SW Club Rankings So Far

[Desert Hound]

Slow day at work. Systems are down. Lots of time to look around all corners of the internet.

Based on pts per game through both divisions. Then ranked clubs 1-17 overall.

As of what is posted online from top to bottom. Just a sum of what position they ended up in over all age groups. Some clubs had the same numbers.

koge	10
legends	15
surf	27
beach	31
blues	31
slammers	43
rebels	47
sporting	61
lafc	61
royals	62
eagles	64
arsenal	67
strikers	69
heat	74
breakers	78
rising	79
sharks	90

 

[Speed]

what

Slow day at work. Systems are down. Lots of time to look around all corners of the internet.

Based on pts per game through both divisions. Then ranked clubs 1-17 overall.

As of what is posted online from top to bottom. Just a sum of what position they ended up in over all age groups. Some clubs had the same numbers.

koge	10
legends	15
surf	27
beach	31
blues	31
slammers	43
rebels	47
sporting	61
lafc	61
royals	62
eagles	64
arsenal	67
strikers	69
heat	74
breakers	78
rising	79
sharks	90

what do you mean both divisions?

 

[Desert Hound]

what

what do you mean both divisions?

Well in the SW they split it into Mojave and Sonoran. So I looked at points per game...and then per age group ranked them 1 to 17.

Then looked at current ranking across all age groups by club. And ordered them as such.

 

[what-happened]

Slow day at work. Systems are down. Lots of time to look around all corners of the internet.

Based on pts per game through both divisions. Then ranked clubs 1-17 overall.

As of what is posted online from top to bottom. Just a sum of what position they ended up in over all age groups. Some clubs had the same numbers.

koge	10
legends	15
surf	27
beach	31
blues	31
slammers	43
rebels	47
sporting	61
lafc	61
royals	62
eagles	64
arsenal	67
strikers	69
heat	74
breakers	78
rising	79
sharks	90

Not a banner year for the AZ teams. Hurts that the Rising 06 team has scored 2 goals and their 05s are underperforming. Overall, the 06s are not doing very well. The Royals seniors are as advertised. Hoping for a better 2nd half and fuller rosters.

 

[Footy30]

Slow day at work. Systems are down. Lots of time to look around all corners of the internet.

Based on pts per game through both divisions. Then ranked clubs 1-17 overall.

As of what is posted online from top to bottom. Just a sum of what position they ended up in over all age groups. Some clubs had the same numbers.

koge	10
legends	15
surf	27
beach	31
blues	31
slammers	43
rebels	47
sporting	61
lafc	61
royals	62
eagles	64
arsenal	67
strikers	69
heat	74
breakers	78
rising	79
sharks	90

haha dang hound, when I'm bored at work I am not this productive... good stuff!
Aren't Sporting and Arsenal the same team?

 

[Kicker4Life]

haha dang hound, when I'm bored at work I am not this productive... good stuff!
Aren't Sporting and Arsenal the same team?

AZ Arsenal v Sporting Arsenal

 

[Kicker4Life]

Hoping for a better 2nd half and fuller rosters.

I’m with you there. My youngest DD’s team has 3 starters out with ACL’s and 3 other starters out with foot/ankle injuries. Our club his nickname the squad the MASH unit!

We should have all but one back after the high school break. We are very much looking forward to being back at full strength.

 

[Desert Hound]

Not a banner year for the AZ teams. Hurts that the Rising 06 team has scored 2 goals and their 05s are underperforming. Overall, the 06s are not doing very well. The Royals seniors are as advertised. Hoping for a better 2nd half and fuller rosters.

I think middle of the pack in the SW or close is pretty good for AZ clubs. Competition is tough. Now in certain age groups a club might do better.

The AZ clubs play each other soon. Royals plays Arsenal this weekend, and Arsenal plays Rising in 3 weeks. Rising and Royals don't play until after the break.

 

[Desert Hound]

Not a banner year for the AZ teams. Hurts that the Rising 06 team has scored 2 goals and their 05s are underperforming. Overall, the 06s are not doing very well. The Royals seniors are as advertised. Hoping for a better 2nd half and fuller rosters.

