ECNL Game Changer?

On the Dallas Texans home page I saw this, not a big deal on the surface but read the last paragraph:

"USSDA/ECNL/Pre-Academy Tryouts

4/26/11:
Tryout dates for our U.S. Soccer Development Academy, ECNL, and Pre-Academy teams will be announced by May 15th. The Pre-Academy league has been officially expanded into the U-12 and U-11 age groups for next year, although these ages will compete in a different league format than the U13-15 age groups.

For more information please contact David Hudgell for USSDA (hudge6@yahoo.com; 214-394-6837), Hassan Nazari for Pre-Academy (hassan1@prodigy.net; 972-741-6452), and Sean Bubb for ECNL (sbtexans@gmail.com; 972-333-7705).

The Dallas Texans are also pleased to announce that, like we have done for our USSDA teams, we will be able to partially fund our U-17 and U-18 ECNL teams next year through our generous sponsors."

Wow, I am wondering how this will change the ECNL scene in NTX? I am sure there is some swoosh money behind this but does this push Feet, Solar, Sting and even FC to do the same?

In the back of my mind, I felt this was coming. Just didn't know how soon. Guess it's "game on." Mixed thoughts on this...

I'm curious about Texans' decision to direct this benefit at the oldest age groups. Is it b/c most of these girls are already college committed and the financial incentive would preclude the kids from quitting the ECNL team? I certainly understand the sentiment by those kids/parents who might not want to commit the expense to 2 more yrs of ECNL, if they already have a scholarship locked down.

This is obviously going to become a competitive advantage in the recruiting process. So why not apply it to the younger girls? If attracting the best kids and fielding the best teams would be the objective, you'd think they'd want to do it a younger age (better chance at team/club success and also putting the best kids in front of college coaches at u14-u16...which is the prime recruiting period).

No question this opens up the financial battle with other clubs and they'll soon have to follow suit in order to compete long term.

Side question: If NIKE is a key sponsor for ECNL as an entity, is there some sort of conflict of interest (not specifically from a legal perspective) if they were to single out Texans and commit huge dollars to their program individually? (Note: I have no knowledge that Nike is behind the sponsorship dollars mentioned above)

Might this be the first step to a club (not ECNL) forbidding their ECNL kids from playing high school soccer? We've heard rumors...but I see no way that the masses would accept an ECNL directive to "not play high school" unless ECNL (or someone else) was actually funding the cost to play.

socrocks wrote:In the back of my mind, I felt this was coming. Just didn't know how soon. Guess it's "game on." Mixed thoughts on this...

I'm curious about Texans' decision to direct this benefit at the oldest age groups. Is it b/c most of these girls are already college committed and the financial incentive would preclude the kids from quitting the ECNL team? I certainly understand the sentiment by those kids/parents who might not want to commit the expense to 2 more yrs of ECNL, if they already have a scholarship locked down.

This is obviously going to become a competitive advantage in the recruiting process. So why not apply it to the younger girls? If attracting the best kids and fielding the best teams would be the objective, you'd think they'd want to do it a younger age (better chance at team/club success and also putting the best kids in front of college coaches at u14-u16...which is the prime recruiting period).

No question this opens up the financial battle with other clubs and they'll soon have to follow suit in order to compete long term.

Side question: If NIKE is a key sponsor for ECNL as an entity, is there some sort of conflict of interest (not specifically from a legal perspective) if they were to single out Texans and commit huge dollars to their program individually? (Note: I have no knowledge that Nike is behind the sponsorship dollars mentioned above)

Might this be the first step to a club (not ECNL) forbidding their ECNL kids from playing high school soccer? We've heard rumors...but I see no way that the masses would accept an ECNL directive to "not play high school" unless ECNL (or someone else) was actually funding the cost to play.

Could it have something to do with the rumor that next year playing ECNL precludes playing high school?

And is there any validity to this rumor?

socrocks wrote:In the back of my mind, I felt this was coming. Just didn't know how soon. Guess it's "game on." Mixed thoughts on this...

