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Post by atv on Jan 13, 2020 13:05:54 GMT -5
RICHMOND, VA – The ECNL Girls will be adding a new league to its growing platform of Regional Leagues, as the ECNL Girls Regional League – Carolinas will begin play in the 2020-21 season. The ECNL Girls Regional League – Carolinas will include competition at the U13, U14, U15, U16, U17 and U18/U19 age groups.
ECNL Girls Regional Leagues are designed to service a deeper player pool from member clubs within the ECNL Girls, and to provide a competitive platform for objective evaluation of new clubs for full ECNL membership in the future. Top performing teams in ECNL Girls Regional Leagues earn the opportunity to compete in the Open Cup Division of the ECNL Playoffs in June at the U15, U16 and U17 ages, where they will match up against other ECNL Girls Regional League teams as well as teams from the full ECNL.
The following clubs will be participating in the ECNL Regional League – Carolinas in the 2020-21 season:
Carolina Elite Soccer Academy NCFC Youth Elite
Charlotte Independence North NCFC Youth Premier
Charlotte Independence South South Carolina United
NC Fusion Wilmington Hammerheads
Andrew Hyslop, Carolina Elite Soccer Academy: “Carolina Elite Soccer Academy is excited to be a part of the newly formed ECNL Regional League – Carolinas. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the other participating clubs to provide our membership with a top-notch soccer experience. The ECNL Regional League will allow more girls within our club and the local area the chance to be a part of a proven platform that continues to help female players develop in a challenging environment.”
Rusty Scarborough, Charlotte Independence: “We are excited to have the opportunity, to provide the ECNL Regional League platform to our Charlotte Independence players. Being able to increase our player pool for training and competitive games is another step forward to providing an optimal player development pathway.”
John Pardini, NC Fusion: “The ECNL Regional League exposes players to a competitive platform designed to challenge and develop its player base. NC Fusion is excited to provide this to a larger portion of its membership and looks forward to competing against the top clubs in the Carolinas.”
Paul Forster, NCFC Youth: “NCFC is eager to expand its affiliation with the ECNL through the ECNL Regional League. The ability to provide a greater portion of our membership opportunities to compete against the elite clubs in the Carolina region, in a league that focuses on player development, supports NCFC’s core values and vision.”
Tomasz Kluszczynski, South Carolina United: “SC United is excited to be a part of ECNL Regional league. From day one we have wanted to create a better platform for our members and local community to enhance player development through a consistent playing environment and level of competition. The addition of ECNL Regional League – Carolinas will be a tremendous opportunity for our players to challenge and showcase themselves regularly against some of the best clubs in the region and beyond.”
Carson Porter, Wilmington Hammerheads: “We believe in the ECNL Regional League because we want to keep challenging female players, teams, and coaches throughout our club to be the best they can be. This platform provides another layer of our club the opportunity to compete against the best and most professionally run clubs in our area of the country. Something that is certain to create challenges and force improvement. Administratively and organizationally, the experience for our ECNL Regional League teams and families will also improve. This will create a stronger connection with our already existing ECNL teams, which will create more connection amongst our coaches, players, staff and families.”
Six ECNL Girls Regional Leagues are operating in the 2019-20 season: Northeast, Northwest, Ohio Valley, Southwest, Texas and Virginia. The platform will expand significantly in 2020-2021 in both number of leagues and additional benefits and opportunities for players and teams in each league.
Additional information on qualification and participating conferences for the 2020-21 Season will be released in the coming months.
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Post by Soccerhouse on Jan 13, 2020 13:16:28 GMT -5
You know its crazy when your leagues have sub leagues.....
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Post by oraclesfriend on Jan 13, 2020 13:25:26 GMT -5
This will harm the South Atlantic NPL also. Two of those teams are in NPL, Charlotte Independence North and South (formerly known as Lake Norman and Discoveries). Last year South Atlantic NPL lost Charlotte Soccer Academy North and South back to their state leagues and USA Mt Pleasant to DPL. They only added Chattanooga Red Wolves. To lose 2 more teams is a problem. Will they change it back to an adjunct league? Will the Georgia ECNL teams jump on the ECNL regional league bandwagon? Will AFC Lightning and UFA back out of NPL full time? Or will NPL add more clubs?
