Reign FC moving to Tacoma. What happens to Reign Academy?

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Have you watched Reign play in comparison to our local ECNL teams? Overall, Reign players have a much higher level of soccer intelligence and technical abilities as a team over the current ECNL teams. The quality of soccer is higher too.

LOL. Reign went 1-2-2 when they played ECNL teams head to head in the Silverlakes summer showcase this year. They just got swept a couple of weeks ago by a club that will be full time ECNL next season. But the the quality of soccer is higher? Only in a alternate universe, or in a Reign homer's head who uses subjective judgement over objective results.

[Unregistered]

LOL. Reign went 1-2-2 when they played ECNL teams head to head in the Silverlakes summer showcase this year. They just got swept a couple of weeks ago by a club that will be full time ECNL next season. But the the quality of soccer is higher? Only in a alternate universe, or in a Reign homer's head who uses subjective judgement over objective results.

1 win in 5 games vs ECNL and these fools actually think they have higher quality soccer. Delusional.

[Unregistered]

Can’t speak to other non-WA teams but go watch some WA ECNL teams and a couple Reign games. Night and day. ECNL in WA is basically RCL 1 re-branded. Maybe 2-3 girls who stand out on each team. At least with Reign and XF DA, quality of soccer is not boot it ball, constantly turning over the ball because they lack technical skills, and players understanding how to move the ball around to each other instead of kicking it and hoping their teammate will get it. Forget DA, go observe ECNL teams here then come back and comment.

[Unregistered]

1 win in 5 games vs ECNL and these fools actually think they have higher quality soccer. Delusional.

And with XF going all in with ecnl, that will just be yet another Ecnl team to lose to.

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My daughter's played ECNL for the last two years. She came "up" from RCL to seek a higher level of play and like minded players. She worked hard (for years, and continues to do so on her own) on the technical aspects of her game and we all (she and I) assumed that ECNL would have equally technically proficient players. We were wrong. I've said it before, ECNL really seems to reward raw power and speed over technical ability. They're the players that, generally speaking, get chosen and/or noticed. Don't get me wrong, my daughters thrived in the league and ECNL was a very good move for her relative to what she wants out of the experience (My wife an I are just here to help her pay for it.....). it's just we're all surprised at the overall lack of technical ability and field sense many players display in the league. The DA games I've watched certainly seem to have more of BOTH the power/speed as well as technical aspects. That's the difference, to me. More of their players have the "Complete Package" than I see in ECNL. I'm not ****ting on ECNL players. They're great. Very high quality and high commitment, in my view. A definite level "up" from nearly anything you see in RCL. We're financially capped at ECNL though. Fee wise, DA makes ECNL expenses look like RCL...... This is expensive ****. That's the REAL drag. I know of TONS of players that could easily hang at ECNL and, in some cases, DA but they simply can't afford it or live too far away (or both!). Super bummer that it's turned out to be such an economic issue.

[Unregistered]

Can’t speak to other non-WA teams but go watch some WA ECNL teams and a couple Reign games. Night and day. ECNL in WA is basically RCL 1 re-branded. Maybe 2-3 girls who stand out on each team. At least with Reign and XF DA, quality of soccer is not boot it ball, constantly turning over the ball because they lack technical skills, and players understanding how to move the ball around to each other instead of kicking it and hoping their teammate will get it. Forget DA, go observe ECNL teams here then come back and comment.

Like I said, subjective observations from a homer are rendered uselss objective facts(real games played vs current and future ECNL teams). I trust numbers rather than your observations. The numbers speak loudly that your observations are a bunch of wishful thinking.

[Unregistered]

Watch more high level soccer. Lots of times the better team on the field loses.

[Unregistered]

Watch more high level soccer. Lots of times the better team on the field loses.

Hahahaha. "It's all about developmenbt." "Wins/losses don't matter." "My dog ate my homework."

[Unregistered]

Watch more high level soccer. Lots of times the better team on the field loses.

Were all 4 of Reign's teams better than XF's teams when they got swept last month? Were all of Reign's teams better than than the 5 teams the played in Silverlakes, where they only managed one win? Are you going to say those teams played kickball and Reign played beautiful soccer?

[Unregistered]

Watch more high level soccer. Lots of times the better team on the field loses.

I really appreciate you commenting about your experience and insights. My kiddo played all the sports and rec for soccer until very recently, and then moved up very fast. Women's sports are still in their growing years, and women can't expect to earn a living wage at pro level. This makes all this even more confusing difficult, as WMNT is still fighting for wages.

DA is not as clear cut on the girls side. We did go to a few Reign discovery sessions, and played with and against ECNL teams. All this dilution may have opened the field so my kiddo has access when that might have not been the case even a few years ago. What I noticed was that my kiddo more than held her own in an ECNL environment, and was definitely in the bottom third of the field at the Reign Discovery sessions. I value females coaching my female daughter, and we saw that with Reign. I hope they don't prohibit high school in the future, as I think the women's world is different then the men's. But it is still on our radar and perhaps at the tail end of high school if she is competitive enough, that might be the way we go.