I'm curious about Texans' decision to direct this benefit at the oldest age groups. Is it b/c most of these girls are already college committed and the financial incentive would preclude the kids from quitting the ECNL team? I certainly understand the sentiment by those kids/parents who might not want to commit the expense to 2 more yrs of ECNL, if they already have a scholarship locked down.

This is obviously going to become a competitive advantage in the recruiting process. So why not apply it to the younger girls? If attracting the best kids and fielding the best teams would be the objective, you'd think they'd want to do it a younger age (better chance at team/club success and also putting the best kids in front of college coaches at u14-u16...which is the prime recruiting period).

No question this opens up the financial battle with other clubs and they'll soon have to follow suit in order to compete long term.

Side question: If NIKE is a key sponsor for ECNL as an entity, is there some sort of conflict of interest (not specifically from a legal perspective) if they were to single out Texans and commit huge dollars to their program individually? (Note: I have no knowledge that Nike is behind the sponsorship dollars mentioned above)

Might this be the first step to a club (not ECNL) forbidding their ECNL kids from playing high school soccer? We've heard rumors...but I see no way that the masses would accept an ECNL directive to "not play high school" unless ECNL (or someone else) was actually funding the cost to play.

Could be a strategic decision to pursue national championships by investing the $ in players at U-17 & U18 when the dust has settled for the most part, and the players are known commodities.

The pitch to play for free the last 2 years would be tough to pass up if your dd is on the track to play top tier soccer in college.

socrocks wrote:In the back of my mind, I felt this was coming. Just didn't know how soon. Guess it's "game on." Mixed thoughts on this...

I'm curious about Texans' decision to direct this benefit at the oldest age groups. Is it b/c most of these girls are already college committed and the financial incentive would preclude the kids from quitting the ECNL team? I certainly understand the sentiment by those kids/parents who might not want to commit the expense to 2 more yrs of ECNL, if they already have a scholarship locked down.

This is obviously going to become a competitive advantage in the recruiting process. So why not apply it to the younger girls? If attracting the best kids and fielding the best teams would be the objective, you'd think they'd want to do it a younger age (better chance at team/club success and also putting the best kids in front of college coaches at u14-u16...which is the prime recruiting period).

No question this opens up the financial battle with other clubs and they'll soon have to follow suit in order to compete long term.

Side question: If NIKE is a key sponsor for ECNL as an entity, is there some sort of conflict of interest (not specifically from a legal perspective) if they were to single out Texans and commit huge dollars to their program individually? (Note: I have no knowledge that Nike is behind the sponsorship dollars mentioned above)

Might this be the first step to a club (not ECNL) forbidding their ECNL kids from playing high school soccer? We've heard rumors...but I see no way that the masses would accept an ECNL directive to "not play high school" unless ECNL (or someone else) was actually funding the cost to play.

Maybe by "generous sponsors" they were referring to all the suckers paying to be on the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th age-level teams.

Agreed, however, that picking up the dues for a player is the only way the club or league can mandate a player not play for their school (or another sport, for that matter).

bronxdad wrote:On the Dallas Texans home page I saw this, not a big deal on the surface but read the last paragraph:

"USSDA/ECNL/Pre-Academy Tryouts

4/26/11:
Tryout dates for our U.S. Soccer Development Academy, ECNL, and Pre-Academy teams will be announced by May 15th. The Pre-Academy league has been officially expanded into the U-12 and U-11 age groups for next year, although these ages will compete in a different league format than the U13-15 age groups.

For more information please contact David Hudgell for USSDA (hudge6@yahoo.com; 214-394-6837), Hassan Nazari for Pre-Academy (hassan1@prodigy.net; 972-741-6452), and Sean Bubb for ECNL (sbtexans@gmail.com; 972-333-7705).

The Dallas Texans are also pleased to announce that, like we have done for our USSDA teams, we will be able to partially fund our U-17 and U-18 ECNL teams next year through our generous sponsors."

