ECNL Finals

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How many coaches are you friends with? How many offers did your kids get? Thought so.

You win the prize for the stupid comment of the day

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Apparently you've never heard of showcase tournaments. Lots of non ECNL girls have received offers without ever setting a foot on an ECNL pitch. And, hate to tell you this, lots of ECNL girls will go offerless. Yes, it's true. Trust me, there are some lousy players out there. I've seen them. A good player is a good player, regardless of the patch. And vice versa.

Statistics say differently, more than 90% of ECNL players play college soccer and more than 90% of the Big 5 conferences rosters include ECNL player.

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You win the prize for the stupid comment of the day

You could say that about all the posts on this chat room.

[Unregistered]

Apparently you've never heard of showcase tournaments. Lots of non ECNL girls have received offers without ever setting a foot on an ECNL pitch. And, hate to tell you this, lots of ECNL girls will go offerless. Yes, it's true. Trust me, there are some lousy players out there. I've seen them. A good player is a good player, regardless of the patch. And vice versa.

ECNL is for rich kids. Not necessarily talented kids.

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You win the prize for the stupid comment of the day

You win the prize for stupid, uninformed, clueless poster of the decade award.

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What does it mean if my Daughter plays for a club that joins the ENCL?

ECNL is for rich kids. Not necessarily talented kids.

Aspirations to play college soccer and hopes of a scholarship are apt to influence many decisions young players and their parents make. We've relayed some of the common questions we've heard from parents to Lisa Lavelle, president of The Sport Source, which has spent more than 20 years in college counseling for student-athletes.

By Lisa Lavelle

My daughter got invited to play for an ECNL team. It's very expensive and they practice four times a week, requiring a significant commute. Some of the players from that club have gotten college scholarships, which makes it sound like the financial investment may pay off. But what if she's just a roster-filler? She's thrilled that she got asked and wants to make the move. Besides the thousands of dollars we'd be spending, I'm concerned how the time commitment might affect her homework. How do I make this call?

Great question, let’s examine a few factors when making this decision. First let’s look at cost. It is estimated the average cost to participate in ECNL is about $8,000 to $10,000 annually when all the related expenses are added up.

When it comes to scholarship allocation, money is money and when it comes to college scholarships a student-athlete's grades can equal big bucks and remove a barrier to entry when a coach has little to no money left in the budget.

The fact is, collegiate soccer is a non-revenue sport, and when it comes to women’s soccer at the collegiate level, the Division I women's programs that are “fully funded” have 14 scholarships that are allocated over four years -- often with a roster with 23-32 players.

So if it’s about a scholarship, athletically speaking not everyone will get a “full-ride” and in many cases little to no athletic money. Which brings me back to cost -- at $10K per year and your child plays ECNL for let’s say four years -- you would have spent $40K

If you live in California and your daughter wants to attend UCLA -- the new student mandatory fee for the first year is $15,131 -- based on ECNL dues and fees paid, you could have covered nearly three years of college tuition with the same amount of money spent on playing ECNL.

ECNL rules say the roster can have a maximum of 30 players -- and realistically, it all comes down to money and players -- so your instinct could be correct. Club teams at any level can’t guarantee playing time either. Remember, if she is really good, and a game-changer, college coaches are looking for the brightest and best players for their roster, especially if they can add value, depth and dimension to their college team.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to sports, and what one coach sees as a great player, another coach might not.

As an example, in Dallas, there was young girl who tried out for an ECNL team, was told she was not good enough -- so she continued to play for her high school and club team. When National Signing Day came around, she signed with Davidson. While the ECNL coach said she was not good enough for his youth team -- the college coach said she was great for his collegiate program. Bottom line, college coaches will be the final judge on who they recruit, and pick student-athletes they think are right for their program.

As you consider the options for your daughter, you need to be aware that there is a significant time commitment to playing ECNL, including travel and training, along with various tournaments that are out-of-town. All of this adds up and based on the commitment required, it may require your daughter to be out of school for one or more days. These are un-excused absence days, and depending on the school, your child might be required to attend summer school to maintain her academic and attendance requirements.

Take for example, Royal High School in California, its policy states “Teachers may fail any student who accrues a total of seven (7) unexcused absences in any one semester.” Teachers are not required to provide make-up work or allow students to take tests missed because of absences which have been designated as "unexcused" or "truant."

Each state and school has their own policy, so before you make your decision to pursue ECNL or any sports program that would require your child to miss school due to travel and events, parents should speak with the school counselor and find out what if any ramifications will apply if their child has excessive absences due to ECNL or other sporting events.

Parents should also review the club policy regarding travel, tournaments and make sure the club understands excessive absences due to sports participation outside of their school could cause their child issues along the way. When it comes to NCAA Division I or II sports, students must meet both academic and athletic eligibility.

[Unregistered]

ECNL is for rich kids. Not necessarily talented kids.

Well there are no talented HS age girls playing soccer at Timbers clubs so they must all be at the ECNL clubs already.

[Unregistered]

Aspirations to play college soccer and hopes of a scholarship are apt to influence many decisions young players and their parents make. We've relayed some of the common questions we've heard from parents to Lisa Lavelle, president of The Sport Source, which has spent more than 20 years in college counseling for student-athletes.

