Npl/ecnl

[Unregistered]

Again...I have a different experience with club. We have a great coach who develops the kids and team. My kid has grown far more at club than HS...and my kid plays at a very competitive D1 high school that makes the finals pretty much every year. HS is a couple months out of the year while club is year round. Not beating my chest at all

who is comparing it to HS ?

[Unregistered]

You don't see girls playing softball, track, basketball, etc???? You don't make any sense.

?? did you read what i QUOTED ?


I dont see too many girls playing football, baseball,track,cross country or hockey relative to soccer, so no ..i dont buy it.


makes a huge amount of sense

[Unregistered]

I am always so confused by these threads because after years and years in club soccer I have only met two parents like this. With the weird, unrealistic expectation that playing on X team was going to mean a D1 scholarship for their kid (who wasn't really that great).

Most parents I know in club are doing it cause their kid LOVES soccer and wants to play more than town soccer could provide.

The other parents I know who are after scholarships are aiming for very small schools that are very realistic for their kids to get into, play soccer at, and get a full ride at.

So all this screaming about the crazy club parents just strikes me as very disingenuous.

[Unregistered]

I am always so confused by these threads because after years and years in club soccer I have only met two parents like this. With the weird, unrealistic expectation that playing on X team was going to mean a D1 scholarship for their kid (who wasn't really that great).

Most parents I know in club are doing it cause their kid LOVES soccer and wants to play more than town soccer could provide.

The other parents I know who are after scholarships are aiming for very small schools that are very realistic for their kids to get into, play soccer at, and get a full ride at.

So all this screaming about the crazy club parents just strikes me as very disingenuous.

I almost feel like I wrote this post, because it sums up my feelings exactly....

[Unregistered]

Here's where your logic falls apart:

If you live in a huge town with lots of great athletes and parent coaches who actually know anything about soccer then sure, you can play town soccer and play for a great highschool/public school team and become a great soccer player.

If, however, you live in a tiny town with crappy town soccer and a crappy highschool team then your only option for really good soccer is club. (maybe you'd prefer to move but I don't want to live in any of the towns with good highschool teams in my area)

My kid doesn't want to play town soccer because it's painful to play with kids who are so bad and who don't give a hoot about getting better, paying attention in practice, having coaches who just say good job to my kid about everything kid does. That is boring to my kid.

If your kids are in elementary or middle school, this conversation doesn't apply as much as if they are HS age. My opinion is that if your kid wants to play club, then fine. Mine did/do. But it is NOT a requirement to get into college if your kid is a very good player and does very good in HS varsity. Colleges look for takent everywhere, not just from clubs.

[Unregistered]

And, you sound quite defensive. I said only exposure through HS would be harder, since there are less opportunties to be seen. That's it. I am a firm advocate that good players get found no matter where they are.

Anyone who gets into ROI for youth soccer is a fool. Yes, some will look at actual dollars spent vs. money saved on scholarship as a bottom line. We don't, nor will we ever, consider that. I won't put a dollar value on my kid's experiences, and never will.

the problem with these discussion is people dont discuss the wider issue being debated. the points are

1. is it "some": who look at it that way or a lot more ?
2. how does this impact the sport
3. how does this influence decisions and coaching

i beleive that you should receive value for money in soccer and that value is the right amount of teaching at the right level for the team, you choose. Not the right to spend even more money travelling the country for nothing. What should differentiate clubs is the quality of player being catered to.

Simple you, because there are so few REAL quality players, no one is catering to them. Its easier to pretend that players are better than they are and discount the ones who say other wise.makes more people happy and makes more money for those concerned.

FEWER elite teams is not good for business so we lower standards and then add allsorts of expense that does nothing to make players better. it just puts average player vs average players in exotic locations and lets the least average brag about who is more elite.

thats the business model and its making people a lot of money. Meanwhile countries who actually have a real plan for talented players have caught us already

[Unregistered]

I am always so confused by these threads because after years and years in club soccer I have only met two parents like this. With the weird, unrealistic expectation that playing on X team was going to mean a D1 scholarship for their kid (who wasn't really that great).

Most parents I know in club are doing it cause their kid LOVES soccer and wants to play more than town soccer could provide.

The other parents I know who are after scholarships are aiming for very small schools that are very realistic for their kids to get into, play soccer at, and get a full ride at.

So all this screaming about the crazy club parents just strikes me as very disingenuous.

Simple questions. Do you think that GDA ECNL or NPL soccer offer decent value for money ?

[Unregistered]

Simple questions. Do you think that GDA ECNL or NPL soccer offer decent value for money ?

Depends on what dollar value you are putting on it, how you prioritize it, what you have to start with, and what you want to get out of it.