Wow, I am wondering how this will change the ECNL scene in NTX? I am sure there is some swoosh money behind this but does this push Feet, Solar, Sting and even FC to do the same?

They have to do something! Because everything they have done in the last year for the girls is nothing but ShiI. Sounds like a desperate move to me! How about some real development. So you don't have to give everything away! Nothing is free in the soccer world here DFW. Especially from the Texans.

Oh wait a minute...Let's beat the tar out of our opponent and try to go in so hard. We hurt ourselves. God knows the Texans have no development in the scoring third or creativity. Yeah smash the girl back into the net if she gets close to the ball! Texans are a joke.

BackDraft wrote: They have to do something! Because everything they have done in the last year for the girls is nothing but ShiI. Sounds like a desperate move to me! How about some real development. So you don't have to give everything away! Nothing is free in the soccer world here DFW. Especially from the Texans.

Oh wait a minute...Let's beat the tar out of our opponent and try to go in so hard. We hurt ourselves. God knows the Texans have no development in the scoring third or creativity. Yeah smash the girl back into the net if she gets close to the ball! Texans are a joke.

Are you as dumb as you post?

Here are some things I've heard regarding this (none of which have been confirmed):

- Dues will be cut roughly in half and possibly cover uniforms/tournament entry fees.
- It will not affect player's ability to play high school soccer.
- They hope to include more age groups in the future.

Uncle Numanga wrote:

BackDraft wrote: They have to do something! Because everything they have done in the last year for the girls is nothing but ShiI. Sounds like a desperate move to me! How about some real development. So you don't have to give everything away! Nothing is free in the soccer world here DFW. Especially from the Texans.

Oh wait a minute...Let's beat the tar out of our opponent and try to go in so hard. We hurt ourselves. God knows the Texans have no development in the scoring third or creativity. Yeah smash the girl back into the net if she gets close to the ball! Texans are a joke.

Are you as dumb as you post?

No. I just know that the Texan's Top girl players. Are a joke and are not top flight. In the scoring third. Can you name at least one that is on a true high level. NO. That is what I thought.

BackDraft wrote:

Uncle Numanga wrote:

BackDraft wrote: They have to do something! Because everything they have done in the last year for the girls is nothing but ShiI. Sounds like a desperate move to me! How about some real development. So you don't have to give everything away! Nothing is free in the soccer world here DFW. Especially from the Texans.

Oh wait a minute...Let's beat the tar out of our opponent and try to go in so hard. We hurt ourselves. God knows the Texans have no development in the scoring third or creativity. Yeah smash the girl back into the net if she gets close to the ball! Texans are a joke.

Are you as dumb as you post?

No. I just know that the Texan's Top girl players. Are a joke and are not top flight. In the scoring third. Can you name at least one that is on a true high level. NO. That is what I thought.

I can.

stillyuk wrote:

BackDraft wrote:

Uncle Numanga wrote:

BackDraft wrote: They have to do something! Because everything they have done in the last year for the girls is nothing but ShiI. Sounds like a desperate move to me! How about some real development. So you don't have to give everything away! Nothing is free in the soccer world here DFW. Especially from the Texans.

Oh wait a minute...Let's beat the tar out of our opponent and try to go in so hard. We hurt ourselves. God knows the Texans have no development in the scoring third or creativity. Yeah smash the girl back into the net if she gets close to the ball! Texans are a joke.

Are you as dumb as you post?

No. I just know that the Texan's Top girl players. Are a joke and are not top flight. In the scoring third. Can you name at least one that is on a true high level. NO. That is what I thought.

I can.

Me too. And it's obvious you are that dumb.

