No reason to get all East Coast - West Coast. I was just applying some insight to a single game in which I was present. SoCal soccer is definitely elite and I love to watch the teams play. As far as playoffs are concerned we are just trying to find our way there for the first time. In contrast, I’m sure Surf will be there looking for their first championship in this age group.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
'23-'24 SoCal and National Forecast and Updates
- Thread starter MARsSPEED
- Start date
No East Coast teams can hang with our top teams in Socal. I was going more all Texas vs SoCal.
So in the 2011 age group, only so cal teams were undefeated. $20 to park. Gas, hotels, etc. With such strong talent in Ca. and So Cal, I can't understand why we have to blend with other states? We should have our own So Cal Conference, so we don't have to travel to other states until playoffs imo. What I see with the first year of ECNL is out of state teams learn they have to step up their development/training to compete in Ca. if they want to compete in the playoffs. I almost worry we take the foot off the gas a bit in So Cal. due to the dominance! It feels good to win, but I think I'd prefer the lesson rather than giving it with the costs and time. The out of state teams did have to fly here and I"m not saying this is always the case.
The $20 to park 3 days in a row just kind of stuck with me as egregious! I know there are really good Texas Teams and good teams elsewhere, but so many Ca. teams in the top ten in the country at just about every age group. I get it's a business, but So Cal really should be in the driving seat with league planning imo.
Yes, yes Way Up. I've been preaching this for 7 years now. Socal is like a little Spain soccer Mecca. What happened is the GDA in 2017 made Socal parents and their kids travel all over the country to beat up on teams 14-0. It makes no sense except that the higher ups collecting $20 a day to park, hotels, gas stations and restaurants wanted us to travel and spend our hard earn money beating up on teams on the East Coast. I passed on it because I thought it was too much for 13- and 14-year-olds doing travel ball across the country to play a soccer match. It's not good for the kids and it's super expensive for average middle-class family. My pal spent over $25K in two years in travel ball
rainbow_unicorn
PREMIER
PDA was the top 09 team last year
The only reason PDA won is because of the stupid GDA, lol! I stand corrected. Nice job PDA. Were still recovering from that nonsense of the GDA and splitting up all the clubs in Socal (birth year change killed us) and shifting players to other teams and forcing the parents to pay for play and pay to stay at expensive hotels. They forced the kids to travel across the country to play matches at13 years old all over the country. Bad decison 100%.
How about flying all the way to Virginia for Blues to play Surf for the 2010’s last year. Stupid
Yeah, some people have the time and money or at least think they do. This is still absolutely ridiculous and even more so for RL. Does GA have to travel out of state as well? If there is good talent in GA, I find it incredibly wasteful for ECNL and GA Teams to travel out of state for anything! I'm sure there is something CA. teams may need like access to colleges and such, but these leagues seems very inefficient if Ca. Teams end up playing each other in the playoffs in Virginia!! I also find the recruiting in mid league to be counter productive especially considering the travel aspect.
Is GA competitive to ECNL at least in a less travel way? I mean to have ecnl,ga,ecrl,e-64,npl,dpl, etc. where there is not one very competitive league within so. cal locale only is mind blowing to me! We need the position experience you get with coaches that can train the systems the kids will need to know if they play after high school, but with all of the talk about burning out and/or injuries, I can't help, but see the demand for a smaller commitment type league with the highest competition possible. I for one would love an additional leauge to ecnl or ga with a little less structure where an athlete can work on their weaknesses or other skills that can make them better,more versatile future athletes. Luckily in So. Cal, we can find some leagues like this be it futsal or indoor, but an actual organized extra local league would be really beneficial and make better future players imo.
Code
SILVER ELITE
The solution is already in place. But the parents/clubs don't want to make the change. If all the MLS Next/GA/ECNL/E64 clubs in SoCal could move past the chips on their shoulder, they would get together and make a coordinated strategic move to play in SOCAL next season, or make a new league. They could join and expand the NPL system that is already in place within the SOCAL League, or create something completely new; who cares what they call it. People have been beating this drum for over a decade; there is no need for the top SoCal talent/teams to travel outside of SoCal for top level competition. In fact, in most cases, we are traveling to play less competitive teams than the rival league located 10 min away. Just Stupid. College Coaches/Scouts are going to come watch these teams, even if they never leave SoCal. I'm certain that if you combined all the fractured leagues top teams into one league, it would clearly be the strongest consolidation of play in the U.S.. We could play a 20-25 game League season and never even play the same team twice, without leaving SoCal. Most likely the scouts would prioritize the SoCal events of a league like this above all other competition.
You might appreciate this...
Because of the ranking app Socal clubs are starting to (hush hush unofficially) setup cross league friendlies with local clubs they don't play very often + the results aren't published. This is happening because nobody wants to risk their ranking but at the same time they need to play competitive games. In league you already know who you're going to play for the next year so the next best thing for getting additional games in is cross league friendlies.
Aligns with you're arguement that California teams should play local.
