JD's departure from FCD

GrandTXSoccer wrote:Lefty,

ECNL is not about development it's about $$$, just like academy soccer in NTX is about $$$ and not too much development.

Now this is the argument LP should make to the ECNL body. Simply substitute the words academy soccer with LP and you're golden.  
I kid.

GrandTXSoccer wrote:Lefty,

You pretty much placed a definition of success that simply is near impossible to meet here in NTX, criteria that Solar, FCD, D'Feeters, and the Texans couldn't meet if it weren't for the ECNL label. You can build great academy teams and they can have success in the first couple of years of select but come time for ECNL years and teams/players leave for the ECNL label. Heck I could open a soccer club today and if some how I started the club and was in ECNL I can promise you that within a month I would have teams capable to compete at a top level. So I have no doubt that LP will never be able to meet your criteria for success.

Now to whomever listed out the avg rating of the LP teams in the 04, 05, & 06 age groups saying that it's a quantity over quality thing at LP, well that's just comical as well. The best 04 team is at LP and it's not close, the best 05 team was at LP (currently they have the 2nd) until ENCL started drawing folks away from Pulps older teams and he left and raided the 05's, in the 06's they have the 3rd best team. So to me it looks like they have quality and quantity, that actually sounds like a great way to develop teams. Heck I'm not even sure Solar has an 04 team and I think the D'feeters best team is 32nd, yeah they really know how to develop teams at those clubs.

This whole thing is comical. ECNL is not about development it's about $$$, just like academy soccer in NTX is about $$$ and not too much development. Quite honestly the system is broken but it's producing way too much money so it's not going to change.

You must be an LP coach. If you think ECNL cares about a few good academy teams (out of a hundred) and an 03 team that plays "dump and run", then you are delusional. Keep drinking the kool-aid. And I love how you keep throwing Pulp under the bus. Sounds like you are bitter. Parents will only drink the Kool-Aid for so long. Most eventually wise up and leave for greener pastures. It happens every year at LP.

Disclaimer: I have no dog in this fight and am just talking about the system as a whole....

I have talked to parents of very mediocre girls say that they are staying with a club simply because the club has an ECNL program and that that fact will better their odds of getting an ECNL spot. The girls are really not being developed (come watch these teams play) by some of these coaches and will most likely not make ECNL (speculation). The cold truth is that any ECNL team will pluck the best girls from wherever they can regardless if the kids come from their own club or not. Clubs sell the ECNL point in order to keep their younger select teams. It would actually be interesting to see the stats of how many ECNL girls playing on the club's team that actually developed all the way from the beginning from select. (Gopher?)

It seems like a catch 22 for LP. Let's say there are a few great development coaches at LP from select to ECNL age. Those former explained parents won't be attracted to the club simply because of that fact. In this case, how can LP even get the track record to reach ECNL, if the parents and girls bail before that time?

It also is a bad thing if a club only has one select team. If something doesn't work out with that team, some parents who want to stay will the club will be driven out because they don't have any other team to go to within that same club. The player pass rule may help LP, as they can possibly consolidate the couple of good players per team and form another elite team. Plus there are other options for each kid to play since they have a larger team base.

At this age, it is my opinion that a parent should simply pick a COACH rather than a club. Girls need to be developed and worry about the ECNL later. Heck, I'm leaning towards just staying rec and practicing around plus playing tourneys just to see how different coaches coach. It really is amazing to see how much changes during the "honeymoon" period to the actual season.

Just my 2 cents.

this is never going to end...................

