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Post by Goalkeeper Dad on Apr 10, 2019 13:40:09 GMT -5
I like this. It's ECNL saying: "We're not second fiddle to GDA. You wanna have teams in both? You better be good enough to excel in both." And IMO this strategy has worked. Aggressive cutting has kept the ECNL brand strong after 2 years of competition with GDA. Had they simply allowed it, ECNL as a brand would have tarnished. I have been reading what a lot of people have been writing hear and I have some questions. I understand ECNL wants all their clubs all in but would it be smart to pressure NTH to make a decision. Yes all of NTH ECNL teams our down this year but they are still in the middle of the road of practically all age groups except 2. (1 age is U19 and that team might be gone because of graduations) but you are saying it is OK for Armanda FC with 4 teams in the bottom 3 because there all in I think ECNL will say something to NTH but I am sure NTH will counter by saying we had a down year with our 2ND team but we still did better then most clubs first teams. Also they can counter by saying our DA team is winning every division what gaurantees us we would have tougher competition in ECNL. Concorde Platinum (Former DA) has a 4 wins 4 ties against our second teams with only 2 blow out wins. Also probably NTH can go to DA and say we would like to add another team because we are losing our ECNL team and we could create a very competitive 2nd team. if that was to happen how many girls would leave Concorde to be on NTH second team (We all know parents chase levels. They can tell DA we are confident our Second team would be minium middle of the road in this conference because of players switching clubs. If that was to happen what would happen to ECNL? I think everything will stay the same and it will be revisited next year depending on how NTH does in ECNL. If this doesn't happen I wouldn't be surprised if NTH leaves ECNL and their second team goes to NL. With everything going on in Georgia Soccer I am sure they would be happy to have NTH come back. My 2 cents but what the hell do I know
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Post by soccerlegacy on Apr 10, 2019 15:21:48 GMT -5
Is it totally out of the question for Concorde.to get a 3rd ECNL team? Here me out... Concorde has 1 team slot and the other being given to SSA to take the 2nd slot.
Tophat, if the drop ECNL, would free up a space that could be taken by a 3rd Concorde team, especially if many of the players leave Tophat to follow ECNL.
I know, not possible...
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Post by atlutd17 on Apr 10, 2019 15:44:37 GMT -5
Is it totally out of the question for Concorde.to get a 3rd ECNL team? Here me out... Concorde has 1 team slot and the other being given to SSA to take the 2nd slot. Tophat, if the drop ECNL, would free up a space that could be taken by a 3rd Concorde team, especially if many of the players leave Tophat to follow ECNL. I know, not possible... Wild guess, not before GSA gets a 2nd ECNL spot.
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Post by Goalkeeper Dad on Apr 10, 2019 15:47:38 GMT -5
Is it totally out of the question for Concorde.to get a 3rd ECNL team? Here me out... Concorde has 1 team slot and the other being given to SSA to take the 2nd slot. Tophat, if the drop ECNL, would free up a space that could be taken by a 3rd Concorde team, especially if many of the players leave Tophat to follow ECNL. I know, not possible... Could happen but I don't thing it would. The reason I say that is Concorde second team was not good in a large number of the age groups. If they would add a 3rd team more people would move over making the second team better but the 3rd team would suffer If that second team was better then they could fight for that.
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Post by soccerlegacy on Apr 10, 2019 16:01:16 GMT -5
Is it totally out of the question for Concorde.to get a 3rd ECNL team? Here me out... Concorde has 1 team slot and the other being given to SSA to take the 2nd slot. Tophat, if the drop ECNL, would free up a space that could be taken by a 3rd Concorde team, especially if many of the players leave Tophat to follow ECNL. I know, not possible... Wild guess, not before GSA gets a 2nd ECNL spot. True, but SSA is a de facto spot, that is "Concorde". If more a few more came over from Tophat to make the current 2nd team stronger, they could be solid. Unless I have the SSA thing wrong.
