'23-'24 SoCal and National Forecast and Updates

VanMan said:
Ceteris paribus, I agree, but that's a bold statement given everything we've seen happen over the past few years.
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What I've seen over the last 10 years of being involved with youth soccer is that only constant you can rely on is change.

There seem to be several "ECNL is the best" parents that more than anything want to vindicate their own decisions. If this was the absolute truth ECNL would also be the best on the boys side (which its not). Also GA, DPL, NPL, Socal, etc wouldn't exist if ECNL was the magic sauce for everything. I remember back in 2014 when ECNL was losing clubs left and right to DA.

Point is with youth soccer you never know what will happen next so it's good to maintain relationships with all the different clubs, leagues, and coaches.
 
So, question for the group.

For best development and overall future performance, do you guys think goalies would be best off playing for the weakest offensive teams in the most competitive leagues? I'm just wondering why great goalies and even center backs would want to play for teams with awesome offense where they are not getting more intense defensive challenges? I could see why outer backs would want to be part of a team with a great attack, but for the players that need to be counted on in every intense set play, corner, and every other attack, why wouldn't goalies and center backs want to be on maybe the worst team in the highest league? I understand that around 15 or so, you want to start getting recognized playing with top teams, but until then, don't you want the most and hardest experience under pressure as a goalie or center back?
 
way up said:
So, question for the group.

For best development and overall future performance, do you guys think goalies would be best off playing for the weakest offensive teams in the most competitive leagues? I'm just wondering why great goalies and even center backs would want to play for teams with awesome offense where they are not getting more intense defensive challenges? I could see why outer backs would want to be part of a team with a great attack, but for the players that need to be counted on in every intense set play, corner, and every other attack, why wouldn't goalies and center backs want to be on maybe the worst team in the highest league? I understand that around 15 or so, you want to start getting recognized playing with top teams, but until then, don't you want the most and hardest experience under pressure as a goalie or center back?
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Defensively you might be right. However, I feel the best for goalies and center backs would be to play with a team that is very committed to playing out of the back to get developed offensively. Those two positions need good touch, foot skills and decision making skills under pressure. I’m not sure how much a goalie is learning punting the ball every time and never getting the ball played back to them. ‍
 
Darmah said:
Defensively you might be right. However, I feel the best for goalies and center backs would be to play with a team that is very committed to playing out of the back to get developed offensively. Those two positions need good touch, foot skills and decision making skills under pressure. I’m not sure how much a goalie is learning punting the ball every time and never getting the ball played back to them. ‍
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Valid points, but both positions truly make an impact based on their ability to prevent goals. While both positions need to be able to handle the ball well and be part of the build out, they get extensive training in that at training and at games in competitive leagues no matter for most teams. Yes though, against strong teams, they will punt and/or avoid the press if their defense and mids are not strong on the build out. Maybe, a balance is better. I just have played with very strong offensive teams where the goalie and center backs sit back most of the game and rarely even get to build out.

I always wondered if our oppenent goalies and center backs were getting a lot more experience under pressure, because we were a strong team and did not get as much pressure defensively. I can't imagine it's bad for those positions to be under pressure a lot? Does anyone have experience under both scenarios? We're getting a dose of this pressure this year and I can't help, but think this is very good for my kid and her defensive squad. Our team is pretty good and can build out or punt, but we rely a lot on our defense. My daughter and I love it. As we grow with this competitive challenge, I just wonder if anyone has experience where center backs and/or goalies were able to grow even better under these conditions vs. just being on a winning team that focuses so much on offense. We are fortunate to have a good coach who thrives on the build out as well though.
 
That’s simply not how girls soccer works, at least in SoCal.
Priorities for choosing a team are:
-is the team in ECNL
-is the team Blues, Koge, Legends or Surf.
-is it a team outside of ECNL where the coach promises I will be considered for an ECNL spot next year.
-will I get at least 10 minutes of playing time.
-anything else.
 
Venantsyo said:
That’s simply not how girls soccer works, at least in SoCal.
Priorities for choosing a team are:
-is the team in ECNL
-is the team Blues, Koge, Legends or Surf.
-is it a team outside of ECNL where the coach promises I will be considered for an ECNL spot next year.
-will I get at least 10 minutes of playing time.
-anything else.
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LOL! I keep forgetting the way it works here! Playing time most important thing imo, but I"m just curious if there any star defenders that built up defensive skills helping teams compete against the heavy hitters you listed? I'm not so sure I want my daughter as a center back or goalie playing for the heavy hitters as they don't get as much pressure. When my daughter is 15 or so, I will want her to be on a top team if she has what it takes or better put is I hope my daughter still loves playing enough to want to be on one of the heavy hitters! Im very curious as to how parents who know the defensive side of soccer look at the best path to building a super defender/goalie. It's different than the offensive way imo and these defenders can be spoilers rather than followers if they don't just follow the herd.
 
way up said:
LOL! I keep forgetting the way it works here! Playing time most important thing imo, but I"m just curious if there any star defenders that built up defensive skills helping teams compete against the heavy hitters you listed? I'm not so sure I want my daughter as a center back or goalie playing for the heavy hitters as they don't get as much pressure. When my daughter is 15 or so, I will want her to be on a top team if she has what it takes or better put is I hope my daughter still loves playing enough to want to be on one of the heavy hitters! Im very curious as to how parents who know the defensive side of soccer look at the best path to building a super defender/goalie. It's different than the offensive way imo and these defenders can be spoilers rather than followers if they don't just follow the herd.
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blues koge legends and surf - goalies and CBs, fullbacks, wingbacks get A-LOT of play and intense pressure.
 
rainbow_unicorn said:
DA did survive for about 5 years on the girls side. But that was a more tenuous situation with DA and ECNL duking it out. With ECNL as top dog right now I can see the elite landscape staying stable for quite a while.
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The 3 reasons I can see anything changing from how they are right now.

