How is soccer organized up there?

[Unregistered]

Hey all,

I'm from way down south. I'm curious to know how soccer is stratified or organized up there?

Down here, we have elite soccer at the top level, Rec soccer at the bottom level, and sometimes clubs have a hybrid "in between" level that is called different things by different clubs.

What do you guys have? What is "town soccer"?

[Unregistered]

Hey all,

I'm from way down south. I'm curious to know how soccer is stratified or organized up there?

Down here, we have elite soccer at the top level, Rec soccer at the bottom level, and sometimes clubs have a hybrid "in between" level that is called different things by different clubs.

What do you guys have? What is "town soccer"?

You have been misinformed. I believe you mean "gown soccer". It is very formal, black tie and ball gown attire for players, referees, parents and fans. Hasn't really taken off elsewhere but we like the hors d'oeuvres at half time! Chin chin!

[Unregistered]

You have been misinformed. I believe you mean "gown soccer". It is very formal, black tie and ball gown attire for players, referees, parents and fans. Hasn't really taken off elsewhere but we like the hors d'oeuvres at half time! Chin chin!

That famous New England brand of humor is clearly slipping

[Unregistered]

Hey all,

I'm from way down south. I'm curious to know how soccer is stratified or organized up there?

Down here, we have elite soccer at the top level, Rec soccer at the bottom level, and sometimes clubs have a hybrid "in between" level that is called different things by different clubs.

What do you guys have? What is "town soccer"?

Wow, BTNT. Really?

[Unregistered]

Hey all,

I'm from way down south. I'm curious to know how soccer is stratified or organized up there?

Down here, we have elite soccer at the top level, Rec soccer at the bottom level, and sometimes clubs have a hybrid "in between" level that is called different things by different clubs.

What do you guys have? What is "town soccer"?

It usually involves rain gear.

[Unregistered]

You have been misinformed. I believe you mean "gown soccer". It is very formal, black tie and ball gown attire for players, referees, parents and fans. Hasn't really taken off elsewhere but we like the hors d'oeuvres at half time! Chin chin!

Not bad.

[Unregistered]

Ok, I'll bite.

Premier is the top divisions: DA, ENCL, NPL, NEP/NEC, and (NSL)Maple in roughly that order. These teams will travel all over the state, and neighboring states to play. Generally within a couple hour drive.

Town Travel is the middle division: Regional Travel clubs that are generally set at one per town, that play against other towns near them. Usually there are a few kids on the Town Travel team that also play Premier. My son plays both, but prefers his weaker Town Travel team as that is where his friends from school also play. These will generally be the kids they will play with in High School.

Rec is the lowest division: In town rec league, generally these are for the kids that can't make the Town Travel team or when the parents choose not to want to drive to neighboring towns to watch their kids play.

[Unregistered]

Ok, I'll bite.

Premier is the top divisions: DA, ENCL, NPL, NEP/NEC, and (NSL)Maple in roughly that order. These teams will travel all over the state, and neighboring states to play. Generally within a couple hour drive.

Town Travel is the middle division: Regional Travel clubs that are generally set at one per town, that play against other towns near them. Usually there are a few kids on the Town Travel team that also play Premier. My son plays both, but prefers his weaker Town Travel team as that is where his friends from school also play. These will generally be the kids they will play with in High School.

Rec is the lowest division: In town rec league, generally these are for the kids that can't make the Town Travel team or when the parents choose not to want to drive to neighboring towns to watch their kids play.

Where are you from ? CT? I know of no one in Massachusetts who uses the term "Premier".
Also most towns, except the tinest ones, have multiple travels teams. My town at about 30K pop has up to 6 teams at most ages except U9 & 10 (BAYS)

[Unregistered]

Where are you from ? CT? I know of no one in Massachusetts who uses the term "Premier".
Also most towns, except the tinest ones, have multiple travels teams. My town at about 30K pop has up to 6 teams at most ages except U9 & 10 (BAYS)

Do all 6 teams per age group travel?

[Unregistered]

Where are you from ? CT? I know of no one in Massachusetts who uses the term "Premier".
Also most towns, except the tinest ones, have multiple travels teams. My town at about 30K pop has up to 6 teams at most ages except U9 & 10 (BAYS)

Then travel outside your little area, what do you think the "P" stands for in "NEP", "NPL", and "MAPLE"? My town has a population of 44K, but soccer is in 4th place as sports popularity goes. Smaller towns, that only have soccer, can possibly fill the rosters of more soccer teams. Also does your town offer a viable rec league? At the U-little ages we start out with multiple town travel teams, but by U13 we are down to just one team per age group.