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Post by atlutd17 on Apr 10, 2019 16:04:30 GMT -5
Is it totally out of the question for Concorde.to get a 3rd ECNL team? Here me out... Concorde has 1 team slot and the other being given to SSA to take the 2nd slot. Tophat, if the drop ECNL, would free up a space that could be taken by a 3rd Concorde team, especially if many of the players leave Tophat to follow ECNL. I know, not possible... Could happen but I don't thing it would. The reason I say that is Concorde second team was not good in a large number of the age groups. If they would add a 3rd team more people would move over making the second team better but the 3rd team would suffer If that second team was better then they could fight for that. 1. Why not give ECNL status to SSA then and be real about what it is? A little insane playing in those CF unis. 2. How many players want to be on the 2nd team same league as the top team? Not much love. Never easy to recruit players out of TH. Rare culture has kept top players loyal and teams together even without ECNL in the past.
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Post by soccerlegacy on Apr 10, 2019 17:46:26 GMT -5
Agreed. The whole SSA not having their own 1ECNL thing is a bit odd. I believe the rumors were that they continually got blocked by AFC and Tophat... or something like that?
And it would be hard being the 2nd team in the same league, but teams have done it in the past, right?
I was just tossing out a "out of left field" theory.
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Post by atlfutboldad on Apr 10, 2019 18:21:57 GMT -5
This is all opinion...
I think ECNL has the power here, and that's how they want it. GDA and the clubs had the power initially.
ECNL is in a war with GDA. ECNL tried to start an initial dialog with GDA but USSF decided they were top dog and could dictate their own terms. What you see now is the result. These are corporations and, branding, reputation and perception are everything.
NTH probably could have had 2 ECNL teams had they gone all-in last year. Despite the history of NTH in ECNL, ECNL laid down the ground rules for having teams in both leagues. If NTH offered to put their top team in ECNL and 2nd team in GDA, perhaps ECNL would be willing to discuss. Anything short would be saying "We're okay getting GDA leftovers."
Besides, if NTH loses ECNL, many of those players will move to other ECNL clubs, making the overall ECNL product in the state stronger. A club having to teams in both leagues only benefits the club, not ECNL.
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Post by georgiasoccer411 on Apr 10, 2019 18:23:07 GMT -5
Agreed. The whole SSA not having their own 1ECNL thing is a bit odd. I believe the rumors were that they continually got blocked by AFC and Tophat... or something like that? And it would be hard being the 2nd team in the same league, but teams have done it in the past, right? I was just tossing out a "out of left field" theory. Not sure how AFC would block given that they do not have ECNL, but it’s possible that AFU and Tophat are blocking. Welcome to the world of exclusive invitation only leagues. But fear not, Concorde will take care of SSA.
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Post by infoguy on Apr 11, 2019 6:07:06 GMT -5
Agreed. The whole SSA not having their own 1ECNL thing is a bit odd. I believe the rumors were that they continually got blocked by AFC and Tophat... or something like that? And it would be hard being the 2nd team in the same league, but teams have done it in the past, right? I was just tossing out a "out of left field" theory. Not sure how AFC would block given that they do not have ECNL, but it’s possible that AFU and Tophat are blocking. Welcome to the world of exclusive invitation only leagues. But fear not, Concorde will take care of SSA. Concorde is not dedicated to taking care of SSA. They have to benefit too. For instance, they have an ECNL spot for SSA on a team for team basis - CF gave one SSA girls team a slot because it reflected positively on CF brand and I suspect made $.
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Post by atlutd17 on Apr 11, 2019 9:39:01 GMT -5
Not sure how AFC would block given that they do not have ECNL, but it’s possible that AFU and Tophat are blocking. Welcome to the world of exclusive invitation only leagues. But fear not, Concorde will take care of SSA. Concorde is not dedicated to taking care of SSA. They have to benefit too. For instance, they have an ECNL spot for SSA on a team for team basis - CF gave one SSA girls team a slot because it reflected positively on CF brand and I suspect made $.
CF gave SSA 2 ECNL spots (13G, and 14G) and will have 13G through 17G next year because those teams are better. Some people say it's an engagement before a marriage, at some point perhaps Simon taking over Gregg if he decides to retire. Or not. One way or another SSA is establishing themselves as an ECNL worthy club by finishing near the top of the tables, even if that means they'll playing in CF uniforms for awhile. Anyway that's the little stuff in the grand scheme of things. Another strange thing is that while NTH is forced into some decisions between DA or ECNL despite the fact NTH has 2nd teams much stronger than many ECNL top teams, ECNL is somehow OK with CF having two ECNL teams and handing out ECNL spots to other clubs. Double standards is a mild way to put it. You wonder about a league so strong on the field yet so exclusive and funny off of it. There is usually a primary reason and a secondary reason some major decisions and moves are made. The secondary reason is the one they make public because it's the politically correct one, it is true, and it's what they want the public to hear, BUT would not happen without the primary reason. The primary reason is never public, it serves the individual or club interests, and that's why it's happening. Youth soccer has become big business, and businesses try to corner the market to get bigger piece of the pie, which is not what soccer or any sport needs. And if a legit reason of all this happening is because DA and ECNL are at "war", one has to wonder about the true WHY, and about the lack of leadership at the very top so that the players do not continue to become collateral damage of politics, clubs splitting and diluted competitions at more levels than one ...
