ECNL girls consolidation?

[Unregistered]

Thanks for the explanation, I am still a little skeptical as I mentioned before a player from another alliance club was offered a spot at WestSide during Thorns tryouts which to me implies there is much more of a tie/intent than you mentioned above.

You would be right to be skeptical.

[Unregistered]

You would be right to be skeptical.

What the Westside Timbers organization is engaging in is super shady youth sports scamming. The Thorns are just Westside Timbers ECNL team and they have the same coaching and admin.

They ran early tryouts to try and poach other club girls and offered them Timber’s spots. In 08 girls they basically poached all of FCP’s team. And offered many others “Training Player” status to get them bribed into the Westside teams.

They also run the RTC/ODP program and nearly all of the girls are from Thorns...some went to ODP without participating in RTC...which technically is against the rules.

Westside and Thorns are operating with no code or ethics regarding other clubs.

It’s all a money grab. Parents will realize soon enough that this club is not about player development at all. Pure profit motives as they want to control all aspects of the pyramid when it comes to your daughters and sons playing in club soccer.


Sad to see, but it was always inevitable as they took advantage of OYSA and now ECNL.

They have zero affiliation with professional club. That was DA. Now it is pure westside timbers.

[Unregistered]

ECNL blows anyway in Oregon and unless you have a good team you are wasting your time and money.

Consider the fact that ECNL basically destroyed fc Portland, thorns can’t keep teams together as they get older and CU lost its integrity after going from a develop to win to recruit to win club who doesn’t actually have a great track record in the past 5 years.

Find the strongest team and coach you can and go with it. Don’t fall for the GAL ECNL OYSA blah bs

ECNL blows in Oregon due to its affiliation with 2 clubs (Crossfire/Thusc) and (Thorns/Westside Timbers) that don’t care much for the players. Crossfire is better than Thorns by a long shot regarding development into the older age groups. FC Portland was better than both of these clubs but seem to have lost their way.

Westside is taking full advantage of the Thorns brand (pro club) and marketing it as if they are a pathway to that team. They are not. DA was billed as that, but never really did produce and therefore was discontinued last year.


Sorry but Westside Timber’s organization is terrible. Thorns will be too. But a lot of parents will get taken for a ride as a result.

Sad that the Westside folks have a mechanism to tear down girls club soccer, but unfortunately they do and probably will with the Thorns Academy.

[Unregistered]

What the Westside Timbers organization is engaging in is super shady youth sports scamming. The Thorns are just Westside Timbers ECNL team and they have the same coaching and admin.

They ran early tryouts to try and poach other club girls and offered them Timber’s spots. In 08 girls they basically poached all of FCP’s team. And offered many others “Training Player” status to get them bribed into the Westside teams.

They also run the RTC/ODP program and nearly all of the girls are from Thorns...some went to ODP without participating in RTC...which technically is against the rules.

Westside and Thorns are operating with no code or ethics regarding other clubs.

It’s all a money grab. Parents will realize soon enough that this club is not about player development at all. Pure profit motives as they want to control all aspects of the pyramid when it comes to your daughters and sons playing in club soccer.


Sad to see, but it was always inevitable as they took advantage of OYSA and now ECNL.

They have zero affiliation with professional club. That was DA. Now it is pure westside timbers.

This. This. This. I feel bad for those who fell for it. Bait and switch.

[Unregistered]

This. This. This. I feel bad for those who fell for it. Bait and switch.

You really should wait more than 20 minutes before responding to your own comment....

[Unregistered]

You really should wait more than 20 minutes before responding to your own comment....

Because only one person could have that opinion? Sorry that was the most aptly phrased criticism of the ethical violations by said club. Who knew there are TS police. LOL!

[Unregistered]

Because only one person could have that opinion? Sorry that was the most aptly phrased criticism of the ethical violations by said club. Who knew there are TS police. LOL!

Usually the biggest grifters are the ones who call everyone else crooked. I call it the "Trump Principle". (The only principle to be associated with the ex-DOTUS).

[Unregistered]

Because only one person could have that opinion? Sorry that was the most aptly phrased criticism of the ethical violations by said club. Who knew there are TS police. LOL!

Get with the program. Nobody agrees with anyone on here. The whole point of this chat blog is to cut each other down. If anyone agrees, they are responding to their own post. Every single time.

[Unregistered]

Stop the steal

[Unregistered]

Thorns is Westside Timbers ECNL. They are a club run by Westside so they will use the Westside name for their second teams on the girls side. They are NOT a youth academy for the professional team. They are one and the same as Westside.

There is no consolidation happening between the ECNL teams. ECNL is more than happy to have all three clubs in their league. Families should find the right fit with good kids, good coaches, and a good club philosophy. All three ECNL clubs offer the same showcases and league games.

[Unregistered]

It's not a youth academy for Thorns but there is an association. How strong an association can be debated, there's only 3 youth Thorns players practicing with the pro team (excludes OM). But that's 3 more players than any other Oregon club has.

Thorns is Westside Timbers ECNL. They are a club run by Westside so they will use the Westside name for their second teams on the girls side. They are NOT a youth academy for the professional team. They are one and the same as Westside.

There is no consolidation happening between the ECNL teams. ECNL is more than happy to have all three clubs in their league. Families should find the right fit with good kids, good coaches, and a good club philosophy. All three ECNL clubs offer the same showcases and league games.

[Unregistered]

It's not a youth academy for Thorns but there is an association. How strong an association can be debated, there's only 3 youth Thorns players practicing with the pro team (excludes OM). But that's 3 more players than any other Oregon club has.

What does that really do for these girls though? It’s cool, sure. What serious girl soccer player wouldn’t want to train with the Thorns? But really, the goal of these clubs is to get their girls into good soccer programs in college. If they do well there, a few select girls will go on to play professionally. And the Thorns first team would love to have any hometown girl on their professional team after college if they are good enough, regardless of their youth club affiliation.

So sure it’s cool, but it seems like more of a gimmick than truly a benefit to the girls. Oregon girls should be focused on getting to college. So families should find the right club for their kid with excellent coaches and teammates and not even consider the small chance their child might get to train with the Thorns in her final couple years before college. These girls will have so much development still that happens at the college level.

[Unregistered]

yes it's mostly a gimmick. for players who are good enough to eventually go pro whether they did a few sessions with thorns fc as a youth player will make no difference in their ultimate career trajectory.

so let's take the other side of the coin. for 98% of girls soccer ends with youth or college soccer. any special interaction with the pro team they get (as guest coaches, vip guests at thorns fc games, etc.) will be their only such experience in their lifetime. maybe the (perhaps limited) thorns fc association then becomes more meaningful as it's something to remember fondly for these girls about their soccer career.

anyway it's clearly a differentiator and pretty obvious why thorns academy would want to upsell it.

What does that really do for these girls though? It’s cool, sure. What serious girl soccer player wouldn’t want to train with the Thorns? But really, the goal of these clubs is to get their girls into good soccer programs in college. If they do well there, a few select girls will go on to play professionally. And the Thorns first team would love to have any hometown girl on their professional team after college if they are good enough, regardless of their youth club affiliation.

So sure it’s cool, but it seems like more of a gimmick than truly a benefit to the girls. Oregon girls should be focused on getting to college. So families should find the right club for their kid with excellent coaches and teammates and not even consider the small chance their child might get to train with the Thorns in her final couple years before college. These girls will have so much development still that happens at the college level.