So any good rumors on why JD is out at FCD

GrandTXSoccer wrote:Lefty,

You pretty much placed a definition of success that simply is near impossible to meet here in NTX, criteria that Solar, FCD, D'Feeters, and the Texans couldn't meet if it weren't for the ECNL label. You can build great academy teams and they can have success in the first couple of years of select but come time for ECNL years and teams/players leave for the ECNL label.
(Start with becoming a relevant club beyond Academy and U11. i.e. regularly win LHGCL D1 in multiple age groups, or D2, or even D3 for that matter. Should be easier at the older levels once most of the ECNL caliber players have moved off to ECNL teams. After all LP has the most volume and widest base to work with.)
Heck I could open a soccer club today and if some how I started the club and was in ECNL I can promise you that within a month I would have teams capable to compete at a top level.
(Great, maybe you should go run Feet if this is true)
So I have no doubt that LP will never be able to meet your criteria for success.
(Are you saying LP will never be able to field quality teams at any level in LHGCL w/o an ECNL spot?)
Now to whomever listed out the avg rating of the LP teams in the 04, 05, & 06 age groups saying that it's a quantity over quality thing at LP, well that's just comical as well. The best 04 team is at LP and it's not close, the best 05 team was at LP (currently they have the 2nd) until ENCL started drawing folks away from Pulps older teams and he left and raided the 05's, in the 06's they have the 3rd best team. So to me it looks like they have quality and quantity, that actually sounds like a great way to develop teams. Heck I'm not even sure Solar has an 04 team and I think the D'feeters best team is 32nd, yeah they really know how to develop teams at those clubs.

This whole thing is comical. ECNL is not about development it's about $$$, just like academy soccer in NTX is about $$$ and not too much development. Quite honestly the system is broken but it's producing way too much money so it's not going to change.

I still have not heard how LP being in ECNL is a good thing for NTX as a whole, or for the kids/consumers. What is it they will bring that is missing?

If we all agree it is a business, then what does ECNL as a business have to gain by including LP?

Again the only one I can see benefitting from LP in ECNL is LP, but we all want things we don't have or have not earned.

4-3-3 wrote:

GrandTXSoccer wrote: Using ECNL standings as justification that someone deserves to be an ECNL is comical. )

Did you really mean to write this? There are some several doormat clubs in ECNL. Regularly beaten soundly by all the other clubs in nearly every age group. If feet were one of those clubs, I could see an argument that they don't deserve their ecnl bid. Still wouldnt follow that Liverpool deserves to take their place.

Feet has produced competitive teams for a long time, but of late, seem to be focusing on acquiring other club's teams.  The lack of even a cursory academy/development pipeline is why I said earlier that I felt they were the weakest link of the 5 ECNL clubs today.

I think that ECNL league standings, considered over time as a body of work, is a valid component (among other things) for consideration about how "worthy" a club is.   

Putting much weight on a single season's mid year standings, not so much.

I don't see ECNL contracting to less than 4 NTX clubs.  As I said before, if a club is added to the Texas Division any time soon, I don't think it will be LP, Rush, or anyone else from NTX.  

Much of this thread makes it sound like there is a decision to be made whether LP or Feet keeps an ECNL bid.  I don't think anything could be further from the truth.

outonthelimb wrote:Bor,

Which one  Kicks '01 or '06s?  3rd/4th hand information says that the '01s struck up a different arrangement and Feet are on the outside looking in.  However Kicks '01 has been scrimmaging D'Feet u14 ECNL of late and doing quite well (2 or 3-0 win for Kicks).  I'm sure the brass at Feet took notice and the asking price for the Kick's '01 parents just went way up.  A group that good won't be left out of the ECNL party and it would be a shame for some of them to be 'worked into' a pre-existing stellar group versus going to an ECNL club intact.  Even though the rumor mill is swinging in a different direction I would still be willing to bet you a lollipop that the overwhelming majority end up at Feet.  It just makes more sense to me from 100,000 miles away and no immediate knowledge of the situation.

Regarding your '06s...all bets are off.  The '06s are so far removed in time from ECNL that ECNL may have died, been resurrected and died again before the '06s are age appropriate.

Out –Lollipop! Bet him a steak dinner, he loves losing steak dinners. lol

Nobody knows the future, all I can say is I doubt my 01’s bolt to ECNL. I could be wrong, won’t be the first. Each family will have a decision to make this summer. As for me I know what I want. We will see if my team follows me.

All I can say about Feet is I respect the club. The coaching staff from, Hugh Bradford, Randy Shaw, David Pfeil, Frank Colon have always been classy with me.

4-3-3 wrote:

GrandTXSoccer wrote: Using ECNL standings as justification that someone deserves to be an ECNL is comical. )

Did you really mean to write this? There are some several doormat clubs in ECNL. Regularly beaten soundly by all the other clubs in nearly every age group. If feet were one of those clubs, I could see an argument that they don't deserve their ecnl bid. Still wouldnt follow that Liverpool deserves to take their place.