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Post by atlfutboldad on Apr 11, 2019 10:56:28 GMT -5
Youth soccer has become big business, and businesses try to corner the market to get bigger piece of the pie, which is not what soccer or any sport needs. But US Club/ECNL had the WHOLE "ELITE" PIE first (on the girls side, USSF didn't care about girls for many years), so to them, no one really needed GDA. USSF DA said "hey, we can make money off the girls also!!" and tried to take said pie. Therefore ECNL doesn't care for GDA and is in direct competition with them. ECNL likely thinks its program is better than GDA and doesn't want clubs to put their 2nd team in ECNL. Ever since ECNL initially lost clubs to GDA and had to deal with being "2nd tier" at other clubs they've been fighting back. All-In was their response tagline.
If US Club/ECNL were to now mandate that clubs have to put their first team in ECNL, 2nd team in DA, it would solve the questions (the final 4 clubs would drop ECNL and new clubs would get ECNL slots). They couldn't do that initially due to DA's strength and presence on the boy's side (they didn't want to lose ALL the best clubs initially). I think that in the opinion of US Club...ECNL and DA teams at a club should be 1A and 1B, with either team able to beat the other on a given day. The problem is that at NTH and the remaining 4 clubs with both think GDA is #1 and and ECNL is #2...understandably ECNL doesn't like that mentality. I get that you're an NTH parent/supporter, and that losing ECNL will hurt the club, but as you said, it's a business. ECNL had a great model for nearly a decade, producing women's college soccer stars and eventual women's World Cup Champions. For girls, ECNL is Coke and GDA is Pepsi. Coke is king in Georgia...and suddenly Pepsi walked into Georgia and said "we're the best soft drink." How does Coke respond?
Agreed about poor leadership at the top of US Soccer, but I think we've all see the dumpster fire that is the USSF. This allowed US Club to see opportunities to run better soccer leagues than USYS has been. Like I said, USSF didn't seem care about the girls side for many years (see the pay disparity issue - non-WC). Make no mistake, US Club wants ALL of the soccer pie if they can get it.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Solar, FC Dallas, So Cal Blues and Real Colorado...none of whom seem to meeting the criteria for champions league that NTH isn't.
It sounds top me that CF/SSA are going to do something different than the current 1st team CF/2nd team SSA. It sounds like CF is going to take the best players from SSA and add them to the 1st team CF ECNL, then the 2nd team will be a mix of the 2nd tier players from both clubs. I suspect with this strategy all the CF 2nd teams will be better in 2019/2020. If the clubs merge it'll easily be the largest club in the state (which I think SSA may be now). Note that on the boys side CF is the only club in state with all ages of Boys DA and Boys ECNL and I doubt that will change. ECNL is content being the #2 on the boys side.
Regardless, tryouts will be fun to watch.
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Post by mistergrinch on Apr 11, 2019 13:30:23 GMT -5
ECNL could have kept a much better position had they not let clubs keep other clubs out. Tophat was kept out for a long time.. UFA and SSA were still being shut out. SSA had to do an end-around by taking CFs second spot just to get ECNL.
Had ECNL made the decisions on who got in vs letting rival clubs decide, some of this mess may have been avoided.
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Post by westcoast on Apr 11, 2019 13:44:31 GMT -5
Youth soccer has become big business, and businesses try to corner the market to get bigger piece of the pie, which is not what soccer or any sport needs. But US Club/ECNL had the WHOLE "ELITE" PIE first (on the girls side, USSF didn't care about girls for many years), so to them, no one really needed GDA. USSF DA said "hey, we can make money off the girls also!!" and tried to take said pie. Therefore ECNL doesn't care for GDA and is in direct competition with them. ECNL likely thinks its program is better than GDA and doesn't want clubs to put their 2nd team in ECNL. Ever since ECNL initially lost clubs to GDA and had to deal with being "2nd tier" at other clubs they've been fighting back. All-In was their response tagline.
