Ecnl is going bye bye

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I think ECNL is going to expand to try to stay alive. More clubs. Boys.

Yes it is....check it out

http://www.soccerwire.com/news/clubs...-by-fall-2017/

Smart move on their part to make sure they stay relevant. Boys DA will get smaller but MLS clubs will help keep it a very healthy league for top players (not sure what will make it a healthy league for girls..). I know a few former DA players that wished this had been an option for them.

[Unregistered]

I think ECNL is going to expand to try to stay alive. More clubs. Boys.

ECNL will be 2nd tier and adding rec programs.

[Unregistered]

Yes it is....check it out

http://www.soccerwire.com/news/clubs...-by-fall-2017/

Smart move on their part to make sure they stay relevant. Boys DA will get smaller but MLS clubs will help keep it a very healthy league for top players (not sure what will make it a healthy league for girls..). I know a few former DA players that wished this had been an option for them.

Great option for those that still want to play in High School, looking to play college and forego the slight chance of making chump change in the MLS.

[Unregistered]

Great option for those that still want to play in High School, looking to play college and forego the slight chance of making chump change in the MLS.

After ten years of boys DA and not many players going pro I think plenty of boys will jump ship for ECNL. Like you said they just want to play good soccer, play in college hopefully. If you're not playing for free on an MLS team and aren't aiming for top D1 why stay? ECNL would let them do it and still keep playing HS.

[Unregistered]

Ecnl would also be smart to stay grade based age groups. They are a closed league so all teams could be formed basically by grade and then play up. If everyone in league had to do it the competition would remain "age fair", easiest for college recruiting and ECNL would get all the fall born players (1/3rd of total) who would be forced to play up a grade in the new system. Also get most of the players for whom college is the biggest goal and the ones who want high school play.

[Unregistered]

Ecnl would also be smart to stay grade based age groups. They are a closed league so all teams could be formed basically by grade and then play up. If everyone in league had to do it the competition would remain "age fair", easiest for college recruiting and ECNL would get all the fall born players (1/3rd of total) who would be forced to play up a grade in the new system. Also get most of the players for whom college is the biggest goal and the ones who want high school play.

Very smart indeed. I like the idea. They're already basically telling USSF to pi** off now anyway, might as well go full throttle.

[Unregistered]

Ecnl would also be smart to stay grade based age groups. They are a closed league so all teams could be formed basically by grade and then play up. If everyone in league had to do it the competition would remain "age fair", easiest for college recruiting and ECNL would get all the fall born players (1/3rd of total) who would be forced to play up a grade in the new system. Also get most of the players for whom college is the biggest goal and the ones who want high school play.

Actually how is ECNL dealing with this? If they adopt it, will that impact the U14 and U18 teams? In Oregon, the old U14 teams didn't play in HS so they could play fall games, either ECNL or non ECNL tournaments. However now, won't U14 be made up of a mix of frosh and eighth grade players? And what happens to the U18 players? If you are a senior next year but were born after the first of the year, does that make you too old for U18? It seems pretty unfair if you are an ECNL girl, have an offer, but can't play your senior year. You need that year to get ready for college.

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Actually how is ECNL dealing with this? If they adopt it, will that impact the U14 and U18 teams? In Oregon, the old U14 teams didn't play in HS so they could play fall games, either ECNL or non ECNL tournaments. However now, won't U14 be made up of a mix of frosh and eighth grade players? And what happens to the U18 players? If you are a senior next year but were born after the first of the year, does that make you too old for U18? It seems pretty unfair if you are an ECNL girl, have an offer, but can't play your senior year. You need that year to get ready for college.

ECNL league games for Oregon start after the HS season. And the final year is U18/19. Not an issue. Nobody misses out on anything.

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ECNL league games for Oregon start after the HS season. And the final year is U18/19. Not an issue. Nobody misses out on anything.

That's good for the U18 girls. It wouldn't be good for them to miss a year. As to them playing after HS, the U14 didn't the past two years. They played club. If you are in 8th grade but on the U14 team, it doesn't make sense to be sitting around all fall doing nothing waiting for the season to start. HS might not be good soccer, but their teammates who are frosh will at least be getting touches in HS.

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ECNL league games for Oregon start after the HS season. And the final year is U18/19. Not an issue. Nobody misses out on anything.

8th graders do. If they're too old to play on an 8th grade team and most of their teammates are in HS, they're left with no place to play while the HS season is in session. Yes 18/19 group solves the senior problem giving them a place to play; but it doesn't solve the recruiting problem where half a team will be in prime recruit mode and the other half won't.

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8th graders do. If they're too old to play on an 8th grade team and most of their teammates are in HS, they're left with no place to play while the HS season is in session. Yes 18/19 group solves the senior problem giving them a place to play; but it doesn't solve the recruiting problem where half a team will be in prime recruit mode and the other half won't.

I don't understand how a U18/U19 team would be impacted in recruiting? These are all seniors so many of them are done and those that are looking are still playing and getting looks aren't they?

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That's good for the U18 girls. It wouldn't be good for them to miss a year. As to them playing after HS, the U14 didn't the past two years. They played club. If you are in 8th grade but on the U14 team, it doesn't make sense to be sitting around all fall doing nothing waiting for the season to start. HS might not be good soccer, but their teammates who are frosh will at least be getting touches in HS.

Last 2 years the Oregon U14 ECNL teams didn't start playing league games until late November. They did play summer tourneys and NWCL in the fall. All ECNL teams from a club travel together and play home games together on the same days so the U14's can't start before the U15-U18 teams, which is late November for Oregon.

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8th graders do. If they're too old to play on an 8th grade team and most of their teammates are in HS, they're left with no place to play while the HS season is in session. Yes 18/19 group solves the senior problem giving them a place to play; but it doesn't solve the recruiting problem where half a team will be in prime recruit mode and the other half won't.

Not an issue for 8th graders in ECNL as they aren't missing a fall season that doesn't exist. For non-ECNL 8th graders, the big clubs will be fielding fall teams to play in a fall league. Then there will also be a winter/spring league and state cup just like before so it's no real change, just maybe different teammates over the 2 seasons - no big deal.

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Not an issue for 8th graders in ECNL as they aren't missing a fall season that doesn't exist. For non-ECNL 8th graders, the big clubs will be fielding fall teams to play in a fall league. Then there will also be a winter/spring league and state cup just like before so it's no real change, just maybe different teammates over the 2 seasons - no big deal.

Not all kids play at big clubs so there's fewer opportunities to create options for them in the fall. Some clubs may not want to have players playing in the fall on one team then moving to another - and the 7th grade parents won't like PT being taken away from their kids. It's not quite as simple as you lay it out to be.

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I don't understand how a U18/U19 team would be impacted in recruiting? These are all seniors so many of them are done and those that are looking are still playing and getting looks aren't they?

By senior year you mostly get kids who are done recruiting and will be playing in college. If you're not playing in college chances are your last fall HS is your last game. That worked under a grade based soccer system. Now you'll have a combo of juniors and seniors on a team. If you're a junior (especially a boy as they recruit later than girls) you need to still be attending showcases. But what if your team doesn't want to attend as they're mostly seniors and are done? Or worse there is no team for you to play on because there's only 5-6 kids in that situation and the club can't cobble together a team? Being able to combine U18/19 helps keep them playing but there won't be nearly as many teams because so many kids drop out prior to college. It's a workable solution but not ideal by any stretch