'22-'23 SoCal and National Forecast and Updates

Since the new Season has officially started, I thought I would start the new thread!

So, anyone who read last year's thread knew where I stood from the beginning. I think I had a pretty good handle on things Nation wide. This year is a little different because I didn't travel as much nationally to 3v3 and Futsal tournaments where I was able to both see and hear about other teams.

First, and most importantly, is SoCal because that is what this forum is for after all. I don't know much about player movement in the area so I am curious to hear your feedback! I think as the season ended we could probably go with the following:

1. San Diego Surf ECNL
2. Blues ECNL
3. Slammers Koge ECNL
4. Beach ECNL
5. SDSC Surf GA
6. Legends ECNL
7. Eagles ECNL
8. Del Mar Sharks ECNL

***I can't take too much stock into Surf Cup as I am willing to bet players were missing.

I'll predict now that PDA Blue will be National Champions next year HOWEVER I think it will be a PDA Blue vs. Real Colorado/SoCal ECNL representative. I was PM'ed by someone letting me know that Solar may take a step back this year, but that is tough to say since they have such a large pool to pull from.

GA Champion prediction is Houston Dash who will take a win over Nationals in the final.

As for USYS, I think KC Legends makes it back to the final but suffering a loss to LV Surf or NJ Blaze.

Keeping it simple this year!!!
 
You are off on your SoCal rankings.

1. Blues
2. Surf
3. Koge
4. Sharks
5. Eagles / Beach

I have no idea what happened to Legends. If anyone has insight on that situation I am interested.
 
You are off on your SoCal rankings.

1. Blues
2. Surf
3. Koge
4. Sharks
5. Eagles / Beach

I have no idea what happened to Legends. If anyone has insight on that situation I am interested.
Just curious, in ECNL, do only 3 teams from each division in socal make the playoffs? With your rankings the 4th best team in socal would then miss the playoffs which seems unfair...
 
Well, recent ECNL playoffs would say otherwise
Well the recent Surf Cup would say so. So would the head to head record over the last year.

Surf is a better footballing team. No doubt. But results matter.

I have been self righteous of some club and coach footballing styles and specifically Blues extremely direct style but some college coaches prefer that. And most people and specifically parents who pay for club soccer are attracted to winning.
 
Just curious, in ECNL, do only 3 teams from each division in socal make the playoffs? With your rankings the 4th best team in socal would then miss the playoffs which seems unfair...

I don’t know if I would call it unfair. There are a few strong divisions Nationwide and a few weak ones. While Socal teams that don’t make the cut, and others from other divisions may be lesser teams, I guess ECNL thinks it is creating diversity as a whole with representation from around the country.

If I was running ECNL, I would probably change the system up somehow with the showcases so that some of the better teams that miss out get a chance. Then again, at older ages playoffs include different tiers for the National event. I guess by winning the 2nd tier, that would be the way of giving the middle finger to the qualifying stage.
 
If what their roster shows today is accurate, they are definitely making a step forward and Blues a big step back.
 
What happened to Legends the 2nd half of last league season? Has there been player movement between Blues and Legends?
 
Since the new Season has officially started, I thought I would start the new thread!

So, anyone who read last year's thread knew where I stood from the beginning. I think I had a pretty good handle on things Nation wide. This year is a little different because I didn't travel as much nationally to 3v3 and Futsal tournaments where I was able to both see and hear about other teams.

First, and most importantly, is SoCal because that is what this forum is for after all. I don't know much about player movement in the area so I am curious to hear your feedback! I think as the season ended we could probably go with the following:

1. San Diego Surf ECNL
2. Blues ECNL
3. Slammers Koge ECNL
4. Beach ECNL
5. SDSC Surf GA
6. Legends ECNL
7. Eagles ECNL
8. Del Mar Sharks ECNL

***I can't take too much stock into Surf Cup as I am willing to bet players were missing.

I'll predict now that PDA Blue will be National Champions next year HOWEVER I think it will be a PDA Blue vs. Real Colorado/SoCal ECNL representative. I was PM'ed by someone letting me know that Solar may take a step back this year, but that is tough to say since they have such a large pool to pull from.

GA Champion prediction is Houston Dash who will take a win over Nationals in the final.

As for USYS, I think KC Legends makes it back to the final but suffering a loss to LV Surf or NJ Blaze.

Keeping it simple this year!!!
In regards to Solar, they didn't get better as far as personnel is concerned, in fact, they lost a couple of players. They added one girl from their ECRL team and will play light with 15. That is where it ends. If they stay healthy, they are a nightmare of a team to deal with, the speed they play at is incredible and they have athletes across the board. Although their pool is big, every decent player has now dispersed to the other ECNL teams.
 
It's tough to keep all of the best players in an area on one team as there will inevitably be unhappiness around starting spots, playing time, position, role, etc. Families also begin to realize that being on the best winning team isn't necessarily the best thing for their player's development.
 
It's tough to keep all of the best players in an area on one team as there will inevitably be unhappiness around starting spots, playing time, position, role, etc. Families also begin to realize that being on the best winning team isn't necessarily the best thing for their player's development.
100% truth....happened to my daughter. Moving to different 09 ECNL team was the best thing for her development, plus she is much happier with new Coach...Not about wins or losses, it's purely about development at this age ..
 
So at this point in the season it looks like not much has changed. Both Solar and PDA are just beating up on teams. SoCal is enjoying some parody which I think is great. Just means good competition. Matchfit has pretty much fallen off now and no longer in the picture. Long season to go, but I am thinking rematch between PDA and Solar is almost inevitable.

GA is a little more interesting...if you are interested, lol, but that isn't going to be the case in SoCal.
 
So at this point in the season it looks like not much has changed. Both Solar and PDA are just beating up on teams. SoCal is enjoying some parody which I think is great. Just means good competition. Matchfit has pretty much fallen off now and no longer in the picture. Long season to go, but I am thinking rematch between PDA and Solar is almost inevitable.

GA is a little more interesting...if you are interested, lol, but that isn't going to be the case in SoCal.

Is there anywhere GA is interesting to anyone other than GA families?

Dash is a favorite to win the U14 GA title this year, but probably wouldnt even be a Champions League team in the Texas ECNL conference (top 3). In other words, they are the probably 4th best team in their own state (behind Solar, DKSC, and maybe FC Dallas), but arguably the best GA team in the country.
 
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