If US Club/ECNL were to now mandate that clubs have to put their first team in ECNL, 2nd team in DA, it would solve the questions (the final 4 clubs would drop ECNL and new clubs would get ECNL slots). They couldn't do that initially due to DA's strength and presence on the boy's side (they didn't want to lose ALL the best clubs initially). I think that in the opinion of US Club...ECNL and DA teams at a club should be 1A and 1B, with either team able to beat the other on a given day. The problem is that at NTH and the remaining 4 clubs with both think GDA is #1 and and ECNL is #2...understandably ECNL doesn't like that mentality. I get that you're an NTH parent/supporter, and that losing ECNL will hurt the club, but as you said, it's a business. ECNL had a great model for nearly a decade, producing women's college soccer stars and eventual women's World Cup Champions. For girls, ECNL is Coke and GDA is Pepsi. Coke is king in Georgia...and suddenly Pepsi walked into Georgia and said "we're the best soft drink." How does Coke respond?
Agreed about poor leadership at the top of US Soccer, but I think we've all see the dumpster fire that is the USSF. This allowed US Club to see opportunities to run better soccer leagues than USYS has been. Like I said, USSF didn't seem care about the girls side for many years (see the pay disparity issue - non-WC). Make no mistake, US Club wants ALL of the soccer pie if they can get it.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Solar, FC Dallas, So Cal Blues and Real Colorado...none of whom seem to meeting the criteria for champions league that NTH isn't.
It sounds top me that CF/SSA are going to do something different than the current 1st team CF/2nd team SSA. It sounds like CF is going to take the best players from SSA and add them to the 1st team CF ECNL, then the 2nd team will be a mix of the 2nd tier players from both clubs. I suspect with this strategy all the CF 2nd teams will be better in 2019/2020. If the clubs merge it'll easily be the largest club in the state (which I think SSA may be now). Note that on the boys side CF is the only club in state with all ages of Boys DA and Boys ECNL and I doubt that will change. ECNL is content being the #2 on the boys side.
Regardless, tryouts will be fun to watch.
SoCal Blues played their top teams for the 2001 and 2002 age groups in ECNL last year, and won ECNL national championships in both those age groups. The word was that those results would be enough for ECNL to allow them to be in both leagues. This year, SoCal blues still has their top team for the 2001 age group in ECNL and their best 2002 players(including 3 GNT players) play on the ECNL U19 composite team. Rumor has it that they may be one of the next clubs to go all-in ECNL, but that remains to be seen.
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Post by jjfutebol on Apr 11, 2019 15:14:15 GMT -5
Is all this discussion for boys AND girls? Seems ECNL has ahold of the girls game much more so than the boys.
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Post by atv on Apr 11, 2019 16:42:54 GMT -5
Is all this discussion for boys AND girls? Seems ECNL has ahold of the girls game much more so than the boys. Girls. Boys ECNL is only two years old while DA has been around for awhile now. However, the league is getting stronger every season. The core principles, leadership, mutual respect, collaboration, and marketing far exceeds anything I’ve seen from the USSF. It’s just a better organization. If Boys ECNL had started at the same time as DA and there were no USSF overstepping “mandates or proclamations” to contend with, then ECNL would win hands down.
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Post by atlutd17 on Apr 11, 2019 16:50:54 GMT -5
ECNL could have kept a much better position had they not let clubs keep other clubs out. Tophat was kept out for a long time.. UFA and SSA were still being shut out. SSA had to do an end-around by taking CFs second spot just to get ECNL. Had ECNL made the decisions on who got in vs letting rival clubs decide, some of this mess may have been avoided. Agreed. Considering who has been making decisions on the ECNL board (who are also Directors at local clubs) for years on who's in or out, anyone can see the direct conflict of interest, and that's what broke the camel's back. USSF/DA has its own politics too but, they for the most part don't have a horse in the race or enough at stake to hold a truly worthy club out. What ECNL had done to TH and some clubs in other states for years was a disgrace, and shows the flaws of an unfair system controlled by club Directors trying to make their teams stronger by keeping their local rivals out.
