ECNL $10,000/yr vs Thorns Academy $500/yr

[Unregistered]

That's exactly why we chose ECNL. Both ECNL and the TA are new to Oregon. ECNL has a proven track record nationally with league/tourneys and is a known quantity nationally. Meanwhile the T.A. will be just a team, looking for somewhere to play. ECNL 'might' be more expensive, but there is a reason for that. The girls will be playing in those known leagues and tourneys and traveling costs money. The final reason was our experience with ODP (run now by that same professional organization), it left a bad taste in our mouths. We understand that the ECNL teams may struggle. They might lose a few games or all of them, but that was the point. To play better teams, to improve, to give my DD a chance to play against some of the teams in the nation. We don't need more local tourney medals, we have lots of those and we don't care if don't win everything because the competition is crap.

But to each their own. This was only the best choice for us.

All I know is that we had a great time last season and enjoyed the competition we played against. Given that the only difference between what we did last year and what we are doing this year is that last year it was with WST and this year it is with the Thorns. We lost our coach regardless, so that isn't a factor as we were going to have a new one regardless. My dd is excited about Tina and she likes Janine. For our money, we get good competition in FWRL (those that are knocking it haven't played in it clearly - Pac NW, NW Nationals, East Side, Shadow...all are extrememly good teams and like us, some of them have beaten quality Cali teams). Practice facilities won't be shared with other teams, so we get lots of space. We get three quality coaches fully assigned to the team. We also get access to the training staff of the Thorns. So, we are getting much of what we got last year plus a lot of things we didn't. Plus the girls get to stay together, which is important to them. I think if CU or FC would have taken out team player for player, we would have gone that route.

[Unregistered]

Which professional organization is that?

Troll alert, don't bite.

[Unregistered]

Kibbwe is not known coaching unless you are talking about known bad coaching. Please list his accomplishments.

Five hours later. Still waiting for the list.

[Unregistered]

CU U17 Coaches

Kibbwe is not known coaching unless you are talking about known bad coaching. Please list his accomplishments.

Simply admit you don't like him rather than attack his coaching abilities. He is a known quantity with a decade of youth coaching experience compared to TE's handful of years and the baggage she is carrying. Melanie Langley is also as qualified as Jannie

From the PSU website you will see more years of youth
Kibwe joins the Viking coaching staff in 2011, after spending the past three seasons as the men’s head coach at Tigard High School. At Tigard he led the Tigers to three straight post season finishes and was named conference coach of the year in 2010.

As a club coach, Kibwe is currently the Technical Director of Southside Soccer Club, where he has been since 2002. His duties include overseeing player development in the competitive and recreation divisions of the club. He also serves as camp director for the very successful summer camp program.

Kibwe holds a USSF C license and a KNVB (Dutch) certificate.

Assistant Coach Melanie Langley
Former Viking player Melanie Langley returned to the Portland State program in 2008 as a member of Head Coach Laura Schott’s coaching staff. Langley joined the Viking staff after spending the previous two seasons as head coach at Linfield College, an NCAA Division III program in McMinnville, Ore.

First as a player and now as a coach, Langley has been a part of the two winningest teams in Portland State history (2002, 2009). In 2009, Langley assisted the Vikings to a 10-6-4 overall record and a 4-1-2 conference record en route to the Big Sky Championship. She helped mentor nine all-conference players including Dolly Enneking and Cris Lewis, respectively named the Big Sky's Offensive and Defensive MVP's.

In her first season coaching at Portland State, Langley helped guide the Vikings to the Big Sky tournament after posting a 4-1-2 conference record, which tied the school high mark for conference wins in a season.

In 2010, the Vikings finished with a 9-10-1 overall record and won a program-record five matches in the Big Sky play. Portland State scored 31 goals during the season, the second-most in school-history. The team only allowed five goals in Big Sky play and finished second in the final standings.

