Too much focus on ECNL

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It seems the focus is on which league your kid plays in which can lead to club hopping, switching teams etc. In reality put your kid on a team where they have a really good time and connect with the team. Seriously or they quit anyway. Team; If the team is all ego and everyone wants to be a star it’s not a team. If your kid is the best on the team and bored, wrong team. If your child sits the bench sees little playing time and confidence and interest dwindles, wrong team. Coach very important, more so than league: If the team has an over scheduled coach, a coach that has too much on his plate, lacks passion or experience, or is a dad of a player on the team, that’s not a good team. You want a solid coach with experience and passion. League is the last concern for your kid, however, league competition is important as you don’t want to play in weak leagues like town Superliga. That’s a waste of time for club teams.
Most important in order:
1. Kids fit on team( do they have friends, team in sync, is your kid in the middle of the pack)
2. Coach solid, committed, experienced, non-dad, passionate.
3. League; NEP/NPL is great for most players to be challenged at many levels, ECNL for those who are focused on travel, college exposure etc, but keep in mind non ECNL players are often just as good in the high level NPL teams they just don’t want or have the money and time for ECNL.

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[QUOTE=Unregistered;2987880]It seems the focus is on which league your kid plays in which can lead to club hopping, switching teams etc. In reality put your kid on a team where they have a really good time and connect with the team. Seriously or they quit anyway. Team; If the team is all ego and everyone wants to be a star it’s not a team. If your kid is the best on the team and bored, wrong team. If your child sits the bench sees little playing time and confidence and interest dwindles, wrong team. Coach very important, more so than league: If the team has an over scheduled coach, a coach that has too much on his plate, lacks passion or experience, or is a dad of a player on the team, that’s not a good team. You want a solid coach with experience and passion. League is the last concern for your kid, however, league competition is important as you don’t want to play in weak leagues like town Superliga. That’s a waste of time for club teams.
Most important in order:
1. Kids fit on team( do they have friends, team in sync, is your kid in the middle of the pack)
2. Coach solid, committed, experienced, non-dad, passionate.
3. League; NEP/NPL is great for most players to be challenged at many levels, ECNL for those who are focused on travel, college exposure etc, but keep in mind non ECNL players are often just as good in the high level NPL teams they just don’t want or have the money and time for ECNL.[/]

I agree with almost all of this including the dad part; however, there are dads that are professional coaches with licenses and certifications that can distinguish between being a dad and a coach. If it’s a dad coach - do your research first. Talk to parents and other coaches in the same league.

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[QUOTE=Unregistered;2988076]

It seems the focus is on which league your kid plays in which can lead to club hopping, switching teams etc. In reality put your kid on a team where they have a really good time and connect with the team. Seriously or they quit anyway. Team; If the team is all ego and everyone wants to be a star it’s not a team. If your kid is the best on the team and bored, wrong team. If your child sits the bench sees little playing time and confidence and interest dwindles, wrong team. Coach very important, more so than league: If the team has an over scheduled coach, a coach that has too much on his plate, lacks passion or experience, or is a dad of a player on the team, that’s not a good team. You want a solid coach with experience and passion. League is the last concern for your kid, however, league competition is important as you don’t want to play in weak leagues like town Superliga. That’s a waste of time for club teams.
Most important in order:
1. Kids fit on team( do they have friends, team in sync, is your kid in the middle of the pack)
2. Coach solid, committed, experienced, non-dad, passionate.
3. League; NEP/NPL is great for most players to be challenged at many levels, ECNL for those who are focused on travel, college exposure etc, but keep in mind non ECNL players are often just as good in the high level NPL teams they just don’t want or have the money and time for ECNL.[/]

I agree with almost all of this including the dad part; however, there are dads that are professional coaches with licenses and certifications that can distinguish between being a dad and a coach. If it’s a dad coach - do your research first. Talk to parents and other coaches in the same league.

WRONG!!! Dad does not belong coaching in CLUB, end of story. I don't care what the credentials are. If he wants to coach another age group, or on the other gender side, fine, not his own kids team. It will only work out long term for a handful of players on that team. Fact

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[QUOTE=Unregistered;2988086]

WRONG!!! Dad does not belong coaching in CLUB, end of story. I don't care what the credentials are. If he wants to coach another age group, or on the other gender side, fine, not his own kids team. It will only work out long term for a handful of players on that team. Fact

Not even close to a fact at all, but you do you.

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[QUOTE=Unregistered;2988106]

Not even close to a fact at all, but you do you.

Let's take a poll and ask parents... Remember, not town, CLUB, because we all did spend a lot of $ to be on that team. Please explain to me the benefits of having a dad coach in club? Now I get that non dad paid coaches have favorites from time to time, but mostly because of the play of the player and the attitude of the player. Which certainly sounds good to me. Do your job, and you will be higher up on the coach's pecking order. That's fine, it's deserved. There is definitely room to wiggle past the transparency that is needed between the coach and players/parents, that a dad coach, no matter what he says, can't guarantee that transparency as much as a non dad coach can. A non dad paid coach is obviously a better option than dad.

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Impact NPL is not ECNL. It is not Girls Academy. It is another option for NPL/DPL/EDP teams which all play at a similar level for the most part. Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I can tell you, for a fact, that if your kid has the talent and desire to play D1 soccer, you don't play in NPL/DPL/EDP, especially over the next few years when college players are getting extra an extra year of eligibility and creating a blockage for recruits. While the NCAA extends the extra eligibility to all 4 years of players, that means smaller recruiting classes.