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Post by greenmonkey on Apr 11, 2019 17:48:51 GMT -5
But US Club/ECNL had the WHOLE "ELITE" PIE first (on the girls side, USSF didn't care about girls for many years), so to them, no one really needed GDA. USSF DA said "hey, we can make money off the girls also!!" and tried to take said pie. Therefore ECNL doesn't care for GDA and is in direct competition with them. ECNL likely thinks its program is better than GDA and doesn't want clubs to put their 2nd team in ECNL. Ever since ECNL initially lost clubs to GDA and had to deal with being "2nd tier" at other clubs they've been fighting back. All-In was their response tagline. Read more: gasoccerforum.com/thread/3870/2019-20-ecnl-teams#ixzz5kpT4ac5JI think since US Club/ECNL/NPL/SCCL are all the WHOLE ELITE PIE is exactly why TopHat will go ALL-IN ECNL and drop GDA. ECNL's only "caviot" to clubs seems to be no GDA. TopHat for YEARS has dominated ECNL (which of course the dominance perpetuates the dominance - resulting in the ELITE players in ATL travel from anywhere to play at TopHat). If the only GDA in town is UFA ... How many girls will TopHat really lose if they don't have a GDA program? How many girls from TopHat are really going to be turned away from a National Team if they stay at TopHat and don't go to UFA for GDA. How many girls at TopHat can dominate in ECNL and still play in high school and still receive college scholarships without TopHat having a GDA. How much more "freedom" do the coaches (well one or two coaches) now have at TopHat to just continue to do it "the TopHat way" and not have to bother with all the GDA "stuff". I think the TopHat reputation, the TopHat coaches, the TopHat parents and the TopHat players will all survive what ever decision is made. But I agree with Futsal Goddess until TopHat makes a move to announce any changes if there are even any on the table ... everyone else will be equal in our speculations. GM
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Post by atlutd17 on Apr 11, 2019 19:19:45 GMT -5
They are NOT the whole elite pie. The true National League in USYS compares to ECNL and DA at the National level. There is a little difference. In true NL teams have to earn the spot every year so by default they are top level. DA/ECNL is hit or miss from age group to age group and gender.. Other US Club leagues like NPL and SCCL should not even be part of the conversation when comparing top leagues by design.
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Post by atlfutboldad on Apr 11, 2019 19:42:24 GMT -5
I agree 100% that NTH will remain equally successful should they choose ECNL or GDA. Tophat has a fantastic reputation for compiling and developing talent.
The only reason anyone is assuming they will drop ECNL is because that's what some have been saying they're hearing. I have no skin in it and have no sources at Tophat, and despite how it may seem I don't relish in their loss of on or the other, just objective about the reasoning.
I enjoy a bit of the chaos in tryout time. This is our first year where we will not be changing clubs.
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Post by infoguy on Apr 12, 2019 6:35:45 GMT -5
I agree 100% that NTH will remain equally successful should they choose ECNL or GDA. Tophat has a fantastic reputation for compiling and developing talent. The only reason anyone is assuming they will drop ECNL is because that's what some have been saying they're hearing. I have no skin in it and have no sources at Tophat, and despite how it may seem I don't relish in their loss of on or the other, just objective about the reasoning. I enjoy a bit of the chaos in tryout time. This is our first year where we will not be changing clubs. Although switching clubs is a frequent occurrence, I think you hit the nail on the head -- TH and other clubs with reputable coaching and developing talent will retain players as long as the competition is there during the season. I say this, and my kids is not with NTH/NASA.
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Post by soccerdad456 on Apr 12, 2019 8:28:17 GMT -5
I agree that tophat has an amazing reputation and many girls will consider staying if ecnl is gone. But honestly, I doubt there will be good competition for these girls. The current sccl tophat teams are already doing very well, add ecnl girls to it and they will be winning 10-0. That's fun every once and a while but not consistently. You get better when you play tough competition. It's a difficult choice these girls will be forced to make if ecnl is dropped.
