ECNL vs ECRL

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soccerdad904

BRONZE
What do y'all think are the main differences between ECNL vs ECRL besides level of play? Are ECRL games/showcases generally more "regional" than ECNL at least in San Diego? Is the level of exposure the same or close? Do you see many ECRL players getting scholarship offers or would they generally need to be on ECNL? Is it as simple as the article below?

https://traceup.com/ecnl-vs-ecrl
 
ECNL has more available "Events" throughout the year for showcasing talent in different areas. ECRL only has a few options during the year. College recruiters will focus on ECNL events. In SoCal, the league play travel requirments/distances are identicaly mirrored between the two. While ECNL team is playing at home against an opponet, ECRL is playing the same oppenent away, and vise-versa. There are some schedule exceptions to this throughout the year, but that is the norm (of course level of play is different, but the gap has been closing creating significant overlap).
 
There is nothing more "regional" about ECRL when compared to ECNL. They play the exact same teams (on girls side) as noted above by Code. ECRL is essentially the 2nd/reserve team to ECNL. Nobody willingly chooses ECRL over ECNL.
 
rainbow_unicorn said:
There is nothing more "regional" about ECRL when compared to ECNL. They play the exact same teams (on girls side) as noted above by Code. ECRL is essentially the 2nd/reserve team to ECNL. Nobody willingly chooses ECRL over ECNL.
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Travel is identical, as RU said. Even for away games, our RL teams play on the exact same fields as our NL teams.

The difference is just level of play, and level of exposure.

That translates to significant impacts on playing time and level of competition. RL will mean more minutes against weaker opponents. NL will mean fewer minutes against stronger opponents.

If the NL team has over 18 players, it can mean a lot fewer minutes. There are only 18 roster slots each game; any additional players sit out. If your goal is exposure or playing time, I'd recommend avoiding teams carrying very large rosters.
 
This is more of an observation and not a hard stat, but I have seen more girls get recruited to D1 programs who IMO should have been cut from their ECNL club team (for lots of reasons) but kept on because they had an athletic/physical characteristic a coach preferred. This also includes players trying to move and not making an ECNL team at another club. Therefore, under these circumstances ECNL has definitely done its job if you don't mind going to a school that is not on your list. On a smaller scale I have seen this at GA too and I definitely scratch my head a lot.
 
nomo said:
IS there typically a club fee/cost difference between RL and NL? or is it the same cost?
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I can only speak for DPL-GA and the difference in just sign up fees was/is around $200. Both traveled similarly to different locals. GA has a event or two more depending on how your team does, etc.
 
socalkdg said:
For Recruiting purposes, girls side. D1. Based off some basic research from incoming D1 2023 players.

ECNL 60% of players. GA 25% of players ECRL (and great players from NPL, Premier, etc) 15% of players.
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I bet most of the 60% 25% and 15% played on the top teams in each league they play in.

Which aligns with what I've been saying. Playing in a specific league isn't a golden ticket to playing in college. Playing on the the top 10% or 1% of teams in different leagues is.
 
Carlsbad7 said:
I bet most of the 60% 25% and 15% played on the top teams in each league they play in.

Which aligns with what I've been saying. Playing in a specific league isn't a golden ticket to playing in college. Playing on the the top 10% or 1% of teams in different leagues is.
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Lolz. City SC / GA shill extraordinaire…conjecture not facts is your specialty….if your DD is a good enough player, and I hope and am sure that they are, they’ll make it without the need for ad nauseum propaganda

on topic….ECRL and ECNL costs the same at the two clubs I am familiar with as a datapoint
 
Carlsbad7 said:
I bet most of the 60% 25% and 15% played on the top teams in each league they play in.

Which aligns with what I've been saying. Playing in a specific league isn't a golden ticket to playing in college. Playing on the the top 10% or 1% of teams in different leagues is.
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And this is something that can be calculated rather than assumed. GA shows 14000 players, 94 clubs here. Can't find a clean total # of ECNL Girls players, but it shows 120 clubs with ECNL Girls here. If there is a population number available - please let me know so I can update.

Playing in a specific league isn't a golden ticket - but ECNL apparently manages to send many more girls than GA to D1, accounting for the different populations. ECNL-girls shows as only 27% more clubs, but well over twice the D1 recruits. Seeing as ECNL dominates the top 10, the top 50, and the top 100, this aligns with the thinking that the better team you're on, the more visibility you will have, and the better the chances for recruitment. Does that mean nobody else has a chance? Of course not - not by a long shot. But assuming there are equal chances available across the board doesn't match the easily available info.

What the numbers can't show as easily, is for when the specific choices for a player are between a weaker team in a strong bracket, or a stronger team in a weak bracket - which would provide more exposure for a particular player. And another hard to answer conundrum is whether it's better to be a standout starter on a weaker team, or a more marginal player on the best team available.
 
futboldad1 said:
Lolz. City SC / GA shill extraordinaire…conjecture not facts is your specialty….if your DD is a good enough player, and I hope and am sure that they are, they’ll make it without the need for ad nauseum propaganda

on topic….ECRL and ECNL costs the same at the two clubs I am familiar with as a datapoint
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Does a parent that's been through it all have to comment again + relay that once you get to college nobody cares what league you played in as a youth?

