It definitely makes a difference being able to use the whole states resources for putting a team together.
⚽️⚽️⚽️…Delusional Youth Soccer Parent Thread
- Thread starter lawpoke87
- Start date
It definitely makes a difference being able to use the whole states resources for putting a team together.
It definitely makes a difference being able to use the whole states resources for putting a team together.
Yes.
Black should be very beatable.
DKSC...IDK if they're as strong this year as they were last year.
Yes, we were out there yesterday -- an absolutely gorgeous morning for soccer. Thanks for the feedback on their performance.. those girls have so much heart and they are grinding it out hard to get their 11v11 sea legs. It's a real pleasure to watch them develop and grow through the challenge.
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Yes, we joined this year. I'm always keeping an eye out for your daughter's games as we are walking by the older age groups.
well, if you ever see a handsome dude wearing a Boston / Wally's / HastyBake / "Fixins'" ball cap, generally sitting near the end away from everyone, feel free to say hi.
I am usually standing near or sitting in a green chair lol
I’ll be on the lookout! If you spot a couple signing to each other, that’s probably me and my wife. Come say hi
I’m hearing and she’s Deaf, just adding that since it’s not always obvious unless I’m talking to someone else at the same time.
I am refereeing the Blitz tournament. I don't expect many of you on this thread will have your kids out there. 2 games already on Thursday night involving local teams... 1st one is a U13 boys involving 2 WSA sides, 2nd is a U15 girls with 2 FC Tulsa Academy sides. The girls game is going to be 100% better quality than the boys just from looking at it.
And of course looking at the weather, it's Blitz weekend so the Fall monsoon season is scheduled to start. 100% chance of rain on Friday and Saturday.
And of course looking at the weather, it's Blitz weekend so the Fall monsoon season is scheduled to start. 100% chance of rain on Friday and Saturday.
Without a doubt if it's Blitz Tournament Weekend, prepare to get drenched. Luckily after the NPL regional weekend in June where it rained 12 inches over 3 days, we went out and bought a boot dryer. Used it this past weekend after Saturday (it poured during the 1st half of my 11am game Saturday and my cleats were soaked).
The thing about Blitz is, too much rain on Friday and BASC will close the grass fields and I don't think Blitz can finagle enough games onto the turf fields to keep things running. Looking at the forecast, I am fully prepared that this tournament will be punted by 1pm on Saturday.
It's interesting because in 2013, they were 15th in Texas RL, and in the Pre-ECNL 2014 frontier, they are 5th and haven't won a game. They are losing world beaters like Arkansas and Springfield. In fact, Blitz beat them in that age group. It ain't pretty folks.
How are the TSC 2014s in Texas winning? It can be done as uh, some of you don't seem to believe.
The reality is that the talent is spread out. The girls are at three different places right now: TSC, Blitz, and WSA. They like their friends, coaches, parents, etc. It is natural; I get it.
In many age groups, WSA is 3rd in talent, AND in the best league, it will be U-G-L-Y and lead you to silly conclusions about the inability of Tulsa to perform in Texas.
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OEFC teams sit atop the Texas leagues all the time. I am sure they would say, "Why the hell would we need to do that?"
What we really need is for Tulsa players to stay in Tulsa and the best Tulsa kids to play at one club, like what happens in OKC.
It goes back to egos and money. I don't know how OEFC did it, but they managed to. I think there is a little branching out going on, but I am not sure. 13-14 teams in one age group seems nuts for OKC. Dallas maybe. OKC not so much.
It’s extremely rare for any energy team to finish top 3 in the Texas league. I can’t remember when an Energy team finished in that position without an heavy influence of Tulsa talent. I believe the 2011s are currently in the top spot but that team is also a combo team comprised of OKC and Tulsa girls.
TSC caused the top talent to migrate to OKC. Hopefully, WSA can turn that trend around
In two out of the six boys' leagues, OEFC sits atop them.
The girls have 1 out of six. How many does FC Dallas have? Zero.
The Colorado Rapids and Colorado Rush have no teams above OEFC. None.zero. DKSC is half. I could go down the list of things. All those places draw from Colorado Springs and Fort Collins. When you add in those markets, we are talking like 4 million people. I know Real is the top team, but still they should be able to field a second team.
You act like they can't compete. It is ridiculous.