Rising has a couple of teams dead last and not competitive. Then as you say 1 maybe 2 age groups underperforming.

I find it interesting that at the entry age group right now Arsenal has the best team. Rising is absolutely not competitive at that age group.

As aggressive as the Royals are, I would have expected them to currently have a better team at that age group. Arsenal is surprising due to their distant location.

That said, unless a team at that age group is really good, you will see changes to those rosters as the clubs get rid of certain players and recruit others.

Inside AZ talk here.

 

[RedHawk]

Rising has a couple of teams dead last and not competitive. Then as you say 1 maybe 2 age groups underperforming.

I find it interesting that at the entry age group right now Arsenal has the best team. Rising is absolutely not competitive at that age group.

As aggressive as the Royals are, I would have expected them to currently have a better team at that age group. Arsenal is surprising due to their distant location.

That said, unless a team at that age group is really good, you will see changes to those rosters as the clubs get rid of certain players and recruit others.

Inside AZ talk here.

I doubt Az can compete with three clubs watering down the talent at each club. I’m not from Az. What club would be best positioned to attract top talent considering coaches and geography to compete with the big dogs in the SW conference??

 

[Desert Hound]

I doubt Az can compete with three clubs watering down the talent at each club. I’m not from Az. What club would be best positioned to attract top talent considering coaches and geography to compete with the big dogs in the SW conference??

I think AZ can on average field middle of the pack type results. Very hard to go uo against the good ones in CA.

The club on paper best positioned would be Royals to answer your question.

Easily the largest club in AZ with aggressive leadership.

And yes it makes things harder with talent spread out over 3 ECNL clubs in the area

 

[what-happened]

Rising has a couple of teams dead last and not competitive. Then as you say 1 maybe 2 age groups underperforming.

I find it interesting that at the entry age group right now Arsenal has the best team. Rising is absolutely not competitive at that age group.

As aggressive as the Royals are, I would have expected them to currently have a better team at that age group. Arsenal is surprising due to their distant location.

That said, unless a team at that age group is really good, you will see changes to those rosters as the clubs get rid of certain players and recruit others.

Inside AZ talk here.

Def inside AZ talk here. Not much recruiting going on at the 06 age group, unless you go outside the letter leagues. Some talent in APL there but hard to convince to come over. DS does the best job of recruiting those players. At the 06 age group, they have by far the best team. West side APL recruiting coupled with recruting some overlooked talent at other top clubs have benefited them well. They've lost a few players, but were comfortable doing so and have impact players coming off the bench (they have a bench, which has been rare) . They struggled against a very good CO Rush team, mainly style differences, but have outperformed everyone else. Weaker league by far but they are playing well.

Their 07s are also much improved. They lost a great talent but gained more in return. Interesting little team, score alot and play possession. The DS 05s get some key players back from injury, including top talent recruited from PR. They did lose two key starters, which will hurt them for the rest of the season. PR 05s have suprisinglly underperformed. Injuries, loss of talent, etc have hurt them. I don't know too much about Arsenal. Do know one of their top 06 players is now at DS.

Too many letter leagues and too many clubs dilute AZ talent and make it tough to compete better than mid pack. The RSL seniors are the exception this year. They are healthy and motivated. It will be good to see the AZ teams play each other in the upcoming weeks.

 

[what-happened]

I think AZ can on average field middle of the pack type results. Very hard to go uo against the good ones in CA.

The club on paper best positioned would be Royals to answer your question.

Easily the largest club in AZ with aggressive leadership.

I think it's age group driven. But that can be debated forever I suppose.

 

[Desert Hound]

Their 07s are also much improved. They lost a great talent but gained more in return. Interesting little team, score alot and play possession. The DS 05s get some key players back from injury, including top talent recruited from PR. They did lose two key starters, which will hurt them for the rest of the season. PR 05s have suprisinglly underperformed. Injuries, loss of talent, etc have hurt them. I don't know too much about Arsenal. Do know one of their top 06 players is now at DS.

del Sol has problems.

GA apparently is not much of a draw.

The older teams still have players from DA era and they are OK. But going forward del Sol seems to have problems.

