USYS vs. ECRL

[Unregistered]

Show me on PDA where one ECNL BLUE coach is also coaching an ECRL team at any level. Maybe Worldclass but certainly not PDA. Coaches and trainers matter, period.Buyer beware!

ECRL at PDA is not viewed positively even within the club. Everyone knows the reason it’s there, $ and to satisfy parents that want their kids to wear the 3 letters so they can brag that their kid plays for PDA. In the meantime reality hits when in HS they sit the bench or in some cases do not even make varsity. It’s actually sad since they all come dressed up in their PDA gear to tryouts thinking that will do it.

[Unregistered]

It really depends on how you define "better".

ECRL is, by definition, a 2nd-tier league. It is a tier below ECNL by design. USYS-NL aspires to be a 1st-tier league, so from that perspective, at least it has higher aspirations than ECRL. In my opinion, USYS-NL is not as strong as ECNL; it may have some teams that could compete well in ECNL, but on average the league is slightly weaker than ECNL. So USYS-NL is probably somewhere between ECNL and ECRL.

Having said that, in my opinion, joining an ECRL team has a number of benefits that make it more appealing/"better" than USYS-NL:

- Players are seen regularly by ECNL coaches, so there is a pathway to ECNL.
- ECRL teams practice and scrimmage with ECNL teams on a weekly basis, providing better development opportunities for ECRL players.
- ECRL teams have automatic entrance to Jefferson Cup and PDA Showcase, which are the most relevant college showcases on the east coast along with CASL and Disney.

My D was able to achieve her college soccer goals playing ECRL. She had opportunities to join other more highly-regarded teams, but the fact is we live very close to her club's practice fields and the next closest "top-tier" club would have added 30 minutes (each way) to the commute, which would have meant an additional hour 3-4 days per week in commuting which would have made her miserable. If she had D1 aspirations, then maybe she would have considered making that sacrifice, but she wanted to play D3, so we felt ECRL would be fine.

There is no pathway from ecrl to ecnl. If your kid was all that she would have been offered a shirt with an ecnl patch. This is the allure they get people in on and it is a blatant lie for 99.9% if ecrl players. Not staying that some do not deserve ecnl but it is a shell game and you will always be wrong when the big money is on the table. Furthermore it is far more than 1 step down from ecnl despite the similarity in names. You should almost always be able to find a better, closer, cheaper option for your kid if you look. Even college coaches avoid ecrl as much or more than other more bona fide leagues (put another way, there is not much exposure there).

[Unregistered]

ECRL at PDA is not viewed positively even within the club. Everyone knows the reason it’s there, $ and to satisfy parents that want their kids to wear the 3 letters so they can brag that their kid plays for PDA. In the meantime reality hits when in HS they sit the bench or in some cases do not even make varsity. It’s actually sad since they all come dressed up in their PDA gear to tryouts thinking that will do it.

I'm no PDA fan (but do admire how they managed to beat Barca everywhere but on the scoreboard after the monumental effort to get through logistical issues that would've been easier to bring someone back from the moon), but y'all are crazy if you think this is isolated to PDA ECNLR.

ECNLR is ONLY for the parents who are out for the badge, no matter the club

[Unregistered]

ECRL at PDA is not viewed positively even within the club. Everyone knows the reason it’s there, $ and to satisfy parents that want their kids to wear the 3 letters so they can brag that their kid plays for PDA. In the meantime reality hits when in HS they sit the bench or in some cases do not even make varsity. It’s actually sad since they all come dressed up in their PDA gear to tryouts thinking that will do it.

That's a shame. At WC, many of the ECRL kids get named to their All-County HS teams in Rockland and Bergen.

[Unregistered]

There is no pathway from ecrl to ecnl. If your kid was all that she would have been offered a shirt with an ecnl patch. This is the allure they get people in on and it is a blatant lie for 99.9% if ecrl players. Not staying that some do not deserve ecnl but it is a shell game and you will always be wrong when the big money is on the table. Furthermore it is far more than 1 step down from ecnl despite the similarity in names. You should almost always be able to find a better, closer, cheaper option for your kid if you look. Even college coaches avoid ecrl as much or more than other more bona fide leagues (put another way, there is not much exposure there).

