ECRL vs GAL

[Guest]

The point is that it is hard to convince a D-1 coach you deserve a spot if you aren't one of the 25-30 top players at your club.

With all the information public it’s even harder now to hide on a top team and convince a top D1 coach that you deserve to play there when you’ve accomplished nothing besides wear the uniform on a top team.

For Example: I play on PDA Blue!! Coach: great, but I see you have never started in a league game, why is that?
coach: I see you recorded a total of 15 minutes of play time this season, why is that?
Player: come watch me at showcase I’ll play there!
coach watches: team loses 4-0. Player gets nothing out of it.

Did I get that right?

[Guest]

The point is that it is hard to convince a D-1 coach you deserve a spot if you aren't one of the 25-30 top players at your club.

The truth is if your goal is to play D1 then you must be a starter who plays meaningful minutes. For a D1 coach to get your attention the player has to stand out. Do parents really believe if you do not play meaningful minutes the player is deserving enough to play D1? Think about the tens of thousands of players who play in all four regions. If you really want to see the competition go to an ECNL College showcase and see the thousands of players there to be recruited. Also think about the top international players & players from Canada who want to get recruited as well. The truth is it’s harder than you think and the numbers prove the point.

[Guest]

The point is that it is hard to convince a D-1 coach you deserve a spot if you aren't one of the 25-30 top players at your club.

Assuming you should only be concerned with players at your position, it’s not really top 25-30 players, but more like 6-7 players (in our case, 1st team only had 20 on the roster). And D was primarily a center-mid, so really only top 3 as 1st team only had 2 true center-mid players. But one of those players was a YNT pool player and D knew that she wouldn’t get much time at center mid playing behind this player so it was easier just to stay on the 2nd team. Had she been more interested in D1, we probably would have gone to another club.

[Guest]

With all the information public it’s even harder now to hide on a top team and convince a top D1 coach that you deserve to play there when you’ve accomplished nothing besides wear the uniform on a top team.

For Example: I play on PDA Blue!! Coach: great, but I see you have never started in a league game, why is that?
coach: I see you recorded a total of 15 minutes of play time this season, why is that?
Player: come watch me at showcase I’ll play there!
coach watches: team loses 4-0. Player gets nothing out of it.

Did I get that right?

I wouldn’t put too much into the score for a few reasons.

Firstly when you play league games the team needs to win. The substitution rules are much stricter so the starters get most of the time and build a certain chemistry. At showcases certain clubs put in all players to showcase them and it messes with the chemistry. This will happen to professional teams as well.

You may have girls who know they going to get more time, and have coaches looking at them. So they may not play the system them have been taught. They obviously may be trying to impress the coaches or they may have been told by their parents to try and impress the coaches but in the end the of off script and it effects the team play.

You have teams at showcases who are trying to showcase their clubs and teams trying to showcase their players. So one team plays very hard to win and the other team plays like the two points above and then you get a lopsided win.

[Guest]

With all the information public it’s even harder now to hide on a top team and convince a top D1 coach that you deserve to play there when you’ve accomplished nothing besides wear the uniform on a top team.

For Example: I play on PDA Blue!! Coach: great, but I see you have never started in a league game, why is that?
coach: I see you recorded a total of 15 minutes of play time this season, why is that?
Player: come watch me at showcase I’ll play there!
coach watches: team loses 4-0. Player gets nothing out of it.

Did I get that right?

Score means nothing. What are the details of the game? If I’m a forward on PDA Blue, does losing 4-0 mean anything? Does it mean I can’t score? Or does it mean the defense couldn’t get the ball out of our own end? Does it mean the opposing GK made a huge amount of saves? Or if I’m a defender, maybe our midfield turned the ball over too much? If score mattered in the recruiting process, in this scenario, the entire PDA Blue team would have gotten nothing out of it, not just the bench player. But of course, we know that the final score means very little to a college coach watching a player at a showcase game. In fact, it’s unlikely that a college coach is even going to stay to watch the entire game.

[Guest]

Assuming you should only be concerned with players at your position, it’s not really top 25-30 players, but more like 6-7 players (in our case, 1st team only had 20 on the roster). And D was primarily a center-mid, so really only top 3 as 1st team only had 2 true center-mid players. But one of those players was a YNT pool player and D knew that she wouldn’t get much time at center mid playing behind this player so it was easier just to stay on the 2nd team. Had she been more interested in D1, we probably would have gone to another club.

Which would have been the right move switching teams. If D1 is your goal then players have to play meaningful minutes. If your not a starter on your club team then the player has to reset and think about D3 which is great as well. Players and the family have to be realistic about your skill level and expectations if your aiming for D1. Even if you are a starter if the player is not identified at a college camp/clinic or invited to an invite like ID2 then they should rethink their college list. Just being a starter on your club team does not mean you have D1 talent.

