ISC Gunners - Elite Academy League

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I love how ISC supporters always turn this into a Eastside vs ISC. Maybe that floats your boat but I’m not trying to flame ISC. WA soccer would benefit from a merger. It is so myopic to think kids wouldn’t benefit. I’m not saying ISC has to fold, merge. Run the rec and select programs for a merged entity. There is still more than enough choices in the area. Eagleclaw, Titans, Bellevue United, Pateadores, and all the other recreational and select programs in the region. ISC has some great fields and some great coaches, so does Eastside FC. Build a power house that can compete at every age and gender with Crossfire. Face it ISC, your kids are leaving in droves for ECNL and EAL isn’t going to change that.

I’m a long time crossfire parent. I remember the days when ISC and Eastside FC had two of the stronger programs in the area, specially on the girls side. But crossfire has both of you beat, and while you may get lucky with an age group or two, you can’t compete with crossfire.

ISC you are too far gone. Take your best kids, send them to Eastside. Have an agreement that Eastside only has 3 “premier” age groups and run a Rec/Select program for both organizations.

The arrogance of this post is painful….”take your best kids send them to Eastside”

Think about it - what if the situation was all grocery stores are closing except one, you don’t get to chose but the one you like is closing and you have to travel a little further to the ‘merged’ store but hey, screw you??

[Unregistered]

Agree with this statement. What was the draw for Oregon teams and why are there no boys ecnl in Oregon?

The answer to the second part is HS soccer season in Oregon is fall for both boys and girls, so a combined OR/WA boys' league like is done for girls won't work. Oregon doesn't have enough strong teams to from an OR-only league.

As to the first part--clubs wanting to market themselves as "travel teams", I guess. While experienced soccer parents know the difference between travelling to Seattle to play Crossfire Premier and travelling to Bonney Lake to play Mt. Rainier FC... PT Barnum's maxim comes into play here.

Either way, you still have to deal with the horrible traffic past JBLM... even if you can avoid the mess that is downtown Tacoma. :)

[Unregistered]

No need to merge. ISC/EAL will drive them away.

[Unregistered]

The answer to the second part is HS soccer season in Oregon is fall for both boys and girls, so a combined OR/WA boys' league like is done for girls won't work. Oregon doesn't have enough strong teams to from an OR-only league.

As to the first part--clubs wanting to market themselves as "travel teams", I guess. While experienced soccer parents know the difference between travelling to Seattle to play Crossfire Premier and travelling to Bonney Lake to play Mt. Rainier FC... PT Barnum's maxim comes into play here.

Either way, you still have to deal with the horrible traffic past JBLM... even if you can avoid the mess that is downtown Tacoma. :)

Tacoma is getting better!

[Unregistered]

Tacoma is getting better!

I have lived in the Pacific Northwest for five decades now.

I struggle to remember a time when I-5 through Tacoma wasn't under construction.

[Unregistered]

The arrogance of this post is painful….”take your best kids send them to Eastside”

Think about it - what if the situation was all grocery stores are closing except one, you don’t get to chose but the one you like is closing and you have to travel a little further to the ‘merged’ store but hey, screw you??

Honestly, not trying to be arrogant. What’s the solution? You aren’t getting ECNL. And if you did, you’d only dilute the talent even more. Honestly it’s not fair, the chips are stacked against you.

But neither is life.

Give your kids the opportunity to play in the most competitive league in the state and in the country.

[Unregistered]

The arrogance of this post is painful….”take your best kids send them to Eastside”

Think about it - what if the situation was all grocery stores are closing except one, you don’t get to chose but the one you like is closing and you have to travel a little further to the ‘merged’ store but hey, screw you??

1) the op said merge. The most valuable thing ISC has to offer is field leases in issaquah highlands and sammamish. You don’t need to necessarily drive further.
2) why not give the other grocery store a shot? Sometimes you don’t know what you are missing…

ECNL is a different level.

[Unregistered]

ISC better pay Eddie Henderson a ton. If he leaves…

Goodnight.

[Unregistered]

Honestly, not trying to be arrogant. What’s the solution? You aren’t getting ECNL. And if you did, you’d only dilute the talent even more. Honestly it’s not fair, the chips are stacked against you.

But neither is life.

Give your kids the opportunity to play in the most competitive league in the state and in the country.

I'm an outsider to the Seattle area scene, so don't know the differences in club culture between Eastside FC and ISC.... are there reasons, other than a desire to not have to drive to the other side of Lake Sammamish, that ISC families want no part of the other club (and the other way around)?

It seems that one of the side effects of exclusive travel leagues is that we are seeing more club mergers. If done right, these might be beneficial--lower-level teams can be tailored to a specific geography (so a B team in Bellevue and another in Issaquah), with a combined A team competing in the travel league. (If you are willing to put your kids on a bus for weekend games, don't complain too much about getting them to practice). Of course, many combinations that are presented as "mergers" are really takeovers, as the larger entity imposes its will and DNA on the smaller.