Langley took over the Linfield program prior to the 2006 season. In two years before her arrival, the Wildcats had gone 9-25-6 overall, including 7-20-4 in the Northwest Conference. Langley improved the Linfield program during her two seasons in McMinnville, compiling a 12-23-4 record, including 9-20-3 in the NWC. The Wildcats’ 5-10-1 conference mark in 2007 was Linfield’s most conference wins since 2002.

Langley was also an assistant coach at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City, Ore., during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Her responsibilities included working with the goalkeepers and team fitness. She helped the Cougars to a pair of NWAACC titles and a two-year record of 37-3-3.

The Portland State assistant coach has been a big part of the Portland coaching circuit working closely with local club and ODP programs. Currently Langley coaches with the Tualatin Hills United Soccer Club (THUSC) in her second year with u-17 Sodium also working as an assistant for the Portland Timbers/Thorns Olympic Development Program (ODP) (second year) as an assistant with the 95 and 96 girls teams. Langley has also been an assistant and head coach in the Lake Oswego Club program starting in 2003. In addition, Langley has served as camp director for the Adidas World Headquarter Soccer camp since 2005, and has worked camps at both the University of Oregon and University of Washington. This year, Langley has began working with the Oregon ODP program.

Langley, 30, holds a USSF “C” coaching license.

Langley played three seasons at Portland State from 2001-2003, after playing her freshman season at Mississippi State. She played in 52 career matches for the Vikings, drawing 19 starts, scoring six goals and recording two assists.

[Unregistered]

Playing time

All I know is that we had a great time last season and enjoyed the competition we played against. Given that the only difference between what we did last year and what we are doing this year is that last year it was with WST and this year it is with the Thorns. We lost our coach regardless, so that isn't a factor as we were going to have a new one regardless. My dd is excited about Tina and she likes Janine. For our money, we get good competition in FWRL (those that are knocking it haven't played in it clearly - Pac NW, NW Nationals, East Side, Shadow...all are extrememly good teams and like us, some of them have beaten quality Cali teams). Practice facilities won't be shared with other teams, so we get lots of space. We get three quality coaches fully assigned to the team. We also get access to the training staff of the Thorns. So, we are getting much of what we got last year plus a lot of things we didn't. Plus the girls get to stay together, which is important to them. I think if CU or FC would have taken out team player for player, we would have gone that route.

Last year how did you split playing time between 25 players?

[Unregistered]

All I know is that we had a great time last season and enjoyed the competition we played against. Given that the only difference between what we did last year and what we are doing this year is that last year it was with WST and this year it is with the Thorns. We lost our coach regardless, so that isn't a factor as we were going to have a new one regardless. My dd is excited about Tina and she likes Janine. For our money, we get good competition in FWRL (those that are knocking it haven't played in it clearly - Pac NW, NW Nationals, East Side, Shadow...all are extrememly good teams and like us, some of them have beaten quality Cali teams). Practice facilities won't be shared with other teams, so we get lots of space. We get three quality coaches fully assigned to the team. We also get access to the training staff of the Thorns. So, we are getting much of what we got last year plus a lot of things we didn't. Plus the girls get to stay together, which is important to them. I think if CU or FC would have taken out team player for player, we would have gone that route.

Are Tina and Janine really going to give up all of their other coaching jobs (clubs, schools, ODP, etc.)??

[Unregistered]

No experience ='s no proof

I can see that argument.....pick between two non-profits to run ECNL teams that will do nothing more than what is already happening .... You will find the same number of players going to the same schools.

Or.....

Pay considerably less to play in the academy and end up at the same schools that all the girls are already going to.

Or....play club and have to work just a little bit harder to get to the schools that all of the girls are going to already.....

All three lead to the same place it's just a matter of how much work your DD wants to do to make it happen.

I agree 100% that the previous club programs produced mostly local results with average college success rates. I agree that the Academy will not "add" much value to what the traveling teams were already doing except the subsidy that the Timbers are kicking in (golf clap).