Simmer down
Most teams have only played 6ish of a 15 game season. The standings at this point are largely a reflection of who you have played thus far. For a better picture, go back and look at last year complete season.Texas league NL boys are a different animal than the girls side as OEFC isn’t competing against the best boys talent in Texas for the most part . Unlike the girls side where the best girls are almost exclusively in NL.
FC Dallas has qualified every NL team for Champions League for three straight years. They will be there at the end of the season. Same for Solar. OEFC will likely have 1 of their 6 teams qualify for Champions league this year. I believe they only had 1 last year as well. History tells us for OEFC to compete with the top of the Texas league they need Tulsa girls. Not my opinion, just a fact.
As far as Real Colorado, Athletico is actually their second team. The talent is pretty spread out in the Denver area once you get past Real.
May I ask the extent of your experience regarding girls ECNL Texas league soccer?
2007's two and three years ago. only 2 players from tulsa.
That 2007 Energy class was a special group. Lots of D1 talent. The fact that two Tulsa girls played with that team illustrates one of the problems with Tulsa. I’d be willing to wager zero OKC girls played on the TSC team.
So absolutely not trying to compare this to ECNL Texas. I’ve stated many times how tough the top half of that league is. But this is our November schedule. Plenty of great games.
Tough stretch:
11/2 HTX #11
11/7 RI Surf #93
11/8 LVU #15
11/9 Cin United #60
11/15 Lou Fusz #40
Tough stretch:
11/2 HTX #11
11/7 RI Surf #93
11/8 LVU #15
11/9 Cin United #60
11/15 Lou Fusz #40
That’s a solid schedule. Age groups are so different. In 2010 group 18 of the top 20 teams are ECNL and 27 of the top 30. GA looks much stronger in the 2013 group. You have 2 top 15 on your schedule alone. Now will GA be able to keep some of those girls from defecting to ECNL?
I think this post is a great example of just how much nuance there is in youth soccer.. and how hard it can be for parents and community members to cut through the noise and selective narratives.
Caveat: I'm a parent of a player on the team so clearly my perspective is biased. In addition, I've never played nor coached soccer and all of this is my own perspective that I've formed outside of club, coaches, or other parents opinions.
At the start of the season, the leading WSA 2014 team faced a strategic crossroads:
- Stay on-age at 9v9 and continue building skills, postpone the transition to 11v11, and avoid the pace and physicality of the older Texas teams.
- Move up early and enter 11v11 a year ahead of schedule as an RL team, facing older players and diving straight into the deep end of the Texas competition pool.
- Great Culture. Absolute deal-breaker if missing.
- Great Challenge. My daughter needs to be stretched to grow.
And as for challenge... well, it doesn’t get much tougher. These girls are playing in one of the most competitive conference leagues in the U.S. They’ve already faced the #1 team in the country twice. The pace, creativity, and standard they’re exposed to weekly are exactly what fuels real development.
It's actually very pretty folks.
As for why other local teams are “winning Texas”? Simple: they’re not playing the same level of opposition. The average opponent strength for those teams is dramatically lower than what the WSA 2014 13RLs face. You can verify that yourself using the public data on the Soccer Rankings app. Comparing records across different competition levels is apples to oranges. It's at best misleading, and at worst disingenuous.
Is this a harder road? Absolutely. But the developmental payoff is already visible. In just a few weeks, these girls have gone from pearl-clutching mistakes in build-out to making smart decisions under pressure. From missing attacking runs to arriving in the box at dangerous times. From avoiding headers to clearing dangerous crosses in the air. They’re learning faster because the bar is higher.
Most importantly, when the grind hits, the team cohesion doesn't fracture. Instead they adjust, learn, and show up again. I hear no one blaming coaches, no side chatter about the club “not doing enough.” Just individual accountability and growth.
Who can predict the future? Nothing is constant but change. But I’ll say this: given the choice again, I’d take this team, this culture, and this level of challenge 100 times out of 100.
Having refereed this team several times this year, I can tell you the improvement is visible on the field during games. The first game I saw this team I honestly thought they bit off more than they could chew. I think this past weekend was the 4th time I've centered a game for this team and they were the more complete side, especially tactically. I'm glad to see the growth in the team. I also think I've seen them get way more aggressive and physical which is natural when the 1st game you played you got manhandled by a bigger, faster (and a year older) team.I think this post is a great example of just how much nuance there is in youth soccer.. and how hard it can be for parents and community members to cut through the noise and selective narratives.