Yes, we are talking about NTX clubs. I don't follow any of the other clubs in other regions. Considering someone (not sure who) listed the criteria for enterence into ECNL and used D'Feeters ECNL standings as justification that they deserved to be there I just found it comical. Success in ECNL has zero to do with the criteria for becoming an ECNL club. Honestly if you were to line up both clubs side by side to see who qualified to be in ECNL based on the criteria ECNL claims it reviews no sane person would pick D'Feeters. I think D'Feeters have clearly shown they know how to win at the ECNL level, but I'm pretty sure I could win at the ECNL level in NTX if I was magically granted a club tomorrow and given access into ECNL. I'm a pretty good salesman so I'd buy me up some quality teams and be on my way. Which is pretty much the D'Feeters model, I'm not knocking it just pointing out the obvious.

So yes, based on the ECNL criteria for what they look at for a qualifying club I do find it comical that anyone would use the standings in ECNL as justification that they deserve to be in ECNL. The two things do not go hand in hand.

Now on to Lefty, basically from what I can tell LP has been around for 8 years and really only once LW came over and started building up the academy program have things really started to change. I think over the next few years they will start having more success however that success will always have a ceiling on it because of the way the system is set up and the lure of ECNL. The 03 teams are really the first in house teams from LP that has made DI right out of the gate and of those teams I'd say they will probably get two teams to remain in DI next year, now in the 04's clearly I think RASE will win the league and I'm sure the 05's will have a strong showing as well. With that being said the question will always remain if they can keep teams together or will they be picked apart by ECNL. History shows that the lure of ECNL generally wins out. So yes, I pretty much think that no club without the ECNL badge would be able to have much success in the U-11 to U-13 age groups simply because folks start leaving after the U-11 age (sometimes even before) to move to ECNL clubs because they believe that it matters (in reality if you can play then you can find a spot). It's not rocket surgery, it's common sense. Look around, teams aren't moving because they like the uniforms better at other clubs, they move because of ECNL hopes. So if you don't have those ECNL hopes you better hope you have something else to offer players or success at the pre-ECNL years is going to be very tough and very limited.

I really don't care if LP ever gets ECNL or not, I don't care if they trim the number of teams from ECNL or not, I just enjoy the debate. I still say that my scenario would be much better for NTX soccer than the system they have in place now.

I still have not heard how LP being in ECNL is a good thing for NTX as a whole, or for the kids/consumers. What is it they will bring that is missing?

If we all agree it is a business, then what does ECNL as a business have to gain by including LP?

Again the only one I can see benefitting from LP in ECNL is LP, but we all want things we don't have or have not earned.

jm23jm wrote:

outonthelimb wrote:Bor,

Which one  Kicks '01 or '06s?  3rd/4th hand information says that the '01s struck up a different arrangement and Feet are on the outside looking in.  However Kicks '01 has been scrimmaging D'Feet u14 ECNL of late and doing quite well (2 or 3-0 win for Kicks).  I'm sure the brass at Feet took notice and the asking price for the Kick's '01 parents just went way up.  A group that good won't be left out of the ECNL party and it would be a shame for some of them to be 'worked into' a pre-existing stellar group versus going to an ECNL club intact.  Even though the rumor mill is swinging in a different direction I would still be willing to bet you a lollipop that the overwhelming majority end up at Feet.  It just makes more sense to me from 100,000 miles away and no immediate knowledge of the situation.

Regarding your '06s...all bets are off.  The '06s are so far removed in time from ECNL that ECNL may have died, been resurrected and died again before the '06s are age appropriate.

Out –Lollipop! Bet him a steak dinner, he loves losing steak dinners. lol  

Nobody knows the future, all I can say is I doubt my 01’s bolt to ECNL.  I could be wrong, won’t be the first.  Each family will have a decision to make this summer.  As for me I know what I want.  We will see if my team follows me.

All I can say about Feet is I respect the club. The coaching staff from, Hugh Bradford, Randy Shaw, David Pfeil, Frank Colon have always been classy with me.  

Coach,

Just remind your parents that they can have the best of both worlds.  They can be 'discovery players' per the ECNL rules and play LHGCL with you and ECNL for another club.     I think each ECNL team can have up to 3 'discovery players' per roster so 3 x 5 ...heck your whole team can be discovery players.

I don't know how you would work out the practice and game conflicts but I do know that for the right caliber of player and willing coaches/parents that anything is negotiable.