Take a look at their 2 teams that were recruited when they had GA only.

The 08 girls have not won a game. 2 ties. Have managed a total of 2 goals in 5 games. That was the team that came in fresh at the entry age of GA the first year del Sol had GA.

What about the youngest age bracket this year? The team they brought in for their 2nd year of GA has0 wins. 0 goals vs 20 against.

The above results are in the MW division as well.

2 yrs of GA and those are the 2 teams they were able to bring in. It appears that in Phx the best players when they have a choice are not looking at del Sol with their GA offer.

Of further interest del Sol was not even able to field a U13 team for DPL.

2 yrs into GA it certainly appears parents/kids are not looking to send their kids to del Sol.

From the talk here on these forums it appears GA isn't a terribly strong draw in So Cal as well with the best players looking to join nearby ECNL clubs.

Up until last week with some DPL parent talking about their kids teams there has been so little interest in GA that the last post on that thread was from JULY.

 

[what-happened]

del Sol has problems.

GA apparently is not much of a draw.

The older teams still have players from DA era and they are OK. But going forward del Sol seems to have problems.

Take a look at their 2 teams that were recruited when they had GA only.

The 08 girls have not won a game. 2 ties. Have managed a total of 2 goals in 5 games. That was the team that came in fresh at the entry age of GA the first year del Sol had GA.

What about the youngest age bracket this year? The team they brought in for their 2nd year of GA has0 wins. 0 goals vs 20 against.

The above results are in the MW division as well.

2 yrs of GA and those are the 2 teams they were able to bring in. It appears that in Phx the best players when they have a choice are not looking at del Sol with their GA offer.

Of further interest del Sol was not even able to field a U13 team for DPL.

2 yrs into GA it certainly appears parents/kids are not looking to send their kids to del Sol.

From the talk here on these forums it appears GA isn't a terribly strong draw in So Cal as well with the best players looking to join nearby ECNL clubs.

Up until last week with some DPL parent talking about their kids teams there has been so little interest in GA that the last post on that thread was from JULY.

They are an interesting club. Plenty of disenfranchised parents who will not speak highly of the club. I've learned they don't subscribe to the typical playbook of the other clubs in AZ. They are not looking to expand tremendously, absorb other clubs, or merge. They have parents/players at many of their practices on a weekly basis trying out for various teams. The club tends to ignore the white noise of parents and forums. - sometimes to their detriment.

Certainly true they don't field many teams at the youngest of age competitive age groups. U13 isn't a priority for them, not yet. Their model at that age is to teach and progress, then later recruit. I agree it's a risky move and they don't have as much leverage as they once did. They are still a brand and have managed to recruit. How long it lasts, we don't know, frankly I don't care.

The 08s are 100% improved from last year, and that's the point. They are on track. The hardest part about this age group is convincing parents that winning is everything. Look at the 07, great example. They are head and shoulders better than any other team in AZ with the exception of RSL. It would make for a great match this year, we'll just never know since clubs won't play each other.

No doubt the GA SW is the weakest conference in the GA. There is a reason DS opted out of the conference. Risky move with travel but so far it appears parents aren't opposed, yet. One trip to CO so far. I would guess the majority of travel occurs after the HS break (NM, UT).

I don't believe they are in trouble. They certainly have to work harder than in previous years. It feels like people say this about DS every year. It wouldn't suprise me to see them in a different league next year.

I know their are different takes on them, many opinions out there. At the end of the day, there are too many leagues in AZ to fully consolidate talent. Having two leagues and 4 "top" clubs dilutes talent and makes it nearly impossible for some clubs/teams to have a good experience when traveling. A great example is PR this year. Between the 05s and 06s, their goal differential is -148. Doesn't sound like fun times in CA. Arsenal and RS are faring a bit better: -23 and -45.

Anyway, way too much AZ info. I suppse we'll agree that too many leagues and too many clubs are not good.

 

[Desert Hound]

I don't believe they are in trouble. They certainly have to work harder than in previous years. It feels like people say this about DS every year. It wouldn't suprise me to see them in a different league next year.

I think they have major issues on the girls side.

To be seen and known in Phoenix means you have to have teams playing so people are aware of the club.