Caveat: I'm a parent of a player on the team so clearly my perspective is biased. In addition, I've never played nor coached soccer and all of this is my own perspective that I've formed outside of club, coaches, or other parents opinions.
At the start of the season, the leading WSA 2014 team faced a strategic crossroads:
Our coaches chose option #2, and I’m very glad they did. Because if our concern was short-term results, we had plenty of options. At this time last year my daughter’s previous team routinely won by double digits. But my two core criteria were:
- Stay on-age at 9v9 and continue building skills, postpone the transition to 11v11, and avoid the pace and physicality of the older Texas teams.
- Move up early and enter 11v11 a year ahead of schedule as an RL team, facing older players and diving straight into the deep end of the Texas competition pool.
This team nails both. The culture is exceptional, with the girls genuinely supporting each other, coaches balancing development and performance, and zero drama. Another parent and I were talking just last night about how wonderful it is to be on a team that actually walks the talk on culture. It’s an amazing environment curated intentionally by the players, families, and coaches.
- Great Culture. Absolute deal-breaker if missing.
- Great Challenge. My daughter needs to be stretched to grow.
And as for challenge... well, it doesn’t get much tougher. These girls are playing in one of the most competitive conference leagues in the U.S. They’ve already faced the #1 team in the country twice. The pace, creativity, and standard they’re exposed to weekly are exactly what fuels real development.
It's actually very pretty folks.
As for why other local teams are “winning Texas”? Simple: they’re not playing the same level of opposition. The average opponent strength for those teams is dramatically lower than what the WSA 2014 13RLs face. You can verify that yourself using the public data on the Soccer Rankings app. Comparing records across different competition levels is apples to oranges. It's at best misleading, and at worst disingenuous.
Is this a harder road? Absolutely. But the developmental payoff is already visible. In just a few weeks, these girls have gone from pearl-clutching mistakes in build-out to making smart decisions under pressure. From missing attacking runs to arriving in the box at dangerous times. From avoiding headers to clearing dangerous crosses in the air. They’re learning faster because the bar is higher.
Most importantly, when the grind hits, the team cohesion doesn't fracture. Instead they adjust, learn, and show up again. I hear no one blaming coaches, no side chatter about the club “not doing enough.” Just individual accountability and growth.
Who can predict the future? Nothing is constant but change. But I’ll say this: given the choice again, I’d take this team, this culture, and this level of challenge 100 times out of 100.
I still worry about the GKing but I do like the coaches absolutely want to build possession out of the back...some days it will work and some it won't depending on the speed of the opponent. Even though the results may not show up in terms of W/L and standings position, stay the course because until they reach U16 or so, those results really don't matter in the grand scheme of things
Top 4 teams I our league are ranked 11,21,37,40
Top 4 in Texas NL 6,7,8,13 (That's just stupid tough)
People can think that Tulsa belongs in ECNL but I will just disagree. HTX has 16 2013's girls teams. Sting 25, Solar 10. FCD 10, the volume of kids that Texas has verse Tulsa. I think the Tulsa coaches (from all clubs) have done a way better job developing kids than they are given credit for.
FYI
WSA 2013's played in the St Louis Showcase against teams ranked 158,420,83 (Lost all)
Our showcase at IMG Academy which we are all excited about are 93,16,60 (results tbd)
Bro, no. Just no. Playing "up" to lose every friggin game? No. Just no. You may have convinced yourself or your coach of this, but this is a lie, I am sorry.I think this post is a great example of just how much nuance there is in youth soccer.. and how hard it can be for parents and community members to cut through the noise and selective narratives.
Caveat: I'm a parent of a player on the team so clearly my perspective is biased. In addition, I've never played nor coached soccer and all of this is my own perspective that I've formed outside of club, coaches, or other parents opinions.
At the start of the season, the leading WSA 2014 team faced a strategic crossroads:
Our coaches chose option #2, and I’m very glad they did. Because if our concern was short-term results, we had plenty of options. At this time last year my daughter’s previous team routinely won by double digits. But my two core criteria were:
- Stay on-age at 9v9 and continue building skills, postpone the transition to 11v11, and avoid the pace and physicality of the older Texas teams.
- Move up early and enter 11v11 a year ahead of schedule as an RL team, facing older players and diving straight into the deep end of the Texas competition pool.
