What Road to take...

I need some education on ECNL? Many many questions....
Why ECNL...is there another road to take.
Is a player only in ECNL or are they playing with their normal team and school team?
I know trips are a cost but is ECNL an extra cost too?

What road to take?   Depends on where you want to go or what you want to achieve.

There are so many roads out there and ECNL is just one of them.

Im open to learning.... I keep hearing of different things for players.

If your DD has aspirations of playing soccer in college at a D1 Power 5 Conference school, as of today in NTX, the path to that is pretty much to go ECNL as soon as you can get her there.

There are exceptions to that rule, the most notable being if your age group has a team like Kicks SC '01 that is competitive at the Premier and National League level.  

Otherwise, a DD from NTX that makes it to a big time D1 program who didn't go one of those 2 paths is the exception to the rule, probably <5%.

Note that I said that is what applies today.  Who knows if that will stay true if the rumors about a girl's DA come to fruition.

Go look at the LHGCL website for the list of commitments from the past 2-3 years, and you'll primarily see a mix of 2nd tier D1 schools, and a lot of D2 & D3 schools.  Lots of schools with good academics on that list, but not a list of soccer powerhouses, and not many places where you are going to get much more than token athletic $$.  Tell your DD to focus on her grades as much as her soccer if she wants to play in college and get significant money to do so.

Can't speak to ECNL cost vs. other options, but ECNL definitely won't be cheaper than other options.

As for HS, most kids playing ECNL are also playing for their HS teams, however, know that college coaches are NOT coming out to watch HS games on any kind of regular basis.

I know I sound like a kid but.... "why" do some play ECNL, and premier, national, and ODP?

It sounds like ECNL and National are the same working toward the same goal but at each others back about where the elite talent is going.
http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/assets/1/1/EliteSoccerOverhaul_Turner.pdf

And now we are hearing about a AP (age pure) system coming up which will take over these systems.  Am I right?

to be honest, it seems like a confusing system going into 13 and up.

Here's my 2 cents. IF your daughter wants to play D1 College ball, then have her play ECNL. IF not then don't stress over it.

It's r-e-a-l-l-y hard for average height DD's to get good looks from D1 coaches if they are not in ECNL.
MY DD is on that non-ECNL road and wants to play D1 ball. She had to work overtime to make her dream come true. All of the legwork getting to the ID camps and non-ECNL showcases that D1 coaches still show up to see. Hopping on a plane last minute to guest play in other states or overnight car rides. Speed training and teaching herself to play faster than the LH teams because she needed to be able to "play at ECNL speed". Calling and visiting the coaches repeatedly....

FCsoccer1 wrote:
And now we are hearing about a AP (age pure) system coming up which will take over these systems.  Am I right?

Is this happening?

Having had all my kids go thru select and then college route I can tell you 100% it is about picking the right school for them and their grades. Soccer is a game and vehicle to help develop wonderful life skills; enjoy it for that and the rewards will be there; but regarding the rest of your DD's life, pick the school she wants to go to and if it is D1,2,3 or NIAA, get her into the school that fits for her future aspirations...and it is not playing "professional soccer". One of my kids got roughly a 80% scholarship BUT roughly 60% of that was academic with only 20% athletic. How many of us went to D1 schools ? I am sure several , but more went to smaller schools, mid sized schools or in a few cases no school...and we turned out ok; do not let someone else determine what is right for your child and use soccer as the positive, fun and life teaching sport it is meant to be, not the singular driver of where you are entrusting a major life compass to.

Soccer4fun... so your kids did not participate in other leagues mainly select?

Sho'Nuff wrote:

FCsoccer1 wrote:
And now we are hearing about a AP (age pure) system coming up which will take over these systems.  Am I right?

Is this happening?

Yes- but AP is only changing tha age grouping, not the systems. ECNL is converting to AP, like all other major associations. But it doesn't affect their status, just how the girls are grouped.

It seems to me, picking the right school for your DD has way more to do with other factors than soccer. A large number of these kids quit after playing one year at the college level. Pick the right school for her, for life- not for soccer. Unless you are top .05%.

the last forum and article seem to indicate ECNL going bust.

http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/uswnt-youth/2015/12/30/10690296/us-soccer-girls-development-academy
https://www.txsoccer.net/t29232-ecnl-potentially-going-away

soccer4fun wrote:Having had all my kids go thru select and then college route I can tell you 100% it is about picking the right school for them and their grades. Soccer is a game and vehicle to help develop wonderful life skills; enjoy it for that and the rewards will be there; but regarding the rest of your DD's life, pick the school she wants to go to and if it is D1,2,3 or NIAA, get her into the school that fits for her future aspirations...and it is not playing "professional soccer". One of my kids got roughly a 80% scholarship BUT roughly 60% of that was academic with only 20% athletic. How many of us went to D1 schools ? I am sure several , but more went to smaller schools, mid sized schools or in a few cases no school...and we turned out ok; do not let someone else determine what is right for your child and use soccer as the positive, fun and life teaching sport it is meant to be, not the singular driver of where you are entrusting a major life compass to.

