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Post by soccerlegacy on May 22, 2019 10:03:51 GMT -5
It seems like this site is dominated by folks that are from the big 5 and most of the talk is relating the NPL,SCCL, ECNL, DA, etc. However, I would like to find out more about the NL-Piedmont. This is the "old RPL" that's been re-branded and re-engineered, with new leadership, to become the NL-Piedmont league... and I would like to see if this may be an option for my kid(s). I am more interested on the girls side, but would like to hear from everyone.
How was the competition? What was the schedule like? How was the travel? What were the fields and the officiating like? What is done in the post season? Please share your thoughts...
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Post by fire on May 22, 2019 10:38:59 GMT -5
We enjoyed it. Like anything else there were some first times glitches but all in all, a nice experience.
Three of the four teams from Georgia were good and finished in the top half of the 12 team conference. Two of the NC clubs were very good and one of the SC clubs was solid.
Big drop off with the bottom three teams.
Going into year two I know that the college showcases are being done for the U15 and up age groups.
The only thing strange for us was traveling all the way to Raleigh and playing a team from Charlotte. If the conference can work it out where the Ga teams meet the NC teams in Charlotte, that would make it perfect.
Compared to SCCL, it was nice playing new teams. SCCL has some very strong teams but nationally, NL has a better name brand and the conference winners get to meet for a true national playoff.
Hope that helps.
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Post by soccerdad23 on May 22, 2019 11:49:06 GMT -5
Participated in U14 Premier 2 Boys
-12 teams - 4 each from GA, NC, SC
-11 games
-2 interstate travel weekends away - 1 trip to SC and 1 to NC
-2 interstate weekends at home - 1 vs SC and 1 vs NC
-4 interstate weekends each had 2 games per weekend per team, 3 intrastate games spread out between those weekends
-GA vs GA games played at club fields
-High quality fields/refs/organization by league
-GA teams as a group were the strongest, NC 2nd..
Overall went well. Agree with previous poster on the "driving way past Charlotte to play Charlotte teams". Would be great to have NC games in Charlotte.
Other area that could be fixed is not using Henry County for the GA hosting dates. The fields just aren't that nice and having it in south Metro Atlanta is another hour away for SC/NC teams to travel.
In terms of National League level for 2005 Georgia boys teams (these comments are obviously different by age group/gender), I would make these comments based upon competing against multiple teams in all leagues:
-very obvious that DA teams are the top in aggregate, but top teams in other leagues can compete/beat with the lower DA clubs
-ECNL is 2nd strongest in aggregate, BUT NASA needs a big fix on their product for those age groups where they have DA - feel for that group. Top teams from divisions below can beat/compete with the top 3 ECNL teams, but those 3 in aggregate are strong.
-National League is next in aggregate in terms of level. 2 of the 8 GA teams didn't really belong (one had mass exodus from prior year and another was only there due to other team at club earning spot) but other 6 strong competitively.
-NPL 4th - 2 average teams, 1 weak team
-Classic 1 5th- 3 teams that could beat anyone, 4 average teams, remaining teams falloff
-SCCL 6th - Good team at the top, but other clubs teams from GA were quite weak.
For next year, quite possible that NPL and SCCL move up a bit in quality at some clubs with NASA, AFC, SSA not having DA at U15 and the cascading effect, but time shall tell.
PS - Having all these leagues is insane.. keep DA as is, but the other leagues should be together and we can travel down the road to play vs going to NC, SC, FL, AL, TN, etc..
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Post by soccerlegacy on May 22, 2019 12:18:35 GMT -5
PS - Having all these leagues is insane.. keep DA as is, but the other leagues should be together and we can travel down the road to play vs going to NC, SC, FL, AL, TN, etc.. Thank you for sharing! Agreed, all the leagues should be under one roof for true competition, but pandora's box has been opened and now its a $$$ war for the clubs and leagues. We do have enough teams in the metro area that only the elite should be traveling i.e. DA/ECNL... I'm worried that with the big 5 out of Ga Soccer at the higher levels, the small clubs are the only ones representing GA in the NL and I don't know if they have the depth to create competitive teams. Should that be a concern moving forward? Were the games set up like weekend tournaments (sort of) where you lay multiple teams and then have weeks in between before the next games? I heard something like that... |
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Post by soccerdad23 on May 22, 2019 12:56:17 GMT -5
I'm worried that with the big 5 out of Ga Soccer at the higher levels, the small clubs are the only ones representing GA in the NL and I don't know if they have the depth to create competitive teams. Should that be a concern moving forward? Were the games set up like weekend tournaments (sort of) where you lay multiple teams and then have weeks in between before the next games? I heard something like that... 1)Related to depth, it is completely dependent on age group/gender. My observations would be that for girls depth is bigger issue due to the beast that is NTH. For boys, 2nd teams at the big clubs have no leg up on 1st teams at many small clubs. Boys seem more distributed but losing 1-2 from a team at smaller club can have a bigger impact as difference between player #1 and #16(on the 2nd team) is a wider gap. 2)The original schedule had "big weekends" every 3 weeks. There were some rainouts in the fall that pushed around to make it heavier for a period, but that was the contingency vs the plan. Add to that a)intrastate games, and b)friendlies that really everyone should be scheduling to play other leagues more than a full slate that was consistent. |
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Post by defensewins on May 22, 2019 12:57:20 GMT -5
Were the games set up like weekend tournaments (sort of) where you lay multiple teams and then have weeks in between before the next games? I heard something like that... The link to the past fall schedules is here: events.gotsport.com/events/Default.aspx?EventID=67394We did end up having a long break where we didn't play for most of September, but I believe that was due to one of the interstate weekends having to be rescheduled because of a hurricane. |
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Post by northcoast on May 22, 2019 13:01:27 GMT -5
I hear the NL games in Ga will be at Roswell this year - thank goodness . Parents who came down from NC and had to play AFU/LSA one hour south of all the clubs were p***ed.
