NPL

Has anyone had their GK and team play NPL? My kid's team is apparently going this route in the fall, rather than play SCDSL. I just have no idea what to expect, as we are pretty new to soccer.
thanks!
 
Presumably you are referring to the NPL West (National Premier League), which is a league operated under the sanctioning of US Club soccer (as opposed to U.S. Youth Soccer/Cal South). The NPL in SoCal is further administered by the management team that also runs Coast Soccer League.

Taking a step back, the NPL is a US Club Soccer league (similar to CRL), in that the USSF Youth Affiliate, US Club Soccer, operates the league. There are other boys leagues operated by US Club Soccer (Premiere League, etc.). ECNL is a separate National League that is "sanctioned by" US Club Soccer, but not operated by US Club. ECNL is its own entity, but closely aligned with US Club, which is why US Club puts them on their website.

US Club Soccer and ECNL (Boys) got together and said, let's have a combined National Championship where we bring together the best ECNL Boys and NPL teams and play. This is called the Elite National Premier League

NPL West started as a Spring League and now is moving into a Fall League, which simply means a few teams (read teams not clubs) are pulling out of SCDSL and Coast to play in the NPL West. So why???

First, USYS/CalNorth is extremely weak in NorCal. All the higher level teams are basically US Club sanctioned teams, if California teams want to play the better NorCal teams in league competition ... US Club is the avenue. US Club has been itching to start getting a boys league in SoCal (they have girls ... ECNL). US Club is really starting to push and give CalSouth some competition. The fall NPL and Boys ECNL represent the first genuine attempt at this. For those clubs with DA programs, NPL affords them an opportunity to place their B Team (or boys that have no interest in the DA's oppressive HS rules) in a league that has a path to a National Championship and showcase events and break through the USYS/Cal South noise.

Second, the clubs with teams in the US Club Soccer system have another option from a marketing stand point. Players could conceivably be club-passed (dual rostered) to an SCDSL/Coast Team (Cal South), play in the NPL or Boys ECNL, and make an appearance as a development play on a DA team.
 
Registration just opened for the SCNPL. My assumption is that this is just a spring league with a route to the NPL national competition, but isn't otherwise directly connected to NPL West. Is that right? If you do this competition, does it mean you can't really do CRL or do you just block off a weekend for the play-in dates for CRL (assuming you don't qualify automatically through National Cup)?

And to provide the connection to GKs since I'm reviving a thread in the GK Forum (although I'm not sure why it started here) for a strong boys HS-age GK on a top flight, but middling top flight, team, can something like SCNPL/CRL provide college recruiting opportunities to make up for the team's lack of competitiveness for invites to top tournaments or would going DA be the better bet? Assume HS soccer is a relative non-factor since the kid goes to a small school, but assume a DA team would likely be a shared GK spot.
 
Registration just opened for the SCNPL. My assumption is that this is just a spring league with a route to the NPL national competition, but isn't otherwise directly connected to NPL West. Is that right? If you do this competition, does it mean you can't really do CRL or do you just block off a weekend for the play-in dates for CRL (assuming you don't qualify automatically through National Cup)?

And to provide the connection to GKs since I'm reviving a thread in the GK Forum (although I'm not sure why it started here) for a strong boys HS-age GK on a top flight, but middling top flight, team, can something like SCNPL/CRL provide college recruiting opportunities to make up for the team's lack of competitiveness for invites to top tournaments or would going DA be the better bet? Assume HS soccer is a relative non-factor since the kid goes to a small school, but assume a DA team would likely be a shared GK spot.

"College Showcase" tournaments tend to be a waste of time for the boys side. With 1/2 of the scholarships available compared to girls, coaches that attend showcases tend to be looking at field players and only rarely GK's. Its not uncommon that you will see 30 women's recruiters and 5 men's at a tournament. My point here is don't put too much weight into this piece. Play on the team because its good practice and excellent development opportunity. When college coaches attend these tournaments they most often are there to support and reconfirm kids they already recruited based on contacts/video.

With regard to GK's. My understanding for most coaches is their eyes light up when they see 6'3" to 6'5" ish, GK with top flight experience that sends in a video showing the skills. DA or no-DA, not relevant if your kid is in the sweet spot on paper and has a video to back it up. GK is a unique position, with most coaches believing they can take that raw HS aged GK and form them into a star with their superior coaching. Also be prepared to sit on the shelf until after the Junior HS year, with many college coaches recruiting GK's last.

At 6'1" and below the DA pedigree will certainly help get some boys a look if they don't measure up on paper. What will matter to most college coaches is GK's that fit their mold. All one needs to do is check out the Rosters for the schools you are looking at. Look at the GK's height for the starting GKs (ignore the practice fodder GKs) and that will give you an indication of the preference. If the boys physical characteristics fall within that preference, then the DA pedigree could very well put his resume on top.

If your kid has a few schools he is interested in and he falls into what they are looking for then the most bang for the buck will be attending the ID camp (aka fundraiser) for that particular school.
 
Just finished our first NPL season (High school age range-Boys).
VERY disappointing play. This is a group of clubs that want to market this league as the "Pre-DA" league.

We had played SCDSL since its inception and the competition was noticeably better.
 
Just finished our first NPL season (High school age range-Boys).
VERY disappointing play. This is a group of clubs that want to market this league as the "Pre-DA" league.

We had played SCDSL since its inception and the competition was noticeably better.

Heard the same from others, for some reason the fall version was even weaker than the spring version. 3rd teams in this for fall instead or the normal 2nd's or those that play HS & club.
 
just finished up our non-HS aged season and it was okay. I think it was done largely for the convenience of the DA coaches,since most DA games are on Saturday and DA2/NPL games were scheduled for Sunday.
 
With regard to GK's. My understanding for most coaches is their eyes light up when they see 6'3" to 6'5" ish, GK with top flight experience that sends in a video showing the skills. DA or no-DA, not relevant if your kid is in the sweet spot on paper and has a video to back it up. GK is a unique position, with most coaches believing they can take that raw HS aged GK and form them into a star with their superior coaching. Also be prepared to sit on the shelf until after the Junior HS year, with many college coaches recruiting GK's last.

Yet another reason why if we want to form a dynamic USMNT the 4 years of lost development in college needs to address.

BTW, Tifo and the EPL ran a survey on GK height to determine if perhaps a discussion needs to be had over increasing goal sizes (even though Fifa and Ifab hold final authority). They determined that GK height in the top English leagues had been historically increasing, but not efficiency. Apparently after 6'3" the ability of goalkeepers to snatch up ground shots decreases. At current goalsize, apparently 6'1 to 6'3 is the supposed sweet spot to cover both the high and the low, and wing span is more important than height. Interesting this is an idea that has been well known in water polo circles for a while now (with GK tending to be these relatively tall guys with big gangly arms).
 
Wing span is also an important aspect for basketball players. Rebounding, defending, blocking shots. A kid can make up a couple inches in height by having a couple extra inches of arm length. Combine with jumping ability, and the differences would become negligible.
 
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