This!  The most important factor in looking for a school is to find one that fits your dd.  One of the most important questions to be asked is if this is a school she'd want to go to if she didn't play soccer?  If the answer is no, I'd think long and hard about it.  No one knows how long a college soccer career will last.  There are so many factors: playing time, injuries, the amount of effort it takes (weights and practices early in the morning and in the off season, travel that severely impacts the amount of effort required to pass a course), and my dd's team has lost at least 3 players a year to something besides graduation.  

Another important factor is an honest appraisal of where your dd is in the process.  Is she a potential starter, or will she be fine with a middling amount of play time?  There are many benefits to being a student athlete beyond the scholarship.  

Is DI soccer a necessity?  I can tell you that DI soccer ranges from the top 25 teams that can play some really pretty soccer to lower DI schools that could likely be throttled by some of the local U17-18 teams.  There are certainly good quality DII, DIII, and NAIA programs, and they may offer a significantly better environment than a DI school that is being considered.  The question should be: Are these schools the right fit for my daughter?

Good grades will open up many more opportunities.  Many want to brag about getting big athletic scholarships, but the only thing that should matter is how big a check do you have to write to the school.  The more academic money she qualifies for, the more attractive she may be to a coach who is trying to stretch the dollars.

There is no one right answer.  If your guiding value is that your kid wants to play college soccer, I can assure you there is a school somewhere that will let her do so.  It may not be in a place she wants to be, it may not be the best choice for the major she desires, and they may not be very good. Is it a place where she'd want to be if she didn't play soccer?

Completely agree with the grades and being at a college for the education along with the soccer. That's why it is so important to take the college tours and talk with the academic advisers.

I was at ODP regional camp several years ago and heard a girl say that she was committed to a Big Ten school. I asked what she thought of the school and she said, "I don't really know about the classes and stuff since all I have ever seen are the soccer fields/locker rooms. "
It has to be about both things.

FCsoccer1 wrote:Soccer4fun... so your kids did not participate in other leagues mainly select?

They played in all the local top leagues and went to premier, regionals and nationals; as well as several of the big showcases (Disney, Surf, etc.) We skipped ecnl and DA in that for us they did not work from a family scheduling and time/money commitment; The leagues in NTX were more then we needed and wanted and it served us great. I can tell you without hesitation that researching and picking the school (each had 5) and then aligning that with their soccer was what worked for us. The key for us was working with our coach to work with the school coaches that the kids wanted to attend. In all the cases it worked out and we were happy. My suggestion would always be get the right select coach who you trust and value; making sure the club fits with what you are after and can get into the right leagues and showcases and then as partners you work to get your DD where she wants to go; it can and will happen; Academics and realistic expectations are your greatest ally and you driving the bus with the coach as co driver is all you will need. With 11,000 + schools, there is a place for every child who wants to go to school and play soccer. The key is what happens after year 4 and that needs to be the focus; there is a reason it is called a game... (in fairness one heck of a game)

Every College coach I've heard and honestly I've only heard about 10 says Academics will be the larger percentage of any Scholarship offer. The US National team is increasingly made up of "professional" players, most of whom have played for a relatively small number coastal colleges. The reason for the quotes is that nobody in the League is making a living from direct compensation from the Professional Women's Clubs. So College Soccer is going to be something 99% of kids do for fun, certainly not for Profit.

My impression and this is where the additional input on College from soccer4fun is interesting is that if our DD wants to play College Soccer at a certain level  she would need to be good enough to play ECNL and would probably play ECNL.

I think you're saying that's not the case. That's cool. It means a lot of folks who may not have a chance to participate in ECNL will still have an opportunity to participate in Soccer on a their College team.

I think many folks like the idea of "Elite Classic" and the chance to compete on a National stage. So if selected will probably pay the money and make the sacrifices.

I keep seeing cost listed as an ECNL negative. We all understand the Club soccer is expensive regardless of the club or level. As has been discussed on this board frequently, the cost to play at one of the top 5 clubs is the same regardless of whether that team is a DIII team or an ECNL team. Same club dues. The only thing that varies is the travel. I know some DI teams that travel more often than ECNL playing Premier League, Regional Premier League, National League etc. In fact, I think it is safe to say that most D1 teams will travel 2-3 times per year at a minimum. If they play Premier League then they also get the regional travel to Houston, OK and Austin. On an ECNL team, the amount of travel varies by the age group. The 14's travel very little. The 18's travel very little. The 15, 16 and 17 year old groups will travel to 2-3 Showcase events plus a "National's" event. You will make a trip to Tulsa and Austin and 2 trips to Houston. I'm not saying it's not expensive. I'm just saying that it is very comparable to Premier League and National League.

