Looks like the cost of playing in DPL this year just went up

AHSDad wrote:

5050Ball wrote:

The irony here is there are 40+ clubs that will NEVER even sniff an ECNL natty and more are added every year.  So the next time you see a Laver's pronouncement about QUALITY or EXCELLENCE or ABOUT THE PLAYERS, try really hard not to laugh.

The fact is some clubs 2nd team was, is and always will be better than many clubs 1st team.   Pissing contest, nothing more.

You can say the exact same thing about DA.  The pissing contest between ECNL and DA has resulted in over-expansion and watering down of the talent in both programs.

Soccerates01 wrote:DA programs seem to do fine. Solar and fcd faring well at nationals . Did any  NTX  team win ECNL nationals since DA is born?

AHSDad wrote:

5050Ball wrote:

The irony here is there are 40+ clubs that will NEVER even sniff an ECNL natty and more are added every year.  So the next time you see a Laver's pronouncement about QUALITY or EXCELLENCE or ABOUT THE PLAYERS, try really hard not to laugh.

The fact is some clubs 2nd team was, is and always will be better than many clubs 1st team.   Pissing contest, nothing more.

You can say the exact same thing about DA.  The pissing contest between ECNL and DA has resulted in over-expansion and watering down of the talent in both programs.

Soccerates01 wrote:DA programs seem to fine. Solar and fcd faring well at nationals . Did any  NTX  team win ECNL nationals since DA is born?

AHSDad wrote:

5050Ball wrote:

The irony here is there are 40+ clubs that will NEVER even sniff an ECNL natty and more are added every year.  So the next time you see a Laver's pronouncement about QUALITY or EXCELLENCE or ABOUT THE PLAYERS, try really hard not to laugh.

The fact is some clubs 2nd team was, is and always will be better than many clubs 1st team.   Pissing contest, nothing more.

You can say the exact same thing about DA.  The pissing contest between ECNL and DA has resulted in over-expansion and watering down of the talent in both programs.

AHSDad wrote:

Soccerates01 wrote:DA programs seem to fine. Solar and fcd faring well at nationals . Did any  NTX  team win ECNL nationals since DA is born?

AHSDad wrote:

5050Ball wrote:

The irony here is there are 40+ clubs that will NEVER even sniff an ECNL natty and more are added every year.  So the next time you see a Laver's pronouncement about QUALITY or EXCELLENCE or ABOUT THE PLAYERS, try really hard not to laugh.

The fact is some clubs 2nd team was, is and always will be better than many clubs 1st team.   Pissing contest, nothing more.

You can say the exact same thing about DA.  The pissing contest between ECNL and DA has resulted in over-expansion and watering down of the talent in both programs.

My comment isn't pitting DA vs. ECNL.  It's making the point that both leagues are suffering from the same problem.  They've both got ~20-25 quality clubs that have quality teams in pretty much every age group, ~30 "middling" clubs that are strong in 1 or 2 age groups and so-so or weak in the others, and ~30 clubs that are pretty much non-competitive across most or all age groups.  Between the 2 leagues, they've pretty much split up the quality clubs in the country, and the only way they are adding any new quality is to poach one of the top 20-25 from the other league.  Any new clubs being added to either league these days are pretty much bottom feeders.  

As far as your comments about NTX teams faring well in DA playoffs vs. ECNL playoffs, the Solar and FCD teams that are winning DA nattys or going to the DA Final 4, are teams that were winning USYSA or ECNL nattys before DA came around.  They were already some of the best in the nation, and haven't gotten particularly stronger just because they are in DA now.  FCD and Solar were on the rise in NTX before DA came around.  Sting was already slipping a little from their peak with the '97's/'98's, but have stabilized.  D'Feeters was in a free fall, but have used mergers/acquisitions to regain a solid foothold in most (but not yet all) of the age groups.  You can make a pretty good argument that Sting and DKSC are both doing better than Texans on the girl's side these days.  Sting had a bit of a down year at ECNL nationals this year, but if memory serves me correctly, in each of the last 2 years, they've qualified a team for Champions League in each age group, which is something only 4 or 5 ECNL clubs in the country have done.  The year before last, didn't they have 2 teams at the ECNL Final Four and were named ECNL Club of the Year?  

I'm not saying Sting is in the same class as Solar or FCD right now, but Sting's ECNL teams aren't as far behind Solar and FCD's DA teams as some would like to think.  DA Frontier Conference would be a much better conference with Sting and DKSC in it, than with Dash and OKE.  Conversely, ECNL TX conference would be much better with Solar, and FCD's top teams instead of Sting Austin, and OK Celtic.