top I would say that in general ECNL has stronger clubs but GA does have some teams that are very good. At the very top and very bottom they may compare but the middle of the pack ECNL has better teams. I would look for a team where my D fits and she has good exposure.

[Guest]

To answer the previous question about Elite64

In MLS Next is:
1) Cedar Stars Bergen
2) Cedar Stars Monmouth
3) PDA
4) Real Jersey FC
5) TSF Academy

In ECNL/ECRL is
1) Matchfit
2) PDA

In NorthEast Academy League is
1) Cedar Stars Bergen
2) Cedar Starts Monmouth
3) TSF Academy
4) IronBound

In Elite64 is
1) Cedar Stars Bergen
2) Cedar Starts Monmouth
3) PSA
4) STA
5) PDA

So what that means is that Elite64 is the "C" team for Cedar Stars and potentially the "D" or "C" team for PDA but the "A" team for PSA/STA.
NorthEast Academy is the "B" team for Cedar Stars and TSF but the "A" team for IronBound
ECNL is the "B" team for PDA but the "A" team for Matchfit
and there are zero NJ teams that are in National PRO at this age group currently.

I like your analysis and don't totally disagree -- I think one thing I see folks on this board continually doing is trying to create an A through E (or whatever) ranking of teams within a multi-location club like PDA or MatchFit. Most of us aren't interested in driving over an hour each way for practice so we're just at the closest location, you know? That's not to say the MLS Next team wouldn't kick the E64 team's ass, but it's not precisely an A, B, etc hierarchy, if that makes sense. Also, you can easily go look at the standings for these leagues to see which teams are doing best this season, here, for instance, is the 2009B E64 results (which do not correspond to this poster's rankings, but maybe they were ranking the girls teams or a different age group): https://system.gotsport.com/org_even...es?group=91672

[Guest]

I like your analysis and don't totally disagree -- I think one thing I see folks on this board continually doing is trying to create an A through E (or whatever) ranking of teams within a multi-location club like PDA or MatchFit. Most of us aren't interested in driving over an hour each way for practice so we're just at the closest location, you know? That's not to say the MLS Next team wouldn't kick the E64 team's ass, but it's not precisely an A, B, etc hierarchy, if that makes sense. Also, you can easily go look at the standings for these leagues to see which teams are doing best this season, here, for instance, is the 2009B E64 results (which do not correspond to this poster's rankings, but maybe they were ranking the girls teams or a different age group): https://system.gotsport.com/org_even...es?group=91672

While that's true in some respects, I think for these larger clubs you need to figure out their hierarchy, specially if your priority is college placement. Recruitment is heavy in MLS Next and ECNL.

[Guest]

Which clubs are multi-locations but still high level teams? Matchfit is in Mercer and they have a Shore but the Shore team is not ECNL/ECRL so all references above are for their Mercer team. PDA has a Shore team too but when I look at GotSport - it looks like the team may have merged with Matchfit Ocean for 2009 and they play in NL 2 so again not in the same league as the rest. I agree no parent wants to drive an hour away so there are definitely an overlap of quality teams in the middle. But as the last poster mentioned, heavy college recruiting will be focused on MLS Next and ECNL with probably a NL Pro team mixed in on the open tournaments.