Can your DD play in College and not play in the ECNL? Without question. There are 37,000 women college soccer players at all levels of play. Divided by four years, that is 9,250 per grade. Of that number 2,250 are DI per grade. Say 9,000 DI players in total. There are roughly 70 ECNL teams x 20 players per team so roughly 1,400 players x 4 age groups (leaving out the U14 to you have an easier comparison). So 5,600 ECNL players. Thus, if every single ECNL player played D1 soccer, they would fill roughly 60% of the D1 slots. And 0 slots in any other bracket. I'm not saying that every ECNL girl gets a D1 scholarship but pointing out that there is lots of room for many paths.

What ECNL has done is produce a solid structure for players to be identified not only within their region but on the national level. opening more doors for players by providing a vehicle that allows coaches to scout regions they normally would not have been able to. So if you are going to spend money it might be in your best interest to spend it where  you might see the most returns.

DDdad wrote:I keep seeing cost listed as an ECNL negative.   We all understand the Club soccer is expensive regardless of the club or level.   As has been discussed on this board frequently, the cost to play at one of the top 5 clubs is the same regardless of whether that team is a DIII team or an ECNL team.   Same club dues.   The only thing that varies is the travel.   I know some DI teams that travel more often than ECNL playing Premier League, Regional Premier League, National League etc.  In fact, I think it is safe to say that most D1 teams will travel 2-3 times per year at a minimum.  If they play Premier League then they also get the regional travel to Houston, OK and Austin.  On an ECNL team, the amount of travel varies by the age group.  The 14's travel very little.   The 18's travel very little.  The 15, 16 and 17 year old groups will travel to 2-3 Showcase events plus a "National's" event.   You will make a trip to Tulsa and Austin and 2 trips to Houston.   I'm not saying it's not expensive.  I'm just saying that it is very comparable to Premier League and National League.  

Can your DD play in College and not play in the ECNL?  Without question.  There are 37,000 women college soccer players at all levels of play.   Divided by four years, that is 9,250 per grade.   Of that number 2,250 are DI per grade.  Say 9,000 DI players in total.  There are roughly 70 ECNL teams x 20 players per team so roughly 1,400 players x 4 age groups (leaving out the U14 to you have an easier comparison).  So 5,600 ECNL players.   Thus, if every single ECNL player played D1 soccer, they would fill roughly 60% of the D1 slots.  And 0 slots in any other bracket.  I'm not saying that every ECNL girl gets a D1 scholarship but pointing out that there is lots of room for many paths.  

DDdad - I agree with everything in your last paragraph, but want to add that what you are doing is looking at the entire country as a whole. There are areas of the country where ECNL is king, and there are areas of the country where USYSA Premier and National League are king. If you are playing on a team that is in National League, and even better, a team that goes to the National League finals, much like ECNL, you are probably playing for a team that has a lot of D1 talent.

My point in my post above, was that in NTX, ECNL is clearly the King right now. There are some individual NTX teams such as Kicks SC '01 that are competing well at the National League level and will undoubtedly send several of their players to D1 schools, but those type of teams are far more the exception, than the rule in NTX at this time. So, if you live in NTX and your DD is entering into the U14/U15 realm TODAY, the preferred path to D1 will be through an ECNL team. Correct me if I am wrong, but it looks like after Kicks SC '01, the next Non-ECNL team that looks like it may be good enough to compete at the National League playoff level (if they can stay together) is LP Elite '04.

Now, again, that DOES NOT mean that your DD playing in LHGCL D1 and/or Premier League and/or National League, will be shut out from D1 schools. It just means, as others have posted above, that she will likely have to work harder to get seen and demonstrate to D1 coaches that she has the chops to hang at that level, and that she will end up as one of few non-ECNL players, rather than one of many ECNL players from NTX, that will make it to D1.

Like I said in my original post, go back through the list of commits that LHGCL posts on it's website and take a look at where the LHGCL kids from the last 2-3 years are committing to. Then go look at where the kids from the ECNL teams at D'Feeters, FCD, Solar, Sting, and Texans from the past 2-3 years have committed.

That will tell the OP most of what he/she needs to know right there.

In summary:

ECNL in NTX is a good option and costs the same as other ones. I would agree with that.

ECNL doesn't give you anything except a place a coach can see your DD and isn't terribly easy to get into (hence Elite...)