GA is basically a mirror of how Girls ECNL is setup. Same amount of travel, same level of refs, same type of fields, etc.
Surf has a select surf team that plays tournaments. There are several sport complexes that rent out fields or even arenas. Coaches keep it fun. Everyone tries to win, but it's kept casual. Designed more to play and develop than pressured winning and recruiting. I just see my kid smile a lot more at our extra venue than with the club team. She loves the club games, but she understands the gravity of it. I just know this alternative league would improve the talent even more. It could expand into a dominant competitive leauge to the other ecnl/ga leagues.
Just think about the environment we are in as soccer parents. Tryouts, game time, money, GAS, parking, uniforms, out of state travel, restaurants, $100 tournament sweatshirts, coach per diem, etc. and now add the time. I love the hell out of it, but to say it doesn't take over your life is a lie. Now, behave parent, don't yell at games. Don't get pissed at the ref, because he makes a bad call. Don't get mad, because your daughter is not playing. I just think I would be a much better soccer parent if there were an option with less commitment and less cost.
To think, we need to worry about inuries and burn out on top of all this as well???!! Keep it fun for you kids people or they might burn out. I'm far more worried about burning myself out! I'm amazed I lasted this long. If my daughter did not show me some serious talent and specific skills and athleticism, there is no way in hell I'd be doing this still and I love the sport. It's just hard to believe how trapped we become as parents. Then to see our kids get trapped to dominate one position rather than get to experiement everywhere on the field considering the time and money? I finally found my balance with an extra league and our club, so I may be on my road to recovery! Time will tell!
I'm sure I will miss the hell out of it when our time runs out though! LOL!
The nice thing about friendlies between clubs is there's little to no costs other than ref fees + field fees (if the club doesn't already have them rented).
Also, the scores don't matter. So as long as the games are reasonably competitive coaches can move players around + try different things.
They do? What age and what tournaments are they entering? Whos coaching?
Since the defection and re-brand, each year scheduling has gotten worse and worse and this year in particular has been a nightmare in terms of conflicts and the attitude from the office for helping has been "suck it up". Not likely the clubs double down on SoCal/NPL.
Could they break off and form another league? Maybe. It would take multiple big players all willing to coordinate... that would be some big egos to wrangle. .
I think the ones I saw were in the 2011s at surf cup, but I think they do tournaments in the off season or something. I don't see much action besides a few tournaments. They beat the 2011 Blues too. Check them out in the soccer rankings app! Maybe that's the only age group though.
More just competitive friendlies though not high priced tournaments. It would even be cool for clubs to offer a 2nd team with games option like that designed around just playing and growing versatile skills. I truly think we need more fun competitive soccer where they can just play. Fun, but also to enhance connecting and skill instincts without the fear of failure. If I was king, I would build this alternative league for girls to show up and play without many boundaries and for them to experiment with different positions and strategies. Not going to happen, so I'll stay in my lane! LOL!
So….about all the travel talk. Let’s be real and not all act like arrogant a-holes. ECNL Clubs can pick and choose whatever events they want to to.
Nationals is frustrating to me since the finals are not played at that event, that said, if Nationals are on the West Coast, then yes, Finals on East Coast. What should happen is that this scenario should change back and forth every year. That is only fair. Nobody can predict who will make it to Finals ahead of time.
Being a GA family, we have to travel to Silver Lakes, CA 2x this season, Florida, and St. Louis if we make it Finals. GA’s top teams are mostly East Coast so I could make the same Argument as SoCal parents in ECNL however I understand the aim is to make all Clubs travel and spending similar.
End of story, I don’t think any family should be spending extra just because one area “has the best teams”. I actually feel ECNL does a better job than GA when it comes to Showcases and Championships.
Nationals is frustrating to me since the finals are not played at that event, that said, if Nationals are on the West Coast, then yes, Finals on East Coast. What should happen is that this scenario should change back and forth every year. That is only fair. Nobody can predict who will make it to Finals ahead of time.
Being a GA family, we have to travel to Silver Lakes, CA 2x this season, Florida, and St. Louis if we make it Finals. GA’s top teams are mostly East Coast so I could make the same Argument as SoCal parents in ECNL however I understand the aim is to make all Clubs travel and spending similar.
End of story, I don’t think any family should be spending extra just because one area “has the best teams”. I actually feel ECNL does a better job than GA when it comes to Showcases and Championships.
Shooting Star
SILVER
I’m
does everyone have fields like Surf? and Richmond VA holds finals every year - headquarters. However I’d like to finally play PDA in jersey - in the peak of fall foliage - I’d welcome east coast showcase one time at least and eat real garlic knots. Money is stupid. How about pooling funds - zero parking fees at surf and Seattle for semis ? Are you for real?
Update from the great state of Texas, Lonestar, GA is now Sting Austin. Sting Austin hired their coach, she brought 15 of their players including their YNT players. They will get to ruin the party for a few teams this year. I know you Californians probably don’t care, but this is just an FYI.