Shill? I made a statement that I think most D1 players will come from the top 10% to 1% of the teams playing in whatever league they play in.

Logically the teams that win a lot will have the best players.
 
RandomSoccerFan said:
And this is something that can be calculated rather than assumed. GA shows 14000 players, 94 clubs here. Can't find a clean total # of ECNL Girls players, but it shows 120 clubs with ECNL Girls here. If there is a population number available - please let me know so I can update.
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Assume you meant 1400 players. ;)
 
soccerdad904 said:
What do y'all think are the main differences between ECNL vs ECRL besides level of play? Are ECRL games/showcases generally more "regional" than ECNL at least in San Diego? Is the level of exposure the same or close? Do you see many ECRL players getting scholarship offers or would they generally need to be on ECNL? Is it as simple as the article below?

https://traceup.com/ecnl-vs-ecrl
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ECRL does play the same days as ECNL for league games, as others have mentioned. However; most ECRL clubs in SoCal get shortchanged on the showcase side. There are fewer showcases for ECRL teams compared to the 3 required showcases for ECNL clubs to attend each season. Just last year, ECRL finally had a national playoff (only for the teams who finished in 1st place in their respective league; whereas ECNL invites 44 teams to the Champions League playoffs followed by another trip to Richmond for the final 8 playoffs (except for the oldest age group who finish the playoffs the same week as the Champions League). So they finally added dedicated ECRL showcases last year, probably in response to the well-organized GA showcases that were attracting ECRL players in hopes of getting exposure.

To answer your questions directly, the exposure level is not even close. ECNL, by far, gets the most exposure. The big clubs in SoCal have much better ECRL teams than the weaker clubs. These big club players are sometimes getting moved up to the ECNL teams (Koge, Surf, Slammers, Legends) and these big club ECRL teams will beat most of the lesser clubs‘ ECNL sides and nearly all the Socal GA teams. As the players age up around u16 in ECRL, that’s when they realize that exposure to college coaches is lacking, and they start to drive to the weaker ECNL clubs to get that exposure at Showcases.
For the most part, if you are going the ECRL route, the best way to get in front of a coach is at the institutions’s ID camp.
Lastly, ECRL and ECNL annual costs are the same at the majority of SoCal clubs.
Good luck!
 
If the goal is to play college soccer, a player can do that with any team they are on frankly. It just depends how much work your kid is willing to do on their own (contacting coaches, attending tons of ID camps, etc) and if they are willing to be realistic and very flexible about the college, college location and level. You as a parent also have to be willing to drive them, support them, etc. An ECRL team may be the right fit and with the right outreach and realistic college goals, it is the best scenario for them. I honestly don’t think ECRL as an overall label will give more exposure than a NPL team, for example. It’s all about how your kid markets themselves.

If your kid objectively has the skill, motivation and wants to play at a high level, the top 2-3 SoCal ECNL and GA teams offer the best college exposure and most challenging environments. But, once again, it’s what you make of it. If your kid sits the bench or doesn’t have a coach who wants to help them reach their goals, it’s going to take probably the same amount of work to get exposure. You can travel to all the showcase, BUT what’s the point if your kid isn’t playing. Saying your kid is on a particular team only gets them so far. Your kid will have to do their own work to get noticed/on the radar of D1 coaches and it might be tough if they aren’t getting real play time to get good highlights, get real game experience so they play well at ID camps, have coaches who are reaching out to college coaches/advocating, and have the confidence to showcase their skills. I still think the BEST combo is play at the highest level team where: they are going to play a ton, the coach supports them to reach their goals, and they are given opportunities by the club/coach.
 
LouSag said:
To answer your questions directly, the exposure level is not even close. ECNL, by far, gets the most exposure. The big clubs in SoCal have much better ECRL teams than the weaker clubs. These big club players are sometimes getting moved up to the ECNL teams (Koge, Surf, Slammers, Legends) and these big club ECRL teams will beat most of the lesser clubs‘ ECNL sides and nearly all the Socal GA teams. As the players age up around u16 in ECRL, that’s when they realize that exposure to college coaches is lacking, and they start to drive to the weaker ECNL clubs to get that exposure at Showcases.
For the most part, if you are going the ECRL route, the best way to get in front of a coach is at the institutions’s ID camp.
Lastly, ECRL and ECNL annual costs are the same at the majority of SoCal clubs.
Good luck!
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I remember last year when they tried to combine the ECNL/ECRL Showcase dates in Phoenix. My friends on the ECRL side were at another venue an hour away from the ECNL site at Reach 11. He said there were maybe 1 or 2 scouts at their games. Maybe that's why the ECRL teams aren't having their Showcase at the same time this year.
 
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