Looks like with the expansion to 52 clubs, there are now 10 California clubs are making their present felt. With the 96 age group beginning ECNL after July it will be even more competitive.

Birmingham United (Ala.)	AL
SC del Sol (Ariz.)	AZ
Sereno SC (Ariz.)	AZ
DeAnza Force (Calif.)	CA
Real So Cal (Calif.)	CA
San Diego Surf (Calif.)	CA
Slammers FC (Calif.)	CA
Arsenal FC (Calif.)	CA
Irvine Strikers (Calif.)	CA
Mustang SC (Calif.)	CA
Pleasanton Rage (Calif.)	CA
San Juan SC (Calif.)	CA
West Coast FC (Calif.)	CA
Colorado Rush (Colo.)	CO
Real Colorado (Colo.)	CO
Connecticut FC (Conn.)	CON
SoccerPlus Connecticut	CON
Atlanta Fire (Ga.)	GA
Concorde Fire (Ga.)	GA
Eclipse Select (Ill.)	IL
Carmel United (Ind.)	IN
KCFC (Kan.)	KS
Scorpions SC (Mass.)	MASS
FC Stars of Mass (Mass.)	MASS
Bethesda SC (Md.)	MD
Freestate Soccer Alliance	MD
Michigan Hawks	MI
Varder (Mich.)	MI
Minnesota Thunder	MIN
St. Louis Scott Gallagher	MO
CASL (N.C.)	NC
Charlotte SA (N.C.)	NC
PDA (N.J.)	NJ
Neusport FC (Nev.)	NV
Albertson Fury (N.Y.)	NY
Ohio Elite SA (Ohio)	OH
Ohio Premier (Ohio)	OH
FC Bucks (Pa.)	PA
FC Delco (Pa.)	PA
CESA Premier (S.C.)	SC
Challenge SC (Texas)	TX
Dallas Sting (Texas)	TX
D'Feeters (Texas)	TX
FC Dallas (Texas)	TX
Lonestar SC (Texas)	TX
Solar (Texas)	TX
Utah Avalanche	UT
FC Virginia (Va.)	VA
Virginia Rush (Va.)	VA
Washington Premier F.C.	WA
Crossfire Premier	WA
FC Milwaukee (Wis.)	WI

Just curious, anyone know why the Texans are not participating in ECNL?

refhec53 wrote:Just curious, anyone know why the Texans are not participating in ECNL?

I don't know for sure, but it would seem they prefer National League to ECNL.

you would think that they might want to join ECNL so that their 96 team could play in a league ...

happycamper wrote:you would think that they might want to join ECNL so that their 96 team could play in a league ...

Joke? I don't get it....

Gunners wrote:

refhec53 wrote:Just curious, anyone know why the Texans are not participating in ECNL?

I don't know for sure, but it would seem they prefer National League to ECNL.

Are teams/clubs not allowed to participate in both ECNL & National League?

under the rules the 96 team doesnt qualify to apply to play

I assume you mean this:

"For the 2009-2010 seasonal year, the only teams eligible to apply for the league are those teams that have
played in a top US Youth Soccer recognized Regional League (i.e. Region I Premier League, Midwest Regional
League, Region III Premier League, Far West Regional League) during the 2008-09 seasonal year."

Fair point. Barring the extraordinary, I guess the '96s will have to get by without playing in either league next year.

refhec53 wrote:

Gunners wrote:

refhec53 wrote:Just curious, anyone know why the Texans are not participating in ECNL?

I don't know for sure, but it would seem they prefer National League to ECNL.

Are teams/clubs not allowed to participate in both ECNL & National League?

I couldn't tell you. I believe some/all of the games are held at the same events (Womens Final Four/Disney during December), so it would seem that you can not play in both. I expect socrocks to chime in on this, as he has a deeper understanding of ECNL (and probably NL too).

happycamper wrote:under the rules the 96 team doesnt qualify to apply to play

The 96's will activate into ECNL after July. ECNL took 60 applications from clubs this year and selected 12 to add to the 40 clubs already in. Clubs cannot be a member of both leagues. I am not sure why the Texans arent in it but if I had to guess, I would say that the National league is very strong on the boys side.
I am sure there are a variety of other reasons and they are probably good reasons. The Texans didnt get to where they are today from making bad business decisions. I will say though, with the addition of the some very strong clubs, the caliber of clubs playing in ECNL is starting to weigh heavier than the National League on the girls side.
The Texans will still benefit when they are playing at the same tournaments even though they wont be playing ECNL clubs. The college coaches will be there anyway so it wont hurt them.

socrocks wrote:I'll chime in with info, as I understand things (not heavily researched, mind you).

I wasn't aware there was criterion for a team to apply to National League. If I read a prior post correctly, the Texans would not be able to apply this year?

