Ecnl

[Unregistered]

Who is talking wet dreams? There is no fact about ECNL coming to Oregon. You can hear the excitement

"I entered this contest last year, and the year before, and they didn't choose me either time, so I entered again and I KNOW they will choose me this time...they just have to...(I hope)"

Right now OPL and OYSA have pretty much split on gender lines (not totally, but close). If two of the large OPL clubs get ECNL that will not impact the boys side of the game at all. There will be a loud sucking noise out of OPL however as those two clubs draw all the dreamers in, and potentially bankrupt the smaller clubs below them.

This is particularly unfortunate because at a given age group only two teams will actually play ECNL, the rest of the teams will need competition, which will be difficult as the competitive landscape will have been sucked dry.

Finally I feel bad for my friends who have players at these top level teams. I know several families where they have put off saving for retirement or college, because of the thousands of dollars it costs to travel with THUSC (for a full year of travel and play I have heard numbers between $6,000-$10,000) with ECNL, these costs will only go up. There will be parents who have to decide between bankruptcy or no soccer.

FC Portland had a failed attempt at running an academy several years back, there price of entry was $10,000 per player, I am sure there were other reasons that experiment didn't work, but one of the biggest was it cost too much.

The financial piece is key as you point out. That is why sponsorships are a big part of running a successful Ecnl club. Look no further than Crossfire WA. They offset a lot of costs via lucrative sponsorship deals and club night auctions and events.

I know Thusc has tried for several years or get in but is this the first time 3 clubs from Portland have all tried at the same time?

[Unregistered]

How many people agree with some of the opinions in this post? I think that it raises some interesting points.

The coaching pay in OR is awful compared to CA and WA. Yet I constantly hear parents demanding more from coaches. Is it a case of you get what you pay for?

Also there is no doubt that there are too many clubs in and around Portland. Some charge a lot of money and provide very average coaching. The level of coaching and quality of soccer for the players would undoubtedly improve if there was a consolidation of the best coaches at fewer clubs.

I think the best way to get here has actually been talked about before, and that is to define geographical service areas. If you just look at west Portland/Beaverton there must be near a total of 10 clubs.

If instead you said that clubs couldn't be within a certain distance of each other, with exceptions made based on population. Perhaps something like define a service area as a 10 mile radius or 100,000 of total population.

This would spread the clubs out, and you could still allow cross try outs etc... But at least you wouldn't have so many clubs in such a small area.

[Unregistered]

There will certainly be higher costs associated with a regional and national league. There is lot more travel involved. Those who are unable to afford ECNL will either earn scholarships or not play ECNL and stay with the local programs that exist today.

ECNL has committed to coming to Portland. It is just wishful thinking by TA and the naysayers that this isn't happening.

Yes, FC Portland failed once. Who's to say they would not fail again. This is one of the reasons they are not a front runner for getting in.

I hate to break it to you, but most TA folks couldn't care less about ECNL. As pointed out above the lines are more or less drawn on a gender basis, OYSA and the TA will move right along without a concern about ECNL.

It is nice that you finally reveal that this whole vision is a "rich wanting to spend more to show off wealth" situation, pity to the people who can't afford ECNL. Right there is probably your biggest barrier to getting selected, because no league wants to bring in a bunch of elitists.

So if ECNL comes...so what, but if I was a gambler I would predict OYSA and OPL will reunite before ECNL steps foot in Oregon...

[Unregistered]

There is far too much dilution of the player and coaching talent pool in Portland. It affects player development and creates a very average brand of soccer. There is the occasional exception where you get a depth of talent on one team. Shockingly these teams actually do well out of state against other good teams from WA, CA etc

[Unregistered]

The financial piece is key as you point out. That is why sponsorships are a big part of running a successful Ecnl club. Look no further than Crossfire WA. They offset a lot of costs via lucrative sponsorship deals and club night auctions and events.

I know Thusc has tried for several years or get in but is this the first time 3 clubs from Portland have all tried at the same time?