There are levels "above" ECNL sponsored by US Soccer which are also helpful and very focused on US National team needs (i.e. not on club, daughter, HS or College...) - They are "free" but add ons to either ECNL or some other Club affiliation.

The Age Pure move will become irrelevant once the transition is made. Kids today are not always in their Grade level and several play "up" in any case.

Next/this year however will be nuts because there will be several rounds of musical chars with fewer chairs up the age level.

BTW - You will probably never know about the US Soccer events unless you're invited to one.

Forgot - ODP is in the mix and in parallel. It's also add on (to Club) and selective.
Yes lots of options and no perfect answer.

bwgophers wrote:


As for HS, most kids playing ECNL are also playing for their HS teams, however, know that college coaches are NOT coming out to watch HS games on any kind of regular basis.

I have been shocked to see college coaches regularly sitting in the press box. Always Friday night games three or four coaches. Some small and a few large schools. They go over the roster during the JV game with the Varsity coach of who is committed and for whose available what they are looking for in a college. I have witnessed this home and away

AmazonDad wrote:

bwgophers wrote:


As for HS, most kids playing ECNL are also playing for their HS teams, however, know that college coaches are NOT coming out to watch HS games on any kind of regular basis.

I have been shocked to see college coaches regularly sitting in the press box. Always Friday night games three or four coaches. Some small and a few large schools. They go over the roster during the JV game with the Varsity coach of who is committed and for whose available what they are looking for in a college. I have witnessed this home and away

I'll take your word for it AD.  Wondering if that's the case if your DD isn't playing for a 6A school or one of the TAPPS powerhouses.

bwgophers wrote:

AmazonDad wrote:

bwgophers wrote:


As for HS, most kids playing ECNL are also playing for their HS teams, however, know that college coaches are NOT coming out to watch HS games on any kind of regular basis.

I have been shocked to see college coaches regularly sitting in the press box. Always Friday night games three or four coaches. Some small and a few large schools. They go over the roster during the JV game with the Varsity coach of who is committed and for whose available what they are looking for in a college. I have witnessed this home and away

I'll take your word for it AD.  Wondering if that's the case if your DD isn't playing for a 6A school or one of the TAPPS powerhouses.

true, im guessing it's only the big schools. And probably the better team the more likely they show. And some of these coaches maybe following up on players they identified through club, but they are now getting a chance to see other kids.

AmazonDad wrote:

bwgophers wrote:

AmazonDad wrote:

bwgophers wrote:


As for HS, most kids playing ECNL are also playing for their HS teams, however, know that college coaches are NOT coming out to watch HS games on any kind of regular basis.

I have been shocked to see college coaches regularly sitting in the press box. Always Friday night games three or four coaches. Some small and a few large schools. They go over the roster during the JV game with the Varsity coach of who is committed and for whose available what they are looking for in a college. I have witnessed this home and away

I'll take your word for it AD.  Wondering if that's the case if your DD isn't playing for a 6A school or one of the TAPPS powerhouses.

true, im guessing it's only the big schools. And probably the better team the more likely they show.

Not buying it.

My dd has played for a State winning HS and have been in State Finals 3 years in a row, and also played for an ECNL Championship finalist team, so I have been around and seen it.

At HS games, I can count in one hand the number of College coaches who have come to watch the State Powerhouse games and State Finals.

At ECNL Showcase and Championship games, College coaches outnumber the parents by far.

Pele98 wrote:

AmazonDad wrote:

bwgophers wrote:

AmazonDad wrote:

bwgophers wrote:


As for HS, most kids playing ECNL are also playing for their HS teams, however, know that college coaches are NOT coming out to watch HS games on any kind of regular basis.

I have been shocked to see college coaches regularly sitting in the press box. Always Friday night games three or four coaches. Some small and a few large schools. They go over the roster during the JV game with the Varsity coach of who is committed and for whose available what they are looking for in a college. I have witnessed this home and away

I'll take your word for it AD.  Wondering if that's the case if your DD isn't playing for a 6A school or one of the TAPPS powerhouses.

true, im guessing it's only the big schools. And probably the better team the more likely they show.

Not buying it.

My dd has played for a State winning HS and have been in State Finals 3 years in a row, and also played for an ECNL Championship finalist team, so I have been around and seen it.

At HS games, I can count in one hand the number of College coaches who have come to watch the State Powerhouse games and State Finals.

At ECNL Showcase and Championship games, College coaches outnumber the parents by far.

I've been going to HS games for more years than I'd care to count, and I don't think I've ever seen a high school game with multiple college coaches.  I can only remember 3 or 4 games where I saw even one.

Like it or not, for now, the ECNL has the college coaches covered.  I know my dd's coach has pretty much stopped going to any of the other non-ECNL events, unless they are close or they are in the area for some other reason.