GA vs ECNL

[Unregistered]

Heard an interesting conversation the other day between GA/DA and ECNL. Was about the differences and why people lump them together because they are youth soccer leagues and why they are actually different.

They said ECNL, current, is more about paying for that gateway to the top programs. That the reason they don't work on more development during practice is because at this level it is expected to be worked on outside of the club on the players time. This in turn reflects on the players success in college and after as these players don't just train hard when at practice.

GA/DA is more about more training at practice, more hand holding if you will. They train more to make sure their players are working and some walk players through aspects of the game that they may have never picked up on.

They said that they had been talking to a recruiters with several colleges (didn't hear which) and that the conversation was why recruiters look to ECNL before other leagues.

This makes perfect sense as to why players leave migrate from GA/DA teams toward ECNL teams just before and during the recruiting phase. And why people fight about the level of development at ECNL academies vs GA/DA ones. People are so busy trying to compare the two instead of why the differences don't equal the success you would think.

[Unregistered]

Who is "they"?

Sounds like excuses, to be honest. Yes, in our time, all we did was scrimmage in ECNL, and we were always told to work outside to improve on our own (fitness, skills, game watching). We had two practices per week.

In GA, we work on skills, tactics, fitness in training for 2 practices a week, and mostly scrimmage the other two.

[Unregistered]

My D has practiced with both ECNL and GA teams and saw no significant difference in the training. Same kinds of drills, same kinds of fitness and conditioning, etc. Would be curious to hear what about GA practices people think are "more about the training".

[Unregistered]

Its the capitalist way to train yourself and find your own motivation. Only communists need coaching because they have lazy brains.

[Unregistered]

Its the capitalist way to train yourself and find your own motivation. Only communists need coaching because they have lazy brains.

Actually, under capitalism, you would expect to pay for a quality service, otherwise you go find a competitor that will give you what you're looking for. The problem is that the service isn't development from the majority of clubs. It is about trying to put a good product on the field because most parents don't look for development due to not having any clue about soccer. They want winning teams. This is why some people will not find what they're looking for with development in their club.

[Unregistered]

My D has practiced with both ECNL and GA teams and saw no significant difference in the training. Same kinds of drills, same kinds of fitness and conditioning, etc. Would be curious to hear what about GA practices people think are "more about the training".

My daughter(s) played for an NPL/EDP and ECNL teams. The level of training and attention at ECNL is significantly worse.

EDP/NPL (young and old) :
- frequent "small pod" training station to work on a specific skill/technique/tactic
- more training sessions (within the
- frequent feedback on the field (good/bad) after play is completed
- individual feedback from a coach when coming off the field (sub)
- individual written evaluation 2x a year
- more frequent rotation on the field in terms of a position

ECNL (at older age group, though):
- heavy focus on a specific position training during practice and scrimmage. once you are a left fullback, you only work on things to be a left fullback most of the time
- heavy focus on fitness (extra paid training recommended + self training)
- very limited correction of issues on the field (e.g. no weak foot, no head check, no defending for an offensive midfielder)
- assumption is that you can watch the video and figure out your own corrections
- large training groups always

Most of the successful ECNL kids do their own soccer training and review the video. They also need to talk to the coach to get their own feedback.

[Unregistered]

My D has practiced with both ECNL and GA teams and saw no significant difference in the training. Same kinds of drills, same kinds of fitness and conditioning, etc. Would be curious to hear what about GA practices people think are "more about the training".

My kid left an ECNL team to go to a GA team and as a paying customer I can say she is getting way more for our money on the GA side. Her former ECNL team was lucky if they practiced two times a week and one of the two were scrimmages. Conversely her GA team has 3-4 practices a week with one being the HS GA age groups scrimmaging - almost pick up. Her GA coach also does a zoom call before the weekend games going over tape to prepare them for the game. We have been blown away by the amount and quality of the training for her GA club. I will say that her old ECNL club is one of the worst in the ECNL (it is not in Jersey) that could be why we are so impressed- because she had gotten very little training from her old ECNL team. As far as games - I would say the ECNL teams tended to be more physical and played the kick and run style. Her GA team seems to be more focused on passing and possession which takes longer to develop. All in all she is very happy and we feel like we are getting our money’s worth.. and this is not a bash on ECNL because I do feel right now they are the stronger league but for the choices my daughter has available GA is definitely better than her ECNL choices.

I would say it is club and even team/coach specific as to how good or not the training is. It is not league wide for either league. Find the best situation for your kid regardless of the patch the team wears.