This team nails both. The culture is exceptional, with the girls genuinely supporting each other, coaches balancing development and performance, and zero drama. Another parent and I were talking just last night about how wonderful it is to be on a team that actually walks the talk on culture. It’s an amazing environment curated intentionally by the players, families, and coaches.
- Great Culture. Absolute deal-breaker if missing.
- Great Challenge. My daughter needs to be stretched to grow.
And as for challenge... well, it doesn’t get much tougher. These girls are playing in one of the most competitive conference leagues in the U.S. They’ve already faced the #1 team in the country twice. The pace, creativity, and standard they’re exposed to weekly are exactly what fuels real development.
It's actually very pretty folks.
As for why other local teams are “winning Texas”? Simple: they’re not playing the same level of opposition. The average opponent strength for those teams is dramatically lower than what the WSA 2014 13RLs face. You can verify that yourself using the public data on the Soccer Rankings app. Comparing records across different competition levels is apples to oranges. It's at best misleading, and at worst disingenuous.
Is this a harder road? Absolutely. But the developmental payoff is already visible. In just a few weeks, these girls have gone from pearl-clutching mistakes in build-out to making smart decisions under pressure. From missing attacking runs to arriving in the box at dangerous times. From avoiding headers to clearing dangerous crosses in the air. They’re learning faster because the bar is higher.
Most importantly, when the grind hits, the team cohesion doesn't fracture. Instead they adjust, learn, and show up again. I hear no one blaming coaches, no side chatter about the club “not doing enough.” Just individual accountability and growth.
Who can predict the future? Nothing is constant but change. But I’ll say this: given the choice again, I’d take this team, this culture, and this level of challenge 100 times out of 100.
You keep telling yourself this.
What convinced their homeboys they were going down to Texas to dominate pre-ecnl?
Your team is great and I'm a huge Waylon fan. The issue for that team is about half of the WSA 13's can drop and some from Blitz will be coming that way at tryouts. Of all the age groups that 14's or whatever they will be called will probably have the biggest shake up and be stronger. If Waylon doesn't coach I think that hurts both coaching and culture on that team. Talent won't be an issue. TSC 14's have improved greatly since Leo took over and they added a couple players. WSA and TSC's 2014's or 2032's whatever they will be called look strong for next year in whatever league they are playing.I think this post is a great example of just how much nuance there is in youth soccer.. and how hard it can be for parents and community members to cut through the noise and selective narratives.
Caveat: I'm a parent of a player on the team so clearly my perspective is biased. In addition, I've never played nor coached soccer and all of this is my own perspective that I've formed outside of club, coaches, or other parents opinions.
At the start of the season, the leading WSA 2014 team faced a strategic crossroads:
Our coaches chose option #2, and I’m very glad they did. Because if our concern was short-term results, we had plenty of options. At this time last year my daughter’s previous team routinely won by double digits. But my two core criteria were:
- Stay on-age at 9v9 and continue building skills, postpone the transition to 11v11, and avoid the pace and physicality of the older Texas teams.
- Move up early and enter 11v11 a year ahead of schedule as an RL team, facing older players and diving straight into the deep end of the Texas competition pool.
This team nails both. The culture is exceptional, with the girls genuinely supporting each other, coaches balancing development and performance, and zero drama. Another parent and I were talking just last night about how wonderful it is to be on a team that actually walks the talk on culture. It’s an amazing environment curated intentionally by the players, families, and coaches.
- Great Culture. Absolute deal-breaker if missing.
- Great Challenge. My daughter needs to be stretched to grow.
And as for challenge... well, it doesn’t get much tougher. These girls are playing in one of the most competitive conference leagues in the U.S. They’ve already faced the #1 team in the country twice. The pace, creativity, and standard they’re exposed to weekly are exactly what fuels real development.
It's actually very pretty folks.
As for why other local teams are “winning Texas”? Simple: they’re not playing the same level of opposition. The average opponent strength for those teams is dramatically lower than what the WSA 2014 13RLs face. You can verify that yourself using the public data on the Soccer Rankings app. Comparing records across different competition levels is apples to oranges. It's at best misleading, and at worst disingenuous.
Is this a harder road? Absolutely. But the developmental payoff is already visible. In just a few weeks, these girls have gone from pearl-clutching mistakes in build-out to making smart decisions under pressure. From missing attacking runs to arriving in the box at dangerous times. From avoiding headers to clearing dangerous crosses in the air. They’re learning faster because the bar is higher.