Because only handful of Oregon girls have participated in ECNL prior to gaining their offers I would not expect you to understand the error in your thinking. I'm confident even the girls who participated in ECNL after getting offers will tell you it made them better prepared for the college game than anything other than their limited ODP experience.

For the younger girls who started without offers I know for a fact that their game improved more than if they would have played on the local traveling teams. I saw three improve take their games to levels beyond any played locally and they have been rewarded with offers. I don't know all the offer details but of the ones I do I know the offers are from top programs and for very generous percentages and not all were from local schools.

Having watched these girls play for years I'm skeptical if they would have received the same offers without their ECNL experience & exposure. I know you will dismiss this and only more recruiting cycles will prove my theory but from conversations with other ECNL parents I'm confident that it will hold true to form.

In summary girls taking on the challenge of playing the best will get better and in that process will get noticed for that improvement by coaches from all over the country which will give them more options and chances to find that academic match.

You are very fond of projecting things without any hard data. I have the hard data on what the ECNL did for my DD and it was a smashing success.

[Unregistered]

I agree 100% that the previous club programs produced mostly local results with average college success rates. I agree that the Academy will not "add" much value to what the traveling teams were already doing except the subsidy that the Timbers are kicking in (golf clap).

Because only handful of Oregon girls have participated in ECNL prior to gaining their offers I would not expect you to understand the error in your thinking. I'm confident even the girls who participated in ECNL after getting offers will tell you it made them better prepared for the college game than anything other than their limited ODP experience.

For the younger girls who started without offers I know for a fact that their game improved more than if they would have played on the local traveling teams. I saw three improve take their games to levels beyond any played locally and they have been rewarded with offers. I don't know all the offer details but of the ones I do I know the offers are from top programs and for very generous percentages and not all were from local schools.

Having watched these girls play for years I'm skeptical if they would have received the same offers without their ECNL experience & exposure. I know you will dismiss this and only more recruiting cycles will prove my theory but from conversations with other ECNL parents I'm confident that it will hold true to form.

In summary girls taking on the challenge of playing the best will get better and in that process will get noticed for that improvement by coaches from all over the country which will give them more options and chances to find that academic match.

You are very fond of projecting things without any hard data. I have the hard data on what the ECNL did for my DD and it was a smashing success.

You are so blind it's funny. Just because real so cal ecnl is a great team and they play ecnl and will and ALWAYS had many college players from their club ecnl or not does NOT mean a diluted oregon club will be anything like them and to think so makes you one stupid person.

I wonder what Idaho ecnl teams and families think scoring 5 goals all season and giving up 50.
Good development? Wonder if they were as stupid as you and thinktp they are the next Arsenal right?

I can almost bet you have zero clue about anything beyond your only kid and have zero clue about recruiting yet you talk like a parent stalking little girls thinking you are a coach.

But by all means keep your carsales pitch. Maybe you'll get people to carpool with you. But you should do yourself a favor and stop talking about anything beyond your limited understanding so people don't come back to you after it's not what you said.

That being said, I'm sure you don't care as you need everyone else's kid to make yours acceptable.

[Unregistered]

Ecnl here in oregon is equivalent to buying lotto tickets on the idea you will break even once you MAYBE get an offer.

If someone was to tell you that 80% of all college offers are below 5k a year, there are still some stupid people out there that would spend 35k over 4 years thinking because crossfire had good players, playing in their league makes your kid as good.

It's laughable. If you've got the money, buy the tickets. If you don't or are smart...put the money into a college tuition fund and realize if your kid is going to play college soccer it's not the league they play in but the time they put in.

[Unregistered]

Your hate is a character flaw

You are so blind it's funny. Just because real so cal ecnl is a great team and they play ecnl and will and ALWAYS had many college players from their club ecnl or not does NOT mean a diluted oregon club will be anything like them and to think so makes you one stupid person.