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Post by footyfan on Jan 13, 2020 13:40:04 GMT -5
This will harm the South Atlantic NPL also. Two of those teams are in NPL, Charlotte Independence North and South (formerly known as Lake Norman and Discoveries). Last year South Atlantic NPL lost Charlotte Soccer Academy North and South back to their state leagues and USA Mt Pleasant to DPL. They only added Chattanooga Red Wolves. To lose 2 more teams is a problem. Will they change it back to an adjunct league? Will the Georgia ECNL teams jump on the ECNL regional league bandwagon? Will AFC Lightning and UFA back out of NPL full time? Or will NPL add more clubs? SCCL/SCCL-P just got a kick in the teeth too |
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 13, 2020 15:32:30 GMT -5
SCCL/SCCL-P just got a kick in the teeth too Yeah, CESA will now either be putting their 3rd team in SCCL or possibly abandon the league altogether. Same for SCUFC and SCCL-P. The braintrust at SCCL should have petitioned to become part of ECRL last spring. This is a big deal because it would allow 2nd team players on a good team to compete for the ECNL trophy (we know NTH would generally make a good showing). Now it seems like that train has left. Perhaps they can turn SCCL into a deep-south division of ECRL, adding another team from AL/Montgomery? |
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Post by soccernoleuk on Jan 13, 2020 18:03:51 GMT -5
My guess is CESA drops to SCCL-P for their third team, and the vacancy at SCCL-1 is filled by AFU.
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Post by footyfan on Jan 13, 2020 19:43:23 GMT -5
My guess is CESA drops to SCCL-P for their third team, and the vacancy at SCCL-1 is filled by AFU. Voluntary relegation to a league you can't get promoted from? |
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 13, 2020 20:52:26 GMT -5
I don't think their 3rd team would fare very well in SCCL, Where not counting U12, they had one 2nd place finish and three 3rd place finishes out of the 12 brackets.
SCCL-P might be an okay place for their 3rd team.
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Post by soccernoleuk on Jan 13, 2020 21:45:10 GMT -5
My guess is CESA drops to SCCL-P for their third team, and the vacancy at SCCL-1 is filled by AFU. Voluntary relegation to a league you can't get promoted from? If CESA moves their 2nd team to ECRL, I don't know that dropping to SCCL-P will be voluntary. Their second team struggles in SCCL-1 now, I would imagine their 3rd team would be at the bottom of just about every age group. |
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Post by baller84 on Jan 13, 2020 22:19:27 GMT -5
It's ECNL's way I guess to simply offer a home for ECNL clubs 2nd team players and some other local clubs, but isn't that the purpose of other US Club leagues already in place? Makes you wonder how different SCCL or NPL are in that sense and the very purpose within US Club leagues. I don't understand why dilute talent further.
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 13, 2020 22:41:18 GMT -5
It is a method of streamlining 2nd level US Club leagues under the ECNL banner. It will likely be similar quality to NPL/SCCL.
Everyone is looking for the most attractive option for their 1st and 2nd teams, MTH went so far as to join a league with 3 teams. NPL went from an adjunct league to a primary league (but seems to be diminishing in favor of other leagues)
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Post by baller84 on Jan 14, 2020 1:28:56 GMT -5
It is a method of streamlining 2nd level US Club leagues under the ECNL banner. It will likely be similar quality to NPL/SCCL. Everyone is looking for the most attractive option for their 1st and 2nd teams, MTH went so far as to join a league with 3 teams. NPL went from an adjunct league to a primary league (but seems to be diminishing in favor of other leagues) Look at Texas, Virginia and Carolina. NPL first then SCCL talent will be absorbed by ECNL RL just like NPL Virginia etc.. |
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 14, 2020 8:37:40 GMT -5
In other states for ECRL, sure. But in Georgia...NPL, SCCL, and SCCL-P all just took a small hit (primarily to their regional footprint). CESA, SCUFC, and Charlotte independence north/south were not strong in any of their leagues but it makes all 3 leagues weaker regionally.
NPL is down to 6 teams per age group (and 5 at U17). Im going to guess that CESA and SCUFC pull out of SCCL completely. Very few 3rd teams want to travel to get beat down every weak.
I am curious to see how the Big 5 + AFU + AFC respond to this. Feels to me like NPL is done without some big, sensical additions. Its not as bad as DPL, but getting there. AFC would be the most impacted if the league collapses, but there would be shockwaves at UFA and SSA. We simply need a big, well run state/regional league for big club's second teams (in SSA and AFC case, first teams).
JMO of course.