Any club can apply to ECNL. However, to my knowledge there are not specific quantitative expansion plans. As Guru said, the league was expanded from 40 to 52 teams from year 1 to year 2. And yes…60+ clubs applied for 12 spots.

Texans could have applied (but didn't)…and I'm sure they would have been accepted. It appears there's a philosophical reason for not doing so. Maybe it's the opportunity to get the pass to Nationals. I'm not sure what it is, but it appears the 96s are now left out of a national-scope league for the u15 season. They should make PL for u15 and I guess they can then apply for the u16 season?

Acceptance to National League is based on the quality a particular team (not the club). In theory, this would truly put the best teams of an age group together. The winner of the league earns a pass to Nationals ('95 Texans). I'm not sure how teams are selected for the next year. Meaning for the 95s, do they keep the same group, or do they re-apply and take the best teams they can? I'm wondering what will happen to the '95 National League group because Surf and Scorpions (maybe others, I didn't look that closely) are now in ECNL.

Acceptance of a club to ECNL is based on application, input from coaches/DOC's from existing members and ultimately approval by the Board. Once a club is approved, that club will have the right to enter a team each year, regardless of how good that team is. However, the league is divided into 2 divisions (an "A" and a "B"). Input is taken from all of the league members in order to best categorize the quality of the teams. At the completion of the year, there is a promotion/relegation process in order to rebalance for the next season.

With reference to Guru's comment, I'm not sure the Texans would really benefit from playing in the same tourney as the ECNL teams. If I understand it, the ECNL teams will have their own divisions and will be playing each other. If all of the top clubs are in ECNL and playing each other, who would the Texans be playing? Part of the idea behind ECNL is that college coaches can watch the top teams at the same time at one venue. Conceptually, it makes sense…practically, I don't know.

If a choice had to made, it looks like ECNL has the upper-hand with quality of competition going forward. Perhaps a bigger question than which league is better, is do we need a league like this at all? IMO, playing in LHGCL, Premier League and ECNL/Natl League might be overkill. Playing all 3 leagues will account for 40-45 games and a pretty heavy travel schedule. This doesn't even factor Regionals, Nationals or additional tourneys or Showcase events. Oh yeah…a lot of high school games, too.

Very good breakdown SR.
One thing I was thinking about is how this will impact other showcase tournaments. I might be wrong but I believe this year ECNL listed 5 tournaments to choose from and each club had to participate in 3 of those tournaments. This year wasnt so bad for Texas ECNL clubs since the College Station was chosen as one of the 5 tournaments because the NCAA championship was located there. Now, next year, since the NCAA Championship is in North Carolina, there probably wont be a ECNL tournament in Texas. This means 3 travel tournaments guaranteed for Texas Clubs that are in ECNL. To get back to my point, if I were an ECNL club from North Texas and I had to travel to Las Vegas, Disney and North Carolina next year, would I still want to do the Houston showcase? Houston is considered one of the biggest showcases in the nation. I know we have a couple of showcases here also and I am not sure what kind of draw they get from out of state teams.

Just from some discussions I have heard, colleges were strapped by the two and since soccer isnt the big money maker at a university, it seems any budget cuts would be in the lower profit sports. With that in mind, less travel for scouts looking at players.
I guess the right people caught wind of this and thought, why not shrink the number of venues to choose from and have the nothing but the top clubs playing at the remaining venues. Makes sense if you are a coach and can only making one recruiting trip. Kind of like the high school soccer scenario, would a coach rather go watch a high school game with maybe one good player or a select game and watch more than a few?

I do hope hope Surf Cup gets put on the ECNL list. I would really like at least one more soccer trip to San Diego. That tournament is first class all the way and you cant beat the weather!!!!

I didn't realize ECNL required you to attend 4 events (three showcases and the championship) per year. A team in Premiere League and ECNL will have 6 out of town tournaments prior to the possibility of Regionals and Nationals...yikes.

The two most successful and powerful girls' clubs in the nations, the Dallas Texans and the SoCal Blues, are not in ECNL.
SoCal Blues and Texans teams get accepted into National League. ECNL was started for clubs whose teams, across the board, do not necessarily get accepted.
I would be willing to bet that Texans 96 will play in National League.

yuklite wrote:The two most successful and powerful girls' clubs in the nations, the Dallas Texans and the SoCal Blues, are not in ECNL.
SoCal Blues and Texans teams get accepted into National League. ECNL was started for clubs whose teams, across the board, do not necessarily get accepted.
I would be willing to bet that Texans 96 will play in National League.

Yuk, that is a very good point but at the rate ECNL is picking up clubs, who will the Texans and SoCal Blues be playing at say, Disney? Maybe you are more up on this and can explain more. You are right, Texans 96 will be playing national league because the whole club hs to enter into ECNL, not just one team.