SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP ecnl vs. odp vs. odp vs. ecnl

Of course I'm one of the "globe trotting parents". And I thought I had hidden it so well too. Good sleuthing:)

I wouldn't give up one second I've spent traveling for soccer with my family. But I do recognize it isn't for every family or child, unlike others who think one size fits all. Is ECNL bad? For some, yes. For others, no. Is R3PL bad? For some, yes. For others, no. Is Rec bad? For some, yes. For others, no.

So I did think about it.

I think R3PL was an improvement over what was before it. I think ECNL is another improvement.

I think there are now even more alternatives for players. If someone never wants to leave SC, they have that option. R3PL is an option if they never want to leave a four state region. ECNL is an option if they want to play in a larger geographic arena. Each offers different levels of competition, travel, costs, exposure and opportunity.

I think if we applied your logic to other aspects of life we'd still be riding horses and mailing letters.

It appears that after all the SC Club aquisitions/mergers/consolidations and a sincere effort to develop top level youth Club soccer in this state, that the Clubs are failing in developing the players.

They (or some of them) seem more intent on recruiting what they percieve as the best talent in the state or adjoining states to form the best teams, so that they do not get embarrassed in ECNL or Premier League play.

They are not intent on developing the players that reside in close proximenty to their location. If they did develop the local players, the recruiting would not be necessary.

Sorry to disappoint you JAK but your posts aren't that important to me ...

You are defending your position to an imaginary attack. I was not questioning the choice or decisions of your daughter. I was challenging the sales pitch of the organizations (clubs) as it pertains to college scholarships and the need to participate in the games/clubs/leagues being discussed!

And as for your last comment, that may not be such a bad thing, given the direction society is headed!!

No disappointment here. I doubt any of our posts are important to anyone.

And if these Clubs were truly developing our youth, more would be recruited by in-state schools and more(some) would be getting offers from higher profile schools.

Football, baseball, golf, swimming, lacrosse, track and basketball players in this state are able to get offers from high profile, mid-level and small colleges.

To me, this says there is something wrong with this travel-intense, expensive Club soccer model.

Cajunkid. Can you provide comparative statistics for players from others states? Drawing that kind of conclusion from one data point is tough.

For example, what percentage of total soccer players (all levels) go to D1, D2 and D3 by state and how does SC compare?

Also, can someone define "developing"? I watch SC girls compete strongly against the top teams around the country, so I'm trying to understand what's percieved as lacking.

JAK, just look where the players are going to play college soccer from this state. This is NOT a knock on the schools. Every school has it's high and low points.

But very few, are going to any of the TOP 30 ranked D-1 schools.

Why? It is happpening in the other sports. Why not soccer?

You have the #1 College Football recruit staying in state.
So football developed a #1 player in the country, right here in SC.

Key word- DEVELOPED.

A quick look at some UNC schools Charlotte, Wilmington, and Greensboro) and it seems they run from 25% to 50% rosters filled with NC player. While it is far from scientific research it does seem that in NC schools stay home to get more players than in SC school. Wonder how GA does anyone from other end of SC any take a look?
I think it is fair to say poor recruiting in state by SC colleges is a long term gripe here and it is a fact not a myth. Why? There are likely a multitude of answers but there has to be a reason, afterall you would think with lottery money as an incentive to many players the cost would be lower for SC schools to get instate players. Unless these schools just can not find girls in SC that can compete with the one they get from outside SC?

Personally, I think this line of reasoning is drawing conclusions from too few data points.

Here's another conclusions you could draw: SC kids have not had good enough exposure in the past to be spotted by TOP 30 ranked D-1 schools.

I'm not saying that's correct either, but it is another conclusion you draw with only one data point. In fact, I could draw conclusions 360 degrees around a single data point.

To clarify, I'm not disagreeing with your comments. I wanted more data to support them. Hopefully Mr. Stats can jump in and let us know:

1. Distribution by-state of the players on the TOP 30 D1 teams

2. Percentage of total soccer players that go to D1, D2 and D3 by state

Regarding developing a #1 football recruit here, there are always outliers. But ironically, there's a kid who could have gone anywhere in the country to play and he's playing less than 90 miles from his home. He's hurting the SC player development statistics