I just see so much potential in a Kicks/Feet affiliation.  You know that you "Kick" with your "Feet" and that both clubs have green in their uniform color palette.  I see visions of Rowdies/Texans all over again.  Kicks can have a loose affiliation until it matters and you can even get cool shirts that play upon that loose affiliation...."These Kicks are made for Feet" or "What good are those Feet if they don't have nice Kicks."

Lefty wrote:I still have not heard how LP being in ECNL is a good thing for NTX as a whole, or for the kids/consumers. What is it they will bring that is missing?

If we all agree it is a business, then what does ECNL as a business have to gain by including LP?

Again the only one I can see benefitting from LP in ECNL is LP, but we all want things we don't have or have not earned.

ECNL is a monopoly. I didn't think we liked things like that here?

go99 wrote:

Borussia wrote:

go99 wrote:there is nothing magical in the deefeter water.  They offer nothing different.  They are able to recruit and fill teams because they have the golden lottery ticket of the ECNL.  Take that and you will instantly see the flock of players going over dry up.

 
Problem you guys have is you cant take it.  There is a better chance of say LW going to Feet to become the next ECNL squad than of Feet loosing their spot at the table.  Boiler posted their ECNL standings.. I believe all but one was in the top half of the table.  That alone would keep em in, and the next coach with his studly team will come over.  No shame in that, some will, some wont...

Im stubborn and would love to see it done without.  Thats why my family attends Kicks 01 games and cheer for those girls.  Great kids, great parents, and a brand of football I hope to see my kid play down the road.  Could give two rats at this point if there is an ECNL patch on her back.  Players of that caliber, playing at a high level nationally will be seen with help from the parent and the coach(s).  It can be done, will just take more work.  

Of course you can take it.  ECNL spots were not handed down from God on stone tablets.  The same group of people who gave them the spots can also take them away

You misunderstood. YOU, and the other forum parents, myself included cant take it from them. Can moan and groan all day, but unless those that gave it take it.... well, Feet is an ECNL club and LP is not.

Master Bates wrote:

Lefty wrote:I still have not heard how LP being in ECNL is a good thing for NTX as a whole, or for the kids/consumers. What is it they will bring that is missing?

If we all agree it is a business, then what does ECNL as a business have to gain by including LP?

Again the only one I can see benefitting from LP in ECNL is LP, but we all want things we don't have or have not earned.

ECNL is a monopoly. I didn't think we liked things like that here?

Probably a good topic for another thread, and not sure I would argue against you on the topic.

But for fun:
. What is it that ECNL is monopolizing?
. How would adding LP or substituting LP for Feet impact it being a monopoly or not?
. How would LP vs any other club being in ECNL be a good thing for NTX as a whole, or for the kids/consumers. What is it they will bring that is missing?

outonthelimb wrote:

jm23jm wrote:

outonthelimb wrote:Bor,

Which one  Kicks '01 or '06s?  3rd/4th hand information says that the '01s struck up a different arrangement and Feet are on the outside looking in.  However Kicks '01 has been scrimmaging D'Feet u14 ECNL of late and doing quite well (2 or 3-0 win for Kicks).  I'm sure the brass at Feet took notice and the asking price for the Kick's '01 parents just went way up.  A group that good won't be left out of the ECNL party and it would be a shame for some of them to be 'worked into' a pre-existing stellar group versus going to an ECNL club intact.  Even though the rumor mill is swinging in a different direction I would still be willing to bet you a lollipop that the overwhelming majority end up at Feet.  It just makes more sense to me from 100,000 miles away and no immediate knowledge of the situation.

Regarding your '06s...all bets are off.  The '06s are so far removed in time from ECNL that ECNL may have died, been resurrected and died again before the '06s are age appropriate.

Out –Lollipop! Bet him a steak dinner, he loves losing steak dinners. lol  

Nobody knows the future, all I can say is I doubt my 01’s bolt to ECNL.  I could be wrong, won’t be the first.  Each family will have a decision to make this summer.  As for me I know what I want.  We will see if my team follows me.

All I can say about Feet is I respect the club. The coaching staff from, Hugh Bradford, Randy Shaw, David Pfeil, Frank Colon have always been classy with me.  

Coach,

Just remind your parents that they can have the best of both worlds.  They can be 'discovery players' per the ECNL rules and play LHGCL with you and ECNL for another club.     I think each ECNL team can have up to 3 'discovery players' per roster so 3 x 5 ...heck your whole team can be discovery players.