[Unregistered]

Do all 6 teams per age group travel?

yes

a team
b team
c team
d team
e team
f team
etc

Pick a town:

https://bays.org/bays/organizations/select

[Unregistered]

Ok, I'll bite.

Premier is the top divisions: DA, ENCL, NPL, NEP/NEC, and (NSL)Maple in roughly that order. These teams will travel all over the state, and neighboring states to play. Generally within a couple hour drive.

Town Travel is the middle division: Regional Travel clubs that are generally set at one per town, that play against other towns near them. Usually there are a few kids on the Town Travel team that also play Premier. My son plays both, but prefers his weaker Town Travel team as that is where his friends from school also play. These will generally be the kids they will play with in High School.

Rec is the lowest division: In town rec league, generally these are for the kids that can't make the Town Travel team or when the parents choose not to want to drive to neighboring towns to watch their kids play.

OP here. Thanks. I'm really not this BTNP person but I've seen him referenced as a troll. But I do read this forum because it's busy and interesting. The Town Travel is probably comparable to some of better teams on our inner city leagues where I'm from because our club's citys are larger, but farther apart...like farming communities with only a few big urban centers and then smaller ones who don't have soccer programs. Down here, if you travel at all, you're considered an elite player because the nearest large town that supports a club can be 100 miles away.

[Unregistered]

OP here. Thanks. I'm really not this BTNP person but I've seen him referenced as a troll. But I do read this forum because it's busy and interesting. The Town Travel is probably comparable to some of better teams on our inner city leagues where I'm from because our club's citys are larger, but farther apart...like farming communities with only a few big urban centers and then smaller ones who don't have soccer programs. Down here, if you travel at all, you're considered an elite player because the nearest large town that supports a club can be 100 miles away.

What state? Major cities with big city leagues but then a 100 miles away?

Nice attempt on the "BTNP" lol.

[Unregistered]

What state? Major cities with big city leagues but then a 100 miles away?

Nice attempt on the "BTNP" lol.

I'm not the OP but have you ever been to the Midwest? States like Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma are very much examples of big cities, separated by farm land for 100 miles.

[Unregistered]

Unlike other states where things are generally organized on a country basis, soccer in Massachusetts was initially organized like our politics in that everything was done on a town by town basis so there is lots of duplication. Basically every single town has at least one municipal soccer program (in my town we actually have two) and they are the points of entry into soccer for most children. At what we call the "town" level the quality is all over the map because the adults involved can range from complete novices to ones who played college and pro all with different expectations and agendas so the politics can be extreme. The costs in town soccer are usually very low because you have volunteer coaches and are using municipal facilities. Really the only travel for games is between the towns which generally are all close to each other. Very few town level teams travel out of state for tournaments.

Initially there were no private clubs like we have today and somebody had to actually sue Mass Youth Soccer (which is a USYS entity) in order to get the early clubs recognized by it. What followed was sort of a "separate but equal" sort of thing where you had "town" and you had "club" and they didn't compete against each other (except for players) in really any significant way. The initial private clubs were founded by real soccer zealots who were there simply because of their passion for the game. Those type of clubs are typically referred to "mom & pop" clubs because they generally only had 2-3 teams. They generally hand picked their players from all over the state and unlike most states there are no recognized geographic boundaries between clubs. It is very much a free market approach to things. While these clubs did cost more, there weren't a lot of profits because they had to pay retail prices for facilities and such. The big difference was the coaching at the "club" level was generally superior. At different points in time there could have been anywhere between 50-75 "clubs" in the state on top of the hundreds of town programs and unlike many states, players are allowed to "dual roster" on both a "town" and "club" team so the competition for players has always been fierce. The nasty banter back and forth on this site really grows out the philosophical differences between "club" and "town" as well as the competition for players.

A little more than a decade ago USCS came on the scene and where USYS was really the champion of "town" soccer, they set about to be the champion of "club" soccer. USCS modeled things like clubs in foreign countries and spoke a lot about player development. Functionally they turned youth soccer in this state into a big business. Their arrival coincided with a sizable uptick in soccer participation which intensified the competition for players and dramatically increased the size of some of the clubs. So now, not only do you have the traditional "club" versus "town" conflict, you also have a "mega" club versus "mom & pop" conflict. Unlike many parts of the country, Massachusetts has a level of soccer for just about any kid who wants to play soccer. The downside to this is most of it is dictated by marketing messages than by any sort of structure so the quality can be very inconsistent.