Most importantly, when the grind hits, the team cohesion doesn't fracture. Instead they adjust, learn, and show up again. I hear no one blaming coaches, no side chatter about the club “not doing enough.” Just individual accountability and growth.
Who can predict the future? Nothing is constant but change. But I’ll say this: given the choice again, I’d take this team, this culture, and this level of challenge 100 times out of 100.
If this is the best critique you could come up with on a post that outlines a clearly articulated strategy forgive me if I’m not convinced by the argument of “no, just no, bro.”
this is why there are different teams for different types of families. May you find the success you’re looking for!
On another note, I guarantee you have not played against the number one team in the country, either, playing where you have played. So again, I don't know what you are smoking.I think this post is a great example of just how much nuance there is in youth soccer.. and how hard it can be for parents and community members to cut through the noise and selective narratives.
Caveat: I'm a parent of a player on the team so clearly my perspective is biased. In addition, I've never played nor coached soccer and all of this is my own perspective that I've formed outside of club, coaches, or other parents opinions.
At the start of the season, the leading WSA 2014 team faced a strategic crossroads:
Our coaches chose option #2, and I’m very glad they did. Because if our concern was short-term results, we had plenty of options. At this time last year my daughter’s previous team routinely won by double digits. But my two core criteria were:
- Stay on-age at 9v9 and continue building skills, postpone the transition to 11v11, and avoid the pace and physicality of the older Texas teams.
- Move up early and enter 11v11 a year ahead of schedule as an RL team, facing older players and diving straight into the deep end of the Texas competition pool.
This team nails both. The culture is exceptional, with the girls genuinely supporting each other, coaches balancing development and performance, and zero drama. Another parent and I were talking just last night about how wonderful it is to be on a team that actually walks the talk on culture. It’s an amazing environment curated intentionally by the players, families, and coaches.
- Great Culture. Absolute deal-breaker if missing.
- Great Challenge. My daughter needs to be stretched to grow.
And as for challenge... well, it doesn’t get much tougher. These girls are playing in one of the most competitive conference leagues in the U.S. They’ve already faced the #1 team in the country twice. The pace, creativity, and standard they’re exposed to weekly are exactly what fuels real development.
It's actually very pretty folks.
As for why other local teams are “winning Texas”? Simple: they’re not playing the same level of opposition. The average opponent strength for those teams is dramatically lower than what the WSA 2014 13RLs face. You can verify that yourself using the public data on the Soccer Rankings app. Comparing records across different competition levels is apples to oranges. It's at best misleading, and at worst disingenuous.
Is this a harder road? Absolutely. But the developmental payoff is already visible. In just a few weeks, these girls have gone from pearl-clutching mistakes in build-out to making smart decisions under pressure. From missing attacking runs to arriving in the box at dangerous times. From avoiding headers to clearing dangerous crosses in the air. They’re learning faster because the bar is higher.
Most importantly, when the grind hits, the team cohesion doesn't fracture. Instead they adjust, learn, and show up again. I hear no one blaming coaches, no side chatter about the club “not doing enough.” Just individual accountability and growth.
Who can predict the future? Nothing is constant but change. But I’ll say this: given the choice again, I’d take this team, this culture, and this level of challenge 100 times out of 100.
Yes, you can compare competition levels and records.
Typically, those pre-ECNL teams will slide into NL squads and are not playing up into clubs' RL teams. It would not be improbable for those teams to beat them. The chasm between RL and NL is vast. I have watched this for years.
Can you detail your experience with girls ECNL soccer? You have very strong opinions. Would like to know your background with the girls competitive side.
I have been very close with parents, players, coaches and referees for the last 10 years in Tulsa, OKC and CO. It really is that simple.
Saying “well I know people” if very different than actually participating for years in the ECNL world. How many girls ECNL games have you attended. How many showcases? Nationals? How many ECNL clubs have you visited?
I’m very close of a number of doctors, former professional athletes, etc.. but I have no idea what their world is really like. You’re arguing with posters who have been in girls ECNL for years. Some at multiple clubs. You might give a little deference to people who are much more knowledgeable about the subject. It’s fine to have an opinion. Even on a subject you’ve never personally experienced. However, you should also listen to people who have recently lived in that world. A world which is much different today than it was ten years ago.
