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Post by petrcechitout on May 7, 2018 8:08:14 GMT -5
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE– May 7th, 2018 /Atlanta, GA
A new youth soccer experience is coming to the Southeast! Through a collaborative effort among 8 clubs, the newly formed Southeastern Clubs Champions League(SCCL)will begin its inaugural season in the Fall of 2018. The Southeastern Clubs Champions League has been formed in response to an overwhelming need for a more manageable environment than is presently available in the gap between localized grassroots soccer and national level play. The SCCL will strive to provide a solution to this need in an affordable, family-friendly way. The SCCL will compete as one of the newest US Club Soccer Leagues in the country. US Club’s Mission to“fosterthe growth and development of soccer clubs throughout the United States to create the best possible development environment for players of all ages in every club”perfectly aligns with the purpose and mission of the SCCL, and we are proud to partner with them on this new endeavor!
The following 8 clubs from throughout the Southeast will be participating in the inaugural season of the Champions League: Birmingham United SA(Alabama),Carolina Elite Soccer Academy(SC),Concorde Fire(GA),Gwinnett Soccer Academy(GA),NASA TopHat(GA),Southern Soccer Academy(GA),United Futbol Academy(GA),and Vestavia Hills SC(Alabama).The new club-centric league will initially be comprised of one team per gender per age group from 12U-19U in the 2018-19 year. Following a home and away round-robin season format, teams will compete for the opportunity to advance to the U.S. Club Soccer National Cup which includes a Regional event followed by National Finals.
The SCCL leadership has over 100 years of combined experience in managing clubs, leagues, and youth player development, so we are excited for what the future holds! For more information, please contact any of the member clubs. Tryouts will coincide with each club’s typical tryout timeline for all other programs, so look to the nearest SCCL club for more detailed information.
Andrew Brower, Executive Director/Birmingham United Soccer Association:“BUSAis excited to participate as an inaugural member of the Champions League. We feel this will be an important platform for player development within our organization and cannot wait to get started.”
Andrew Hyslop & Pearse Tormey, Co-Executive Directors/Carolina Elite Soccer Academy:"Theformation of the Southeastern Clubs Champions League will allow our players the opportunity to compete on a weekly basis with clubs that will challenge us to play at a high level. We have been very impressed with the willingness of our fellow SCCL member clubs to work together to provide a much needed platform for all involved."
Ken Kurilec, Director of Coaching/Concorde Fire:"Concordeis thrilled to be a part of the inaugural season of the SCCL. To be a part of the SCCL will provide our club with the opportunity to further develop the culture of our club and strengthen our relationship with the best youth organizations in Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina. The league will expose the players to great competition in an environment where the players come first".
Drew Prentice, Executive Director/Gwinnett Soccer Academy:“Thisnew club-centric platform is another example of what can happen when competitors work together instead of against one another. We are excited to start a new chapter of competitive youth soccer in our region. GSA is proud to be an inaugural member of the SCCL!”
Dave Smith, Executive Director/NASA-TopHat:"NTHis excited to be a part of the inaugural season of the Southeastern Clubs Champions League(SCCL). The SCCL will give NTH players access to high quality competition in a well run league with a chance to compete both regionally and nationally. We look forward to kicking off the league in the fall!”
Simon Davey, Executive Director/Southern Soccer Academy:" To be part of the inaugural season of the SCCL(Southeastern Clubs Champions League)with seven of the biggest clubs in the Southeast is exciting. The SCCL will provide our members meaningful quality competition right on our doorstep with the opportunity to also compete regionally and nationally. To us, a league with Concorde Fire, UFA, NasaTophat, CESA, Busa, Vestavia, GSA, and SSA says it all"
Iggy Moleka, Director of Soccer/United Futbol Academy:“UFAis proud to be a part of a consortium of clubs forming the new Southeastern Clubs Champions League(SCCL). The SCCL gives our players access to high quality competition and a chance to compete regionally and nationally. We are looking forward to being part of this exciting new league beginning this fall.”
