Questions to all ECNL parents who have daughters riding the pine

[Unregistered]

If you want to play in college it is actually to the keepers benefit to play on a team that gets shot on frequently

There's a reason that all the world-class (male) players the US has produced have been keepers.

[Unregistered]

OP didn't say the GPS keeper was leaving, just that Crossfire had made her an offer.

Interesting contrast with the 05 boys thread though

Keep playing with GPS and be a discovery player for an ECNL out of State. She really also only needs to do the Showcases with the ECNL.

[Unregistered]

If you want to play in college it is actually to the keepers benefit to play on a team that gets shot on frequently

Sounds like a good reason to go to GDA and be trained by Sorin Popovici.

[Unregistered]

Keep playing with GPS and be a discovery player for an ECNL out of State. She really also only needs to do the Showcases with the ECNL.

If she's a Discovery player it definitely needs to be on an out of state ECNL team that will actually get attention at the two showcases.

[Unregistered]

Keep playing with GPS and be a discovery player for an ECNL out of State. She really also only needs to do the Showcases with the ECNL.

This is likely the best advice. Play state for GPS and ECNL for Seattle Reign. Alternatively, you can do what the the TS midfielder does and play state and be a discovery player for CU to get exposure. One would certainly see more action as a keeper at CU than at a strong Seattle or state team.

[Unregistered]

Food for thought and for all those psycho Soccer parents who think ECNL is the best and who knock down any great teams who are not in ECNL.. by making smirk remarks like "they only play the B teams"... which any educated DOC who's been around the past ten years will tell you is BS. There are 70-79 teams nationwide total in each age group for ECNL.. so why aren't all those teams ranked in the top 100 for each age group? Look at Crossfire Oregon who is ranked like 190 or worse in every age group. FC Portland trends a little better ranked between 80 and 110 with their teams. Don't even say it's because we have weaker athletes here. The problem is coaching.

Yes, indeed, the problem is the coaching, but the good coaches, in general, are not in Oregon. Of course, there are exceptions but they certainly are not at CU ECNL or FCP ECNL for that matter. I am not kidding you when I tell you this but a few D1 coaches in CA told me that some of the best coaches they know don't even coach the top level teams. They are coaching at the lower levels. They named a few and they had tremendous respect for these coaches.

The point I am making is that you don't just assume that the ECNL coaches MUST be good coaches because they are ECNL or they have a B or C level licenses. Do the research, watch the training, talk to the players. Make an educated decision instead of a political one. Don't be a stupid consumer and buy the brand. Be an intelligent consumer and do the work. Don't be lazy and political and make a decision based on who you want to be associated with in your social life.

[Unregistered]

I really appreciate the various advice. How about letting the kid decide for herself? She has come this far and is obviously on the radar with what she's done until now. It is funny that a year and a half ago she wasn't even picked by the Thorns ODP as one of the best 2 keepers her age in Oregon. I wonder what changed their mind?

[Unregistered]

This is likely the best advice. Play state for GPS and ECNL for Seattle Reign. Alternatively, you can do what the the TS midfielder does and play state and be a discovery player for CU to get exposure. One would certainly see more action as a keeper at CU than at a strong Seattle or state team.

Seattle Reign ditched ECNL for GDA

[Unregistered]

Yes, indeed, the problem is the coaching, but the good coaches, in general, are not in Oregon. Of course, there are exceptions but they certainly are not at CU ECNL or FCP ECNL for that matter. I am not kidding you when I tell you this but a few D1 coaches in CA told me that some of the best coaches they know don't even coach the top level teams. They are coaching at the lower levels. They named a few and they had tremendous respect for these coaches.

The point I am making is that you don't just assume that the ECNL coaches MUST be good coaches because they are ECNL or they have a B or C level licenses. Do the research, watch the training, talk to the players. Make an educated decision instead of a political one. Don't be a stupid consumer and buy the brand. Be an intelligent consumer and do the work. Don't be lazy and political and make a decision based on who you want to be associated with in your social life.

I need to make a correction to my post and say that these D1 coaches in CA told me that some of the best coaches they know don't even coach the top level teams. I need to clarify. They said these great coaches don't coach the "top-ranked" teams. That's what I meant. I make the distinction because you can be a top level team, but not top-ranked.

[Unregistered]

I really appreciate the various advice. How about letting the kid decide for herself? She has come this far and is obviously on the radar with what she's done until now. It is funny that a year and a half ago she wasn't even picked by the Thorns ODP as one of the best 2 keepers her age in Oregon. I wonder what changed their mind?