It is true that college coaches recruit players, not teams, but the first thing D1 coaches want to see is speed of play and athleticism and whether the player has the ability to step on a college field and impact the game positively. If you talk to D1 coaches, they will tell you that you can find D1 talent in lower leagues, but it is like finding a needle in a haystack and there is usually doubt regarding what I mentioned above regarding speed of play.

The reason why ECNL (and GA to an extent) get coaches attention is because it's showcases are 1-stop shopping for the level of player they are looking for and because the overall level of athleticism, speed of play, and skill is higher than any other league. If you think Impact NPL will prepare your kid for the rigors of D1, you're wrong. The play is slower, the players less skilled/knowledgeable (on average) and less athletic... all that means really strong players will get away with things playing in lower level leagues than if they were playing top competition.

This isn't rocket science and I don't care about your feelings. This is reality. For those players who won't play in college (most) or are only looking at mid and low level D3, there is nothing wrong with Impact NPL or the other 2/3rd tier leagues. It really doesn't matter at that point and it's all just club marketing.

[Unregistered]

Impact NPL is not ECNL. It is not Girls Academy. It is another option for NPL/DPL/EDP teams which all play at a similar level for the most part. Not to rain on anyone's parade, but I can tell you, for a fact, that if your kid has the talent and desire to play D1 soccer, you don't play in NPL/DPL/EDP, especially over the next few years when college players are getting extra an extra year of eligibility and creating a blockage for recruits. While the NCAA extends the extra eligibility to all 4 years of players, that means smaller recruiting classes.

It is true that college coaches recruit players, not teams, but the first thing D1 coaches want to see is speed of play and athleticism and whether the player has the ability to step on a college field and impact the game positively. If you talk to D1 coaches, they will tell you that you can find D1 talent in lower leagues, but it is like finding a needle in a haystack and there is usually doubt regarding what I mentioned above regarding speed of play.

The reason why ECNL (and GA to an extent) get coaches attention is because it's showcases are 1-stop shopping for the level of player they are looking for and because the overall level of athleticism, speed of play, and skill is higher than any other league. If you think Impact NPL will prepare your kid for the rigors of D1, you're wrong. The play is slower, the players less skilled/knowledgeable (on average) and less athletic... all that means really strong players will get away with things playing in lower level leagues than if they were playing top competition.

This isn't rocket science and I don't care about your feelings. This is reality. For those players who won't play in college (most) or are only looking at mid and low level D3, there is nothing wrong with Impact NPL or the other 2/3rd tier leagues. It really doesn't matter at that point and it's all just club marketing.

Thank you for the thoughtful insight. My child plays mid level EDP for Surf in Connecticut. We also play Superliga at the highest level where the speed of play and athleticism is supper top level....
We do very well in this. Any thoughts on how these leagues compare for D1 or D3?

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^^^ 🤣

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Thank you for the thoughtful insight. My child plays mid level EDP for Surf in Connecticut. We also play Superliga at the highest level where the speed of play and athleticism is supper top level....
We do very well in this. Any thoughts on how these leagues compare for D1 or D3?

If this is sarcasm, I salute you. If serious, EDP for girls isn’t close to D1 level at least in New England. Do a search of the local D1 rosters you will see mostly ECNL and GA from New England. Scools look outside of New England for the majority of their rosters and most of that is concentrated in GA or ECNlL. If your kid is a dominant/Impact player in EDP, make an effort this spring to attend a training session with NEFC or Stars. You’ll see real quick the difference in play. Also, none of this really matters until U15. By then, most girls are fully developed physically. You’ll see a bit of ahuffling for top players at U14/15 and the ECnL and GA teams really start to pull away from the rest as they consolidate talent and continue to play top competition.

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If this is sarcasm, I salute you. If serious, EDP for girls isn’t close to D1 level at least in New England. Do a search of the local D1 rosters you will see mostly ECNL and GA from New England. Scools look outside of New England for the majority of their rosters and most of that is concentrated in GA or ECNlL. If your kid is a dominant/Impact player in EDP, make an effort this spring to attend a training session with NEFC or Stars. You’ll see real quick the difference in play. Also, none of this really matters until U15. By then, most girls are fully developed physically. You’ll see a bit of ahuffling for top players at U14/15 and the ECnL and GA teams really start to pull away from the rest as they consolidate talent and continue to play top competition.

But they are doing so well in superliga. That's gotta count for a lot.

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But they are doing so well in superliga. That's gotta count for a lot.

I am not familiar with this superliga? Is it New England based?

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But they are doing so well in superliga. That's gotta count for a lot.

There are some good town teams out there and I’m sure there are some talented club players playing Superliga, but Superliga doesn’t get you a coveted scholarship to a D1/2 University. Neither does EDP nor NPL Impact. If you are a talented female player, you need to look at Stars and Scorpions ECNL and NEFC GA if you’re from RI. It’s that simple.

On the Boys side it’s a bit easier for RI players: Bayside MLS Next.

If you have the ability, but not the means to play in the uber-expensive top leagues, find a good coach and a decent team and be ready to atttend alot of college ID camps to try and get a coach’s attention.

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ECNL top players end of story.
NEFC dad stop trying to sell us on your league it’s no better than NPL.
ECNL players have opportunities to go D1 if that’s what they want.
All other leagues D2 top teams, D3 lower teams.