Whomever is trash talking Reign and acting like ECNL is the second coming of Christ--thank you as well. I'm not sure if you are indicative of all parents on ECNL, but I'd like to not be on your team. Dogmatism isn't my favorite. But maybe that is how I'll be as well when I start paying $$$$s like it seems I will next year no matter which team we go with.

I've looked at every Washingtion club's 2019 college commits, and I'm not seeing anything spectacularly different. Reign had a good showing. Washington Premier had more commits, but the schools were what you'd expect. Everyone talks about getting college coaches to see you, but everyone is going to regional colleges, and I'm not seeing a unique identifier.

[Unregistered]

Were all 4 of Reign's teams better than XF's teams when they got swept last month? Were all of Reign's teams better than than the 5 teams the played in Silverlakes, where they only managed one win? Are you going to say those teams played kickball and Reign played beautiful soccer?

The only way to compare is with these direct competitions. I don’t think ecnl and gda are much different but in the head to head match ups, ecnl came out above gda.

[Unregistered]

My daughter's played ECNL for the last two years. She came "up" from RCL to seek a higher level of play and like minded players. She worked hard (for years, and continues to do so on her own) on the technical aspects of her game and we all (she and I) assumed that ECNL would have equally technically proficient players. We were wrong. I've said it before, ECNL really seems to reward raw power and speed over technical ability. They're the players that, generally speaking, get chosen and/or noticed. Don't get me wrong, my daughters thrived in the league and ECNL was a very good move for her relative to what she wants out of the experience (My wife an I are just here to help her pay for it.....). it's just we're all surprised at the overall lack of technical ability and field sense many players display in the league. The DA games I've watched certainly seem to have more of BOTH the power/speed as well as technical aspects. That's the difference, to me. More of their players have the "Complete Package" than I see in ECNL. I'm not ****ting on ECNL players. They're great. Very high quality and high commitment, in my view. A definite level "up" from nearly anything you see in RCL. We're financially capped at ECNL though. Fee wise, DA makes ECNL expenses look like RCL...... This is expensive ****. That's the REAL drag. I know of TONS of players that could easily hang at ECNL and, in some cases, DA but they simply can't afford it or live too far away (or both!). Super bummer that it's turned out to be such an economic issue.

Former Reign parent here, accused of sour grapes upthread FYI -- I have to agree with a lot of this. There is strong technical proficiency in the DA. Did my kid get the tech skills attracting praise from college coaches from Reign training or from previous club coaches, ODP etc? Is she just naturally a more technical player? Not sure what is chicken or what is egg here, but I do think you see more "total package" players in DA...but lots of great players in ECNL also. Seattle ECNL is full of players the DA teams discarded rather than developed. And yes, there are plenty of great players shut out of every option due to fees.

[Unregistered]

Whomever is trash talking Reign and acting like ECNL is the second coming of Christ--thank you as well. I'm not sure if you are indicative of all parents on ECNL, but I'd like to not be on your team.

Man, you're funny acting like you're taking some kind of high road. Nobody is trying to "trash" Reign, just giving objective FACTS... Like the fact that Reign has ONLY WON 1 GAME out of the 6 they've played against ECNL teams. Or the fact that they just got SWEPT last month by future ECNL team.

That was in response to these zingers:

- "Reign players have a much higher level of soccer intelligence and technical abilities as a team over the current ECNL teams."

- "Now that there will only be one DA team, it has a chance to be dominant."

- "At least with Reign and XF DA, quality of soccer is not boot it ball, constantly turning over the ball because they lack technical skills, and players understanding how to move the ball around to each other instead of kicking it and hoping their teammate will get it."

Laughable, considering the results in real live games not observations in people's imaginations.

[Unregistered]

They aren't threatening, but I wouldn't trust them to advocate based on the current environment. So I agree that it's not great, I just don't think it's different anywhere else. B/c of ECNL being diluted, i just think they are the highest level of play, I think they are the new RCL A team. Will your ECNL coach recommend DA if you have that level of player? I doubt it.

Now that there will only be one DA team, it has a chance to be dominant. But it seems backward that the Xfire ECNL team will be free, whereas the Reign DA team won't. So that will impact the talent draw for sure.

Is XF Ecnl free? Their press release only mentioned travel costs being subsidized, not club fees.

Are people really trying to make some point based on a reign team drawing a game against a so cal ecnl team in 100 degree heat more than 6 months ago? Whoever is really needs to get a life.

[Unregistered]

Is XF Ecnl free? Their press release only mentioned travel costs being subsidized, not club fees.

Are people really trying to make some point based on a reign team drawing a game against a so cal ecnl team in 100 degree heat more than 6 months ago? Whoever is really needs to get a life.

Nah, it's douchey Reign homers who post pompous, asinine things like, "Reign players have a much higher level of soccer intelligence and technical abilities as a team over the current ECNL teams", without regard to any factual basis, who need to get a life.

Others are just calling the Reign homers out by pointing out real results against supposedly inferior teams.

And no, they are not pointing out a draw against a so cal team. They are pointing out the results for the entire Reign club against what these Reign homers think are inferior opponents, and how their entire club(all 4 age groups) only managed to win only one game in six tries. So much for that higher level of intelligence and technical ability... results don't bear that out.