A big problem with ODP/RTC is that they start before puberty (a bigger issue with boys than with girls), and who knows how a child's body will change as they physically mature?

(This a general observation, and does not necessarily apply to the player under discussion, who I know nothing about).

[Unregistered]

A big problem with ODP/RTC is that they start before puberty (a bigger issue with boys than with girls), and who knows how a child's body will change as they physically mature?

(This a general observation, and does not necessarily apply to the player under discussion, who I know nothing about).

I do know. She was by far the best keeper at the time. The other 2 happened to have coaches on the staff. Classic Thorns.

[Unregistered]

Food for thought and for all those psycho Soccer parents who think ECNL is the best and who knock down any great teams who are not in ECNL.. by making smirk remarks like "they only play the B teams"... which any educated DOC who's been around the past ten years will tell you is BS. There are 70-79 teams nationwide total in each age group for ECNL.. so why aren't all those teams ranked in the top 100 for each age group? Look at Crossfire Oregon who is ranked like 190 or worse in every age group. FC Portland trends a little better ranked between 80 and 110 with their teams. Don't even say it's because we have weaker athletes here. The problem is coaching.

Correct there over 100 non-ECNL teams better ranked than the Crossfire teams. I believe GPS 03s for example are ranked in the top 50.. so ahead of about 30 ECNL teams in the same age group. This is no anomaly as there are fantastic non ECNL club teams everywhere and college coaches/scouts know this.

[Unregistered]

I really appreciate the various advice. How about letting the kid decide for herself? She has come this far and is obviously on the radar with what she's done until now. It is funny that a year and a half ago she wasn't even picked by the Thorns ODP as one of the best 2 keepers her age in Oregon. I wonder what changed their mind?

Again, the coaching. Talent identification in Oregon is poor. Talent identification is politicized here.

I agree to a certain point about letting the kid decide for herself. Sometimes kids make poor decisions. They make decisions on their friends and aren't open to meeting new players or teams. They don't know how to assess their value. They don't know how to make educated decisions. Again, don't make rash decisions based on syrupy BS. You are in the Honeymoon phase of a relationship. Have her meet the players, play with the players, spend time with the coach, evaluate the training. Now I know doing all of this before tryouts is next to impossible. The problem is that if this keeper is being courted by KL and he seems all fine and dandy, but you are also hearing some horrible things about him, you need to do the research and find out the truth. Does KL really want to develop you, respect you as a player, or just use you to increase rankings for the team? What if somebody better comes along in a year from now? Will he still be there to support you? The answer is obvious to me. He is opportunistic and will use and abuse, recruit players instead of developing them. If I were KL, I'd give the CU ECNL 03 girls the love and attention they deserve. If he were a good coach, he can prove that he can develop them by not replacing them with new recruits, but by investing in them as players and loving them and them proving his worth.

Sadly, this won't happen because he has no integrity.

[Unregistered]

Again, the coaching. Talent identification in Oregon is poor. Talent identification is politicized here.

I agree to a certain point about letting the kid decide for herself. Sometimes kids make poor decisions. They make decisions on their friends and aren't open to meeting new players or teams. They don't know how to assess their value. They don't know how to make educated decisions. Again, don't make rash decisions based on syrupy BS. You are in the Honeymoon phase of a relationship. Have her meet the players, play with the players, spend time with the coach, evaluate the training. Now I know doing all of this before tryouts is next to impossible. The problem is that if this keeper is being courted by KL and he seems all fine and dandy, but you are also hearing some horrible things about him, you need to do the research and find out the truth. Does KL really want to develop you, respect you as a player, or just use you to increase rankings for the team? What if somebody better comes along in a year from now? Will he still be there to support you? The answer is obvious to me. He is opportunistic and will use and abuse, recruit players instead of developing them. If I were KL, I'd give the CU ECNL 03 girls the love and attention they deserve. If he were a good coach, he can prove that he can develop them by not replacing them with new recruits, but by investing in them as players and loving them and them proving his worth.

Sadly, this won't happen because he has no integrity.

We need to change the name of this thread to ECNL Pathetic Efforts to Discredit GPS Team's Success while Trying to Recruit Their Players.

[Unregistered]

Correct there over 100 non-ECNL teams better ranked than the Crossfire teams. I believe GPS 03s for example are ranked in the top 50.. so ahead of about 30 ECNL teams in the same age group. This is no anomaly as there are fantastic non ECNL club teams everywhere and college coaches/scouts know this.

Ranked by whom? Not Gotsoccer I hope...