I don't know how you would work out the practice and game conflicts but I do know that for the right caliber of player and willing coaches/parents that anything is negotiable.

I just see so much potential in a Kicks/Feet affiliation.  You know that you "Kick" with your "Feet" and that both clubs have green in their uniform color palette.  I see visions of Rowdies/Texans all over again.  Kicks can have a loose affiliation until it matters and you can even get cool shirts that play upon that loose affiliation...."These Kicks are made for Feet" or "What good are those Feet if they don't have nice Kicks."  

Thats a bet I would take. Kicks is Kicks, JM is Kicks. I prefer to see it stay that way.

outonthelimb wrote:

jm23jm wrote:

outonthelimb wrote:Bor,

Which one  Kicks '01 or '06s?  3rd/4th hand information says that the '01s struck up a different arrangement and Feet are on the outside looking in.  However Kicks '01 has been scrimmaging D'Feet u14 ECNL of late and doing quite well (2 or 3-0 win for Kicks).  I'm sure the brass at Feet took notice and the asking price for the Kick's '01 parents just went way up.  A group that good won't be left out of the ECNL party and it would be a shame for some of them to be 'worked into' a pre-existing stellar group versus going to an ECNL club intact.  Even though the rumor mill is swinging in a different direction I would still be willing to bet you a lollipop that the overwhelming majority end up at Feet.  It just makes more sense to me from 100,000 miles away and no immediate knowledge of the situation.

Regarding your '06s...all bets are off.  The '06s are so far removed in time from ECNL that ECNL may have died, been resurrected and died again before the '06s are age appropriate.

Out –Lollipop! Bet him a steak dinner, he loves losing steak dinners. lol  

Nobody knows the future, all I can say is I doubt my 01’s bolt to ECNL.  I could be wrong, won’t be the first.  Each family will have a decision to make this summer.  As for me I know what I want.  We will see if my team follows me.

All I can say about Feet is I respect the club. The coaching staff from, Hugh Bradford, Randy Shaw, David Pfeil, Frank Colon have always been classy with me.  

Coach,

Just remind your parents that they can have the best of both worlds.  They can be 'discovery players' per the ECNL rules and play LHGCL with you and ECNL for another club.     I think each ECNL team can have up to 3 'discovery players' per roster so 3 x 5 ...heck your whole team can be discovery players.

I don't know how you would work out the practice and game conflicts but I do know that for the right caliber of player and willing coaches/parents that anything is negotiable.

I just see so much potential in a Kicks/Feet affiliation.  You know that you "Kick" with your "Feet" and that both clubs green in their uniform pallete.  I see vision of Rowdies all over again.  Kicks can have a loose affiliation until it matters and you can even get cool shirts that play upon that loose affiliation...."These Kicks are made for Feet" or "What good are those Feet if they don't have nice Kicks"

Things that make you go Mmmmm. lol  

My parents know I want what is best for them.  However, is ECNL the best for everyone?  For my team I know ECNL is not for all of my players.  I don't knock ECNL or DA, heck I wish they were around when I played.  However, I know it is not for everyone and know it is not the ONLY way. I've told all my 01's if they want to pursue ECNL I will personally drive them to tryouts. )   I know of a few talented 98's, 99's and 00's that chose  ECNL and after half a year they decided it wasn't for them.  What works for one might not work for another.  


When my 01 team was in academy all I would hear is how I wouldn't be able to compete against the BIG clubs.  DOC's would tell me I need to join one of their clubs so I could keep my top players.  At U13 we are still competing and developing.  I want to be able to continue developing and compete with ECNL teams on the field when the girls are U15. U16 etc.... Of course, if I lose half my team to ECNL then I know I wouldn't be able to compete.  Most of my 01's are like my kids. I've coached them since they were 4 so I have their best interest at heart.

Take ECNL inclusion out of the picture for a few years which I assume that in reality it is out of the picture.  How can LP make a case for inclusion in a few years?

1.  They need to have a nice cash reserve in order to grease a few pockets (if necessary) -- Check!  
2.  They have to be at or near the top in the Academy ages -- Check!
3.  They have to be dominant in LHGCL u11-17 -- Problem!