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Post by guest on Jan 14, 2020 9:47:37 GMT -5
My guess is CESA drops to SCCL-P for their third team, and the vacancy at SCCL-1 is filled by AFU. i was going to object to this, until I got to the second half of your statement. It makes sense. SCCL is a club-centric league. Relegate CESA to -P and promote AFU to -1. |
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Post by oraclesfriend on Jan 14, 2020 10:13:24 GMT -5
In other states for ECRL, sure. But in Georgia...NPL, SCCL, and SCCL-P all just took a small hit (primarily to their regional footprint). CESA, SCUFC, and Charlotte independence north/south were not strong in any of their leagues but it makes all 3 leagues weaker regionally. NPL is down to 6 teams per age group (and 5 at U17). Im going to guess that CESA and SCUFC pull out of SCCL completely. Very few 3rd teams want to travel to get beat down every weak. I am curious to see how the Big 5 + AFU + AFC respond to this. Feels to me like NPL is done without some big, sensical additions. Its not as bad as DPL, but getting there. AFC would be the most impacted if the league collapses, but there would be shockwaves at UFA and SSA. We simply need a big, well run state/regional league for big club's second teams (in SSA and AFC case, first teams). JMO of course. There are a few issues that differ for Georgia versus this new Carolinas ECRL. First of all in Carolina there is only one other DA club (NCFC has both DA and ECNL) and after some restructuring last year with Charlotte Independence all of these clubs in ECRL have teams in ECNL. That is not the case in Georgia. Our big clubs decided to make their own league crossing the DA/ECNL lines. Second, all of these clubs in Carolinas are WAY closer to each other than Georgia ECNL clubs are to their ECNL counterparts. So a Georgia ECRL (if non-ECNL teams were excluded) would only have 4 teams unless the clubs tried to add other branch locations which won't work well for many age groups. As an aside Charlotte Independence North (previously known as Lake Norman) was actually a very strong club in NPL and otherwise in their state league and regionally prior to this year. I believe they took a hit with their older teams and lost some talent to other clubs when it effectively became a second team to the ECNL team. In our case, a Georgia ECRL would be strong if you put the big 6 (I include AFU here) and AFC Lightning in it. Take all of the second teams out of DPL, NPL and SCCL and put them all back together. Don't see it happening though. IMO I think there is too much shuffling and shifting. No one can get a handle on the quality of any leagues when the members keep changing and when the new leagues keep popping up. This is a mess. I get the need to keep players and parents happy and provide strong competition, but this continual change is crazy. I recently signed my kid up for an ID camp and this big college still had R3PL listed on its site as a league option. The colleges can't keep up with the changes. |
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Post by ultimatedad on Jan 14, 2020 12:37:02 GMT -5
There is a simple way to fix all of this and we all know what it is.
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Post by oraclesfriend on Jan 14, 2020 12:50:53 GMT -5
There is a simple way to fix all of this and we all know what it is. You can hope all you want but it is never gonna happen. Snowball started with ECNL and got worse with DA. They aren't going back. |
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Post by Soccerhouse on Jan 14, 2020 13:06:03 GMT -5
I take a lot of shots at the federation to the point now I've had a few people complain to me on twitter and that this place and I've become unbearable..... Have to love it. Twitter is a fairly negative world.....
So I'll be an equal opportunist:
US Club Soccer is not making anything better, I'd argue they are making things worse and worse.
ECNL, regional ECNL, other regional secondary leagues, NPL, SCCL, SCCL-P, etc.
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Post by ultimatedad on Jan 14, 2020 13:16:20 GMT -5
ECNL is A league where the top team has 49 plus goals and the loser has minus 30 goals. No competition leads to bad soccer. It is that simple. The result of club based league.
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Post by ultimatedad on Jan 14, 2020 13:17:47 GMT -5
US club has to go.
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 14, 2020 13:32:33 GMT -5
Its the same in USYS NL Piedmont. Your argument holds no water. The goal differential between top team and bottom team of girls NL brackets are regularly 70+ goals. Even in GDA the GD between top and bottom teams is regularly 40-50 goals.
The real problem with USYS league structure is the lack of centralization of talent for discovery purposes. You may have teams competing where the top 8-10 players are world beaters, and the bottom 5-7 couldn't make a top SCCL roster, even less ECNL or DA.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to form "super" teams like happens in Georgia in ECNL and DA. Good players want to play with good players and play against good players on a regular basis.
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 14, 2020 13:40:03 GMT -5
The REAL simple fix is for USSF to take over the ODP program (rename/rebrand/whatever).