Rocky Harmon, Executive Director/Vestavia Hills Soccer Club:"Thisleague will fill a huge void for our top players- we will now be guaranteed a steady diet of high level competition in a travel friendly, home and away league format. We are excited to be a part of this.”
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Post by oraclesfriend on May 7, 2018 8:13:09 GMT -5
Thanks. This will start a whole bunch more conversation but I am glad to see it is official so hopefully some of the anxiety about logistics will settle down.
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Post by atv on May 7, 2018 8:25:07 GMT -5
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Post by petrcechitout on May 7, 2018 8:36:29 GMT -5
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Post by infoguy on May 7, 2018 8:37:39 GMT -5
I’m sure it was a well planned and strategic communication, however it’s interestjng that there’s no reference to NPL or ECNL. I do think it’s important to know the current interrelationship between the leagues.
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Post by socoloco on May 7, 2018 8:58:18 GMT -5
Assuming that each club has Encl or DA, would this be the 2nd team? Since this starts with U12, U12 teams will this be basically the U12 premiere team since they do not have encl or da in their age group? Sorry, I am really new to this ? Thanks
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Post by Soccerhouse on May 7, 2018 9:04:57 GMT -5
Good catch with the u12 --- yikes, 11v11?
And vestavia and busa will be sending their top boys teams to this league at all ages? They don't have boys ecnl right?
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Post by infoguy on May 7, 2018 9:05:07 GMT -5
Assuming that each club has Encl or DA, would this be the 2nd team? Since this starts with U12, U12 teams will this be basically the U12 premiere team since they do not have encl or da in their age group? Sorry, I am really new to this ? Thanks No worries - There’s NPL to consider.
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Post by surgesoccer on May 7, 2018 9:18:23 GMT -5
I started a thread to track team assignments for Big 5 and Other clubs. gasoccerforum.com/thread/2946/boys-club-league-assignment-threadIf you know how an age group will be assigned add it to the thread and I will update the master list. The thread I started was for boys. Someone on girls side can copy and create a girls one. For example with UFA at u13 plan is for Forsyth Premier team to play NPL and Norcross Premier team to play SCCL. Red team and below will play Classic. Not sure how it plays out at other clubs.
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Post by atv on May 7, 2018 9:19:54 GMT -5
Good catch with the u12 --- yikes, 11v11? And vestavia and busa will be sending their top boys teams to this league at all ages? They don't have boys ecnl right? BUSA does
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Post by TheMadOx on May 7, 2018 9:24:26 GMT -5
Good catch with the u12 --- yikes, 11v11? And vestavia and busa will be sending their top boys teams to this league at all ages? They don't have boys ecnl right? u12 will play 9v9
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Post by Soccerhouse on May 7, 2018 9:26:53 GMT -5
I started a thread to track team assignments for Big 5 and Other clubs. gasoccerforum.com/thread/2946/boys-club-league-assignment-threadIf you know how an age group will be assigned add it to the thread and I will update the master list. The thread I started was for boys. Someone on girls side can copy and create a girls one. For example with UFA at u13 plan is for Forsyth Premier team to play NPL and Norcross Premier team to play SCCL. Red team and below will play Classic. Not sure how it plays out at other clubs. If NPL is higher than SCCL, why does forsyth just get that given to them lets say if the norcross team is better for certain age groups? And what about milton? I'm hearing they are really trying to crank that program back up etc.
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Post by infoguy on May 7, 2018 9:28:19 GMT -5
I started a thread to track team assignments for Big 5 and Other clubs. gasoccerforum.com/thread/2946/boys-club-league-assignment-threadIf you know how an age group will be assigned add it to the thread and I will update the master list. The thread I started was for boys. Someone on girls side can copy and create a girls one. For example with UFA at u13 plan is for Forsyth Premier team to play NPL and Norcross Premier team to play SCCL. Red team and below will play Classic. Not sure how it plays out at other clubs. If NPL is higher than SCCL, why does forsyth just get that given to them lets say if the norcross team is better for certain age groups? And what about milton? I'm hearing they are really trying to crank that program back up etc. I can tell you that last Fall UFA Norcross had the NPL team for 01b.