Just a side note question. At a recent ECNL event I attended, I couldn't immediately tell what many of the teams were because of the sponsorship(s). In most cases, there was absolutely no reference to the club. There were some that had both (club and sponsorship names). How common is this in Oregon?

[Unregistered]

I hate to break it to you, but most TA folks couldn't care less about ECNL. As pointed out above the lines are more or less drawn on a gender basis, OYSA and the TA will move right along without a concern about ECNL.

It is nice that you finally reveal that this whole vision is a "rich wanting to spend more to show off wealth" situation, pity to the people who can't afford ECNL. Right there is probably your biggest barrier to getting selected, because no league wants to bring in a bunch of elitists.

So if ECNL comes...so what, but if I was a gambler I would predict OYSA and OPL will reunite before ECNL steps foot in Oregon...

It is nice that you finally reveal that the TA does not care about the girls side at all and is only in it for the money and that there won't be any of that left for them when some of the OPL clubs get ECNL.

Since you admit that you and TA affiliates don't care about girls and ECNL you should leave this thread now, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[Unregistered]

It is nice that you finally reveal that the TA does not care about the girls side at all and is only in it for the money and that there won't be any of that left for them when some of the OPL clubs get ECNL.

Since you admit that you and TA affiliates don't care about girls and ECNL you should leave this thread now, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

This should be clear to anyone who has paid attention to the TA and founding clubs.

[Unregistered]

This should be clear to anyone who has paid attention to the TA and founding clubs.

And yet there are more quality girls teams playing at OYSA then in the OPL. It's just not as lobsided as the boys side.

[Slow Xavi]

I know a number of coaches inside the TA that care deeply about the girls game. Do not think there would be any talk about a Thorns Academy if not for the push from TA coaches to have some gender parity.

Not sure if all of the collective decisions made by TA will be best for the girls side of things (in the Portland Metro area in particular, wonder if the split is a bigger risk to to TA girls' teams than any other impacted group), but does not mean there is not a number of folks within those organizations that are working hard on the girls' side of things.

[Unregistered]

And yet there are more quality girls teams playing at OYSA then in the OPL. It's just not as lobsided as the boys side.

You keep on thinking that.

[Unregistered]

There will certainly be higher costs associated with a regional and national league. There is lot more travel involved. Those who are unable to afford ECNL will either earn scholarships or not play ECNL and stay with the local programs that exist today.

ECNL has committed to coming to Portland. It is just wishful thinking by TA and the naysayers that this isn't happening.

Yes, FC Portland failed once. Who's to say they would not fail again. This is one of the reasons they are not a front runner for getting in.

Word I heard from a very reliable source says that FCP was told last year that they were "in" if and when they could find a travelling partner. Maybe that partner is now Crossfire?

[Unregistered]

My bet is it is THUSC!!!

[Unregistered]

Word I heard from a very reliable source says that FCP was told last year that they were "in" if and when they could find a travelling partner. Maybe that partner is now Crossfire?

It's amazing how many "reliable sources" there are out there that have heard different things!

[Unregistered]

It is nice that you finally reveal that the TA does not care about the girls side at all and is only in it for the money and that there won't be any of that left for them when some of the OPL clubs get ECNL.

Since you admit that you and TA affiliates don't care about girls and ECNL you should leave this thread now, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

OK settle down…I didn't reveal anything, I am one individual speaking my opinion only…I didn't say that TA doesn't care about girls, I said they don't care about ECNL. Probably mostly from a standpoint that ECNL is still unlikely to happen.

Most folks are focused on the teams their kids pay for, and the specific things affecting their kids…ECNL is far from their minds.

Hopefully you are intelligent enough not to have all who disagree with you "leave this thread" . That would probably lead to you sitting talking to yourself.

[Unregistered]

It's amazing how many "reliable sources" there are out there that have heard different things!

No kidding. Especially considering the only reason they applied is because THUSC asked them to so they had a travel partner. FC was too unorganized.