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Post by soccerfan30 on May 15, 2015 13:17:53 GMT -5
Now that it's official I can finally say it is true, Tophat will become an ECNL member club for the coming year.
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Post by Soccerhouse on May 15, 2015 13:19:30 GMT -5
their (your) dominance will only get larger.......... scary scary combination tophat and ecnl. congrats soccerfan30ECNL Announces New Member Clubs for 2015-2016 season. RICHMOND, VA (May 15, 2015): The Elite Clubs National League is proud to announce the addition of three new member clubs for the 2015-2016 season. The three new clubs accepted for the 2015-2016 season are: Tophat Soccer Club, based in Atlanta, GA Jacksonville FC, based in Jacksonville, FL Boca United, based in Boca Raton, FL “The ECNL has desired to enter the Florida market with a larger presence for several years, andstrengthen our presence in the Southeast," said Commissioner Sarah Kate Noftsinger. " The two new Florida clubs will be great representatives for the league in 2 new geographic markets, and Tophat will add great teams and players into the Southeast Conference.” The ECNL has a rolling admissions process for new clubs, and all existing club memberships are evaluated every year. Membership is offered to new clubs based on multiple factors, including the player pool size and quality, competitive history, technical leadership, history of player development, the region, conference structure, and more. “With these additions, the league now has a presence in every major soccer market in the country and a complete national footprint,” said President Christian Lavers. “The changes made by ECNL clubs over the past 6 years in improving their developmental environment have been powerful. We expect this improvement to continue, and the same type of exciting progress in these new markets.” Every ECNL club competes in the U-14 through U-18 age groups in regular season conference-based competition as well as ECNL National Events. Detailed information regarding the 2015-2016 ECNL schedule, and the ECNL National Events for 2015-2016, will be provided in the coming weeks. In addition to the competition platform, the ECNL partners with US Club Soccer’s id2 Program to offer player identification and development opportunities for top players, as well as offering coaching development seminars for staff of the member clubs. "Boca United is honored to be the first club in South Florida chosen for inclusion in this prestigious league. The ECNL represents a tremendous platform that fosters development of players and coaches alike. It allows players to compete at the highest level, in a professional environment and provides competition against elite talent on a weekly basis.” - Mark Chung, Director of Coaching, Boca United "Jacksonville FC is honored to be part of ECNL and are equally excited to offer female athletes throughout our community an opportunity to showcase their talent against the very best.” - Eric Dade, Executive Director, Jacksonville FC "Tophat Soccer Club is honored to be invited for membership in the ECNL. We are looking forward to competing in the best female soccer league in the country and being a part of an organization that puts the needs of the elite female soccer player first.” -Troy Garner, Director of Coaching, Tophat SC
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Post by jash on May 15, 2015 13:21:09 GMT -5
Congrats... seems like it's an obvious thing to happen at what is arguably the best girls club in Atlanta.
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Post by lovethegame on May 15, 2015 13:22:04 GMT -5
I guess I should eat my words. I thought Tophat should be ECNL, but I never thought they would expand the Atlanta area to four clubs. Congratulations to Tophat. They will do well. Tophat Boca United Jacksonville FC That is a big expansion in the SE Conference. I would think they will realign the conference and perhaps place CSA in the Mid-Atlantic Conference with the other two NC clubs. www.eliteclubsnationalleague.com/home/877396.html
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Post by th1976 on May 15, 2015 13:25:13 GMT -5
Congrats... seems like it's an obvious thing to happen at what is arguably the best girls club in Atlanta. Congrats to Tophat! This area will have an amazing ECNL presence!!
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Post by soccertwins on May 15, 2015 13:34:55 GMT -5
Awesome news!
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Post by spectator on May 15, 2015 13:43:54 GMT -5
Congratulations to Top Hat. While I always said they didn't 'need' it, it makes a lot of sense for the premier all girls soccer club to be part of the elite league for girls soccer. They should compete very well in that league.
Now my question - what happens to the RPL spots Top Hat has - will they go to the second teams while the first teams compete in ECNL? That's going to open a ton of spots in Athena A if that's the case- Top Hat either has the RPL spot in every age group or two teams in Athena A already.
Fall placements for girls teams should be interesting
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Post by sidelinemama on May 15, 2015 13:45:23 GMT -5
I remember someone posted that the GSA Pre-ECNL team was going to play both ECNL and RPL. Maybe they will do the same. Maybe everyone will...
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Post by lovinsoccer on May 15, 2015 14:28:12 GMT -5
My question is - what the heck is NASA doing for girl's soccer?
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Post by stevieg on May 15, 2015 14:42:10 GMT -5
With Tophat and Jacksonville going into ECNL, RPL just got gutted in Region 3. Unless the Atlanta area teams finally do what Eclipse has done for years and pool train 30 players for RPL and ECNL. That's really a great idea. I wonder if that's what GSA meant when they said they were playing both with their top team. Makes sense actually.
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Post by Soccerhouse on May 15, 2015 14:51:16 GMT -5
Its gonna be tough sell in the future for UFA/SSA/NASA.
if your a top player at the ecnl clubs, your most likely play rpl and then ecnl, and then maybe even both. If your a borderline top player, you can play 2nd team athena b, then probably help and move onto a top rpl/ecnl team the following year.
I think UFA probably deserves ecnl as well, but have no clue if they have ever applied. I would put them as the strongest left for sure.
Will be interesting to see if this has an immediate effect on the current rising u14s and rising 13s.
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