LP has to be able to show that when the mean guys take the majority of the top talent off to ECNL that LP  dominates the more even playing field of LHGCL because they've developed more talent that although not selected for ECNL still believe in LP.  

This would be my strategy for making a case for inclusion in a few years.  Absolutely dominate LHGCL D1 either by buying all the best teams/players and coaches over the coarse of the next 2 years.  Put that Academy money to work in the select age group.  You can't wait for this to happen organically.  There needs to be a message to the Non-ECNL parents that if your child isn't in ECNL then LP is the unquestioned best place for her to be developed.  Then put your resources behind it.    After 2 years people would have forgotten that you bought your status in LHGCL and you can go to the powers of ECNL with a real message.

1.  We're big and rich!
2.  We are the farm system for NTX ECNL teams...check their rosters
3.  We dominate LHGCL and all things USYS
4.  From 2 & 3 above you can see that WE ARE DEVELOPMENT....isn't ECNL about development?

This is why Kicks 01 is still around and now look... there are more Kicks teams... and growing.

I like the odds.

Soccertime10 wrote:

GrandTXSoccer wrote:Lefty,

You pretty much placed a definition of success that simply is near impossible to meet here in NTX, criteria that Solar, FCD, D'Feeters, and the Texans couldn't meet if it weren't for the ECNL label. You can build great academy teams and they can have success in the first couple of years of select but come time for ECNL years and teams/players leave for the ECNL label. Heck I could open a soccer club today and if some how I started the club and was in ECNL I can promise you that within a month I would have teams capable to compete at a top level. So I have no doubt that LP will never be able to meet your criteria for success.

Now to whomever listed out the avg rating of the LP teams in the 04, 05, & 06 age groups saying that it's a quantity over quality thing at LP, well that's just comical as well. The best 04 team is at LP and it's not close, the best 05 team was at LP (currently they have the 2nd) until ENCL started drawing folks away from Pulps older teams and he left and raided the 05's, in the 06's they have the 3rd best team. So to me it looks like they have quality and quantity, that actually sounds like a great way to develop teams. Heck I'm not even sure Solar has an 04 team and I think the D'feeters best team is 32nd, yeah they really know how to develop teams at those clubs.

This whole thing is comical. ECNL is not about development it's about $$$, just like academy soccer in NTX is about $$$ and not too much development. Quite honestly the system is broken but it's producing way too much money so it's not going to change.

You must be an LP coach.  If you think ECNL cares about a few good academy teams (out of a hundred) and an 03 team that plays "dump and run", then you are delusional.  Keep drinking the kool-aid.  And I love how you keep throwing Pulp under the bus.  Sounds like you are bitter.  Parents will only drink the Kool-Aid for so long.  Most eventually wise up and leave for greener pastures. It happens every year at LP.

Not bitter at all with Pulp, heck of a coach and a heck of a great guy, I have zero interest where he coaches all I know is that his teams are going to be good. If he switched back to LP and then left again it wouldn't matter to me in the least nor change my high opinion of him as a coach and person. However bringing up his move is a perfect example of how not being ECNL will effect LP, didn't just effect their older age groups but their academy level as well. The whole point was ECNL and the not having that ECNL designation puts a ceiling on the success LP can have at the pre-ECNL days and for that matter any club would have trouble without that badge of distincition in the NTX market. I think that point is pretty obvious.

I think you missed the point of my post and went off on a few bitter tangents. I do give you credit for actually mentioning an 03 team in this post

There is a bottom line answer for the Pool folks: Start sending multiple teams to Regional Finals like OFC and Tophat... And then you could START to have an argumement. Once again OFC is WAY ahead of you in the ECNL "to be" pecking order...

Or even win a State Cup or 2 (non-Pulp).... I guess we missed the obvious on this one... You want ECNL by skipping the State Cups... lol

soccersounder wrote:There is a bottom line answer for the Pool folks: Start sending multiple teams to Regional Finals like OFC and Tophat... And then you could START to have an argumement. Once again OFC is WAY ahead of you in the ECNL "to be" pecking order...

Or even win a State Cup or 2 (non-Pulp).... I guess we missed the obvious on this one... You want ECNL by skipping the State Cups... lol

Heck, just show any initiative and progress on the competitive/quality front.

Say win 2+ LHGCL division titles in a year. Any age U11-U18, any division D1- D3.

