DA vs ECNL Requirements

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Firstly, this is not a thread about which league is better. Just facts please! I was asked given equal cost, driving distance, recruiting and coaching, what exactly are the expectations for DA vs ECNL. Having no experience with girls DA I don’t know how to answer this. I think the 4 days a week practices scare off a lot of families due to the time commitment required by both the parent and child. Are kiddos expected to attend all practices and are some film review or conditioning? If you miss too many practices are you benched or kicked off the team? I think it is great that at least with DA, kiddos are guaranteed minimum playing time. I’ve seen plenty of kiddos ride the pine at ECNL showcases. To me it looks like ECNL teams are carrying a lot more players than DA teams, probably due to DA coaches realizing they need to meet the minimum playing requirements.

My generic response is that kids that cannot get enough of soccer should play DA. Kiddos that want to play HS, want a more balanced life, need more time to study or want to focus on working with a private trainer should play ECNL or another league. Your thoughts...
 
Firstly, this is not a thread about which league is better. Just facts please! I was asked given equal cost, driving distance, recruiting and coaching, what exactly are the expectations for DA vs ECNL. Having no experience with girls DA I don’t know how to answer this. I think the 4 days a week practices scare off a lot of families due to the time commitment required by both the parent and child. Are kiddos expected to attend all practices and are some film review or conditioning? If you miss too many practices are you benched or kicked off the team? I think it is great that at least with DA, kiddos are guaranteed minimum playing time. I’ve seen plenty of kiddos ride the pine at ECNL showcases. To me it looks like ECNL teams are carrying a lot more players than DA teams, probably due to DA coaches realizing they need to meet the minimum playing requirements.

My generic response is that kids that cannot get enough of soccer should play DA. Kiddos that want to play HS, want a more balanced life, need more time to study or want to focus on working with a private trainer should play ECNL or another league. Your thoughts...

My son played DA last season and my daughter plays ECNL this season so here it goes (this is a my personal opinion/experience, results by vary club to club)...
DA - 4 practices a week - no excuses for missing a practice. Doesn't matter if the player is sick, he can sit and watch the practice. Got a big homework assignment or need to study for a test, so do all the other players (straight quote from his coach).
DA Travel time - Going East in the L.A. area sucks, practice took 40-50 minutes to go 16 miles, quicker going home. Home field was 44 miles away. Away games...it is what it is...We had one player driving 70 miles each way to practice, and he hardly played. Plus no other player lived near us so we were on our own.
DA Cost - Was lucky, pretty much a fully funded club. That varies a lot club to club.
DA Field time - Only sub once per game. Some kids didn't play at all. Miss too many practices and the player in the doghouse.
DA Roster - Had 25+ on the roster but only 18 can dress. Other kids may or may not play DPL. I believe DPL players are part time players and can only play no more than 6 DA teams. Please correct me if that's wrong.
DA Showcases - Many start in the middle of the weeks. The LA Galaxy one that was at OC Park started on Wednesday. US National Team scouts are at the games so at least with the boys, it was almost like every boy for themselves to make themself look good. Only did a couple of showcases though.

ECNL - 2 practices a week and 1 day most weeks for film study. Coach understands players get sick. Does't hold a grudge.
ECNL Travel Time - Practice is 37 miles away and takes 50 minutes to an hour, quicker coming home. Home field is at the same place most games. Away games in Nevada and Arizona. 2 showcases in Arizona and next year one in New Jersey. Lucky for us, we have 4-5 other players that live close to us so we do carpool time to time.
ECNL Cost - 2k+. Fall showcase killed us. Our team was at the bottom of the hotel lottery so the girls got to stay at some 5 star resort. Sounds nice until you fork over $250 for your kid alone for her room (room cost split 4 ways as there are 4 girls per room). Then us parents needed a room also. I stayed at the Resort of Best Western for just over $300 for 3 nights. Add fuel and eating and it's a big hit on the wallet.
ECNL Game time - Few play all game, most see 50-75% of field time. No one rides the bench all game. Can be subbed out only once in the 1st half but that resets in the 2nd half.
ECNL Roster - Players can be dual rostered, on the ECNL and ECRL teams. If there is an injury, and RL player can play up and vice versa.
ECNL Showcases - Depends on the age group. U15 must do the 2 Phoenix showcases which are pretty nice. U16 & 17 adds in the New Jersey PDA Showcase. Lots and lots of college coaches at the Phoenix showcase.