It’s ironic….TSC would meet with all parents of girls immediately prior to their first year of ECNL. Eric would get up in front of the group and explain all the reasons why TSC can’t compete in the Texas league. Basically…it’s going to be tough. Your daughters aren’t likely going to be successful in the conference but here’s why that’s ok. Records are the records. Facts are the facts. It’s very difficult for Tulsa to compete. It’s difficult for OKC to compete although Tulsa girls help them greatly.
Ok…I’m off my soapbox.
This is team we are playing:
Do you have a source for the top 2014 #1 team in country that is different?
As far as I know a wide range of Texas clubs (and some Florida/Cali clubs?) take the strategy of playing up early into RL for their top u12 2014 teams. I believe they see it as a way to get the girls tactically and technically used to the new formations, bigger fields, and faster pace. Only a few clubs do it due to the difficulty and there are also arguments against it from a developmental perspective (less touches, etc), but I'm a fan of it for us. It looks like the current clubs doing this are FCD, Sting Austin, Solar, Challenge, and Sting Black, Albion, and Dallas Surf. Their "preECNL" teams are still very strong, but not the same level as the teams they send up to play RL.
So I'm confused at what you're saying. Are you saying the big Texas clubs have 2014 teams out there that are a higher level than these 2014 teams playing up in the RL Texas/Ntx/stx conferences? A quick glance at the top Texas 2014 teams tells me that over half are playing up in RL and all of the 'big club' top teams are doing it with the exception of HTX who can't b/c they are GA. The other Oklahoma 2014 teams don't often get a chance to play the very top Texas 2014 teams and when they do, they aren't winning. Not to say they can't b/c those games are competitive and Energy just tied Solars 2014 RL13NTX team
So it's within reach, but again this level of nuance is hard to get to when you just look at scoreline+club name and don't acknowledge the difference in level and record.Which brings me to:
Yes, you can absolutely compare competition levels and records. But it’s not controversial to acknowledge that there’s a clear difference between playing a club’s top team and its second or third team. If we say “we beat FCD 5–0,” yet our top team played their second or third side, then we’ve crossed into the realm of either misunderstanding or propaganda if we let people believe we faced their best. I’m all for celebrating wins and progress, but if we care about an accurate picture of where our team or club truly stands, we have to be transparent about the level of competition we’re facing.
@lawpoke87 You have a lot of experience in the Texas conference -- can you clarify misunderstandings I may have regarding the Texas team's strategy? I think it's important to understand their development strategy so that we can at least be honest in where we are as a community and what we can do to elevate to the next level.
From experience, prior to my daughter’s team moving into ECNL we played one maybe two games in 3 years in our own age locally. Depending on where we traveled to we played up quite a bit as well.This is team we are playing:
View attachment 965895
Do you have a source for the top 2014 #1 team in country that is different?
As far as I know a wide range of Texas clubs (and some Florida/Cali clubs?) take the strategy of playing up early into RL for their top u12 2014 teams. I believe they see it as a way to get the girls tactically and technically used to the new formations, bigger fields, and faster pace. Only a few clubs do it due to the difficulty and there are also arguments against it from a developmental perspective (less touches, etc), but I'm a fan of it for us. It looks like the current clubs doing this are FCD, Sting Austin, Solar, Challenge, and Sting Black, Albion, and Dallas Surf. Their "preECNL" teams are still very strong, but not the same level as the teams they send up to play RL.
So I'm confused at what you're saying. Are you saying the big Texas clubs have 2014 teams out there that are a higher level than these 2014 teams playing up in the RL Texas/Ntx/stx conferences? A quick glance at the top Texas 2014 teams tells me that over half are playing up in RL and all of the 'big club' top teams are doing it with the exception of HTX who can't b/c they are GA. The other Oklahoma 2014 teams don't often get a chance to play the very top Texas 2014 teams and when they do, they aren't winning. Not to say they can't b/c those games are competitive and Energy just tied Solars 2014 RL13NTX team
Which brings me to:
Yes, you can absolutely compare competition levels and records. But it’s not controversial to acknowledge that there’s a clear difference between playing a club’s top team and its second or third team. If we say “we beat FCD 5–0,” yet our top team played their second or third side, then we’ve crossed into the realm of either misunderstanding or propaganda if we let people believe we faced their best. I’m all for celebrating wins and progress, but if we care about an accurate picture of where our team or club truly stands, we have to be transparent about the level of competition we’re facing.
