Time to step up ECNL

[Unregistered]

Whether we all agree or not, Thorns are stepping up to the plate and subsidizing girls soccer.

What do the two ECNL clubs plan on doing any differently to ward off the Thorns? We all know money talks. 2 of the 3 programs up North also subsidized girls soccer and it has worked out well for them.

[Unregistered]

Curious but can someone tell me how far away these two programs are? If within 20 miles, wouldn't it be best to consolidate?

[Unregistered]

Whether we all agree or not, Thorns are stepping up to the plate and subsidizing girls soccer.

What do the two ECNL clubs plan on doing any differently to ward off the Thorns? We all know money talks. 2 of the 3 programs up North also subsidized girls soccer and it has worked out well for them.

It's very simple. The two programs (ECNL and GDA) are giving you choices. With ECNL you pay more but your kid has freedom to play high school soccer and other sports and extracurriculars (in other words a more normal teenage life). With GDA you pay less and because you pay less, you give them control over what your kid does. Totally reasonable on their end. They are investing financially on your kid so they have a right to say what your kid does in her downtime.

I am glad ECNL is structured as it is because the two different programs are giving people choices. I hope ECNL stays as is and continues to be an important part of getting girls recruited to play in college. If both programs stay healthy and successful, they will force each other to deliver a better product. Competition is good.

And for the record since everyone always thinks people have an agenda, I am a TA parent from outside PDX. My kid plays OYSA. If we lived in Portland and she wanted to, we would likely choose ECNL. I would rather spend a little more money and get to have more of a say in what my child is doing in her free time. But I understand that GDA fills a need especially for low income families.

[Unregistered]

It's very simple. The two programs (ECNL and GDA) are giving you choices. With ECNL you pay more but your kid has freedom to play high school soccer and other sports and extracurriculars (in other words a more normal teenage life). With GDA you pay less and because you pay less, you give them control over what your kid does. Totally reasonable on their end. They are investing financially on your kid so they have a right to say what your kid does in her downtime.

I am glad ECNL is structured as it is because the two different programs are giving people choices. I hope ECNL stays as is and continues to be an important part of getting girls recruited to play in college. If both programs stay healthy and successful, they will force each other to deliver a better product. Competition is good.

And for the record since everyone always thinks people have an agenda, I am a TA parent from outside PDX. My kid plays OYSA. If we lived in Portland and she wanted to, we would likely choose ECNL. I would rather spend a little more money and get to have more of a say in what my child is doing in her free time. But I understand that GDA fills a need especially for low income families.

Well said.

[Unregistered]

It's very simple. The two programs (ECNL and GDA) are giving you choices. With ECNL you pay more but your kid has freedom to play high school soccer and other sports and extracurriculars (in other words a more normal teenage life). With GDA you pay less and because you pay less, you give them control over what your kid does. Totally reasonable on their end. They are investing financially on your kid so they have a right to say what your kid does in her downtime.

I am glad ECNL is structured as it is because the two different programs are giving people choices. I hope ECNL stays as is and continues to be an important part of getting girls recruited to play in college. If both programs stay healthy and successful, they will force each other to deliver a better product. Competition is good.

And for the record since everyone always thinks people have an agenda, I am a TA parent from outside PDX. My kid plays OYSA. If we lived in Portland and she wanted to, we would likely choose ECNL. I would rather spend a little more money and get to have more of a say in what my child is doing in her free time. But I understand that GDA fills a need especially for low income families.

It's much more simple:

Pay to Play for your local club and local coach or

Have the Timbers/Thorns DA (GDA) pay for your kid to play.

That's it in a nutshell, the best players have a subsidized platform that is withing reach. This structure makes competition impossible from the local clubs who must direct all revenues to subsidize their part time, full time paid coaches.

The only game changer would be local clubs subsidizing their top teams costs and that aint' happening.

[Unregistered]

It's very simple. The two programs (ECNL and GDA) are giving you choices. With ECNL you pay more but your kid has freedom to play high school soccer and other sports and extracurriculars (in other words a more normal teenage life). With GDA you pay less and because you pay less, you give them control over what your kid does. Totally reasonable on their end. They are investing financially on your kid so they have a right to say what your kid does in her downtime.

I am glad ECNL is structured as it is because the two different programs are giving people choices. I hope ECNL stays as is and continues to be an important part of getting girls recruited to play in college. If both programs stay healthy and successful, they will force each other to deliver a better product. Competition is good.

And for the record since everyone always thinks people have an agenda, I am a TA parent from outside PDX. My kid plays OYSA. If we lived in Portland and she wanted to, we would likely choose ECNL. I would rather spend a little more money and get to have more of a say in what my child is doing in her free time. But I understand that GDA fills a need especially for low income families.

If the rumors of the ECNL booting out FC PDX and CU are true at least the clubs will still be here and the kids still have a club choice locally, they just won't have the chance to play in the ECNL. So there is silver lining after all.

[Unregistered]

It's much more simple:

Pay to Play for your local club and local coach or

Have the Timbers/Thorns DA (GDA) pay for your kid to play.