So, again in my opinion, both takes an incredible amount of commitment from both player and parent. Education is the key factor here. My son's grades did drop with the 4 practices a week. My daughter is a little better with her schoolwork. But that's the main reason we pulled our son off the DA team and now he plays on a Discovery team. Of course every damn game is at Silverlakes...don't get me started on that...lol
But if your kid struggles with schoolwork, then maybe a SCDSL or CSL team would be a better fit. Of course there's the "I want to play high school" word, so everyone knows that's a no-no for DA (yeah yeah...loopholes).
 
If you have to ask about the required commitment and how many practices you can miss- then you aren’t ready for either league.
It’s a full time commitment and coaches will add and remove trainings on the fly.
My ds DA team did not really follow the rules and some kids seldom came to practice due to parents working or commute distance. They just cared about winning and did not want to alienate unicorns. But it appears that on the girls side, the requirements for DA are enforced?

Our experience with ECNL was that if you missed a practice you did not start. Plenty of quality players on that team that the coach could hold players accountable.
 
I’ll add that whether you play scdsl, Coast, DA or ECNL- that you really shouldn’t be missing any practices or games during the season.
Maybe a wedding or a funeral would be ok. And if you catch the flu.
But when you sign up for a competitive sports environment, you don’t get to skip a practice because you have too much homework or because you want to celebrate your aunts birthday.
You really should be trying to schedule any vacations around tournament and league play.(If your team has a reasonable tournament schedule. If they are playing 6+ tournaments, that’s a different story) As long as your team has published their tournament plans far enough in advance.
Certainly the higher the level, the more committed you should be. For a “C” level team to schedule 6 tournaments with 2 of the requiring overnight travel, Id question your coach on the reasoning for so many tournaments, when you’d be better served by scheduling friendlies.
 
It is interesting watching your multiple personalities evolve.
I'm still trying to figure who you are Fact. I like you and I know my ego EJ came in here hard and you smacked him back and rightfully so I might add. I rubbed many the wrong way and on behalf of EJ, please forgive him. Dom punished EJ as many Principles did to me when I was in grade school. My alter ego Justus wanted Justice but he saw no hope and gave up. I was truly confused back in 2015, 2016, 2017 and some 2018. Newwavedave is the true me. Happy to be alive and really working on living one day at a time and try not to look back at all the What Ifs!!!!
 
I’ll add that whether you play scdsl, Coast, DA or ECNL- that you really shouldn’t be missing any practices or games during the season.
Maybe a wedding or a funeral would be ok. And if you catch the flu.
But when you sign up for a competitive sports environment, you don’t get to skip a practice because you have too much homework or because you want to celebrate your aunts birthday.
You really should be trying to schedule any vacations around tournament and league play.(If your team has a reasonable tournament schedule. If they are playing 6+ tournaments, that’s a different story) As long as your team has published their tournament plans far enough in advance.
Certainly the higher the level, the more committed you should be. For a “C” level team to schedule 6 tournaments with 2 of the requiring overnight travel, Id question your coach on the reasoning for so many tournaments, when you’d be better served by scheduling friendlies.
Hey coach, it all depends how you negotiate with DA or ECNL teams, trust me :) With so many teams now, you can just about get what you want if you make enough calls. I will share only the Facts and nothing but the Facts, so help me God!!!! I won't share how EJ or Justus feels. Just the damm Facts~~~~
 
I'm still trying to figure who you are Fact. I like you and I know my ego EJ came in here hard and you smacked him back and rightfully so I might add. I rubbed many the wrong way and on behalf of EJ, please forgive him. Dom punished EJ as many Principles did to me when I was in grade school. My alter ego Justus wanted Justice but he saw no hope and gave up. I was truly confused back in 2015, 2016, 2017 and some 2018. Newwavedave is the true me. Happy to be alive and really working on living one day at a time and try not to look back at all the What Ifs!!!!
Karl Malone often referred to himself in third person.
 
