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Post by 5.slooh on Jul 17, 2016 15:06:19 GMT -5
With DA,ECNL,SRPL,and RPL, do you think Classic 1/Athena A is watered down enough where the best players dont play there anymore. Also, what do you think of the future of Classic 2-5/Athena B-F?
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Post by TheMadOx on Jul 18, 2016 12:09:31 GMT -5
If parents are willing to pay the price and travel for the leagues above Athena and Classic, Athena and Classic leagues will eventually become Rec Leagues for ages U13-U16. At U17, many of the high school kids come back to play with the friends and high school buddies (especially on the boys side)
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Post by Soccerhouse on Jul 18, 2016 12:49:20 GMT -5
I don't see classic III/Athena C and down changing much, the level of play will remain consistant with what you have now.
The big questions is what happens with Girls DA and ECNL. Does Concorde and tophat stay in both, and what about all the flordia Teams. Which means ECNL might have to expand in this market for example and add in a few more local clubs. This all has a cascading effect on Athena and RPL for example.
Classic/rpl I think has been fine on the boys side because of GSA/UFA/KSA/Concordes. However, with the expansion of DA to u12 and u13, your looking at over 150 u12 players not playing 2004 classic I next year, and ~60 u13 players not playing classic I etc. I think it is fair to say that the vast majority of talent from the UFAs/Concordes/Nasas/GSAs/InterAtlanta/Even Dacula is now playing on one of the 2003 DA squads. 2004s might be a little different, but concorde and ufa do usually have quality sides, and both obviously have DA at this age group. Your basically talking about their 3rd teams now playing or applying for Classic I at the new u13.
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Post by spectator on Jul 18, 2016 20:27:20 GMT -5
If parents are willing to pay the price and travel for the leagues above Athena and Classic, Athena and Classic leagues will eventually become Rec Leagues for ages U13-U16. At U17, many of the high school kids come back to play with the friends and high school buddies (especially on the boys side) Respectfully disagree here, Ox. I think Athena A/Classic 1 only become watered down in the larger clubs where most of the talent is in DA/ECNL/RPL. Kids that don't want to be the third or fourth team at a club like that - and face it -clubs rarely give any attention to the third or fourth teams - those players will move to clubs without DA/ECNL and play competitive soccer. Some kids/families don't want the travel obligations - especially if they have rigorous high school schedules. Remember DA and ECNL are club based so if you're not at those clubs, you're not part of it. SRPL is earned and only for the #1 or #2 finisher in State Cup. #3 & #4 State Cup finalists aren't chopped liver so most of the time they land in Division 1 RPL but in most age groups the top half of Classic 1/Athena A could beat a Division 1 RPL team on any given day. I've seen first hand some Athena A teams beat ECNL teams in as well. Not all individual ECNL teams are the caliber the league esteems them all to be. So like I said - respectfully disagree that Classic 1/Athena A will become 'Rec' leagues. There are enough (maybe too many) leagues for any kid of any level to make their own choice. I'd rather see a kid play Athena B or C and love the game and their team than just throw their hands up and say 'oh crap, this is just rec soccer because I'm not on an RPL team". After all - this is YOUTH (operative word) soccer. For most kids - this is just part of their childhood choices - very few will go on to make a career out of the game. If any are lucky enough to become college athletes, then good for them!
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Post by TheMadOx on Jul 19, 2016 9:34:54 GMT -5
Spectator, you make an excellent point...I am definitely looking at it from my club perspective where we do have all the layers available.
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Post by 4seasons on Jul 24, 2016 7:12:05 GMT -5
I see that RPL begins the third weekend in August. Anyone know if Athena/Classic begins that same weekend?
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Post by spectator on Jul 24, 2016 7:34:04 GMT -5
I see that RPL begins the third weekend in August. Anyone know if Athena/Classic begins that same weekend? No. After Labor Day as always.
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Post by 4seasons on Jul 24, 2016 8:03:02 GMT -5
I see that RPL begins the third weekend in August. Anyone know if Athena/Classic begins that same weekend? No. After Labor Day as always. Gotcha. We are just entering select soccer so thanks for the info.
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Post by spectator on Jul 24, 2016 13:42:51 GMT -5
No. After Labor Day as always. Gotcha. We are just entering select soccer so thanks for the info. Welcome to the craziness. GA soccer usually has brackets and schedules by the end of August. If this is your first year -U13 - it's kind me of a crap shoot in a regular year regarding placements. Add in the birth year thing and it'll be a steep learning curve to even out the brackets Oh and at least one parent will balk if you have to drive 2-3 hours for a regular season game. Just roll with it Have fun.
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Post by 4seasons on Jul 25, 2016 6:04:46 GMT -5
Gotcha. We are just entering select soccer so thanks for the info. Welcome to the craziness. GA soccer usually has brackets and schedules by the end of August. If this is your first year -U13 - it's kind me of a crap shoot in a regular year regarding placements. Add in the birth year thing and it'll be a steep learning curve to even out the brackets Oh and at least one parent will balk if you have to drive 2-3 hours for a regular season game. Just roll with it Have fun. Hah! Thanks. Looking forward to it (I think). "Let the games begin"...
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