That's it in a nutshell, the best players have a subsidized platform that is withing reach. This structure makes competition impossible from the local clubs who must direct all revenues to subsidize their part time, full time paid coaches.

The only game changer would be local clubs subsidizing their top teams costs and that aint' happening.

Thorns is still pay-to-play (costs more than my neighborhood club). Not sure why they opted to make the girls' side of their program 4x as expensive as the boys' side.

[Unregistered]

It's much more simple:

Pay to Play for your local club and local coach or

Have the Timbers/Thorns DA (GDA) pay for your kid to play.

That's it in a nutshell, the best players have a subsidized platform that is withing reach. This structure makes competition impossible from the local clubs who must direct all revenues to subsidize their part time, full time paid coaches.

The only game changer would be local clubs subsidizing their top teams costs and that aint' happening.

I realize you have an axe to grind about GDA being "better" than ECNL. For some people it is. But you are missing the point I made. GDA is not paying for your kid's soccer about of a sense of philanthropy or the kindness of their hearts. They are making a financial investment, and because they are doing so, they will have control over decisions that before now were made in your home by you and your family. For some kids that's fine. For some, it's a deal breaker. Money is not the be all and end all for most families with kids playing soccer at this level. At this stage in my kid's life, we make decisions about her future as a family. No way in hell I am letting anyone "own" her in a way that means they decide what she does in her spare time. That may happen in college if she earns an athletic scholarship. But not at 14.

[Unregistered]

Thorns is still pay-to-play (costs more than my neighborhood club). Not sure why they opted to make the girls' side of their program 4x as expensive as the boys' side.

If the Thorns were actually pay to play it would be 10k per head.

Local clubs will never cover all the travel costs in a National league, that's the big difference and what makes the Thorns offering so attractive to the models at CU and FC PDX.

It is, what it is.

[Unregistered]

But you are missing the point I made. GDA is not paying for your kid's soccer about of a sense of philanthropy or the kindness of their hearts. They are making a financial investment, and because they are doing so, they will have control over decisions that before now were made in your home by you and your family. For some kids that's fine. For some, it's a deal breaker. .

Specifically what soccer decisions would you lose at home if your kid played soccer at a local club or the US Soccer NWSL Thorns or MLS Timber DA program? Just curious that is really a strange comment without any examples.

If you don't like the atmosphere or culture at a local club you can leave at anytime, but they don't refund you any of your monies.

With the DA programs you can leave anytime you want and you don't have a financial obligation to pay them anything. This is a far better position to be in.

Jus saying.

[Unregistered]

Thorns is still pay-to-play (costs more than my neighborhood club). Not sure why they opted to make the girls' side of their program 4x as expensive as the boys' side.

The local clubs FC & CU cost around 10k a year for their HS aged programs for girls which is 5x as expensive as the NWSL Portland Thorns GDA cost of $2k.

Jus saying.

[Unregistered]

The local clubs FC & CU cost around 10k a year for their HS aged programs for girls which is 5x as expensive as the NWSL Portland Thorns GDA cost of $2k.

Jus saying.

Thanks thorns intern.

ECNL costs about $5500 per year.

Thornz will be about $3000 per year.

ECNL will play elite level teams and get tons of college offers.

Thornz will play crappy showcases like Beaverton cup and las angeles versus B and C teams. Thornz= # Parthtocommunitycollege.

[Unregistered]

Thanks thorns intern.

ECNL costs about $5500 per year.

Thornz will be about $3000 per year.

ECNL will play elite level teams and get tons of college offers.

Thornz will play crappy showcases like Beaverton cup and las angeles versus B and C teams. Thornz= # Parthtocommunitycollege.

We will spend just over 10K June 2016 to June 2017 at CU for the cost of participation in this program. Club fee + Travel & lodging fees. That's no where near the $5500 you throw out above and a complete falsehood. We tallied up all our fees paid. When we played the odd elite team we got throttled and no offers, when we played the other cellar dwellers we were about .500 and nobody watched the match. Sell crazy somewhere else.

The NWSL Portland Thorns GDA has a flat fee of $2000 for the exact same time period June 2017 to June 2018.

[Unregistered]

We will spend just over 10K June 2016 to June 2017 at CU for the cost of participation in this program. Club fee + Travel & lodging fees. That's no where near the $5500 you throw out above and a complete falsehood. We tallied up all our fees paid. When we played the odd elite team we got throttled and no offers, when we played the other cellar dwellers we were about .500 and nobody watched the match. Sell crazy somewhere else.

The NWSL Portland Thorns GDA has a flat fee of $2000 for the exact same time period June 2017 to June 2018.

Liar. Thorns staffer spreading false info.

[Unregistered]

Thanks thorns intern.

ECNL costs about $5500 per year.

Thornz will be about $3000 per year.

ECNL will play elite level teams and get tons of college offers.

Thornz will play crappy showcases like Beaverton cup and las angeles versus B and C teams. Thornz= # Parthtocommunitycollege.

The combined record of the teams the thorns played in Vegas was 20% winning percentage in 2nd tier leagues. But the wins are great.