ECNL or MLSN clubs near Bridgewater / Readington area

[Guest]

Are there ECNL / MLSN clubs that are close to Bridgewater / Readington area? Thanks.

[Guest]

Are there ECNL / MLSN clubs that are close to Bridgewater / Readington area? Thanks.

https://theecnl.com/sports/2023/7/6/directory.aspx

https://www.mlssoccer.com/mlsnext/about/members

[Guest]

Thank you, this is helpful. Interesting that besides PDA, there is nothing else in CNJ with ECNL/MLSN. I thought Dutch Total Soccer would have a team in ECNL or MLSN, but surprisingly they do not. Only COPA has ECNL RL (aka ECRL) for boys. Crazy - with so many boys playing, there is not many good opportunities to advance in CNJ.

[Guest]

Thank you, this is helpful. Interesting that besides PDA, there is nothing else in CNJ with ECNL/MLSN. I thought Dutch Total Soccer would have a team in ECNL or MLSN, but surprisingly they do not. Only COPA has ECNL RL (aka ECRL) for boys. Crazy - with so many boys playing, there is not many good opportunities to advance in CNJ.

CNJ is very hard to find competitive boys teams, except for PDA. I'd say Matchfit Mercer and CSA Monmouth are where a lot of people look and they are just willing to drive 45 minutes - an hour for practices. The Copa RL team is brand new - based on how ECRL goes, it will take a few seasons for them to attract players to be competitive but over time, it may get there.

[Guest]

You should check out Matchfit Shore

[Guest]

CNJ is very hard to find competitive boys teams, except for PDA. I'd say Matchfit Mercer and CSA Monmouth are where a lot of people look and they are just willing to drive 45 minutes - an hour for practices. The Copa RL team is brand new - based on how ECRL goes, it will take a few seasons for them to attract players to be competitive but over time, it may get there.

Copa might never get there

[Guest]

Thank you, this is helpful. Interesting that besides PDA, there is nothing else in CNJ with ECNL/MLSN. I thought Dutch Total Soccer would have a team in ECNL or MLSN, but surprisingly they do not. Only COPA has ECNL RL (aka ECRL) for boys. Crazy - with so many boys playing, there is not many good opportunities to advance in CNJ.

For Central NJ you have PDA and CSA Monmouth in MLSN. For ECNL you have Match Fit Academy out of Mercer county college.

Central NJ is pretty well represented. 1 of the 2 NJ ECNL teams is in Central NJ. For MLSN Central NJ has 2 teams out of the 6 NJ MLS Next NJ based teams.

DTS is 8 minutes away from PDA and puts out an inferior product. No need for 2 clubs that close together to be in the same leagues.

For ECRL you have MFA and PDA in the North Atlantic division.. both in Central NJ. You also have PSA Monmouth and FC Copa in the Northeast division both in Central NJ.

on top of those listed there is the NAL league. NAL is probably a small step above the ECRL.

NAL league has the 2nd teams for PDA and CSA Monmouth.

Central NJ Teams:

PDA MLSN
CSA Monmouth MLSN

MFA ECNL

PDA NAL
CSA Monmouth NAL

PDA ECRL
MFA ECRL
PSA Monmouth ECRL
FC Copa ECRL

[Guest]

Thank you! This is very, very helpful.

Why do you think DTS is so average? My kids took classes there for years - they have a good facility and capable coaches. Is it due to their business model - concentrate on volume first?

[Guest]

Thank you! This is very, very helpful.

Why do you think DTS is so average? My kids took classes there for years - they have a good facility and capable coaches. Is it due to their business model - concentrate on volume first?

NJ Premier (the club run out of DTS) has great girls teams and they play higher level. The boys teams do sometimes play USYS and they are pretty good - the coaching is pretty decent. But when you are down the road from PDA, which is pretty much the primary club that colleges are recruiting from in this area, all of the top players are going to leave for another club eventually. If your kid isn't ready for MLSN/ECNL, then NJ Premier is probably a good option.

[Guest]

Its not uncommon for people to drive 1-1.5 hours for ECNL or MLSN teams. The expectation there should be the highest level team 15 min from everyone's house isn't realistic.