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Post by surgesoccer on May 7, 2018 9:38:58 GMT -5
Technically NPL and PL (SCCL) are not viewed as one being over the other as far as I can tell from the US Club Site. NPL is older but was always a 8 Game season, and now going to full Fall Spring season. PL was created on the NPL platform with the goal of having less travel time between league members.
So if you look at the NPL league Forsyth will be in they have clubs in Knoxville (1 team - 4 hour drive), Raleigh (3 teams - 5.5 hour drive), Mt Pleasant SC (1 team - 5 hour drive), Chattanooga, Charolotte (3 teams - 3 hour drive) and 3 clubs in Atlanta.
Drive times to Teams in SCCL are shorter. Birmingham (2 teams - 2.5 hour drive - teams will play both Birmingham teams in a single weekend) and Spartanburg/Greenberg (1 team - 2.5 drive), 5 teams in Atlanta. Supposedly there will be 4 possible teams added next year but other than possible AFU, I have not heard where others will be located.
I was told that If DA for an age group is at Fowler, then SCCL would be at Norcross. If DA is out of Norcross, then SCCL is out of Forsyth. I was also told for u13 group that to be a DP or have a path to DA you have to go through SCCL.
As for Milton, Mountains etc. I assume they will play Classic.
**All my info is for boys. I have no clue on girls side.
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Post by soccerfam on May 7, 2018 10:08:16 GMT -5
We were told the 2nd team behind DA is the NPL team at UFA. That happens to be the Forsyth location for our age group. But if Norcross was the better team, they’d be NPL instead.
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Post by oraclesfriend on May 7, 2018 10:28:11 GMT -5
We were told the 2nd team behind DA is the NPL team at UFA. That happens to be the Forsyth location for our age group. But if Norcross was the better team, they’d be NPL instead. I have been told 3 different things by 4 different people. 2 coaches said the same thing Forsyth gets NPL and SCCL for premier and red. One coach said Forsyth gets NPL and Norcross SCCL. And a parent who works in volunteering a lot who has two kids playing, one boy and one girl said that they will decide who gets what depending on the end of the season standings.
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Post by atlfutboldad on May 7, 2018 10:30:52 GMT -5
So its starting at U12? MORE travel at that age? That's lame.
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Post by socoloco on May 7, 2018 10:58:34 GMT -5
Just curious, will my daughter (u12 next year) play less games and travel more? Is this half a season or will she play a full schedule in the fall and spring? Thanks
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Post by surgesoccer on May 7, 2018 11:07:34 GMT -5
Oracle,
I can only share what I was told for u13 boys... that it's already decided that NPL at Forsyth and SCCL at Norcross. Not based on standings but rather on where DA is based out of. This came from team meeting with the coach.
Not sure if it plays into this but Forsyth has played NPL in addition to academy and classic for at least the last 2 years. One more thing they need to clarify across gender and age.
**Of course it would not be unheard of for Forsyth to claim NPL is higher and Norcross to claim SCCL is higher. Based on what I've heard is that they are being viewed as equal and at one point was supposed to be a combined team for SCCL. Not sure what happened to that idea. My guess is they felt they could not get Forsyth kids to Norcross and Vice versa. I would have liked to see them do the combination hosted out of South Forsyth field.
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Post by petrcechitout on May 7, 2018 11:16:57 GMT -5
socoloco, U-12 Girls travel is usually not much other than a few tournaments but that will depend on which club and what team. If she is on a top team then she will travel more/farther than if she is on a lower team.
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Post by soccerfutbolfam on May 7, 2018 11:28:50 GMT -5
For U12- I have friends who have girls and boys - U12 playing up in u13 Athena/Classic this season. You can see them, they are listed as 06 teams.. So, I can see clubs with higher level players placing them in SCCL to prepare them for ECNL or to place them in Classic/Athena again. So, 11v11 is not really a big deal for the kids who are ready to play at a higher level.
For teams that won their divisions - and would have gone on to RPL - I 'feel' a little sad for them. They worked hard and now - it looks like they lose that 'prestige' they worked for. However, I do hope the clubs will look at those players for their ECNL/SCCL teams.