If you look at APL/ASL in ALL age groups combined they have exactly 1 team. That is a u12 team. And that team is in the 3rd division of APL/ASL.

If you look at Open league they have ZERO teams.

Think about that...in all the local leagues they have exactly 1 team. That is not how you market to the Valley.

I have watched them for years. They used to do very well when they were 1 of 2 ECNL teams in the Valley and the other (Sereno) was sitting around doing nothing. Kids FLOCKED to del Sol at that time.

When they got DA they were still top dog.

Those years are now a couple past them.

What are they selling? A 2nd tier national league. The best players will go ECNL in the Valley. That is a fact. Their 2 most recent recruiting classes show that lack of interest. To be honest in years past those entry level teams were always very STRONG. Now they are exceptionally weak.

Combine the above with basically no teams in the local leagues and you have a problem. Parents in the Valley don't see del Sol around at all. And when they look now they see uncompetitive teams in the GA (at the younger years...the years you pay attention to when thinking about moving your kid to a club).

They apparently didn't have enough players to even field a U13 DPL team.

That also shows a lack of interest by players/parent regarding the club.

Rising, Royals, Arsenal besides being in ECNL/ECRL all have multiple teams in APL/ASL/Open league. Parents and kids seem them playing around the Valley and know who those clubs are. Further those 3 clubs have fairly large rec programs. del Sol is also non existent in that area.

All those factors add up to bad news for del Sol.

They have not adapted well to the changing soccer environment in which they live.

 

[Desert Hound]

It wouldn't suprise me to see them in a different league next year.

What league would they move to?

If ECNL wanted them, they would have most likely been brought in with the Royals.

 

[Desert Hound]

They are an interesting club. Plenty of disenfranchised parents who will not speak highly of the club. I've learned they don't subscribe to the typical playbook of the other clubs in AZ. They are not looking to expand tremendously, absorb other clubs, or merge. They have parents/players at many of their practices on a weekly basis trying out for various teams. The club tends to ignore the white noise of parents and forums. - sometimes to their detriment.

And I am not a parent who has any kind of grudge vs them. I do however look at what clubs are doing.

Years ago I considered them the top spot in the Valley. And they were.

The rise of Royals and the fact that 2 other clubs have ECNL has changed the equation in a way that is not good for del Sol.

GA is considered 2nd tier. To make their job even more difficult is the fact that their division no longer includes So Cal. Yes I know they will still play some So Cal teams. However the fact remains that is not their division.

With ECNL, clubs are playing well known marque clubs such as Blues, Surf, Slammers, and now Beach and Legends.

 

[what-happened]

And I am not a parent who has any kind of grudge vs them. I do however look at what clubs are doing.

Years ago I considered them the top spot in the Valley. And they were.

The rise of Royals and the fact that 2 other clubs have ECNL has changed the equation in a way that is not good for del Sol.

GA is considered 2nd tier. To make their job even more difficult is the fact that their division no longer includes So Cal. Yes I know they will still play some So Cal teams. However the fact remains that is not their division.

With ECNL, clubs are playing well known marque clubs such as Blues, Surf, Slammers, and now Beach and Legends.

Certainly not insinuating you are one of those parents who hold a grudge. There is plenty of nuance in AZ soccer, as you are likely very aware of. There is no doubt that ECNL is the better league, especially in CA. Not being in ECNL for DS is certainly a challenge. Today, and for the next few years, they will have better teams in critical age groups than their counterparts. ECNLknow that. You can't write off the performance of certain age groups by AZ clubs in ECNL. Traveling to CA to get beat on is not fun. Write off the seniors, RSL has that well in hand. DS younger age groups still have to develop. Winning today doesn't mean they don't win next year or year after that.

I don't have crystal ball and frankly don't have anything at stake with DS. Anyway, we could go back and forth forever. Bottom line is too many leagues, and that's not changing, at least for this season.

 

[Desert Hound]

I don't have crystal ball and frankly don't have anything at stake with DS. Anyway, we could go back and forth forever. Bottom line is too many leagues, and that's not changing, at least for this season.

It would seem you have a DD at del Sol.

Enjoy the ride.