1. If GA, ECNL, DPL, NPL whatever (or maybe even a new league) somehow align with professional womens soccer + real academies the way MLS Next has done. Although for women because the NWSL pays less than MLS + attracts less viewers I doubt this would work because college would still be a more appealing path for most.

2. Clubs at the bottom of the ECNL food chain start thinking grass is greener (wins) in a different league. Or vice versa, maybe a GA club feels ECNL would be a better home.

3. Personal grievances between club owners get put in the past or new ones are created.

Other than above everything is pretty well setup for the bigger leagues. There's players that want to play and fields available to play them on.
 
I was surprised to see no SoCal teams in the top four at the San Diego ECNL event this past weekend with some strong teams in the bottom third of the results table. Can anyone provide insight? Red cards? Injuries? Just an off weekend? Hope all the players are okay.
 
X5000 said:
I was surprised to see no SoCal teams in the top four at the San Diego ECNL event this past weekend with some strong teams in the bottom third of the results table. Can anyone provide insight? Red cards? Injuries? Just an off weekend? Hope all the players are okay.
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Looked like a tough showing by SoCal TBH. It's not a bad thing though. I think there just isn't the monopoly like other years and the talent is more spread out.
 
X5000 said:
I was surprised to see no SoCal teams in the top four at the San Diego ECNL event this past weekend with some strong teams in the bottom third of the results table. Can anyone provide insight? Red cards? Injuries? Just an off weekend? Hope all the players are okay.
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I wondered same thing. Seems like surf may have been missing some players off their ECNL finals run. Didn’t watch any Blues games. I’m wondering if I’m these early season showcases the top teams are getting the bench more time.
 
Texican said:
I wondered same thing. Seems like surf may have been missing some players off their ECNL finals run. Didn’t watch any Blues games. I’m wondering if I’m these early season showcases the top teams are getting the bench more time.
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In Socal, we don't care about showcase wins. It's a time to play everyone so they can showcase their skills. You can't showcase if you're on the bench. So, the top players sit and let others start for once. It's the right thing to do. When it comes time to win the National Championship, Socal will be right there for the win.
 
crush said:
In Socal, we don't care about showcase wins. It's a time to play everyone so they can showcase their skills. You can't showcase if you're on the bench. So, the top players sit and let others start for once. It's the right thing to do. When it comes time to win the National Championship, Socal will be right there for the win.
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As a member of the Dallas Texans team that played Surf, I can tell your their YNT keeper played the first half and didn’t give up any goals. One of their YNT defenders (9) did not play due to injury is what we were told. Their other YNT defender (32) came off the bench in the first half and played most of the second.
Surf was in control in the first half and they play very good, starters or non-starters, however, tactically we changed based on their pattern play and feel like we gained the advantage in the second half and scored all of our goals in the second half. Although, SoCal teams don’t care about showcases, surely, the US Scouts present encourage players to play their best. As an emerging team in the Texas Conference, we hope to make it to the playoffs so we can play teams at their best so we can get better ourselves.
 
Showcase this early in season are like glorified scrimmages. All teams want to win every game but are also working on new things and rotating in a lot of players (unlimited subs). Non-socal teams brought stiff competition. Qualification during the season and playoffs in Seattle will be competitive.
 
BigTex said:
As a member of the Dallas Texans team that played Surf, I can tell your their YNT keeper played the first half and didn’t give up any goals. One of their YNT defenders (9) did not play due to injury is what we were told. Their other YNT defender (32) came off the bench in the first half and played most of the second.
Surf was in control in the first half and they play very good, starters or non-starters, however, tactically we changed based on their pattern play and feel like we gained the advantage in the second half and scored all of our goals in the second half. Although, SoCal teams don’t care about showcases, surely, the US Scouts present encourage players to play their best. As an emerging team in the Texas Conference, we hope to make it to the playoffs so we can play teams at their best so we can get better ourselves.
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Texas has some top teams and can pull a lucky upset on us anytime in a big match. I bet you $1 that if all the Surf players started and this game had real meaning, you guys would lose, trust me. It's all good and I love to banter back and forth with Texas. My dd Surf team won it all in 2017 in Texas and we beat Texas. Also, at Surf Cup in 2016, Texas claimed to have the top team ever assembled. They came on this Forum and talked smack. Well, they brought their big red flag and didn't win a game in group play and were all sent home. Socal Rules soccer and we are the Mecca:cool:
 
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