NPL National Premier League- what is it?

Delta, you've now mentioned you don't like NPL, PPL, TCL, FDL and ECRL. What is it you do like?

DDdadof1 wrote:Delta, you've now mentioned you don't like NPL, PPL, TCL, FDL and ECRL. What is it you do like?

Where have I ever said that I don't like PPL? I've busted chops for FCD having close to 1/2 their teams in PPL and the parents who pay FCD prices to play in PPL, but I've never said that I don't like PPL. Lot's of kids enjoying competitive soccer in PPL, which is a well run league, and many of them doing so at lower cost than LH, ECNL, or DA. PPL serves it's purpose and it serves it well from what I've seen.

I do think NPL and TCL (the "Champions" version, not the "Club" version) are wastes of money, and therefore don't like them. IMO, much better off staying in LH and playing showcases.

Jury is out on FDL and ECRL. I've stated multiple times on here, that if FDL and ECRL can make good on their promise of playing matches alongside of DA and ECNL which results in college coach traffic and exposure, then FDL and ECRL may provide the value that TCL promised, but never delivered on. However, if it turns out FDL and ECRL can't deliver on that, then just like with TCL, all you are doing is paying extra money for travel to play similar competition to what you could get staying local and playing in LH,

So, to summarize, I like PPL (and APL for that matter). I like LH. I like ECNL & DA (although I think NTX families would be better served with 2 DA ONLY and 2-3 ECNL ONLY clubs, instead of clubs trying to do both).

I think NPL and TCL are/were wastes of money. FDL and ECRL - Jury is out, come back and talk to me 12 months from now on these leagues.

There are knocks that can be made of every league.

LH is club driven. Rules are set up by the big clubs to advantage the big clubs (byes and player pass).

PPL has more strict roster rules but they spent two years of throwing away promotion and relegation after age pure by making both years a qualifying regular season instead of simply playing a QT to rank teams. That threw away all the efftort of the teams that worked hard up till then. These years were spent playing incredible disparate levels of teams D1 playing D4 on a regular basis. No balanced schedules from one jumbo division to the other. A complete waste of time that served no one.

What does it all mean?

It means everybody gets a promotion. PPL and D3 teams now can advertise they have a LHGCL D1 bye!!!

Ahhhhhh now I know why the board lit up again. NPL now LH. What's next?

What does it all mean.

NPL was an invention by US Club to provide a path to a "national championship" in order compete with USYS leagues. It's a direct counter assault to USYS DA land grab. Caught in the crosshair are leagues like APL/PPL/LH that provide so much benefit at a lower cost than all these teams traveling to play D1/D2/D3 level soccer. Complete waste of money. It's no different than the local US Club leagues like U90/Primetime except now you get to take a vacation to places like Tulsa now on a regular basis. I don't like it and now our DDs are going to play twice the amount of League games than they should be playing. If you have a DD in high school ball you could be playing upwards of 50-60 matches a year plus tournaments if your team plays NPL/LH/HS. And.. many teams will load up the rosters past 22 but not quite create 2 different teams in order to be able to have enough bodies to play the matches when there are conflicts.. Good luck with that!

DeltaTauChi wrote:

DDdadof1 wrote:Delta, you've now mentioned you don't like NPL, PPL, TCL, FDL and ECRL. What is it you do like?

Where have I ever said that I don't like PPL?  I've busted chops for FCD having close to 1/2 their teams in PPL and the parents who pay FCD prices to play in PPL, but I've never said that I don't like PPL.  Lot's of kids enjoying competitive soccer in PPL, which is a well run league, and many of them doing so at lower cost than LH, ECNL, or DA.  PPL serves it's purpose and it serves it well from what I've seen.

I do think NPL and TCL (the "Champions" version, not the "Club" version) are wastes of money, and therefore don't like them.  IMO, much better off staying in LH and playing showcases.

Jury is out on FDL and ECRL.  I've stated multiple times on here, that if FDL and ECRL can make good on their promise of playing matches alongside of DA and ECNL which results in college coach traffic and exposure, then FDL and ECRL may provide the value that TCL promised, but never delivered on.  However, if it turns out FDL and ECRL can't deliver on that, then just like with TCL, all you are doing is paying extra money for travel to play similar competition to what you could get staying local and playing in LH,

So, to summarize, I like PPL (and APL for that matter).  I like LH.  I like ECNL & DA (although I think NTX families would be better served with 2 DA ONLY and 2-3 ECNL ONLY clubs, instead of clubs trying to do both).  

I think NPL and TCL are/were wastes of money. FDL and ECRL - Jury is out, come back and talk to me 12 months from now on these leagues.

9 Months later.  Still stand by everything I posted above, and have seen that FDL and ECRL are really no different from TCL, and are a waste of time and money.  Expect the same from the new DPL, and all of the new NPL incarnations.

IMO, the best thing for the NTX players and families would be for FCD and Solar to go all-in on DA, Texans to move back and go all-in on ECNL with Sting and D'Feeters.  All Non-DA/Non-ECNL teams go back to playing in LH and then travel regionally for showcases.  Of course, I only expect the clubs to do whatever they think is best for their bottom line, not what's best for the players and parents, and don't expect parents to ever get organized enough to take a unified stand with their checkbooks.

That would make alot sense on the alignment and skill set that's available. Theres too much money to grab w sheep.