GA vs ECNL

[Unregistered]

I totally disagree. Futsal improves speed of play, pace, passing, attacking and all in a high pace setting. It's that too many coaches think blasting the ball up field every play to beat the high press is good soccer. It only works at a top club because they have top athletes with a good skill set. It's not good soccer or good for development to play that way though.

I agree it improves speed of play and pace but there are some serious issues that arise when kids train at it exclusively for 3-4 months in winter. The low bounce ball and its forgiving nature, the different rules, the tendency to pass/ receive front footed. My kid played futsal almost exclusively for years and as much as it helped her confidence with the ball it did also result in some tendencies that had to be corrected. Overall, i think its great as a supplement and its true that in winter, its basically 75% ofwhat can be done so it is what it is. Just saying that the people who live in SoCal can do it for fun while never having to stop playing outside for full field training.

[Unregistered]

I agree it improves speed of play and pace but there are some serious issues that arise when kids train at it exclusively for 3-4 months in winter. The low bounce ball and its forgiving nature, the different rules, the tendency to pass/ receive front footed. My kid played futsal almost exclusively for years and as much as it helped her confidence with the ball it did also result in some tendencies that had to be corrected. Overall, i think its great as a supplement and its true that in winter, its basically 75% ofwhat can be done so it is what it is. Just saying that the people who live in SoCal can do it for fun while never having to stop playing outside for full field training.

Understood. Why don't more coaches have technical sessions along with futsal in the winter? It seems it would offset the issues you bring up. It is an easy fix. This is why I go back to the lack of development at the underlying cause in this area

[Unregistered]

I think we in the NE have been sold a bill of goods that futsal training is somehow a replacement for soccer, which is really convenient for the clubs in winter because they can charge $300 bucks for their in house futsal programs. Reality is futsal is a different game and while its great for u littles as a supplement, a significant portion of futsal training does more harm than good at U12+ especially for players who are concentrating on the outdoor game, IMO.

Not all indoor soccer is futsal.

[Unregistered]

Not all indoor soccer is futsal.

Futsal is all about one touch passing, one touch shooting and quick passing. Everything that soccer should be about and is lacking with 99% of those that play soccer. Any parent who thinks it’s a waste or unimportant just proves my point that you have no clue about soccer and what proper soccer is me should be taught. Dribbling and passing in close spaces to create passing lanes is the essence of proper soccer and players in the NE have no concept about putting passes together. Growing up we were not allowed to bring the ball passed midfield unless we had 3 passes starting from the goalie. I watch these games today and you don’t see players capable to doing that and parents don’t care or understand the game. Futsal is a great learning tool.

[Unregistered]

Futsal is all about one touch passing, one touch shooting and quick passing. Everything that soccer should be about and is lacking with 99% of those that play soccer. Any parent who thinks it’s a waste or unimportant just proves my point that you have no clue about soccer and what proper soccer is me should be taught. Dribbling and passing in close spaces to create passing lanes is the essence of proper soccer and players in the NE have no concept about putting passes together. Growing up we were not allowed to bring the ball passed midfield unless we had 3 passes starting from the goalie. I watch these games today and you don’t see players capable to doing that and parents don’t care or understand the game. Futsal is a great learning tool.

Totally agree.

[Unregistered]

I think we in the NE have been sold a bill of goods that futsal training is somehow a replacement for soccer, which is really convenient for the clubs in winter because they can charge $300 bucks for their in house futsal programs. Reality is futsal is a different game and while its great for u littles as a supplement, a significant portion of futsal training does more harm than good at U12+ especially for players who are concentrating on the outdoor game, IMO.

Most futsal programs in the NE are horse ****. Practice 1 or 2 times a week in winter and play in house games or against **** township teams that have even less of a clue.

Real futsal ie taught by someone who actually know futsal and not some club rep trying to make extra money in winter, is an excellent way to improve speed of play and ball handling skills.

[Unregistered]

I agree it improves speed of play and pace but there are some serious issues that arise when kids train at it exclusively for 3-4 months in winter. The low bounce ball and its forgiving nature, the different rules, the tendency to pass/ receive front footed. My kid played futsal almost exclusively for years and as much as it helped her confidence with the ball it did also result in some tendencies that had to be corrected. Overall, i think its great as a supplement and its true that in winter, its basically 75% ofwhat can be done so it is what it is. Just saying that the people who live in SoCal can do it for fun while never having to stop playing outside for full field training.

Your kid played it almost exclusively for years and needed some tendencies corrected. Well duh, it's like moving from cross country running to sprinter, same thing kinda but not really. I'll bet your kid, once adapted to outdoor play, is far better then their peers.

Also, no one ever said you can't receive a ball front footed in outdoor. Mine does all the time, heel down - toe up and roll the ball to keep it moving vs just dead balling like 99% of the rest of the kids.

[Unregistered]

Futsal is all about one touch passing, one touch shooting and quick passing. Everything that soccer should be about and is lacking with 99% of those that play soccer. Any parent who thinks it’s a waste or unimportant just proves my point that you have no clue about soccer and what proper soccer is me should be taught. Dribbling and passing in close spaces to create passing lanes is the essence of proper soccer and players in the NE have no concept about putting passes together. Growing up we were not allowed to bring the ball passed midfield unless we had 3 passes starting from the goalie. I watch these games today and you don’t see players capable to doing that and parents don’t care or understand the game. Futsal is a great learning tool.

Yes, but not all indoor soccer is futsal.

[Unregistered]

Yes, but not all indoor soccer is futsal.

We were discussing Futsal, that’s all and any parent who thinks it’s either a waste of time or a money grab has no idea what soccer is about. Just another wannabe parent who thinks they understand soccer. Just a negative person.

[Unregistered]

We were discussing Futsal, that’s all and any parent who thinks it’s either a waste of time or a money grab has no idea what soccer is about. Just another wannabe parent who thinks they understand soccer. Just a negative person.

Someone mentioned that the top clubs train indoor in the winter, and the response was immediately about futsal. Just pointing out that not all of the indoor training is futsal.

My D has never played futsal. She has played fuzzy-ball, which is a whole different animal that I'll say helped her improve overall as a player.

[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.

This is not true as this piece was put together by a parent who does not understand sports and recruitment. Both the Ecnl and GA this past year have produced a large number of D1 and D2 NLI’s and showcase numbers for college attendance is very high in both leagues.

[Unregistered]

This is not true as this piece was put together by a parent who does not understand sports and recruitment. Both the Ecnl and GA this past year have produced a large number of D1 and D2 NLI’s and showcase numbers for college attendance is very high in both leagues.

I agree this is a typical parent response of a person who doesn’t understand the process. GA 2021 NLI’s for D1 & D2 schools for teams is over 85%.

[Unregistered]

I agree this is a typical parent response of a person who doesn’t understand the process. GA 2021 NLI’s for D1 & D2 schools for teams is over 85%.

2021s were mostly recruited under GDA and were stuck after the league's demise, largely unable to move so late + Covid. GAL didn't help get them recruited, GDA did.

Check your stats years from now and not only will D1 spots be fewer but also for weaker programs.

[Unregistered]

This is not true as this piece was put together by a parent who does not understand sports and recruitment. Both the Ecnl and GA this past year have produced a large number of D1 and D2 NLI’s and showcase numbers for college attendance is very high in both leagues.

- Program quality matters, but yeah, Iona!
- Coaches may show up, but does that eventually lead to offers?

[Unregistered]

Oh yea baby!!! Hahaha!! What do you think?

- Program quality matters, but yeah, Iona!
- Coaches may show up, but does that eventually lead to offers?