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Post by oraclesfriend on May 7, 2018 11:54:14 GMT -5
Just curious, will my daughter (u12 next year) play less games and travel more? Is this half a season or will she play a full schedule in the fall and spring? Thanks If she is doing SCCL she will play fall and spring in SCCL. Because it is a league with placement and standings and a potential for a playoff the rained out games get made up. Whether she plays more or less will depend on how many games she played this year. Some academy teams play 7-8 games in a season due to difficulty with finishing similar competition and rain outs. Some play 12 games or more. They will still have tournaments too so that adds games. Depending on the club there could be 4 tournaments each fall and spring.
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Post by oraclesfriend on May 7, 2018 11:57:51 GMT -5
Oracle, I can only share what I was told for u13 boys... that it's already decided that NPL at Forsyth and SCCL at Norcross. Not based on standings but rather on where DA is based out of. This came from team meeting with the coach. Not sure if it plays into this but Forsyth has played NPL in addition to academy and classic for at least the last 2 years. One more thing they need to clarify across gender and age. **Of course it would not be unheard of for Forsyth to claim NPL is higher and Norcross to claim SCCL is higher. Based on what I've heard is that they are being viewed as equal and at one point was supposed to be a combined team for SCCL. Not sure what happened to that idea. My guess is they felt they could not get Forsyth kids to Norcross and Vice versa. I would have liked to see them do the combination hosted out of South Forsyth field. Yes. The boys coach told me NPL Forsyth and SCCL Norcross. The girls coaches said Forsyth for both. The volunteer said it will depend and they will decide based on standings etc. So if Forsyth has two teams that are better than the top Norcross team then no SCCL for Norcross at that age group/ gender. She heard that from other people that were higher up. Who knows? And who is to say once tryouts happen and they are who they have for which team that they won't change their minds!?!
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Post by Soccerhouse on May 7, 2018 12:25:42 GMT -5
Not to get into the juicy details, but I'm aware of some ugliness last year on the girls side between Norcross and Fowler, where the Norcross coach was not playing very nicely when his players wanted to leave for Forsyth - lets just say he tried to block it from happening.
If the above is true, the Norcross girls program just took another major step backwards, but in fairness if their is a true hierarchy, the spots should be given/awarded to the better teams on an annual basis. Problem is once they are in it, it will be hard to take them out in future years, unless teams from NPL and SCCL just swamped etc.
Lets say a Norcross team plays there way to being better than all Forysth teams outside of DA (granted they would never formally play each other given the league structure, but) -- both NPL and SCCL were given to Forsyth in previous years. If lets say the Norcross team then takes one of their spots, where does that team go? Athena D?
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Post by oraclesfriend on May 7, 2018 12:41:07 GMT -5
Not to get into the juicy details, but I'm aware of some ugliness last year on the girls side between Norcross and Fowler, where the Norcross coach was not playing very nicely when his players wanted to leave for Forsyth - lets just say he tried to block it from happening. If the above is true, the Norcross girls program just took another major step backwards, but in fairness if their is a true hierarchy, the spots should be given/awarded to the better teams on an annual basis. Problem is once they are in it, it will be hard to take them out in future years, unless teams from NPL and SCCL just swamped etc. Lets say a Norcross team plays there way to being better than all Forysth teams outside of DA (granted they would never formally play each other given the league structure, but) -- both NPL and SCCL were given to Forsyth in previous years. If lets say the Norcross team then takes one of their spots, where does that team go? Athena D? I don't know. I guess it depends on how much hard ball Georgia Soccer wants to play. While some people on this forum might believe that is justice I think that hurts more than just the UFA. Just like those DA teams aging out and going to play in Classic 2. If most of those kids stay on those teams they will slaughter the competition. Whatever they decide they should stick to it because you are right about the Athena placement afterwards. It makes sense to have one NPL team at one location and SCCL at the other location. My guess is that it will eventually shake down into being like ECNL where they just say it is at "x" location like Concorde and Tophat do for ECNL.