[Unregistered]

My kid left an ECNL team to go to a GA team and as a paying customer I can say she is getting way more for our money on the GA side. Her former ECNL team was lucky if they practiced two times a week and one of the two were scrimmages. Conversely her GA team has 3-4 practices a week with one being the HS GA age groups scrimmaging - almost pick up. Her GA coach also does a zoom call before the weekend games going over tape to prepare them for the game. We have been blown away by the amount and quality of the training for her GA club. I will say that her old ECNL club is one of the worst in the ECNL (it is not in Jersey) that could be why we are so impressed- because she had gotten very little training from her old ECNL team. As far as games - I would say the ECNL teams tended to be more physical and played the kick and run style. Her GA team seems to be more focused on passing and possession which takes longer to develop. All in all she is very happy and we feel like we are getting our money’s worth.. and this is not a bash on ECNL because I do feel right now they are the stronger league but for the choices my daughter has available GA is definitely better than her ECNL choices.

I would say it is club and even team/coach specific as to how good or not the training is. It is not league wide for either league. Find the best situation for your kid regardless of the patch the team wears.

Listen, when you play in the best league for girls in the country the difference is felt immediately. Pro like training accompanied by tremendous results on and off the pitch. That’s why I don’t get all these GA clubs jumping ship to a secondary league with no set training and development standards like ECNL. Makes no sense. In quick order the GA has taken over and established itself as the top level platform. Good riddance to the clubs that do not want the high level competition.

[Unregistered]

^ it's all club, player and team dependent. Find the best coaching and fit for your kid, preferably without much of a commute. If she's got skills she'll get noticed regardless of the path on the sleeve.

[Unregistered]

No thanks. I’m good with 2 training sessions a week.

[Unregistered]

Listen, when you play in the best league for girls in the country the difference is felt immediately. Pro like training accompanied by tremendous results on and off the pitch. That’s why I don’t get all these GA clubs jumping ship to a secondary league with no set training and development standards like ECNL. Makes no sense. In quick order the GA has taken over and established itself as the top level platform. Good riddance to the clubs that do not want the high level competition.

Hilarious that you think GAL clubs are following protocols and all their coaches are highly licensed professionals. They're not.

[Unregistered]

My D and I are very impressed with the GA product. I know there is a lot of noise about how ECNL is the only way to go, but I have never agreed with that approach. GA has a lot of potential and when you see players coming from ECNL clubs to play at GA clubs... that should tell you something. Parents that are focused on winning will usually stick with an ECNL club until either 1) they realize that they are a very tiny fish in a vast pond or 2) there is way more to a player than if they are on a winning team. Kick and run soccer gets wins, it doesn’t actually mean the player is technically sound, has a solid skill set, maintains possession under pressure and makes good decisions etc. A coach that spends a decent amount of minutes developing these attributes in their players is the coach I want my D to be with. For right now, that is at a GA club.

[Unregistered]

My D and I are very impressed with the GA product. I know there is a lot of noise about how ECNL is the only way to go, but I have never agreed with that approach. GA has a lot of potential and when you see players coming from ECNL clubs to play at GA clubs... that should tell you something. Parents that are focused on winning will usually stick with an ECNL club until either 1) they realize that they are a very tiny fish in a vast pond or 2) there is way more to a player than if they are on a winning team. Kick and run soccer gets wins, it doesn’t actually mean the player is technically sound, has a solid skill set, maintains possession under pressure and makes good decisions etc. A coach that spends a decent amount of minutes developing these attributes in their players is the coach I want my D to be with. For right now, that is at a GA club.

What coach do you think is teaching the right things at your club? What age group?

[Unregistered]

What coach do you think is teaching the right things at your club? What age group?

Sorry won’t name clubs or age groups on here will just lead to nasty bashing. I would take the advice of the other poster - find the best fit for your kid. Have her attend or watch some training sessions and even maybe game tapes - she should be able to get a reasonable feel if the team / coach is a good fit for her. And again I would say ignore all patches and focus on what is the best fir FOR YOUR KID.

[Unregistered]

Sorry won’t name clubs or age groups on here will just lead to nasty bashing. I would take the advice of the other poster - find the best fit for your kid. Have her attend or watch some training sessions and even maybe game tapes - she should be able to get a reasonable feel if the team / coach is a good fit for her. And again I would say ignore all patches and focus on what is the best fir FOR YOUR KID.

I was the poster you agreed with and some families won't have that perfect fit in a reasonable distance. Don't go nuts with dragging your kid all over; you might have to settle for 2nd best. But at any club what your player puts into it matters just as much. If you want higher level college soccer just going to practices isn't enough. Start treating it like a job because it will be one in college