Is DPL worth the hassle?

We have friends playing in DPL and while they travel ALOT (more than DA  and possibly ECNL), they say the competition is good. This is fedeback from former ECNL/DA/SCCL families

They've said the FL teams arent bad but obviously it probably depends on age group. They said the West Coast and good # of TX teams are strong. 


Some of the families we know opted for DPL because they a) wanted to stay with coach and b) wanted to stay with friends. Most of them know they arent being pulled up to DA and arent expecting too either. 

However, their one complaint is amount of travel for games and showcases. 

With more teams, it'll be worth it if you have the disposable income. The real question is not the hassle, its is it worth the cold, hard cash?

Yes I saw that as well. Thought it was on the UFA DPL thread. I am not sure though. It would be a shame for those kids, but DA dropped Boca last year. That being said the Boca team was losing all of their game 7-0 or worse. At least West Florida has had a number of game in the 2 goals range. Still from DA's perspective they are not remotely competitive when you consider the record across all age groups and look at the big picture.

I have not seen nor heard the loss from a source that I know to be reliable so until it is confirmed somewhere I would not take it as gospel.

Sunrise did not have ECNL but FC prime did 2 years ago. I think Florida parents are less likely to drive distances to go to play ECNL or DA. They are content to play in their teams that have good reputations. People did not leave Sunrise Sting for Weston or Boca DA and did not leave for FC Prime until they merged. Boca is a 1 hour drive from Miami with no traffic (1.5-2 hours with it).

Space Coast United has a strong club with their teams doing pretty well in Jeff Cup and Disney, etc. They place kids in D1 programs. People stay there and do well rather than driving the 1 hour to Orlando.

I don't know the west coast as well but figure it is probably the same. There are a lot of clubs around Tampa and not a ton of people.

Florida is a huge state with a large population, but it is spread out. The population is not centered. Even in places like Orlando where you have a population center that doesn't have water on one side, it is still hard to have enough people to build GREAT clubs with depth. Florida's issue is geography. They have 6 ECNL clubs and 4 DA clubs currently for a population of 22 million. 2 ECNL and 1 DA club in Jacksonville...population 900,000 (the highest population city in FL) . Add in a few more 100,000 for surrounding counties. For comparison we have 4 ECNL teams and 2 DA clubs for a metro Atlanta population of nearly 6 million. We ha e twice as many teams as Jax for 4-6 times the population (depending on how many surrounding counties you want to count in Jacksonville's population). If you use the formula in Georgia as a measuring stick as 1 DA or ECNL team per 1 million people then Jax should have 1 team (maybe two if you count many surrounding counties including south Georgia).

You can't build great teams or clubs just because you say you have the best platform if you oversaturate your market. Doesn't matter if it is DA or ECNL. That being said (honest question here) when has ECNL ever dropped clubs (not related to a club having both DA and ECNL) for poor performance??? Does anyone know of any? Maybe if West Florida Flames was dropped and joined DPL instead it will be a good thing for them. Maybe the USSF should look to DPL as a proving ground for clubs to prove worthiness for consideration of DA.

And imagine if you have more than one kid...