@lawpoke87 You have a lot of experience in the Texas conference -- can you clarify misunderstandings I may have regarding the Texas team's strategy? I think it's important to understand their development strategy so that we can at least be honest in where we are as a community and what we can do to elevate to the next level.
1) Rankings are rather suspect at the academy ages. Most of those teams just don’t enough intersectional games to gather enough information to accurately rank. The larger clubs also don’t necessarily combine academy teams to form their best 18 until competitive commences. Furthermore, there are still a number of girls playing for non ECNL academies who won’t join say an FC Dallas/Sting/etc…until it’s time to play ECNL.This is team we are playing:
View attachment 965895
Do you have a source for the top 2014 #1 team in country that is different?
As far as I know a wide range of Texas clubs (and some Florida/Cali clubs?) take the strategy of playing up early into RL for their top u12 2014 teams. I believe they see it as a way to get the girls tactically and technically used to the new formations, bigger fields, and faster pace. Only a few clubs do it due to the difficulty and there are also arguments against it from a developmental perspective (less touches, etc), but I'm a fan of it for us. It looks like the current clubs doing this are FCD, Sting Austin, Solar, Challenge, and Sting Black, Albion, and Dallas Surf. Their "preECNL" teams are still very strong, but not the same level as the teams they send up to play RL.
So I'm confused at what you're saying. Are you saying the big Texas clubs have 2014 teams out there that are a higher level than these 2014 teams playing up in the RL Texas/Ntx/stx conferences? A quick glance at the top Texas 2014 teams tells me that over half are playing up in RL and all of the 'big club' top teams are doing it with the exception of HTX who can't b/c they are GA. The other Oklahoma 2014 teams don't often get a chance to play the very top Texas 2014 teams and when they do, they aren't winning. Not to say they can't b/c those games are competitive and Energy just tied Solars 2014 RL13NTX team
Which brings me to:
Yes, you can absolutely compare competition levels and records. But it’s not controversial to acknowledge that there’s a clear difference between playing a club’s top team and its second or third team. If we say “we beat FCD 5–0,” yet our top team played their second or third side, then we’ve crossed into the realm of either misunderstanding or propaganda if we let people believe we faced their best. I’m all for celebrating wins and progress, but if we care about an accurate picture of where our team or club truly stands, we have to be transparent about the level of competition we’re facing.
@lawpoke87 You have a lot of experience in the Texas conference -- can you clarify misunderstandings I may have regarding the Texas team's strategy? I think it's important to understand their development strategy so that we can at least be honest in where we are as a community and what we can do to elevate to the next level.
That said….the 14 FCD squad is legit. They had a really good academy coach and are now under Gareth’s watch. They do the same thing WSA and other big clubs do in that they play up their final year of academy into the ECRL league. The logic is a year of playing against faster, stronger teams on an 11v11 pitch will serve them well when they enter NL next season. I know we have a poster who believes this is stupid but clubs like FC Dallas and Solar disagree and see the benefit. What do they know I suppose.
2) I’m a lot more familiar with Dallas than Houston, Austin and San Antonio so my comments are based on the Dallas area. Dallas clubs really combine rosters beginning their first ECNL year. They also recruit like nothing I’ve ever experienced in Tulsa or OKC.
My kid joined FCD in March of her first ECNL year (U13). There are probably 4 girls from that original squad still playing NL for FCD. Everyone knows everyone and girls move teams every year. We’ve had 4-5 new girls every year. Some teams get better (normally Solar, FCD, Sting) and some get worse. The head coach will call his current players in late March / early April and offer spots. You will have a definite spot or a qualified spot (depending on who shows up from other teams) and a non spot. It’s a brutal system for young girls.
The top girls on my daughter’s team (top 12-14) all outside train every week in addition to team trainings. They also follow a nutrition plan and a weight / speed training plan. This is one of the primary reasons the Texas teams out develop their Oklahoma counterparts. The other is competition for spots. No one is comfortable in their starting or even roster spot. This “fear” fosters work and drive from the player. Oklahoma just doesn’t have the depth to typically have that dynamic .
That’s probably far more than you would ever want to know. Your coach believes your girls are improving due to the competition they case week in week out. I trust his evaluation. I believe you have some games coming up against some Oklahoma 2014 squads. Curious to see how the girls look against teams who have played far lesser schedules.