By Lisa Lavelle

My daughter got invited to play for an ECNL team. It's very expensive and they practice four times a week, requiring a significant commute. Some of the players from that club have gotten college scholarships, which makes it sound like the financial investment may pay off. But what if she's just a roster-filler? She's thrilled that she got asked and wants to make the move. Besides the thousands of dollars we'd be spending, I'm concerned how the time commitment might affect her homework. How do I make this call?

Great question, let’s examine a few factors when making this decision. First let’s look at cost. It is estimated the average cost to participate in ECNL is about $8,000 to $10,000 annually when all the related expenses are added up.

When it comes to scholarship allocation, money is money and when it comes to college scholarships a student-athlete's grades can equal big bucks and remove a barrier to entry when a coach has little to no money left in the budget.

The fact is, collegiate soccer is a non-revenue sport, and when it comes to women’s soccer at the collegiate level, the Division I women's programs that are “fully funded” have 14 scholarships that are allocated over four years -- often with a roster with 23-32 players.

So if it’s about a scholarship, athletically speaking not everyone will get a “full-ride” and in many cases little to no athletic money. Which brings me back to cost -- at $10K per year and your child plays ECNL for let’s say four years -- you would have spent $40K

If you live in California and your daughter wants to attend UCLA -- the new student mandatory fee for the first year is $15,131 -- based on ECNL dues and fees paid, you could have covered nearly three years of college tuition with the same amount of money spent on playing ECNL.

ECNL rules say the roster can have a maximum of 30 players -- and realistically, it all comes down to money and players -- so your instinct could be correct. Club teams at any level can’t guarantee playing time either. Remember, if she is really good, and a game-changer, college coaches are looking for the brightest and best players for their roster, especially if they can add value, depth and dimension to their college team.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder when it comes to sports, and what one coach sees as a great player, another coach might not.

As an example, in Dallas, there was young girl who tried out for an ECNL team, was told she was not good enough -- so she continued to play for her high school and club team. When National Signing Day came around, she signed with Davidson. While the ECNL coach said she was not good enough for his youth team -- the college coach said she was great for his collegiate program. Bottom line, college coaches will be the final judge on who they recruit, and pick student-athletes they think are right for their program.

As you consider the options for your daughter, you need to be aware that there is a significant time commitment to playing ECNL, including travel and training, along with various tournaments that are out-of-town. All of this adds up and based on the commitment required, it may require your daughter to be out of school for one or more days. These are un-excused absence days, and depending on the school, your child might be required to attend summer school to maintain her academic and attendance requirements.

Take for example, Royal High School in California, its policy states “Teachers may fail any student who accrues a total of seven (7) unexcused absences in any one semester.” Teachers are not required to provide make-up work or allow students to take tests missed because of absences which have been designated as "unexcused" or "truant."

Each state and school has their own policy, so before you make your decision to pursue ECNL or any sports program that would require your child to miss school due to travel and events, parents should speak with the school counselor and find out what if any ramifications will apply if their child has excessive absences due to ECNL or other sporting events.

Parents should also review the club policy regarding travel, tournaments and make sure the club understands excessive absences due to sports participation outside of their school could cause their child issues along the way. When it comes to NCAA Division I or II sports, students must meet both academic and athletic eligibility.

Miss school? Just a cost of attendence. Hey, college is for playing sports, not for getting an education. It's better that the players learn this early in club.

$8-10K a year, meh. Childs play for some parents who have inhereted money.

You mean kids get scholarships who don't play ECNL? Please keep that between us, we don't want it getting out.

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You could say that about all the posts on this chat room.

True, but that one was the top of the day.

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You win the prize for stupid, uninformed, clueless poster of the decade award.

Because I am not friends with a coach or my dd does not have any offers? That was such a stupid comment.

I guess if you are the soccer expert because you go around sniffing your dd coach's ass?

[Unregistered]

Because I am not friends with a coach or my dd does not have any offers? That was such a stupid comment.

I guess if you are the soccer expert because you go around sniffing your dd coach's ass?

Jealous much?

[Unregistered]

Jealous much?

Totally!

[Unregistered]

ECNL is for rich kids. Not necessarily talented kids.

Just like nice houses and cars.

[Unregistered]

Not "conjecture"

Total conjecture unless you have some factual basis

I love it that with out knowing anything about my DD and the trajectory of her development you could conclude anything about the value of her ECNL experience. Priceless.

What she would tell you is that the challenge of playing on one of the best teams in the country at her age against some of the best teams in the country gave her the chance to elevate both her physical and mental game that would never have been possible had she stayed and played with even the best local teams.

She would also tell you that the offers she was fielding prior to this experience reflected the standard fare the better ODP players from our region were getting but after her time with her ECNL club she received a D1 offer far in excess of 90% of offers made to the other girls in her age group. The offering coach explained that it was the completeness of her game and her on field composure that earned her this extraordinary offer and she would again tell you that she could not have become this player without her ECNL experience.

Now does that mean every local ECNL player will make similar gains and receive similarly improved offers? No. It simply means that with ECNL coming to dominate the D1 & D2 recruiting process NOT participating is an opportunity lost.

Yes it will cost about $3,000 a year more than playing for a top club team and doing ODP U15 and U16 so the question every player has to answer is does the fire in the belly burn hot enough.

[Unregistered]

That's the story with all pay to pay sports

ECNL is for rich kids. Not necessarily talented kids.

Tell us something new about pay to play sports! Playing on a top club team costs $4-5,000 and ODP tacks on another $1,500. So when comparing $6,500 to $8,500 you are talking about the SAME kids so the questions is the difference with it!