[Guest]

I wouldn’t put too much into the score for a few reasons.

Firstly when you play league games the team needs to win. The substitution rules are much stricter so the starters get most of the time and build a certain chemistry. At showcases certain clubs put in all players to showcase them and it messes with the chemistry. This will happen to professional teams as well.

You may have girls who know they going to get more time, and have coaches looking at them. So they may not play the system them have been taught. They obviously may be trying to impress the coaches or they may have been told by their parents to try and impress the coaches but in the end the of off script and it effects the team play.

You have teams at showcases who are trying to showcase their clubs and teams trying to showcase their players. So one team plays very hard to win and the other team plays like the two points above and then you get a lopsided win.

The thing is by the time showcase rolls around, the college coaches already have all the stats. So why would they look at a kid that hasn't played all season but sits on a high level team? They actually don't - so that's why the showcase is really just for show. The coaches already knows who plays meaningful minutes and makes an impact and they already have been contacted. In the past that information wasn't available so a showcase was more important. Now its a money grab IMO. If you play on a high level team but DO NOT PLAY in league games or more than at least 1/2 a game - move teams. The coach likely doesn't believe in you and you could be a great player but no one would know if you don't play.

[Guest]

Which would have been the right move switching teams. If D1 is your goal then players have to play meaningful minutes. If your not a starter on your club team then the player has to reset and think about D3 which is great as well. Players and the family have to be realistic about your skill level and expectations if your aiming for D1. Even if you are a starter if the player is not identified at a college camp/clinic or invited to an invite like ID2 then they should rethink their college list. Just being a starter on your club team does not mean you have D1 talent.

Yes correct. Also note that some players just get overlooked by their coaches and really are talented but the coaches can get tunnel vision on who is best and may not give the others a chance. Its really all subjective. Sometimes they get it right sometimes they get it wrong. Its how life works.

[Guest]

The thing is by the time showcase rolls around, the college coaches already have all the stats. So why would they look at a kid that hasn't played all season but sits on a high level team? They actually don't - so that's why the showcase is really just for show. The coaches already knows who plays meaningful minutes and makes an impact and they already have been contacted. In the past that information wasn't available so a showcase was more important. Now its a money grab IMO. If you play on a high level team but DO NOT PLAY in league games or more than at least 1/2 a game - move teams. The coach likely doesn't believe in you and you could be a great player but no one would know if you don't play.

Where do they get the stats? Do any youth leagues actually keep stats online for their games? I know ECNL NA and NE don't.

[Guest]

Yes correct. Also note that some players just get overlooked by their coaches and really are talented but the coaches can get tunnel vision on who is best and may not give the others a chance. Its really all subjective. Sometimes they get it right sometimes they get it wrong. Its how life works.

Also if a team is chok full of D1 talent getting PT won't be easy, but thst doesn't mean a lower D1 program isn't an appropriate target for those players. Especially in women's soccer there are a few thousand spots to fill each year so the players have to come from somewhere. And would a coach want to look at a player on a solid team/good reputation club ECNL levelvs some EDP team? Kind of a no brainer

[Guest]

Also if a team is chok full of D1 talent getting PT won't be easy, but thst doesn't mean a lower D1 program isn't an appropriate target for those players. Especially in women's soccer there are a few thousand spots to fill each year so the players have to come from somewhere. And would a coach want to look at a player on a solid team/good reputation club ECNL levelvs some EDP team? Kind of a no brainer

If the kid doesn’t play consistently- the the club means nothing.
No D1 or D3 coach in their right mind would take a player that is on a team but doesn’t play.

[Guest]

Which would have been the right move switching teams. If D1 is your goal then players have to play meaningful minutes. If your not a starter on your club team then the player has to reset and think about D3 which is great as well. Players and the family have to be realistic about your skill level and expectations if your aiming for D1. Even if you are a starter if the player is not identified at a college camp/clinic or invited to an invite like ID2 then they should rethink their college list. Just being a starter on your club team does not mean you have D1 talent.

D1 schools vary in talent. There are top D1 and then there are D1’s that no one has ever heard of.

[Guest]

D1 schools vary in talent. There are top D1 and then there are D1’s that no one has ever heard of.

Huge swings in D1 quality top to bottom, with some overlap in quality with top D2 and D3 programs also.

[Guest]

If the kid doesn’t play consistently- the the club means nothing.
No D1 or D3 coach in their right mind would take a player that is on a team but doesn’t play.

Yet it happens often. As another said the players come from somewhere. Now, whether or not they last in college is another story. Some D1 programs and pretty poor quality, and even on a D1 roster there's variations top to bottom.

[Guest]

Where do they get the stats? Do any youth leagues actually keep stats online for their games? I know ECNL NA and NE don't.

GDA/BDA used to track minutes, although how much coaches looked at that is unknown