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Are North Texas ECNL players Best of the Best?
Are North Texas ECNL players Best of the Best?
Are the current ECNL players in North Texas the BEST soccer players in their age group?
Are there any players in D1,D2 or D3, equal to or better than any of the ECNL players in their age group?
Anyone care to comment?
waterboy- TxSoccer Poster
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Re: Are North Texas ECNL players Best of the Best?
Absolutely...no.
There are always some going to be some great players not playing in ECNL, but a high percentage of them are.
MoveYourFeet- TxSoccer Author
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Re: Are North Texas ECNL players Best of the Best?
MoveYourFeet wrote:Generally...yes.
Absolutely...no.
There are always some going to be some great players not playing in ECNL, but a high percentage of them are.
To preface, I'm only to comment on U13 my older kids never took soccer as far and serious and my U13DD.
Generally... yes (most D1 starters) are setting the bar
But, IMO, there are many very high-end players not interested in ENCL as it would pretty much eliminate there other sports, and I think some could dominate much of the ECNL talent....
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Hook It- TxSoccer Author
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Re: Are North Texas ECNL players Best of the Best?
Not often are their Liverpool 98 and 00 teams - of course, next year, there won't be as well.
Keep in mind, there's a heckuva lot of players sitting the bench on ECNL rosters on many teams, so, it's not for everyone nor should be the be-all end-all for most, just an option for many.
Time-wise, ECNL doesn't require anything more than many rec teams in terms of practices, probably has less games and definitely less than a well-traveled LHGCL team (trust me, I do know that and all the numbers associated).
I've been told by numerous college coaches that they will find you if you are good enough - ECNL comes into play when the parent thinks they are good enough and will just be 'found' by a college coach passing by a field during an ECNL event. It's easier for the coaches, but that's not really how it happens (except in the movies). Interestingly, the numbers prove it's easier to be 'seen' by other venues than ECNL.
clueless- TxSoccer Author
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Re: Are North Texas ECNL players Best of the Best?
clueless wrote:Personally, I can think of quite a few exceptions recently. But, I would say the majority are ECNL - even if their teams are not stellar. The larger clubs are ECNL and usually are home to the top players year-in, year-out.
Not often are their Liverpool 98 and 00 teams - of course, next year, there won't be as well.
Keep in mind, there's a heckuva lot of players sitting the bench on ECNL rosters on many teams, so, it's not for everyone nor should be the be-all end-all for most, just an option for many.
Time-wise, ECNL doesn't require anything more than many rec teams in terms of practices, probably has less games and definitely less than a well-traveled LHGCL team (trust me, I do know that and all the numbers associated).
I've been told by numerous college coaches that they will find you if you are good enough - ECNL comes into play when the parent thinks they are good enough and will just be 'found' by a college coach passing by a field during an ECNL event. It's easier for the coaches, but that's not really how it happens (except in the movies). Interestingly, the numbers prove it's easier to be 'seen' by other venues than ECNL.
No idea what this means, but I hope the person who ran those numbers isn't doing my taxes.
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Gunners- TxSoccer Addict
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Re: Are North Texas ECNL players Best of the Best?
ECNL has waaaaay better teams locally, not so much nationally. The fact that it's club-based is the main reason some college coaches are unimpressed with the play, but, if it weren't club-based, the league wouldn't have stability.
I have no problems with ECNL at all - just not something everyone should aspire to - depends on the individual player obviously (wish it had nothing to do with the parent).
FYI - totally unrelated, there were teams at Regionals (obviously State Champions) that would have struggled to be any better than number 8-9 in our D1 (your home state is one of them) - eye opening as to the influence of money on youth sports.
Another point, however - there's very little possibility of an NTX team getting into National League without being ECNL - it's rare, as I pointed out above - bigger clubs generally get the better players.
Last edited by clueless on 08/07/13, 09:19 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : 'nother point')
clueless- TxSoccer Author
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Re: Are North Texas ECNL players Best of the Best?
waterboy wrote:I'm sure this subject has come up on this forum before....
Are the current ECNL players in North Texas the BEST soccer players in their age group?
Are there any players in D1,D2 or D3, equal to or better than any of the ECNL players in their age group?
Anyone care to comment?
Since so many of you had comments, I will add my two bits:
I don't believe that ECNL has the best players in North Texas. There are many players left in D1 and D2 that can replace players on the ECNL team rosters. It's a fact that ECNL teams are replacing some of their players with D1 and D2 girls for next season.
I expected ECNL to have the "best of the best" but, I found that wasn't the case. They have some of the best players in North Texas.
Some of these ECNL players hardly ever see playing time. What good is that for your budding ECNL star?
waterboy- TxSoccer Poster
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Re: Are North Texas ECNL players Best of the Best?
waterboy wrote:waterboy wrote:I'm sure this subject has come up on this forum before....