Ideally, ECNL would have pro/rel, meaning membership is based on current merit, rather than who was friends with whom when the league got started. But a lot of this is designed so incumbent clubs CAN have recruiting advantages over upstarts and smaller rivals; it's not the Xs and Os but the Jimmy's and Joe's. (Or the Fanny's and Flo's). ISC parents have a legit gripe that their club is being frozen out. On the other hand, this is long the case in sports--big established clubs have an easier time recruiting than do smaller ones.

[Unregistered]

I'm an outsider to the Seattle area scene, so don't know the differences in club culture between Eastside FC and ISC.... are there reasons, other than a desire to not have to drive to the other side of Lake Sammamish, that ISC families want no part of the other club (and the other way around)?

It seems that one of the side effects of exclusive travel leagues is that we are seeing more club mergers. If done right, these might be beneficial--lower-level teams can be tailored to a specific geography (so a B team in Bellevue and another in Issaquah), with a combined A team competing in the travel league. (If you are willing to put your kids on a bus for weekend games, don't complain too much about getting them to practice). Of course, many combinations that are presented as "mergers" are really takeovers, as the larger entity imposes its will and DNA on the smaller.

Ideally, ECNL would have pro/rel, meaning membership is based on current merit, rather than who was friends with whom when the league got started. But a lot of this is designed so incumbent clubs CAN have recruiting advantages over upstarts and smaller rivals; it's not the Xs and Os but the Jimmy's and Joe's. (Or the Fanny's and Flo's). ISC parents have a legit gripe that their club is being frozen out. On the other hand, this is long the case in sports--big established clubs have an easier time recruiting than do smaller ones.

Jimmy Ball
Most at Eastside and ISC likely don’t even know who he is.

[Unregistered]

Jimmy Ball
Most at Eastside and ISC likely don’t even know who he is.

An academy coach at a fourth-division English club?

[Unregistered]

An academy coach at a fourth-division English club?

Jimmy was a charismatic leader/coach with a thick British accent and a penchant for embellishment. His teams put the “D” in Direct, he unabashedly took big, tall, fast kids on the Eastside and made them winners.

Father was an English World Cup winner, and grandpa was a professional footballer and coach as well.

Jimmy attracted some technically/tactically talented coaches (who were jerks, but had great accents) and a growing Issaquah community. But the embellishments caught up to him and the house of cards fell.

ISC scrambled, but the damage was done.

Once Jimmy left, parents no longer put up with the talented but complete jerk coaches he hired. They have a couple good coaches today- scrappy and hard working…

but uphill battle without ECNL.

ISC has some great kids and families who have been in the program for a long time. I get the resistance to join another club. But you aren’t doing it for “the kids”. You are holding off a merger for your kid, not knowing how it would impact your dd or ds.

Maybe that’s enough of a reason. Seems selfish. No way it benefits kids in Issaquah/Sammamish to have two competing clubs diluting talent. Not enough talent to support two clubs.

Inevitably, the families who are still holding on to what ISC use to be will age out. We are beginning to see signs of that as ISC struggles to hold on to top players as evident in their Crossfire Challenge showing and what we will see at Surf Cup.

We left ISC recently. EAL doesn’t make sense. Maybe it will someday.

[Unregistered]

Jimmy was a charismatic leader/coach with a thick British accent and a penchant for embellishment. His teams put the “D” in Direct, he unabashedly took big, tall, fast kids on the Eastside and made them winners.

Father was an English World Cup winner, and grandpa was a professional footballer and coach as well.

Jimmy attracted some technically/tactically talented coaches (who were jerks, but had great accents) and a growing Issaquah community. But the embellishments caught up to him and the house of cards fell.

ISC scrambled, but the damage was done.

Once Jimmy left, parents no longer put up with the talented but complete jerk coaches he hired. They have a couple good coaches today- scrappy and hard working…

but uphill battle without ECNL.

ISC has some great kids and families who have been in the program for a long time. I get the resistance to join another club. But you aren’t doing it for “the kids”. You are holding off a merger for your kid, not knowing how it would impact your dd or ds.

Maybe that’s enough of a reason. Seems selfish. No way it benefits kids in Issaquah/Sammamish to have two competing clubs diluting talent. Not enough talent to support two clubs.

Inevitably, the families who are still holding on to what ISC use to be will age out. We are beginning to see signs of that as ISC struggles to hold on to top players as evident in their Crossfire Challenge showing and what we will see at Surf Cup.

We left ISC recently. EAL doesn’t make sense. Maybe it will someday.

Speaking of Surf, ISC took almost all their top teams (if not all of them) and not one team playing in “Best of the Best”.

A couple in the second division. Majority in 3rd and 4th division. Is this really what you characterize as “travel” soccer? Watch their social media. They will try to show how great their teams are doing by highlighting a game they won in the 4th division.

[Unregistered]

Speaking of Surf, ISC took almost all their top teams (if not all of them) and not one team playing in “Best of the Best”.

A couple in the second division. Majority in 3rd and 4th division. Is this really what you characterize as “travel” soccer? Watch their social media. They will try to show how great their teams are doing by highlighting a game they won in the 4th division.

https://2021surfcupolders.surfcupspo...ents/groups/29

[Unregistered]

Watch their social media. They will try to show how great their teams are doing by highlighting a game they won in the 4th division.

Not unique to ISC.