I wonder what Idaho ecnl teams and families think scoring 5 goals all season and giving up 50.
Good development? Wonder if they were as stupid as you and thinktp they are the next Arsenal right?

I can almost bet you have zero clue about anything beyond your only kid and have zero clue about recruiting yet you talk like a parent stalking little girls thinking you are a coach.

But by all means keep your carsales pitch. Maybe you'll get people to carpool with you. But you should do yourself a favor and stop talking about anything beyond your limited understanding so people don't come back to you after it's not what you said.

That being said, I'm sure you don't care as you need everyone else's kid to make yours acceptable.

Responding with personal attacks is all you ever have. You never address the points made without launching to a personal or unrelated attack.

My experience with recruiting is just mine and about 10 other families over the past three years so yes it is limited. The fact that several were ECNL players continues to escape you or maybe you just can't handle the truth.

Ignore the facts, ignore the experience of parents and players and by all means continue to make sh*t up if that's what it takes to make you feel better.

[Unregistered]

You should have taken more math classes

Ecnl here in oregon is equivalent to buying lotto tickets on the idea you will break even once you MAYBE get an offer.

If someone was to tell you that 80% of all college offers are below 5k a year, there are still some stupid people out there that would spend 35k over 4 years thinking because crossfire had good players, playing in their league makes your kid as good.

It's laughable. If you've got the money, buy the tickets. If you don't or are smart...put the money into a college tuition fund and realize if your kid is going to play college soccer it's not the league they play in but the time they put in.

If a player plays the full four years the average % for a contributing player will work out to roughly 50% so at a public school like OSU the total value would be $40,000,

You also forget that club soccer is not free and traveling teams regularly spend $5,000 per year so over the same 5 years a player will spend $38,000 for ECNL they will spend $20-25,000 for Club soccer so we should not be talking about a total but a DIFFERENCE of $18,000. Pointing that out does not make a person a salesman but a realist.

Good luck to your DD keeping that scholarship having played in the bush league against the sisters of the poor soccer club. I bet that will really prepare her for D1 or D2 soccer S/.

[Unregistered]

Are Tina and Janine really going to give up all of their other coaching jobs (clubs, schools, ODP, etc.)??

Troll alert

[Unregistered]

Simply admit you don't like him rather than attack his coaching abilities. He is a known quantity with a decade of youth coaching experience compared to TE's handful of years and the baggage she is carrying. Melanie Langley is also as qualified as Jannie

From the PSU website you will see more years of youth
Kibwe joins the Viking coaching staff in 2011, after spending the past three seasons as the men’s head coach at Tigard High School. At Tigard he led the Tigers to three straight post season finishes and was named conference coach of the year in 2010.

As a club coach, Kibwe is currently the Technical Director of Southside Soccer Club, where he has been since 2002. His duties include overseeing player development in the competitive and recreation divisions of the club. He also serves as camp director for the very successful summer camp program.

Kibwe holds a USSF C license and a KNVB (Dutch) certificate.

Assistant Coach Melanie Langley
Former Viking player Melanie Langley returned to the Portland State program in 2008 as a member of Head Coach Laura Schott’s coaching staff. Langley joined the Viking staff after spending the previous two seasons as head coach at Linfield College, an NCAA Division III program in McMinnville, Ore.

First as a player and now as a coach, Langley has been a part of the two winningest teams in Portland State history (2002, 2009). In 2009, Langley assisted the Vikings to a 10-6-4 overall record and a 4-1-2 conference record en route to the Big Sky Championship. She helped mentor nine all-conference players including Dolly Enneking and Cris Lewis, respectively named the Big Sky's Offensive and Defensive MVP's.

In her first season coaching at Portland State, Langley helped guide the Vikings to the Big Sky tournament after posting a 4-1-2 conference record, which tied the school high mark for conference wins in a season.

In 2010, the Vikings finished with a 9-10-1 overall record and won a program-record five matches in the Big Sky play. Portland State scored 31 goals during the season, the second-most in school-history. The team only allowed five goals in Big Sky play and finished second in the final standings.