Are the current ECNL players in North Texas the BEST soccer players in their age group?
Are there any players in D1,D2 or D3, equal to or better than any of the ECNL players in their age group?
Anyone care to comment?
Since so many of you had comments, I will add my two bits:
I don't believe that ECNL has the best players in North Texas. There are many players left in D1 and D2 that can replace players on the ECNL team rosters. It's a fact that ECNL teams are replacing some of their players with D1 and D2 girls for next season.
I expected ECNL to have the "best of the best" but, I found that wasn't the case. They have some of the best players in North Texas.
Some of these ECNL players hardly ever see playing time. What good is that for your budding ECNL star?
Coming up through the ranks as little girls, we all saw who the superstars were and weren't. As we went to select, some of that changed, but most of it stayed true to form. As the girls got older, us parents had been around enough to know who was who in our age bracket. And I can tell you that most of the high end players in NTX play ECNL in our age group. Not all, but easily most.
MoveYourFeet- TxSoccer Author
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Re: Are North Texas ECNL players Best of the Best?
Clueless, to be fair, ECNL and National League are a little bit of an apples and oranges comparison. When you get past U13 and eliminate most of the ECNL teams from consideration, the numbers of games per league, press, etc, it is hard to see how exposure at National League would be better. And that is not to say that the teams in National League are not excellent. In fact, they may be more competitive top to bottom than any ECNL conference and they have definitely all proven themselves by qualifying. I will also be the first to say that the ECNL club selection and maintenance process may be unfair but that is another thread. At the end of the day, you are correct, there are many flavors of ice cream because not one is right for everyone and there are multiple routes to take that are all excellent in their own right.
Congratulations on the wins at Regional. It is eye opening to see where other States and Teams are. You are correct that many of the State Champion teams from elsewhere would struggle in D1 or DII here. I was surprised when we traveled and played top ranked teams. Testament to the quality of play here. That Top Hat team, however, is different and they would definitely compete for the top at LH and evidently, you guys throttled them. Well done.
And yes, Waterboy, there are always going to be players moving up and down. That does not mean that ECNL did not capture most of the better players TODAY, but girls change. What once was may not be in the future. Skills change, kids grow, kids lose or gain interest etc etc. And has been pointed out several times, there are kids on the bench who opt out for other that or other reasons creating a necessity to look at others. That does not necessarily mean that the kids getting looked at from D1 or DII were better than the kids they are replacing. In fact, they may end up in the exact same seat. But, they could also turn into a world beater either because they opted to play ECNL where they had not before or they grew or focused or the lightbulb simply clicked on. Coaches change, style of play changes. That is just competitive youth sports.
And why would you play on an ECNL team and not start? GENERALLY speaking, the ECNL coaches are what the club thinks are the best they have to offer. (yes, I know there are good coaches elsewhere) but hopefully, we can all agree that at least the Clubs are attempting to put their best coaches in that position. The talent level at practice is excellent. The competition at practice is excellent. The intensity is excellent. I've heard more than one DD during tryouts comment that the best place to get looks by the coach was in practice 2-3 times per week instead of playing in a game that he did not attend in another league. Someone is going to sit the bench. There are 11 slots and only so many minutes per game but things do change, kids to miss, there are injuries etc etc. Again, that may not be the decision that everyone would make but there are reasonable and rational reasons why you would put yourself on an ECNL team and not be a named starter.
I did hear a couple 99 parents discussing the year in May and they were all in agreement that their kids had advanced more in soccer from August to May than in any year they had ever played. They said it was night and day. This was from parents of kids that were stars, starters and non-starters.
DDdad- TxSoccer Postmaster
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Re: Are North Texas ECNL players Best of the Best?
Also agree, given ECNL's edict is that clubs put their top team in ECNL should always create a cream of the crop situation - with a few lower level clubs involved. I wouldn't necessarily agree from a coaching standpoint regarding Pre-Academy, Academy, ECNL locally - it's close, but there are still some selection of coaches I'd question - but, that's probably more of a club staffing problem than anything else.
National League just has a better venue for coaches to watch multiple games/players - nothing to do with the teams. ECNL could change that very easily if they went to common sites and scheduled games differently. But, as we all know, they aren't there to watch all the players - which, no parent wants to hear - obviously.
The practicing against better kids should be a great factor in your decision, but, if you are number 16+, I'd hope friends, enjoyment have a greater weight.
clueless- TxSoccer Author
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Re: Are North Texas ECNL players Best of the Best?
http://girlsclassicleague.com/documents/2012CollegeCommitments.pdf
and you can look at each club's ECNL commits from the area on this website:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AriynKqmGsRwdGUyR1ZrSFFUbHFZblNCMnBNZnNqc1E&output=html&gid=6
So what do the college coaches think?
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