Agreed. If he learns good technique and habits and continues to love the game, he will grow as a player, which is all we as parents want, right?
Klicsports I believe is closest playing games in the area but a lot of the competitive teams will travel up to ID League in Schaumburg. First sessions start in November. League Schedule - Klicsports Home - Our Youth Futsal League - ID League Chicago
Just saw the Eclipse Pre ECNL 2014 boys get smashed 35-1 in 4 games at the Savage 11 tournament. If that's National League level they will be in trouble and damage the brand if both them and ECNL.
It looks like the 2014s had two teams. One just Pre-ecnl, one at pre-ecnl 1. Top team went 2-1 (beating inferno and force), but the 2nd team sure looks like it was out of place.
Yes - it looks like 2 separate divisions. In Red for one team, White for the other. I'm assuming Red is the higher division, but someone local could confirm (full tournament schedule). Until the teams play a few more games, it's not possible to determine which one is playing better - though the weekend results certainly imply things so far.
The savage 11site says red is the highest. Those other teams are those clubs highest team in red. Their top team isn't in the same ballpark despite being ECNL. All the other top league teams perform way better.
They aren't "ECNL", nor are any of the teams they are playing against. The "pre-ecnl" label is obnoxious, but it sure seems to be something parents gravitate to. The team names will sort themselves out by U13/U14.
I agree with you on that. Its just these clubs use it as marketing but its also a status symbol. Lets be honest though too, these pre teams are likely at least 50% of the team next year. I don't know that many parents who are really chasing ECNL boys soccer at U13.
The fact alone that there are multiple teams of the same age at the same club named "pre-ecnl" should clue people in that everyone on them won't be on the actual, single, "ECNL" team at U13. Take the top kids off of all the pre-ecnl teams, add new recruits, and based on past history there's every expectation that Eclipse will have a respectable, but not outstanding, 2014B squad in a few years.
I don't mind the pre-ECNL label TBH. They are teams that will funnel into either ECNL or ECNL-RL and the intent is to try and standardize competition levels/events to some extent (and sure, make money from it in some way). Do Pre-ECNL teams travel too much? Probably, but maybe that's a good intro to what actual ECNL requires.
Playing with Eclipse 2013 NL this year, we bit the bullet on the travel. So far the competition has been weak in our ECNL conference, we'll see how the competition becomes as we get later into the season!
It looks like their schedule puts them through some of the weaker sides in the conference early. The team they saw on saturday is ranked ~ #500 in the country. Same with Sunday, they show ~ #550. Hopefully the results can continue throughout the season as they match up with some of the more competitive teams.
It’s ECNL on the girls side so it’s not getting any more competitive than that. Looks like Inter and Eclipse both undefeated so far. At some point they’ll be challenged…interested to see how they do against SLSG. But this 2013 girls group has been talked about a lot and it seems likely that it’s just a very talented year here in Chicago, looks like both have a good shot to make the playoffs if they keep it up.
Did Evolution sell the Arranmore fields that they had? All their home games seemed to be scheduled at Stuart sports complex and it looks like Galaxy has some GA/GAA games scheduled at Arranmore! I wouldn't be surprised considering Evolution has lost so many teams/players.
Not sure if it is the same team, but last fall I saw the team was placed at a higher age group and was totally demolished with -99 GD - https://system.gotsport.com/org_event/events/35800/schedules?team=2474150 Not sure what these Eclipse coaches think, but they should at least know the competition level.
I heard both GA and ECNL have committed to age group change for 26/27. Going to be some big time reshuffling happening in the spring tryout sessions if true.
ECNL (and most other leagues) have officially confirmed it quite awhile ago, it's no longer speculation. AFAIK, GA has not yet publicly confirmed anything, but there have been plenty of rumors pointing to them doing the same thing at some point soon. MLS N is the other major org that has not made any inclination to change their existing calendar.
I searched for anything official and could not find anything for either ECNL or GA but was told it was official by a large club principal over the weekend. Maybe only official internally but no public facing announcements yet. At least that I could find. Will be interesting to see what happens with the elite teams. A Galaxy 08 team probably doesnt change but what about Eclipse or Galaxy 11s? Both great teams but who would move down from the team above and who would drop to the team below. And will clubs adhere to strict rules or will they just allow everyone to stay on the same team they are on now. Or will it be case by case.
I guess Galaxy 08s will be graduating so never mind about them. Man I am getting old. I remember those kids when they were first started 11v11.
US Club announcement (which includes ECNL) (from June 10th) Description of US Club (which clarifies that ECNL is sanctioned by it)
I primarily talk with ECNL families, so not much involvement with GA topics. However at ECNL teams my take is that there's a sentiment that the age group change is a settled matter. Many families with players caught up in the change, seem confident the club will be moving the player into appropriate age group for recruiting. In the Chicago area, with both Inter and Eclipse having what are essentially playoff-caliber teams for the 2013 to 2011 age groups (assuming no teams decline this year), I suspect that roster spots will be quite limited during tryouts. Generally conversations have been Clubs prioritizing their own proven players who may be shifting down an age group to fill out their already competitive rosters. My impression now is that switching clubs could be more challenging this try out year. While it’s never impossible for a player who is a strong addition to a team’s rotation, I do think it’s probably going to be more difficult than prior years.