Then everyone can keep their alphabet leagues, and USSF would have to mandate all DA players have to attend ODP tryouts and strongly encourage all federation members (USL, ECNL, US Club, USYS) send top players to ODP for selection purposes. Then the selection of state pools needs to be double-blind. USSF would need to send coaches from OTHER regions to preside over tryouts and select the top 28 field players and 4 goalkeepers from each state. All ODP coaches should be A licensed and hand-picked by the federation. I'd bet this is how the majority of countries that always make the world cup do it.
It would diminish the importance of GDA and ECNL to be sure, but not eliminate them.
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Post by ultimatedad on Jan 14, 2020 13:42:05 GMT -5
This is a result of the changing league make up. If the league was stable the best teams would all play each other and competition would be comparable. The instability and constant changes caused by greedy US Club is killing youth soccer in the USA.
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Post by ultimatedad on Jan 14, 2020 13:47:02 GMT -5
US Club Soccer has created an environment where everything is so diluted that no league can have more than 3 or 4 teams and maintain a competitive situation.
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 14, 2020 14:03:55 GMT -5
R3PL was 3-4 teams from the state. Clearly not enough from a state like GA. I'm sure there were plenty of top kids left out of playing in the top league due for various reasons. Add to that the fact that R3PL it was a logistical "*** hole"...which US Club forced them to have to try and fix.
GA Soccer and USYS are trying to fix it with GPL...but they are 4 years TOO LATE. US Club is simply meeting a need left by its predecessors. Its like the boss who asks you what they can do to get you to stay when you accepted a job with a company that appreciates it employees. Too little, too late.
Also, we may be the only state where teams don't participate in multiple leagues (state and adjunct). I saw where in the NL standings for girls there was an FC Dallas DPL team.
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Post by oraclesfriend on Jan 14, 2020 14:11:28 GMT -5
ECNL is A league where the top team has 49 plus goals and the loser has minus 30 goals. No competition leads to bad soccer. It is that simple. The result of club based league. Considering there are 20 games I am not too upset with an average of 2.5 goals per game win for the best team and the lowest team losing by 1.5 goals per game. Plus I agree with atlfutboldad that the NL games are just as bad, if not worse. I agree with you that part of that is the dilution of the leagues. Part of it is because you are always relying on placement of last year's team. Players move around too much for placement to be based on a previous year's team. Kids quit in droves (especially girls) as they get into high school for a variety of reasons. Since they only play one season it is very unfair to have the placement of this year's team be based on last year. Plus even that placement is not guaranteed based on last year's performance...the state association has a right to decide who is in or not. When you go somewhere to try out in the club centric leagues you at least know what league you are playing in. An NL team that was 5th and only returns 10 players might get dropped from NL and you find out after you have switched clubs...that sucks. That was just an example but I know people that have had such things happen. Not good |
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Post by Soccerhouse on Jan 14, 2020 14:20:15 GMT -5
speak of the devil -- would be interesting q&a session:
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Post by ultimatedad on Jan 14, 2020 17:04:16 GMT -5
speak of the devil -- would be interesting q&a session: [br I was looking at the U17 girls where they only played 15 games average. A couple teams played 20 games while other teams played only 10 or 11 games. Aside from the obvious scheduling chaos that exists in the ECNL, clearly there is a huge talent difference between the teams. I do think that altfuboldad is on the right track with his ODP idea. |
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Post by atlfutboldad on Jan 14, 2020 18:07:47 GMT -5
I think oraclesfriend was generally talking about ECNL SE U15+ where the GA teams have played all 20 games already. Other conferences don't seem to play as many games, partly I believe, because their teams (or players) play in the local state leagues. If you look at Mallory Pugh's wikipedia, it mentions state titles and regional tournaments (club) as well as playing ECNL. But US Club runs a LOT of disparate leagues and runs them pretty well. I think eventually we will have contraction, but no idea what form it will take. |
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Post by footyfan on Jan 14, 2020 20:09:36 GMT -5
I think oraclesfriend was generally talking about ECNL SE U15+ where the GA teams have played all 20 games already. Other conferences don't seem to play as many games, partly I believe, because their teams (or players) play in the local state leagues. If you look at Mallory Pugh's wikipedia, it mentions state titles and regional tournaments (club) as well as playing ECNL. But US Club runs a LOT of disparate leagues and runs them pretty well. I think eventually we will have contraction, but no idea what form it will take. US Club *sanctions* alot of leagues. It doesnt run anything but marketing shtick(id2, players 1st). The leagues are like loose franchises that US Club admits *it can't control* |
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