Outside of all of the "Texan's suck, Texan's are great" babble that hijacked this thread the notion of reduced costs/financial assistance especially in the upper age groups is really only the tip of the older age issue. More than one college coach I have visited with has said that the most difficult aspect for most players when they arrive at their college of choice is seeing their new teammates for the first time and in effect seeing themselves after 1-4 years of constant and coherent physical training that in season, counting games, amounts to as much as 40 hours per week..and that begins the moment they hit the floor at school. Compare that to a typical 8-10 hours or less per week now. In other words most players arrive and are immediately confronted with being the low player on the totem pole until they catch up. That catching up has to be done in a new place, with new rules, with new friends, and many times without the local support network they have been used to and without the structure that that support gave them. A daunting task. The committed player and those still looking to commit may be better served by a model that builds them closer physically and mentally to a player that has less of a hill to climb when they arrive at college. That means, in my view, a program that has regular competitions, be it scrimmages against JUCOS or other adult or training teams, or some sort of inter-club events, constant and focused training geared to the prospective college athlete, and probably structured without the large formal leagues we have now and likely without the compressed high school season to muddle that preparation. The fee structure may have to be similar to academy, a pay as you go system. Clubs may have to create an ODP type of pool players who are trained then selected to go to each of these tournaments based on the work they have done and their availability/desire to go.
In the older ages the plan and its goals change. For the parent it becomes a measure of ROI; my daughter wants to play college soccer-it opens up new opportunities for them- if I spend $2000, $5000, $10000 per year what does it get my daughter-what work other than training and playing does she or we need to do in addition to paying that money to achieve that goal, one that could not be achieved otherwise. The clubs have to figure out how to retain the older players reasoning that some revenue is better than none, and to leverage those players success in finding a college into signing full paying players at the younger ages whose parents and them perhaps dream of a similar outcome. One certainty though; the local leagues here provide absolutely zero benefit in the older ages for the prospective elite athlete nor does high school play/training as it is currently structured.

Uncle Numanga wrote:

stillyuk wrote:

BackDraft wrote:

Uncle Numanga wrote:

BackDraft wrote: They have to do something! Because everything they have done in the last year for the girls is nothing but ShiI. Sounds like a desperate move to me! How about some real development. So you don't have to give everything away! Nothing is free in the soccer world here DFW. Especially from the Texans.

Oh wait a minute...Let's beat the tar out of our opponent and try to go in so hard. We hurt ourselves. God knows the Texans have no development in the scoring third or creativity. Yeah smash the girl back into the net if she gets close to the ball! Texans are a joke.

Are you as dumb as you post?

No. I just know that the Texan's Top girl players. Are a joke and are not top flight. In the scoring third. Can you name at least one that is on a true high level. NO. That is what I thought.

I can.

Me too. And it's obvious you are that dumb.

Whatever! The Texans know what they are doing. Why do you think they are going to offer this? So they can get the best in North Texas. Which they do not have now! They are basically trying to buy players because they can't develop them or the ones they have are topped out or are on the decline!

when us soccer implemented the academy program on the boys side fcd offered free soccer for their DA teams. Texans lost a lot of good players to fcd immediately and it completely changed the competitiveness of their club. This may be a pre emptive strike against another club who may have been considering this for their girls as a way to lure the top players. The other clubs will have to match this or they will find their better players going for the exits.

DrSoccer wrote:when us soccer implemented the academy program on the boys side fcd offered free soccer for their DA teams. Texans lost a lot of good players to fcd immediately and it completely changed the competitiveness of their club. This may be a pre emptive strike against another club who may have been considering this for their girls as a way to lure the top players. The other clubs will have to match this or they will find their better players going for the exits.

This.

Not only did they lose players but they also lost at least one coach (who I think has since returned) due to their lack of competitiveness.

Regardless the intentions of the Texans, it's my opinion that this move will eventually mean positive things for ALL of the ECNL players locally. It will undoubtedly cause the other Clubs to follow suit, and that's a very good thing for everyone.

Gunners wrote:

DrSoccer wrote:when us soccer implemented the academy program on the boys side fcd offered free soccer for their DA teams. Texans lost a lot of good players to fcd immediately and it completely changed the competitiveness of their club. This may be a pre emptive strike against another club who may have been considering this for their girls as a way to lure the top players. The other clubs will have to match this or they will find their better players going for the exits.