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Post by soccermaxx72 on Apr 12, 2019 9:21:08 GMT -5
I agree 100% that NTH will remain equally successful should they choose ECNL or GDA. Tophat has a fantastic reputation for compiling and developing talent. The only reason anyone is assuming they will drop ECNL is because that's what some have been saying they're hearing. I have no skin in it and have no sources at Tophat, and despite how it may seem I don't relish in their loss of on or the other, just objective about the reasoning. I enjoy a bit of the chaos in tryout time. This is our first year where we will not be changing clubs. I completely disagree with this statement. Players will not stay at tophat simply because of tophat name. If tophat only has 1 ecnl team only the best 16-18 players will be on that team. The next 8-12 girls at tophat could likely find another ecnl club to join. If you want to play college you need the ecnl or DA credentials and those parents know it. Tophat SCCL will not put the same players in college compared to a Atlanta Fire ecnl, gsa ecnl, or Concorde Fire ecnl
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Post by atlutd17 on Apr 12, 2019 9:45:31 GMT -5
They are NOT the whole elite pie. The true National League in USYS compares to ECNL and DA at the National level. There is a little difference. In true NL teams have to earn the spot every year so by default they are top level. DA/ECNL is hit or miss from age group to age group and gender.. Other US Club leagues like NPL and SCCL should not even be part of the conversation when comparing top leagues by design. The “true NL” as you put it is better than Piedmont Conference and the like, but you have to play a bunch of bad games to get there. And even then, it’s only a small number of games each year. It’s barely a league, more like a series of showcases. You are correct but this has been happening only because of the massive and multiple changes made in the last three years starting with age mandate, to DA/ECNL growing to younger age groups then girls DA kicks in, then NPL and the formation of SCCL last summer. There is a dynamic here that makes every season very different. All those changes considered, all that has happened as a result was to be expected. But due to the team performance based structure of USYS (as opposed to club in the exclusive US Club model where a club can have a strong team in one age group but not in another especially in NPL and SCCL) it is expected that the NL feeder conferences like Piedmont will gradually become more competitive at every age group as weak teams that took advantage of the massive changes are gradually replaced by more competitive teams. And on a side note, new clubs emerging all over the country will show up in USYS and at some point in USSF, not US Club, including former USNT players ...
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Post by soccernotfootball on Apr 12, 2019 10:19:57 GMT -5
The “true NL” as you put it is better than Piedmont Conference and the like, but you have to play a bunch of bad games to get there. And even then, it’s only a small number of games each year. It’s barely a league, more like a series of showcases. You are correct but this has been happening only because of the massive and multiple changes made in the last three years starting with age mandate, to DA/ECNL growing to younger age groups then girls DA kicks in, then NPL and the formation of SCCL last summer. There is a dynamic here that makes every season very different. All those changes considered, all that has happened as a result was to be expected. But due to the team performance based structure of USYS (as opposed to club in the exclusive US Club model where a club can have a strong team in one age group but not in another especially in NPL and SCCL) it is expected that the NL feeder conferences like Piedmont will gradually become more competitive at every age group as weak teams that took advantage of the massive changes are gradually replaced by more competitive teams. And on a side note, new clubs emerging all over the country will show up in USYS and at some point in USSF, not US Club, including former USNT players ... What does that mean? US Club is a member of USSF.
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Post by atlutd17 on Apr 12, 2019 10:22:17 GMT -5
I agree 100% that NTH will remain equally successful should they choose ECNL or GDA. Tophat has a fantastic reputation for compiling and developing talent. The only reason anyone is assuming they will drop ECNL is because that's what some have been saying they're hearing. I have no skin in it and have no sources at Tophat, and despite how it may seem I don't relish in their loss of on or the other, just objective about the reasoning. I enjoy a bit of the chaos in tryout time. This is our first year where we will not be changing clubs. I completely disagree with this statement. Players will not stay at tophat simply because of tophat name. If tophat only has 1 ecnl team only the best 16-18 players will be on that team. The next 8-12 girls at tophat could likely find another ecnl club to join. If you want to play college you need the ecnl or DA credentials and those parents know it. Tophat SCCL will not put the same players in college compared to a Atlanta Fire ecnl, gsa ecnl, or Concorde Fire ecnl You do not understand the culture, TH is like no other club. The club had top level teams killing it at SC RPL and Nationals before they were awarded DA/ECNL because they did NOT lose players to ECNL recruits because of that culture and place that developed them.