Lefty wrote:

soccersounder wrote:There is a bottom line answer for the Pool folks: Start sending multiple teams to Regional Finals like OFC and Tophat... And then you could START to have an argumement. Once again OFC is WAY ahead of you in the ECNL "to be" pecking order...

Or even win a State Cup or 2 (non-Pulp).... I guess we missed the obvious on this one... You want ECNL by skipping the State Cups... lol

Heck, just show any initiative and progress on the competitive/quality front.

Say win 2+ LHGCL division titles in a year.  Any age U11-U18, any division D1- D3.

I am sorry...but some of you and your LP hate just can't seem to comprehend what even the LP folks say.

I think everyone agrees... 2 titles...1 title... whatever.. it won't happen because once LP academy players hit select..the good ones anyway...they leave for ECNL club.

If LP management wants to get serious about the club they need to find a way to get ECNL. Buy Feet or Solar and the 'massive' amounts of academy teams feed into 3 or so good teams each age group and they would have a solid club from top to bottom. This is only way to stop the migrating of players come select time. Maybe Lp is happy with just being an academy club, maybe it makes them good money and keeps Blue Sky's full, if so then the current situation of a lack of quality select teams will continue.

Honestly a Feet/LP marriage would be a good fit for both clubs, from a business perspective, they complement each other. You see it all the time in the corporate world. Not saying it will happen, I am a nobody, but the current make up of teams from U7 through ECNL of a combined D'Feeterpool makes a heck of a good club, with the ability to be the top club in NTX once feeder teams are established in LHD1 & D2 to compliment ECNL.

Its not LP hate, well OK i actually dont like LP, but i have my own personal reasons, but the fact remains LP is set up to make money, first and foremost.

It is making money without ECNL, so why bother? It will.cost them money to say buy Feet. I dont think feet is for sale, but hypothetically speaking.... and then they buy feet.... now what, they are still making money, but little johny and suzy's parents feel better with the ecnl patch? I dont think they care. CP left and someone took his spot, not the same caliber of team, but the same color of GREEN $$$.

Well if PB is happy w current profitability then agree.

Having feeder teams in select would increase revenue by having more teams of little Suzie's whose parents think she will move up and become a ECNL player. But if PB's house is big enough and has a fast car then...why go through the trouble...

boilerjoe_96 wrote:

I am sorry...but some of you and your LP hate just can't seem to comprehend what even the LP folks say.

Yeah. What he said!

I, mean c'mon, how come we're not all throwing a bunch of hate at all of the Andro apologists who are on here whining about how ECNL has prevented them from having a bunch of LH D1 and Premier League teams!!! Oh, wait...  

I would hope that unlike what you suggest, it is about more than money. Does he want to make money at it or at least not lose money? Yes, they all do? But if he just wants to make money I would advise him to sell liverpool and get out of the soccer business as it is. He has money coming in from a real business and soccer isn't worth the time and effort. Having talked to him I get the impression that it is about more than money. He wants to build a better club

While I am here a quick rant on the ECNL. It's backwater, second hand BS that they handed the girls who lap it up like it was nector from the gods. Why does US Soccer do a funded league directly connected to the national team for boys and hand the girls nothing. US mens soccer is second rate at best. Any US soccer glory will continue to come from the women for the forseable future. Why no love for the women. The US federation should do a funded girls Academy league and the ECNL should be the watered down, ugly little sister that pre academy is for boys.

It is not LP hate.  They are just another club like all the rest.  Each have some good things and each have some not so good things.  

It is being sick and tired of hearing LP whine about not being in ECNL, arguably the most competitive league in the nation, w/o even being able to field competitive select teams in NTX.

What do they feel entitles them to be admitted to ECNL?  It may be critical to LP's business model, but who cares about that other than the people that share in those revenues?

How does it benefit NTX as a whole?  
What will LP provide NTX that is missing now?
How does it benefit the consumers/kids?
What would be the benefit to ECNL?

When there are answers to some of those questions it may help make their case.

Look at the following list of non-ECNL clubs that are as close to winning as many LHGCL division titles (all ages/all divisions) this year as LP is:
. Mustangs                     . Andro
. Kicks                           . Mutiny
. Triumph                       . Fever
. Spirit                           . Lightning
. WF Xpress                    . Sparta
. FC Force                       . Impact Futbol
. FWFC                           . American Eagles