This.

Not only did they lose players but they also lost at least one coach (who I think has since returned) due to their lack of competitiveness.

Regardless the intentions of the Texans, it's my opinion that this move will eventually mean positive things for ALL of the ECNL players locally. It will undoubtedly cause the other Clubs to follow suit, and that's a very good thing for everyone.

I'll take your comment a step further and say that I think this move will eventually mean positive things for ALL of the ECNL players locally. Businesses can compete on multiple levels to stay ahead of their competition. Pricing is certainly one of those aspects.

The Texans have been the trend setters in this market for a long time. If the Texans figure out a way to successfully reduce costs and still increase their competitive balance both on and off the field... all the other clubs will be forced to react. That could trickle down and be a very good thing for all of us, not just ECNL customers.

bigtex75081 wrote:

Gunners wrote:

DrSoccer wrote:when us soccer implemented the academy program on the boys side fcd offered free soccer for their DA teams. Texans lost a lot of good players to fcd immediately and it completely changed the competitiveness of their club. This may be a pre emptive strike against another club who may have been considering this for their girls as a way to lure the top players. The other clubs will have to match this or they will find their better players going for the exits.

This.

Not only did they lose players but they also lost at least one coach (who I think has since returned) due to their lack of competitiveness.

Regardless the intentions of the Texans, it's my opinion that this move will eventually mean positive things for ALL of the ECNL players locally. It will undoubtedly cause the other Clubs to follow suit, and that's a very good thing for everyone.

I'll take your comment a step further and say that I think this move will eventually mean positive things for ALL of the ECNL players locally. Businesses can compete on multiple levels to stay ahead of their competition. Pricing is certainly one of those aspects.

The Texans have been the trend setters in this market for a long time. If the Texans figure out a way to successfully reduce costs and still increase their competitive balance both on and off the field... all the other clubs will be forced to react. That could trickle down and be a very good thing for all of us, not just ECNL customers.

Wrong. They are not cutting cost they are just moving the money around.

BackDraft wrote:

bigtex75081 wrote:

Gunners wrote:

DrSoccer wrote:when us soccer implemented the academy program on the boys side fcd offered free soccer for their DA teams. Texans lost a lot of good players to fcd immediately and it completely changed the competitiveness of their club. This may be a pre emptive strike against another club who may have been considering this for their girls as a way to lure the top players. The other clubs will have to match this or they will find their better players going for the exits.

This.

Not only did they lose players but they also lost at least one coach (who I think has since returned) due to their lack of competitiveness.

Regardless the intentions of the Texans, it's my opinion that this move will eventually mean positive things for ALL of the ECNL players locally. It will undoubtedly cause the other Clubs to follow suit, and that's a very good thing for everyone.

I'll take your comment a step further and say that I think this move will eventually mean positive things for ALL of the ECNL players locally. Businesses can compete on multiple levels to stay ahead of their competition. Pricing is certainly one of those aspects.

The Texans have been the trend setters in this market for a long time. If the Texans figure out a way to successfully reduce costs and still increase their competitive balance both on and off the field... all the other clubs will be forced to react. That could trickle down and be a very good thing for all of us, not just ECNL customers.

Wrong. They are not cutting cost they are just moving the money around.

I'm thinking in the longer term, beyond this year and the next.

Eventually there will be a large club that provides the top-most level of competitiveness at a reduced cost to the individual families. There will eventually be a club that creates an income generating system that is not entirely dependent on the parents' wallets. Maybe it will be the Texans and this is an initial step towards that. Maybe it will be FC Dallas as they figure out how to leverage their MLS affliation. Maybe it will be an already existing club. Maybe it will be a club that hasn't been created yet.