[Unregistered]

If your kids are in elementary or middle school, this conversation doesn't apply as much as if they are HS age. My opinion is that if your kid wants to play club, then fine. Mine did/do. But it is NOT a requirement to get into college if your kid is a very good player and does very good in HS varsity. Colleges look for takent everywhere, not just from clubs.

my point is that the range of what you are talking about is so broad that its meaningless. College has a huge range of ability. Doing good in HS varsity is not going to be enough at some programs.

colleges do indeed look for talent, but where are they supposed to look first ? and which colleges? Some dont have the budgets to comb the country looking for undiscovered HS talent and here is the rub - they dont have to as long as the over all level remains where it is. Its self fulfilling. for 300+ D 1 colleges, finding the "best" talent is irrelevant.

for the 25 or schools for whom it matters, they are a whole different animal. Why are more and more adding foreign talent? Because its better that what the ECNL GDA NPL are producing here.

[Unregistered]

Depends on what dollar value you are putting on it, how you prioritize it, what you have to start with, and what you want to get out of it.

Its a question to YOU. ask yourself those questions and either answer or dont. for me

Dollar Value - 3k or so pre travel
Prioritize - irrelevant once you have decided to do it so not part of my calculation
Get out of it - a positive environment for all made up of kids of similar ability and drive who want to get better. Coaches who value teaching. Facilities that enable teaching - answer a resounding no.

[Unregistered]

my point is that the range of what you are talking about is so broad that its meaningless. College has a huge range of ability. Doing good in HS varsity is not going to be enough at some programs.

colleges do indeed look for talent, but where are they supposed to look first ? and which colleges? Some dont have the budgets to comb the country looking for undiscovered HS talent and here is the rub - they dont have to as long as the over all level remains where it is. Its self fulfilling. for 300+ D 1 colleges, finding the "best" talent is irrelevant.

for the 25 or schools for whom it matters, they are a whole different animal. Why are more and more adding foreign talent? Because its better that what the ECNL GDA NPL are producing here.

What kind of elitist BS is the statement "25 or schools for whom it matters"? Seriously, if you think those schools have all the talent and the hundreds of other D1 schools don't matter then you are delusional. There is a ton of talent in D1 and yes a fair amount is coming from non-club HS players.

As I said the recruiting process is a two-way street and more often than not players are initiating it. College coaches don't need to comb through the whole country blindly and believe me that they don't. Depending on the program, many don't actively recruit more than a few hundred miles from campus. And even if they do look nationally or internationally, there isn't any guarantee they'll find better talent. A lot of promising HS age players don't perform as well in college.

As for international players, our experience is they as good as the U.S. players, but no better. There is nothing magical about coming to the U.S. from overseas.

[Unregistered]

Simple questions. Do you think that GDA ECNL or NPL soccer offer decent value for money ?

That’s a very personal question. For my child, New England NPL was our cut off for what she needed out of club soccer to develop to where she wants to play in college. ECNL/DA, although both options for her, involved too much money, travel, and sacrifice for our whole family. But for others, ECNL and DA are viable options, for others, anything above NEP is not worth it. No size fits all.

[Unregistered]

What kind of elitist BS is the statement "25 or schools for whom it matters"? Seriously, if you think those schools have all the talent and the hundreds of other D1 schools don't matter then you are delusional. There is a ton of talent in D1 and yes a fair amount is coming from non-club HS players.

As I said the recruiting process is a two-way street and more often than not players are initiating it. College coaches don't need to comb through the whole country blindly and believe me that they don't. Depending on the program, many don't actively recruit more than a few hundred miles from campus. And even if they do look nationally or internationally, there isn't any guarantee they'll find better talent. A lot of promising HS age players don't perform as well in college.

As for international players, our experience is they as good as the U.S. players, but no better. There is nothing magical about coming to the U.S. from overseas.

"There is a ton of talent in D1 and yes a fair amount is coming from non-club HS players."

Not in Men's top 25 teams...not sure about women's.

[Unregistered]

"There is a ton of talent in D1 and yes a fair amount is coming from non-club HS players."

Not in Men's top 25 teams...not sure about women's.

There are very few non club players playing on any of the top 100 RPI women’s college teams. Maybe a handful that went to top prep schools only, but just look at the rosters and bios and you’ll have your answer. That OP is off the mark.

[Unregistered]

That’s a very personal question. For my child, New England NPL was our cut off for what she needed out of club soccer to develop to where she wants to play in college. ECNL/DA, although both options for her, involved too much money, travel, and sacrifice for our whole family. But for others, ECNL and DA are viable options, for others, anything above NEP is not worth it. No size fits all.

It's odd that you see it as possible for kids to play at NEP, NPL, and ECNL interchangably because it's whatever they want to do. Makes it sound like you can just stick more $ and time into club and get the outcome you want rather than it being based on ability.