All D1 Total 203 ECNL - 146 GA - 43 RL - 9 USYS 1 DPL 1 NPL 1 E64 0 Int Power 4 ECNL - 97 GA - 25 RL - 1 USYS - 0 DPL - 0 NPL - 0 E64 - 0 Int - 1 I understand what you're asking. I've wondered if myself, but never wanted to stay in the USYS to find out. I'm sure there a bunch of happy families in that Galaxy club happy they made the jump. These numbers were posted yesterday. There's been more of a flurry of activity today. But while we'll never know what would have happened to those clubs if they stayed in USYS. All we can say is based off data it's necessary to be in one of those two leagues.
The Eclipse 2011 ECNL team is a perfect example. Rampage leadership brought in a large pool of 2011 players and they went pretty far into the playoffs. However, that team lost a significant number of players to Inter, Galaxy, and FCU. To the point that they are posting on social media begging for girls to join their ECNL team the week of their first league games. If the Rampage leadership couldn't keep their own girls they brought into club how does anyone expect Eclipse to last much longer. It's time for ECNL to just put them out of their misery and give the badge to Galaxy, Sockers, or FCU. The parents and players will be better off for it.
I saw that post looking for players and couldn’t believe it, especially with how well that team did last year. I highly doubt Solar, San Diego Surf, SoCal, etc..are out searching for players this week… Eclispe burns too many players and families putting their team together, only keeps a few key people the coach likes happy causing many to leave. Won’t work long term, they will certainly have some good players, but also run off an equal amount.
This trend is not just at D1 schools. My daughter plays for a D3 school in one of the nation's top conferences. Even her team's roster is about 1/3 ECNL, 1/3 GA, and 1/3 from other conferences. However, the team's current freshmen class of 7 includes 5 ECNL, 1 GA, and 1 from another conference. The top team in their conference is about 80% either ECNL or GA. There are only so many dollars in college coaches' scouting budgets to attend showcases. No doubt there are many good players in non ECNL/GA conferences getting overlooked. Good players on non ECNL/GA teams just have to work harder getting their highlight videos seen by college coaches. And if they get positive feedback, they should try to attend at least one on-campus ID camp at the school. Yes, another expense if it requires an overnight stay and airfare. I'd tell anyone looking for a return on their investment to forget about it. Even top D1 schools are usually only giving players between 30%-70% offers. Full rides are nearly unheard of. If you add up all the years of youth travel expenses, especially for ECNL and GA players, you're lucky to break even. You keep going (and paying) only if your kid loves it based on their demonstrated commitment.
I don’t get the recruiting practices of Illinois. They don’t seem real interested in securing top Illinois girls.
My daughter’s 2006 team was a Usys team for years. Only one year in ECNL at the end. Five went P4 and others went mid major D1. Now with that being said, for years they were a USYS top team. They had a very good reputation so they got noticed. But….if they were ECNL earlier, some girls probably would have had bigger offers. There is nothing like ECNL exposure. Certain teams in this area have really strong birth years. 2007 FCU, 2004/5 2008 Galaxy, 2006 Inter, 2004 Eclipse. I think college coaches are very familiar with strong teams that have a winning history regardless of platform. The platforms help, but you have to be good to begin with.
Are they not taking them or are those players not interested? I think the lack of success in the program has made them irrelevant to local ECNL players.
Has anyone done ODP, while in high school. Is the trip to Rockford going to be worth $500 for 6 trainings.
What did Eclipse do to Team Chicago? I have one of my 2014's just starting in that program; have been impressed with the training quality and emphasis so far. Seems that they have oriented the club in the right direction, though it will take awhile to see if that translates to results. We did wind up avoiding Eclipse after hearing too much from too many different people about the experience, and the reported lingering influence of RD.
From my standpoint, if in middle school or high school, ODP generally is what you are looking to gain from the experience. Depending on your location regularly driving to Rockford can be very time consuming and actually detract from a player’s time to train. Coaches are mixed from experienced to no experience, and talent ID is not always great. The state teams are as good as whoever shows up. Players already in a top league like ECNL, GA, MLS, have ample exposure. If a player is in a league that doesn’t offer enough exposure, maybe ODP can provide something their current team can’t, so in that situation it could be beneficial. Personally, I wouldn’t do ODP for the training. Your son or daughter can likely do better with a personal trainer or spend the time at home focused on skills.
In the spring of 2017 Eclipse and Team Chicago announced a "partnership" that was vague at the time, and nothing much came of it, other than some of TC's best players left for Eclipse, which was common before this so-called partnership. A few years later one of TC's senior coaches left to coach at Eclipse, but he's no longer there. TC now seems to be headed in the right direction. Both MS and DH are good coaches, and importantly, good people, which in the youth soccer world this combination of traits makes them akin to unicorns. Outside of ECNL and GA clubs, TC appears to be a good place to be if you want your kid to develop.
Kind of disagree here. It gives your kid a reason to stay sharp over the winter. The talent may not be next level but the kids there will be committed to working hard. I'd research the coach who will be managing your kids age group. If your kid gets selected for competition it's something you can put on a CV, looks decent on paper . My kid did it as a u18 and was passed over for lesser talent who had been there a few years so keep that in mind. Was only a 50 minute drive for us. It all comes down to who's the coach and will your kid get better.
For a boy or girl? What age? I think earlier in HS can be helpful depending on what the objective is. Lots of repeat customers so hard to break into the state team. Especially on girls side. I think less worth for boys unless a standout and eventually will get scouted but not until regionals
I am not as familiar on the boys side, but I’ve been told on the girls side, even the regional ODP camps are mostly a money grab. The “true” talent ID is being done via US Soccer ID clinics and they are asking the ECNl and GA teams to send their top players and who scout/watch. These other ODP run regional clinics are more auxiliary in nature and not necessarily intended to funnel talent to the top youth national teams. This is at least what I’ve told, maybe it’s wrong, but seems logical when you look at the players making the USYNT.
I w I would say no, if your goal is to be seen. Unless your son has never been seen by anyone because you have been playing somewhere talent is missed. But for the most part at that age if you just want touches and you have nowhere else to go, why not? If Rockford is a trek, there are better indoor leagues for touches, closer i am sure. ODP in Illinois is good for the younger on a pathway to MLSNext/ECNL. It gives them early experience playing with people, in a trial environment, and also playing in front of coaches that do not know them. I feel like ODP did a fairly good job with coaches. Some young but all eager to help. A few boys that made the National ODP team at u 15 last year moved on to academies. I suspect that if you go backwards to that same age group 2009 and took a list of boys who made the Regional teams 4 years ago as u11, 25% playing in academies now. The tournaments and regional camps are money grabs but extra touches. If you have the means and love watching the kid play and the kid loves to play, why not?
It sure looks as if Galaxy has quickly become the class of girls soccer in Illinois. What's the deal with Eclipse anyhow? Three 2026, P4 commits already, and it appears they cannot get out of their own way so far this fall. Anyone have a clue what is going on with that team? A few years ago, they were an ECNL national finalist.
The competition level between the two conferences is drastically different. The 2008 Galaxy team may be the strongest in the state, but the other age groups are doubtful. I posted a week or so ago that Inter was beating GA teams by strong margins in the preseason friendlies, same with Rockford. There is a big gap in weekly competition levels between ECNL & GA. As most know I’ve been critical of eclipse, but in this case I’ll defend them. The 2008 eclipse team started off with two difficult opponents, KCA and SBV, ideally of course you win both, many times you hope to split. Then if you don’t bring your best game in the ECNl you can lose in any given week, every week isn’t a 6-0 or 7-1 victory, it is just a different league.