Part 1 of this is correct, as we've talked about before. No, the talent as it's set up is not there for two teams. Clear as day. Part 2. Still respectfully disagree, the competitiveness is there and better than it's ever been. That's a comment that doesn't come from just me in a vacuum.
Ok, well it I did say it was a rumor, lol. I may or may not have heard that from an EBU parent . Objectively, they are a strong club with high performing teams. They also have invested a lot of money in installing turf fields in the last couple year from what I understand.
"Lots of bad blood, difficult and different". Just to be clear, you are referring to children/ youth clubs right?? Respectfully, I guess I don't follow
Lots of really good people and coaches involved in the metro Milwaukee soccer scene with the various clubs. Each club has its challenges... SC Wave has to recruit players from Chicago and the rest of the state to field competitive teams, and the Bavarians have to pull from all over the state as well. Some of their teams are having a tough time competing. There should really be only one MLS next team in Wisconsin. FC WI teams pull from all over as well, out of necessity. Lots of good players and coaches in each program. Probably too many teams to be able to be competitive though. EBU has made some great strides and has competitive boys and girls teams at most age levels. They are trying to keep their players as they continue to get older, which is a challenge for now at least on the boys side, for players that aspire to play collegiately. Their current pathway doesn't attract college coaches. I suspect the rumors of the ECNL regional league, is an attempt to try and fix that, but ultimately they would need entry to the ECNL, and as another poster said, there are just too many barriers for that to likely happen.
Ha no worries it's all love. I've heard the same rumor for a couple months now and I know who and how it started. They are not off base by wanting it and telling people they'll apply for RL. If they get it remains to be seen. EBU is a decent club, I have no issues with them as a club, or as a whole. I don't like the specific soccer they teach, but it is under new leadership now. Their facilities are all new, they have room for indoor training, they space. They are in good shape. All that's good. Here's where they are falling short, and some of it is out of their control. 1st.... their history. Not a ton of history of putting girls into division 1 colleges. Seems trivial, but combined with other factors it's a blow. Not much noise made my them on a national level. Again, good squad, but historically young club and not a ton of national success. While they do have top performing teams, it's weighted negatively because of the competition. It matters that much. They played a couple RL teams and ECNL teams past summer and lost by double digits. Problem 2..... They are a 10 minute drive to the FC Wisconsin fields. I know first hand what girls came from there for tryouts and what girls left the RL to play over there. They're kids, so I'm not trying to slam them, it's just a basic math thing. Long short of it.... They just might be too close to make it in as there is not enough quality in EBU alone to justify. The RL won't just do it for numbers and to say they did it. If that was the case, they would have let Wisconsin Howard United in two years ago when they applied from the Green Bay area. If that makes sense. For the record, I'm not saying it's 100% dead. Just saying it's a stretch at this point.
Bad blood between club leaders and clubs in general. If you'd like I can try to keep it short and explain how and why were at this point. But that's a long ass message.
I absolutely believe that Chicagoland and Wisconsin can support more ECNL teams. I think that there is a tendency to think that ALL Ecnl teams are like the Hawks or SLSG. The reality is that a good chunk of Ecnl teams are no better than USYS teams. Can Chicago support multiple teams at the level of the Hawks, answer is probably no. Is that a statement of the local talent or lack of high level coaches?
I mean if you want to explain, go for it. I am looking at a very tedious morning of work here lol. Jokes aside, I have observed for both WI and IL, there is a fair bit of migration every year, for both players and coaches. Recycled among local clubs, or either state to a lesser extent. I guess I just assumed that was normal and most state youth soccer landscapes were like that
I can assure you on the girls side, it was exactly like this when FCU, Sockers and Eclipse were at the top. On the boys side - far worse. Check out some of the Magic vs Sockers threads.
It's been around 2018 that we would play EBU teams in the MRL. They were good but more physical that technically skilled. Hard fast players - usually on the bigger side.
Yes but it sure would be nice to have a formal pyramid where the top is the top - and that's where college recruiters go to see the best players. ECNL will remain in that position for that reason alone for some time - it's theirs to lose essentially. It would be nice if they were more aggressive with RL and actually went after the top USYS/MRL teams to move them over to RL and get that talent from teams that are not in ECNL.
