In principle, choice is good, but if consumers really want a "top of the pyramid" level of competition, then they're not going to get that if there are two competing pyramids. (Mind you, I'm not claiming to know what consumers actually want.) To bring back an old, old topic, one could argue that ECNL exists in the first place because US Soccer DA didn't start with a girls' side, and then screwed up when they did create one and pitted it against ECNL. Since then it's all aftermath. You'd think some kind of "cooperation" would be possible so we don't have to drive all over the region to play "our league" teams and bypass "not our league" teams.
ECNL should have opened up a bit more when the GDA binned itself. They had the opportunity to really nab some top clubs but they hung their hats on their reputation rather than being a bit more inclusive.
If I'd known we'd be traveling by plane for soccer more often than to Michigan, downstate/St. Louis or anywhere in Wisconsin further than Milwaukee's south suburbs, I would definitely not have purchased the kind of vehicle that I did last fall. And we're not even GA/ECNL. Sigh. This is mostly a result of less regional travel than I expected, and it's possible the totals will be reversed next year. But still. I was also too new to realize we could've skipped one of the distant tournaments. Younger kid will not get quite as much fun now that I know. Also, our trip to the Inter tournament, in the Chicago metro, took longer than all but one of our league trips -- forced onto the Tri-State on Friday evening of Memorial Day weekend.
Yeah - the key thing with consolidating leagues is that it cuts potential league travel distance significantly at the top 2-3 levels. That alone should be enough reason for it to get figured out somehow.
Crazy. I was side-eyeing some non-HS -Aspire/-RL & NL/NPL level teams flying cross-country for tournaments / showcases.
Any recommendations for a trainer who focuses on strength, agility, plyometrics and conditioning? Looking for someone that can help my 12 yo develop a quick first step and explosiveness on the field.
A couple of great matches for the state titles tonight with some GA/ECNL flavor. Morton (CIU) vs Crystal Lake (Raptors) and New Trier (FCU/Eclipse) vs Naperville Central (Galaxy)
Yeah, I think New Trier only has one ECNL player on it Central mostly GA. Looks like it is a GA state 3A game. LOL
FCU prevails. I mean New Trier. The new graduate early trend stinks as EB for Naperville Central was special this season but won’t get a senior spring.
TNT (Tom Nelson Training) in Mount Prospect is very good. I’m more familiar with the high school and college age program, but there are programs for younger kids too.
Second that TNT is awesome. If you’ve a dual sport athlete wanting some track experience for straight line speed Coach Brandon is terrific.
It's likely that the Crystal Lake team has more players from Crystal Lake Force under Mark Lewis than Raptors.
100% but I know when my #2 last played, most of the top 2004 players came from Force. Raptors 2005 team was a bit different with may players coming from CSA and Force and a few from Raptors. Now that Raptors has had some time, I would imagine they are developing more home-grown talent.
Parents….. please do your homework on these trainers… so many of them are just throwing out buzz words to get you to buy into their program. Some of the stuff Ive watched first hand and seen on social media from these trainers are completely different. Some are more focused on taking videos and just putting them into activities with little to no corrections.
I'm naive - my child sees a trainer who posts on social media. Help! How can we ensure a trainer is truly helping with development? My child enjoys the discipline of seeing someone outside
you can tell with the pace of a training if it’s good or not. If there’s a good amount of instruction being given then it could be good. try to steer away from trainers who self promote themselves or trainers who talk about IQ, true development and elite training. I have my opinion on some based on what I have seen first hand
I agree, I see one that post on Social Media a lot, seems like he has a big group and I am like, ‘what is he doing, does that really help?’ But I could be the one that is wrong. LOL