Langley took over the Linfield program prior to the 2006 season. In two years before her arrival, the Wildcats had gone 9-25-6 overall, including 7-20-4 in the Northwest Conference. Langley improved the Linfield program during her two seasons in McMinnville, compiling a 12-23-4 record, including 9-20-3 in the NWC. The Wildcats’ 5-10-1 conference mark in 2007 was Linfield’s most conference wins since 2002.

Langley was also an assistant coach at Clackamas Community College in Oregon City, Ore., during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Her responsibilities included working with the goalkeepers and team fitness. She helped the Cougars to a pair of NWAACC titles and a two-year record of 37-3-3.

The Portland State assistant coach has been a big part of the Portland coaching circuit working closely with local club and ODP programs. Currently Langley coaches with the Tualatin Hills United Soccer Club (THUSC) in her second year with u-17 Sodium also working as an assistant for the Portland Timbers/Thorns Olympic Development Program (ODP) (second year) as an assistant with the 95 and 96 girls teams. Langley has also been an assistant and head coach in the Lake Oswego Club program starting in 2003. In addition, Langley has served as camp director for the Adidas World Headquarter Soccer camp since 2005, and has worked camps at both the University of Oregon and University of Washington. This year, Langley has began working with the Oregon ODP program.

Langley, 30, holds a USSF “C” coaching license.

Langley played three seasons at Portland State from 2001-2003, after playing her freshman season at Mississippi State. She played in 52 career matches for the Vikings, drawing 19 starts, scoring six goals and recording two assists.

Have fun with that. Hope it's with 10,000 a year

[Unregistered]

You don't know much

Ecnl here in oregon is equivalent to buying lotto tickets on the idea you will break even once you MAYBE get an offer.

If someone was to tell you that 80% of all college offers are below 5k a year, there are still some stupid people out there that would spend 35k over 4 years thinking because crossfire had good players, playing in their league makes your kid as good.

It's laughable. If you've got the money, buy the tickets. If you don't or are smart...put the money into a college tuition fund and realize if your kid is going to play college soccer it's not the league they play in but the time they put in.

"80% of all college offers are below 5K a year" - clearly you don't know what you are talking about. D-1 women's soccer has 14 full scholarships a year. They can be divided into portions like 28 50% scholarships. A very good college level player may get 20% of the cost of attendance the first year. As they prove themselves it will go up, 40% sophomore year, 60% junior, and 80% their senior year. That will happen if they continue to improve and help the team, keep their grades up, practice well and keep a good attitude. What is not evident is another $1000 to $2500 per year in extras that otherwise would cost the student. Even you can calculate that 20% + 40% + 60% + 80% = 200%, or 50% COA average for four years plus the extras. An excellent player will get more. By the way, 20% COA at an in-state D-1 is approximately $5000 plus the extras. A whole lot more at a private college. But parents should never count on an athletic scholarship. Bodies sometimes grow in non-beneficial ways. Grades may drop. Other players may bypass your DK. Spend the money if you truly have it, but not the college fund in hopes of getting money from soccer.

[Unregistered]

New dollar amount

If a player plays the full four years the average % for a contributing player will work out to roughly 50% so at a public school like OSU the total value would be $40,000,

You also forget that club soccer is not free and traveling teams regularly spend $5,000 per year so over the same 5 years a player will spend $38,000 for ECNL they will spend $20-25,000 for Club soccer so we should not be talking about a total but a DIFFERENCE of $18,000. Pointing that out does not make a person a salesman but a realist.

Good luck to your DD keeping that scholarship having played in the bush league against the sisters of the poor soccer club. I bet that will really prepare her for D1 or D2 soccer S/.

A public school like OSU has a COA of just under $25,000. If costs didn't increase, (dreams only), that would be $50,000 plus players receive other benefits that would otherwise cost them $1000 - $2000 per year.