All of us know about a key problem within youth soccer in this country... the better you are, the more you pay. Eventually somebody will decide on a way to fix that issue and it will benefit both the customers and the clubs. Price is too big of a hurdle for too many athletes and their families right now. That needs to be corrected. Good soccer should not be limited to just the rich kids.

bigtex75081 wrote:

Gunners wrote:

DrSoccer wrote:when us soccer implemented the academy program on the boys side fcd offered free soccer for their DA teams. Texans lost a lot of good players to fcd immediately and it completely changed the competitiveness of their club. This may be a pre emptive strike against another club who may have been considering this for their girls as a way to lure the top players. The other clubs will have to match this or they will find their better players going for the exits.

This.

Not only did they lose players but they also lost at least one coach (who I think has since returned) due to their lack of competitiveness.

Regardless the intentions of the Texans, it's my opinion that this move will eventually mean positive things for ALL of the ECNL players locally. It will undoubtedly cause the other Clubs to follow suit, and that's a very good thing for everyone.

I'll take your comment a step further and say that I think this move will eventually mean positive things for ALL of the ECNL players locally. Businesses can compete on multiple levels to stay ahead of their competition. Pricing is certainly one of those aspects.

The Texans have been the trend setters in this market for a long time. If the Texans figure out a way to successfully reduce costs and still increase their competitive balance both on and off the field... all the other clubs will be forced to react. That could trickle down and be a very good thing for all of us, not just ECNL customers.

Actually, you are completely wrong. This will not benefit all of the players. It will be great for all of the ECNL players but for the rest of the teams playing in Classic, Plano, or Arlington leagues, the cost will increase as the club has to find ways to fund their free soccer teams. When this was done on the boys side, there was an immediate increase in club fees for non-Academy/Pre-Academy teams.

Blitzed wrote:

bigtex75081 wrote:

Gunners wrote:

DrSoccer wrote:when us soccer implemented the academy program on the boys side fcd offered free soccer for their DA teams. Texans lost a lot of good players to fcd immediately and it completely changed the competitiveness of their club. This may be a pre emptive strike against another club who may have been considering this for their girls as a way to lure the top players. The other clubs will have to match this or they will find their better players going for the exits.

This.

Not only did they lose players but they also lost at least one coach (who I think has since returned) due to their lack of competitiveness.

Regardless the intentions of the Texans, it's my opinion that this move will eventually mean positive things for ALL of the ECNL players locally. It will undoubtedly cause the other Clubs to follow suit, and that's a very good thing for everyone.

I'll take your comment a step further and say that I think this move will eventually mean positive things for ALL of the ECNL players locally. Businesses can compete on multiple levels to stay ahead of their competition. Pricing is certainly one of those aspects.

The Texans have been the trend setters in this market for a long time. If the Texans figure out a way to successfully reduce costs and still increase their competitive balance both on and off the field... all the other clubs will be forced to react. That could trickle down and be a very good thing for all of us, not just ECNL customers.

Actually, you are completely wrong. This will not benefit all of the players. It will be great for all of the ECNL players but for the rest of the teams playing in Classic, Plano, or Arlington leagues, the cost will increase as the club has to find ways to fund their free soccer teams. When this was done on the boys side, there was an immediate increase in club fees for non-Academy/Pre-Academy teams.

Does anyone know how much and in what form clubs get sponsorship money? The ongoing argument seems to be whether or not clubs are offering reduced costs to higher level players through money from sponsors, charging "non-elite" players more, or making a little less to get the recognition of having produced a top team/player.

Does anyone on this board really know?

Looks like the Texans will be pulling all the Top players in now! Now that they have a little money to play with.

BackDraft wrote:Looks like the Texans will be pulling all the Top players in now! Now that they have a little money to play with.

BackDraft wrote:Looks like the Texans will be pulling all the Top players in now! Now that they have a little money to play with.

BackDraft wrote:Looks like the Texans will be pulling all the Top players in now! Now that they have a little money to play with.

BackDraft wrote:Looks like the Texans will be pulling all the Top players in now! Now that they have a little money to play with.