My ds DA team did not really follow the rules and some kids seldom came to practice due to parents working or commute distance. They just cared about winning and did not want to alienate unicorns. But it appears that on the girls side, the requirements for DA are enforced?

Our experience with ECNL was that if you missed a practice you did not start. Plenty of quality players on that team that the coach could hold players accountable.
Both my daughters are at a DA club. Practice is a must. And time played on the field is reflected in their attendance. Most players do not miss on their teams.
 
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Firstly, this is not a thread about which league is better. Just facts please! I was asked given equal cost, driving distance, recruiting and coaching, what exactly are the expectations for DA vs ECNL. Having no experience with girls DA I don’t know how to answer this. I think the 4 days a week practices scare off a lot of families due to the time commitment required by both the parent and child. Are kiddos expected to attend all practices and are some film review or conditioning? If you miss too many practices are you benched or kicked off the team? I think it is great that at least with DA, kiddos are guaranteed minimum playing time. I’ve seen plenty of kiddos ride the pine at ECNL showcases. To me it looks like ECNL teams are carrying a lot more players than DA teams, probably due to DA coaches realizing they need to meet the minimum playing requirements.

My generic response is that kids that cannot get enough of soccer should play DA. Kiddos that want to play HS, want a more balanced life, need more time to study or want to focus on working with a private trainer should play ECNL or another league. Your thoughts...
Info only, many DA players work with private trainers and love just playing. By the way, the DA girls certainly have a balanced life and most have really tough academic schedules and have top grades. Academic requirements at top schools are high. If a player can not handle the rigors of DA practice plus academics, college soccer would be a really tough transition for them. There is plenty of time for shopping, internet browsing and just hanging out with friends, charity league, football games etc. Anyone who says differently probably doesn't have a player in DA or has a player who can't handle it. That's okay, there is a spot for all types of players.
 
Info only, many DA players work with private trainers and love just playing. By the way, the DA girls certainly have a balanced life and most have really tough academic schedules and have top grades. Academic requirements at top schools are high. If a player can not handle the rigors of DA practice plus academics, college soccer would be a really tough transition for them. There is plenty of time for shopping, internet browsing and just hanging out with friends, charity league, football games etc. Anyone who says differently probably doesn't have a player in DA or has a player who can't handle it. That's okay, there is a spot for all types of players.
Well put!
 
Info only, many DA players work with private trainers and love just playing. By the way, the DA girls certainly have a balanced life and most have really tough academic schedules and have top grades. Academic requirements at top schools are high. If a player can not handle the rigors of DA practice plus academics, college soccer would be a really tough transition for them. There is plenty of time for shopping, internet browsing and just hanging out with friends, charity league, football games etc. Anyone who says differently probably doesn't have a player in DA or has a player who can't handle it. That's okay, there is a spot for all types of players.
Great post. Totally agree with this.
 
Great post. Totally agree with this.
Of course you do, what else is new.....lol! Just kidding. Whatever club your at seems really nice and demanding for the riggers of the YNT life and if that doesn't happen. college soccer life 3 months out of the year. Cool club your at bro. I'll share my Facts later about my clubs. I believe you too. Just know, not all clubs are created equally :)
 
Of course you do, what else is new.....lol! Just kidding. Whatever club your at seems really nice and demanding for the riggers of the YNT life and if that doesn't happen. college soccer life 3 months out of the year. Cool club your at bro. I'll share my Facts later about my clubs. I believe you too. Just know, not all clubs are created equally :)
I agreed with this because LC described my two daughters in how they approach academics, their personal life, and extracurricular activities.
 
Both my daughters are at LAG.
Awesome. Thanks for sharing. Best two DA clubs in that area are Beach and Galaxy. I hear nothing but positives from others who have played at both clubs. It's not the same in other places. I'm happy for you and your dd. Peace brah!!!!
 
Awesome. Thanks for sharing. Best two DA clubs in that area are Beach and Galaxy. I hear nothing but positives from others who have played at both clubs. It's not the same in other places. I'm happy for you and your dd. Peace brah!!!!
Beach does a good job. Their club president SG is very involved and hands on. You can often see him at games and his kids are not even playing. He’s their supporting other teams.
 
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