Changing Landscapes - Chicagoland

The college coaches at ECNL and GDA showcases are mostly the same. For last years playoffs the coaching list was the same basically the same between ECNL and I know for a fact many coaches spent a few days at GDA playoffs and a few days at ECNL playoffs. Same with winter Florida 2018- basically same coaches going to both events.
And I’ve said this before but the Anecdotal “a parent on my team was talking to a college coach and they said they prefer [insert GDA or ECNL] “ is garbage. No college coach is telling this to parents. These are just parents spinning their own agenda. College coaches may prefer one over the other, but publicly every coach I have heard answer this question will not pick a side even if a “dad on our team was talking to a guy who was talking to a coach” says so.

 

I think this isn't a problem. You don't need quantity to make a good player development pathway just quality. A smaller league with better clubs would be ok even if it means more travel. Fact is as much as people complain about travel all these USYS and USC regional and national leagues can have just as much but every club is clamoring over each other to get into them.

Now the girls DA just needs weed out the lower quality clubs which they appear to be trying to do based on the clubs that were dropped last year. Are the replacements all top clubs? Doesn't look like Salvo is much of an upgrade however they also have more potential to improve since they aren't a residency program like SSM was. ECNL has had the same bottom-feeders for years and nothing changes. Let's not forget the last wave of new additions in the Midwest were second teams of current clubs. If anything its a problem both platforms currently face but at least one is actively trying to weed out the lower quality while the other welcomes it so long as it helps the bottom line of those directors that run clubs and sit on the ECNL board. That's a different conversation tho.

I think what so many still don't grasp is that the two platforms are fundamentally different but we always try to compare them. The ECNL is designed for competition and college recruitment which great for most players. No training requirements and go play HS soccer while still playing high level ball and get into college. The DA is designed to attempt to create a better development path: More training, longer season, more YNT exposure, minimum coaching requirements, and you can def still get into college.

If the goal is just to get into a top college program you can do it in either platform the only difference is what you want your experience to be before you get there. And when it comes to the college debate its not the number of schools at an ECNL/DA event that's important. It's WHICH schools attend. I think you'll see all the schools that should be recruiting high level players are at both.

 

Does anyone else feel like if the GDA just removed the HS restriction they would squash ECNL?

 

Don't forget that even though the ECNL does not have a HS restriction, Eclipse top team and Hawks top team do have HS restrictions and have since the inception of the ECNL.

And Volk, as you pointed out yesterday and SpiceBoy commented on, there is a lot more parity on the women's side as European and Asian countries and clubs have decided to invest more in women's soccer. The USA got a jump start on the rest of the world because of Title IX. The GDA is an attempt to maintain a top position. Europe is doing this through their professional clubs and have formed their own academies. If we left the development up to a club like Eclipse - 2 trainings a week in the Fall / 3 in the Spring (maybe vice versa) - the demise of US Womens Soccer will be pretty certain. We may not always like the approach but US Soccer through the GDA is trying to make the clubs better for development.

 

Are you sure that is still true? I think a lot of the 18/19s from Eclipse OB will be playing high school this spring

 

Should be an interesting next two nights with the Eclipse ECNL teams facing off in Northbrook

 

Some games have been pushed back until week.

 

Right? Might be interesting in all the wrong ways based on some of the previous scores posted. Some OB teams dropped games to Hawks second teams. 0-5 at U16! You'd think with their history OB shouldn't be dropping points to any second teams...

Looks like North also had a nice welcome to the platform by Hawks first teams. Their scores against the second teams weren't too promising either although the older groups haven't been posted.

Anyone wanna put money on those YNT girls on Eclipse U19 ever playing a game with them?

 

LOL! Just noticed the breakdown of the Midwest region of ECNL. "East" and "West" my a$$!! Of course the two fat cats don't have to play each other twice...

https://www.eliteclubsnationalleague.com/midwest-conference-standings-2019-20/

 

In the spring they were listed on the Sockers DA but don't think they played any games.

 

No I am not. Playing HS may happen on the oldest team. I just know that a couple years ago when RD was explaining why Eclipse was leaving the GDA and going back to the ECNL, when it came to playing HS he basically said “GDA does not allow HS, but that isn’t an issue for us bc our top team does not play HS.”

 

I would not as my bet is they won’t play.

And Illinisoccer is right, they were on Sockers roster last year but never played.

 

I totally agree that there's a lot of positive buzz about JN in his new role. Even more so is all the accolades about RC coming out of Sockers over the past year. The players love him. And parents have a lot of positive things to say. He runs well-planned and innovative training sessions. He's a good game day tactician who makes adjustments to counter the opposing team. He has been really successful leading recruitment efforts for the club. Lots of charisma. Uses social media well. By all accounts he really gets it.

 

Was at the 06 game in Michigan. Only one of the hot shot 06s played as billed. The other goals (two) were scored by an 07.

 

Charging...? as in $3,500 (ex-travel expenses)? It's pretty early, but I know you wish it to be true.

They were quick to cancel some games in Grand Rapids and hustle the older teams back on the buses a few Sundays ago rather than take back to back spankings in Michigan (ecnl v. gda) friendlies.


There's last week's results. Getting pounded by the Hawk's A team is nothing to be ashamed of, but being unable to bounce back against their B squads isn't exactly "charging". Plenty of data there to make power rankings for OB and NB. Clever how OB got out of town without scheduling games against their A teams.

This week's crosstown games will be a great yard stick to see where things are. If OB releases the dogs the olders' games won't be as competitive as the youngers' games might be.My guess is some of these games get 'postponed'.

NB staff being less abusive, better at admin, and knowing about food is all great, but won't shoot them above OB anytime soon. The pipeline to NU is undeniable, time will tell who wears the pants in that relationship.OB's connections to college programs is deep.

NB will be successful because high school soccer up north is a big draw, and ECNL provides the same exposure as GDA, and there is flexibility. Most of the kids have trainers on the side, so 2 vs 3 practices per week (and vs. 4 for DA) is kind of moot, and the lighter practice schedule provides college bound girls the flexibility they want. I don't NB passes OB until their staff matures. it will be interesting to see how it develops over the next couple years.

 

Unrelated to the current discussion but could fall under this forum: JH is no longer with Roadrunners. The former Chicago Magic legend held the job for years and had done great things with the community based club. They've been able to hold their own in the NPL with clubs like Sockers, San Antonio, Fire City, Eclipse, etc.. Wonder what led to the split? Anyone else hear about this?