At a former work party - which we do 3-4 times a year (love those guys). Some new folks came with daughters who had Ajax gear on and we jammed on about youth soccer. Those players were at the u13 age group and their dad who played ball was very much "on" about Ajax. He asked me some questions about Inter and Galaxy. I was happy to provide an opinion with a reminder to just keep those girls happy with the sport.
I have had this same observation about many teams in the MRL leagues over the years. Less technical and more physical. Have seen the same in HS soccer. Aren't both of equal importance? A lot of the college players, when you read their bios, are multi sport star athletes. They may be great at soccer, but in a lot of cases, they are just cream of the crop athletes as well. No real opinion in this post, I have just read this debate about technical versus athletic in other forums. Isn't it both??
This is incorrect, as far as I can tell. Either the RL teams played some of EBU's 2nd or lower teams, or they were friendlies and not recorded. For 2007G (3rd in state), they beat an RL team 3-0 in Jan 24, and tied GLSA 1-1 in 11/23. They beat GLSA 2-1 in 9/23. You have to go back to 2022 to find an RL loss, against Evolution 3-1. For 2008G (3rd in state), the only RL team in their recent game history is when they beat Michigan Revolution 4-0 in late 2023. They did lose to an RL team (TKO) in 2022. For 2009G (1st in state), they beat Evolution (RL) 3-2 in June 2024. Prior they beat TKO 6-0 in Nov 2023. In June 2023, they beat Evolution RL 2-0, and Galaxy RL 1-0. Stating that they get beat badly by RL teams is just not the case, and doesn't represent what actually happens when they do get to play a recorded game (which admittedly, doesn't happen often until they play in more similar leagues),
I agree. ECNL has only expanded to multiple clubs in Chicago recently, but if you look in other cities results are usually mixed between age groups club by club. Sometimes there is a historical powerhouse but not always the case, and even at times those elite clubs will get a weaker team. Chicago could certainly add another team, especially up north. However, this would also require parents and players to pick clubs based on coaching, facilities, development, and overall player experience. Too often parents push their kids to just follow what’s been done in the past, which makes developing new teams in the ECNL take much more time in this area.
Congrats to all those girls. It's a shame that FC United, Galaxy, Eclipse, Sockers, Inter and Rockford don't send their top teams anymore.
I firmly believe Illinois has the capacity to support another ECNL club, and the state could become a true powerhouse with multiple competitive teams. Right now, however, clubs were added primarily to protect revenue of Rory D, which led to the inclusion of Rockford and then Inter. These clubs are located far enough from the central area that Eclipse can still dominate revenue obtainment. If clubs like FCU or Libertyville were to gain full ECNL status, it could shift the landscape, potentially marginalizing Rockford’s reach. Galaxy and Inter could consolidate talent, while Eclipse would draw from the city and surrounding suburbs. With the right facilities and coaching, Illinois could field teams competitive with the Hawks, Nationals, or SLSG within a few years. The population and talent pool are here; it’s just a matter of organizing them in a strategic, logical way.
It sucks. Those weekends with all the big boys and girls clubs from all over the state fighting for the 1 berth at regionals were amazing. Outside the Chicago clubs, there were always tough teams from St Louis, Peoria and Springfield. The best was when all the finals were at the Schwaben Center.
The games were friendlies. Scores weren't reported. Rockford beat EBU 6-3. Hawks Magic and RL did a number on them too. None of these three games were recorded.
Then they didn't mean anything. In a real game, results are shared. And.... rosters matter. It seems in actual games, there isn't as much of a difference as in these friendlies. What age group was this?
Terms probably need to be clarified. On the girls side, ECNL still has the top clubs in the nation, and in general, a good ECNL club will beat a good club from any other league, an average ECNL club will beat an average club from any other league, etc. Of course the specific teams matter, and there are truly terrible ECNL teams, just as there are ECNL teams that rank #1 in the nation. But on the boys side, the statement tends to be more accurate. Most all of the top boys youth soccer clubs no longer have ECNL as their top team, and are instead in MLS Next. If you go down to the ECNL ratings, the brackets are often quite similar to top brackets of several of the other leagues, whether USYS, NPL, EA, whatever. As always, the specific team matters more than the average of the bracket - but the brackets aren't as dissimilar as one may believe.