On tournaments, I now have an almost allergic reaction to them. My U9 team is playing 4 games this weekend. Kids love the idea of a...
The latter: the coach and the town club get penalized by the league if the actual goal difference exceeds a limit. This local town travel team...
Fair questions, and agreed there is no ideal situation. Since we reached the maximum goal differential per league rules, we had to turn...
Similar occurrence with my 3rd grade town team (2009,2010, 7v7) this weekend. We've been following the 3four3 methodology since September, and:...
Yeah, but if he had he would have been accused of not being ‘Murican enough and benched. So much sadness.... but at least I can look forward...
I help coach my son's 1rst grade Rec soccer team, open to anyone in our elementary school, about 28 kids with ~8 parent coaches. Obviously...
So very, very true! And as mentioned in the original post, that "not much" value is currently ZERO since MLS/USsoccer refuses to allow any...
LOVED the Deanza highlight video, some of those plays were a huge step up from what I've seen. Super encouraging, thanks!
I sure hope this is the case and your statement is encouragin, but I'm a little worried not to have really found any online video evidence that...
Great post and thanks for sharing that experience. I don't think there are many families and players who would resist the advantages of the ECNL...
Thanks for the link, that looks much better to my eyes and is heartening!
Thanks for your kind comment Kazoo. I don't recall mentioning levels of talent or lack thereof, but if I implied a high level of talent it was...
The thread has been here for ~2 years, I guess because ECNL is the defacto feeder to college and WNT? I agree the conversation could also be on...
Agree on the need to have the right development at an earlier age - I think the video of the ~10 year old boys playing shows that they have...
To be clear, I've been watching ECNL games online to get a better understanding of what the "landscape" looks like if my 9 yr old daughter...
I'm hopeful that the majority of the blame can be placed on the US U20 coaches, as that would be the easiest problem to fix. If someone could...
I'm convincing myself that the incentivization of coaches is another key improvement that needs to be made in this country, from volunteer rec...
For me the DA has indeed been a vast step forward in the landscape (and I expect the same to be true on the girls' side in the future as well)....
I did not see any of the U20 games unfortunately but have read many articles and comments about them. Everything seems to suggest that we are...
Great discussion. My son's club got accepted only to the U12 academy this year, but of course since he is an '05 he was ineligible this season...
Well said rummenigge11. Not being from Illinois I've struggled to follow the (sordid?!) details in this thread, but the overall feeling is that...
... and since many refs tend not to call anything, that physicality spirals into excessive physicality and is usually rewarded with wins...
Thanks for the link elessar, new to me and very helpful!
Yes for sure, but I'm hoping in the long run and based on stated goals (as described at least on the boys' side) that travel will be reduced.
I understand the implied level of competitiveness, but to me that is the exact problem ie: the level is only "implied" or "perceived". These...