Some kids are late-bloomers. And not sure what "big money" you are talking about as each roster spot makes the same amount of money whether the player came from ECRL or somewhere else (unless, of course, it is a scholarship kid).

As has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread, World Class ECRL is much cheaper than the "better" options within a reasonable distance. Not sure what the other clubs charge for ECRL. But at tournaments like Jeff Cup and PDA Showcase, the ECRL teams seem to compete fine with these "better" options.

As far as college coaches "avoiding ECRL", D's team did not find that to be the case for the type of programs the kids were interested in, as almost every player on the team looking for a college soccer opportunity found a good one.

[Unregistered]

I'm no PDA fan (but do admire how they managed to beat Barca everywhere but on the scoreboard after the monumental effort to get through logistical issues that would've been easier to bring someone back from the moon), but y'all are crazy if you think this is isolated to PDA ECNLR.

ECNLR is ONLY for the parents who are out for the badge, no matter the club

There is no badge for ECRL teams.

[Unregistered]

There is no badge for ECRL teams.

Virtual "badge"

[Unregistered]

Virtual "badge"

Honestly, most of the families on D's ECRL team really didn't care about any of that stuff. What they cared about was if their daughter was having fun, developing/improving as a soccer player, and had the showcase opportunities for their college aspirations. This was at World Class, so maybe it's different at PDA.

[Unregistered]

Some kids are late-bloomers. And not sure what "big money" you are talking about as each roster spot makes the same amount of money whether the player came from ECRL or somewhere else (unless, of course, it is a scholarship kid).

As has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread, World Class ECRL is much cheaper than the "better" options within a reasonable distance. Not sure what the other clubs charge for ECRL. But at tournaments like Jeff Cup and PDA Showcase, the ECRL teams seem to compete fine with these "better" options.

As far as college coaches "avoiding ECRL", D's team did not find that to be the case for the type of programs the kids were interested in, as almost every player on the team looking for a college soccer opportunity found a good one.

Haha show me one ECRL team that’s playing in a top bracket at a high level tourney. These teams are usually 5th bracket or below.

[Unregistered]

Matchfit

They roster 30 on ECNL then place 10 on ECRL then send that team to games and tournaments to win. Why the ECRL/old NPL teams did so well.

Parents used to complain and try to report Matchfit for this but nothing ever happened.

The ECRL/NPL GIRLS stood out because they had ECNL badges on at the ECRL/NPL games.

IF YOU AINT CHEATING THEN YOU AINT TRYING!

[Unregistered]

Matchfit

They roster 30 on ECNL then place 10 on ECRL then send that team to games and tournaments to win. Why the ECRL/old NPL teams did so well.

Parents used to complain and try to report Matchfit for this but nothing ever happened.

The ECRL/NPL GIRLS stood out because they had ECNL badges on at the ECRL/NPL games.

IF YOU AINT CHEATING THEN YOU AINT TRYING!

Cheating to win a youth soccer tournament?

SMMFH.....

[Unregistered]

Cheating to win a youth soccer tournament?

SMMFH.....

Yup happens all the time! Anything for more $$ by fooling the paying customers

[Unregistered]

The naivety of some people is scary! Winning is everything to recruit players over. It’s how $$$ is made in this business!

So SMMFH dude, pay attention..

[Unregistered]

Haha show me one ECRL team that’s playing in a top bracket at a high level tourney. These teams are usually 5th bracket or below.

Why would a 2nd team at a club be playing in the top tier of a high level tournament when that's where the 1st team plays? Is there anyone saying that ECRL teams are the best? Someone already pointed out that ECRL is by design a 2nd tier league, since ECNL is the 1st tier. Has anyone, I mean ANYONE, claimed that ECRL is in the same tier as ECNL? Anyone??? Smh...

[Unregistered]

Why would a 2nd team at a club be playing in the top tier of a high level tournament when that's where the 1st team plays? Is there anyone saying that ECRL teams are the best? Someone already pointed out that ECRL is by design a 2nd tier league, since ECNL is the 1st tier. Has anyone, I mean ANYONE, claimed that ECRL is in the same tier as ECNL? Anyone??? Smh...

Yes, many, if you read between the lines. Same training, same coaches, same exposure, better than other Tier 1 teams, better than other leagues, etc etc etc.