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Post by atlutd17 on Apr 12, 2019 10:24:00 GMT -5
You are correct but this has been happening only because of the massive and multiple changes made in the last three years starting with age mandate, to DA/ECNL growing to younger age groups then girls DA kicks in, then NPL and the formation of SCCL last summer. There is a dynamic here that makes every season very different. All those changes considered, all that has happened as a result was to be expected. But due to the team performance based structure of USYS (as opposed to club in the exclusive US Club model where a club can have a strong team in one age group but not in another especially in NPL and SCCL) it is expected that the NL feeder conferences like Piedmont will gradually become more competitive at every age group as weak teams that took advantage of the massive changes are gradually replaced by more competitive teams. And on a side note, new clubs emerging all over the country will show up in USYS and at some point in USSF, not US Club, including former USNT players ... What does that mean? US Club is a member of USSF. Correct, meant DA ...
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Post by soccerlegacy on Apr 12, 2019 11:20:12 GMT -5
The “true NL” as you put it is better than Piedmont Conference and the like, but you have to play a bunch of bad games to get there. And even then, it’s only a small number of games each year. It’s barely a league, more like a series of showcases. it is expected that the NL feeder conferences like Piedmont will gradually become more competitive at every age group as weak teams that took advantage of the massive changes are gradually replaced by more competitive teams. And on a side note, new clubs emerging all over the country will show up in USYS and at some point in USSF, not US Club, including former USNT players ... But will this really happen, specifically here in Atlanta? This sounds like more hope than reality ( I get that the other teams in the Piedmont from other states will still be okay). And/or is this a long-term expectations (years away)? Competitive teams, does not necessarily mean good teams either. Few to none of the smaller clubs that make up most of the Piedmont teams now, have the depth to put together truly competitive teams at that level, IMHO and I don't know if that will ever happen unfortunately. Just so you know, I don't wish this, in fact, I wish the opposite, I would like it to be the way it was before the splintering of all these leagues, all under one umbrella, pro/reg, small clubs having equal footing... it is, what is now, though.
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Post by soccermaxx72 on Apr 12, 2019 12:28:36 GMT -5
I completely disagree with this statement. Players will not stay at tophat simply because of tophat name. If tophat only has 1 ecnl team only the best 16-18 players will be on that team. The next 8-12 girls at tophat could likely find another ecnl club to join. If you want to play college you need the ecnl or DA credentials and those parents know it. Tophat SCCL will not put the same players in college compared to a Atlanta Fire ecnl, gsa ecnl, or Concorde Fire ecnl You do not understand the culture, TH is like no other club. The club had top level teams killing it at SC RPL and Nationals before they were awarded DA/ECNL because they did NOT lose players to ECNL recruits because of that culture and place that developed them. this is hilarious
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Post by fridge on Apr 12, 2019 12:50:28 GMT -5
I completely disagree with this statement. Players will not stay at tophat simply because of tophat name. If tophat only has 1 ecnl team only the best 16-18 players will be on that team. The next 8-12 girls at tophat could likely find another ecnl club to join. If you want to play college you need the ecnl or DA credentials and those parents know it. Tophat SCCL will not put the same players in college compared to a Atlanta Fire ecnl, gsa ecnl, or Concorde Fire ecnl You do not understand the culture, TH is like no other club. The club had top level teams killing it at SC RPL and Nationals before they were awarded DA/ECNL because they did NOT lose players to ECNL recruits because of that culture and place that developed them. Respectfully, I think you are mistaken on this point. Yes, TH is a great club and has been brilliant at winning at the young ages and then recruiting from ODP to keep winning at the older ages. And, of course, there is solid development, too (but not as much as the Kool Aid drinkers advocate.) However, TH, which deserved ECNL as much as anyone else, was at tipping point had it not gotten it when it did. TH Girls were seeing that at NL events they were getting 10% of the coaches as ECNL events. As a result, many would have left if ECNL was not secured. TH now faces the same dilemma CF faced last year. 20 kids make DA and what do you do with the 15 who don't. CF and other clubs begged for teams for each age group but DA would not relent. (This year the hard heads relented a little by adding a U16 age group.) No one could advise with a straight face that a nonDA kid would get the same opps playing SCCL as playing for another ECNL club. I do believe TH will stay in DA and do believe it is creative enough to push for a solution. Maybe it will be getting a second DA team. If not, they will lose talent to ECNL teams and/or UFA. It will be very interesting to see what DA does to accommodate TH. I can't believe it would give TH two teams, but it is a premier club and DA needs to stop the bleeding too--just like last year ECNL was willing to wheel/deal by giving CF two teams.
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