When we told them they had passed about 15 minutes from LSA and 15 minutes from AFU on I85, they weren’t happy.
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Post by ga3v3 on May 22, 2019 18:20:51 GMT -5
Agree that most folks on here seam to be at a big 5 club but I think that’s to be expected just based on numbers alone
The NL was run very well in the fall overall. Georgia has the most competitive teams in our age group but it also had the worst facilities- ie Hampton. That location definitely didn’t make sense for The Carolina teams but really didn’t affect us that much. I think that with only two out of state trips for a season it was more than acceptable for a competitive league. We were happy with the league
As far as small clubs and enough depth goes, it really doesn’t matter because it’s all pro/rel. Totally based on a teams performance and not a clubs size. The strongest teams will always work their way to the top even if they are the only team from any given club
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Post by girlsoccer on Jun 4, 2019 7:42:14 GMT -5
Agree that most folks on here seam to be at a big 5 club but I think that’s to be expected just based on numbers alone The NL was run very well in the fall overall. Georgia has the most competitive teams in our age group but it also had the worst facilities- ie Hampton. That location definitely didn’t make sense for The Carolina teams but really didn’t affect us that much. I think that with only two out of state trips for a season it was more than acceptable for a competitive league. We were happy with the league As far as small clubs and enough depth goes, it really doesn’t matter because it’s all pro/rel. Totally based on a teams performance and not a clubs size. The strongest teams will always work their way to the top even if they are the only team from any given club How does pro/rel work in NL. I know at u13 they take the top 4 Athena A teams but at the older age groups how many teams get promoted/relegated? |
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Post by soccerlegacy on Jun 4, 2019 8:37:15 GMT -5
They take the top "four" teams? I thought it was the top 2. When did this change? I'm not up on the "new" NL (old RPL).
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Post by guest on Jun 4, 2019 9:22:43 GMT -5
One of the issues with the old RPL (don’t know about the new PC) was the uncertainty about who would remain in for next season. The rules were the top two teams from 1st division got promoted to the premier division. But ALL the other teams were sent back to their states and the states decided who would return. Would Georgia get 0, 2 or 4 slots? Would someone get offered a slot and then pull out because of numbers? Always got drug out and you never knew you were officially in until right before the season began, which started earlier than Athena/Classic. If you were in R3PL you needed to start practice early. If you were in Athena/Classic you could wait till later. Thus, SCCL.
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Post by papacoach on Jun 4, 2019 13:55:56 GMT -5
National League play is differently better than most would agree on. How does NL play compare to other alphabets leagues, I leave that question to the age group, gender, team quality, and quality of coaching which are contributing factors even for Rec leagues. Playing teams out of state and region is differently a plus for either of the leagues in question. Playing Concord, IA, Ambush, GSA, GS, UFA, AFU, MOAB, etc.. does get old essentially when your team wins more than they lose (LOL) The true litmus test of any team and quality of the league is what happens when teams advance to regionals and beyond. NPL link: Ga Boys side seemed to struggle a bit www.nationalpremierleagues.com/south-atlantic-npl-schedules-standings ECNL link: Ga Boys seemed to hold their own www.boysecnl.com/southeast-standings/NL link: Ga Boys held their own events.gotsport.com/events/default.aspx?EventID=67394SCCL link: year one for Ga Boys were.. events.gotsport.com/events/Default.aspx?EventID=65943 An easy solution to the debate of what alphabet league is better, take the final four of each league and let the pitch solve it... the debate of who's better will be answered for that year and moment. Until then, Let's see what happens in regionals/nationals for the few Ga Teams that made it. |
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Post by soccermaxx72 on Jun 5, 2019 8:05:42 GMT -5
piedmont=top end of NPL, well above Champions league, except for tophat champions league who is such an outlier they shouldn’t be in Chamlions league as they dominate everyone, but well below ECNL except for the bottom Florida ECNL clubs that are trash and should not even be in ECNL. Anyone know why Florida has so many ECNL clubs when have of them are not competitive?
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Post by ultimatedad on Jun 5, 2019 12:43:11 GMT -5
NL piedmont girls 03 is equal to or better than 03 ECNL girls based on friendlies and tournament play over the last 2 years. NPL is more of an add on league to get more games in.
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