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Post by surgesoccer on May 7, 2018 12:56:53 GMT -5
Not to get into the juicy details, but I'm aware of some ugliness last year on the girls side between Norcross and Fowler, where the Norcross coach was not playing very nicely when his players wanted to leave for Forsyth - lets just say he tried to block it from happening. If the above is true, the Norcross girls program just took another major step backwards, but in fairness if their is a true hierarchy, the spots should be given/awarded to the better teams on an annual basis. Problem is once they are in it, it will be hard to take them out in future years, unless teams from NPL and SCCL just swamped etc. Lets say a Norcross team plays there way to being better than all Forysth teams outside of DA (granted they would never formally play each other given the league structure, but) -- both NPL and SCCL were given to Forsyth in previous years. If lets say the Norcross team then takes one of their spots, where does that team go? Athena D? Simple solution. Make NPL or SCCL the next team under DA and make it a combined team training out of South Forsyth. At our age if you combined the Fowler and Norcross team you would have a very strong team that would compete with anyone at their age in GA (excluding DA).
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Post by infoguy on May 7, 2018 13:06:30 GMT -5
Not to get into the juicy details, but I'm aware of some ugliness last year on the girls side between Norcross and Fowler, where the Norcross coach was not playing very nicely when his players wanted to leave for Forsyth - lets just say he tried to block it from happening. If the above is true, the Norcross girls program just took another major step backwards, but in fairness if their is a true hierarchy, the spots should be given/awarded to the better teams on an annual basis. Problem is once they are in it, it will be hard to take them out in future years, unless teams from NPL and SCCL just swamped etc. Lets say a Norcross team plays there way to being better than all Forysth teams outside of DA (granted they would never formally play each other given the league structure, but) -- both NPL and SCCL were given to Forsyth in previous years. If lets say the Norcross team then takes one of their spots, where does that team go? Athena D? Simple solution. Make NPL or SCCL the next team under DA and make it a combined team training out of South Forsyth. At our age if you combined the Fowler and Norcross team you would have a very strong team that would compete with anyone at their age in GA (excluding DA). Surge, I’m not even with UFA, and sorry if this is repetitive, but to reiterate - 01B in Norcross were NPL last fall, they took boys from Fowler and Norcross from the previous year’s RPL teams and made the Norcross team second to the DA team, both under the coaching of Dixon. Seems they did what you are describing as the way to go.
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Post by Soccerhouse on May 7, 2018 13:12:00 GMT -5
Yea, what makes sense usually doesn't happen. but, once you get combined teams from team 1 to 3, you question what is even the point of separate branches, just for the left overs?
the 01s was an example of what is wrong as well, norcross team was the higher seeded team from the year before, so when dixon moved over to Fowler, he basically had first pick of kids he didn't take for the 01/02 DA team. Then the fowler team was 2nd.
And to those who haven't been to south forysth in a while, you don't want to train there until somebody turfs the other side of the road (rumor I've heard as well). Its like training in a sand storm or on concrete with rocks displacing the ball all over the place.
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Post by SoccerMom on May 7, 2018 13:34:34 GMT -5
I’m sure it was a well planned and strategic communication, however it’s interestjng that there’s no reference to NPL or ECNL. I do think it’s important to know the current interrelationship between the leagues. Each club will do its own release about that
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Post by surgesoccer on May 7, 2018 13:47:09 GMT -5
Yea, what makes sense usually doesn't happen. but, once you get combined teams from team 1 to 3, you question what is even the point of separate branches, just for the left overs? the 01s was an example of what is wrong as well, norcross team was the higher seeded team from the year before, so when dixon moved over to Fowler, he basically had first pick of kids he didn't take for the 01/02 DA team. Then the fowler team was 2nd. And to those who haven't been to south forysth in a while, you don't want to train there until somebody turfs the other side of the road (rumor I've heard as well). Its like training in a sand storm or on concrete with rocks displacing the ball all over the place. Fields at Norcross are not that much better. The weather this year played havoc with grass growing. I think they left the weeds just so something green would be there.
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