Quote:

Dog, Explain how the rosters could be managed to be in 2 different parts of the country at the same time. Didn't you run into this ODP/ECNL dilema last year with your youngest?


Technically, there are two separate rosters. One is the SCYSA (USYSA?) roster. Except for the U-18 age group it allows a maximum of 18 players and is "frozen" sometime prior to State Cup. The other is the ECNL roster. It has a maximum of 26 players and is somewhat "frozen" around April. Those rosters are independent of one another as far as what you can do with them.

Let's say I have a club with two U-17 teams, one I'll call the Premier Team and the other the Challenge Team (names don't matter). Both teams are SCYSA rosters, so I can't be moving kids around there... a player can only be on one roster at a time. My Premier Team has the max 18 players, and the Challenge Team also has the max 18 players. Now, let's say I create a new team called the ECNL Team (again, name really doesn't matter). I use the ECNL roster as a 26 player pool. Maybe 16 players from my Premier Team and 10 from the Challenge Team, whatever mix works out hopefully short of shanghai tactics.

Now let's say you throw those conflicting dates at me. The players on the Challenge-Team-only roster are free to go to Region Camp if that's their interest and they've made the State ODP Team. Of the players on the ECNL team I can release as many as 10 to participate in Region Camp at a time, still leaving me a 16 player roster to carry to the ECNL event. And, since a club team in SC is probably populated by players from two ODP age groups (for instance my U-17 group this year probably has '93 and '94 ODP age groups), I'll probably never hit 10 as the number of players I'd have to release for ODP at a given time. Even if both age groups were attending the same week I'd have to have at least 10 of my ECNL rostered players on the State Team to cause me any concern.

By fully utilizing the flexibility currently afforded by the ECNL roster I...

1. Show support to my Challenge players by providing additional opportunities to play another level (ECNL).
2. Show support to my Challenge players by providing additional opportunities for recruiting exposure (ECNL).
3. Create an opportunity for ME to further evaluate players' performance/development from the Challenge Team alongside the players from the Premier Team without prematurely committing a Premier Team roster spot.
4. Since I can only take 18 of the 26 as a roster for a given event, I can just about offer the parents an opportunity to buy 2 plane tickets instead of 3.
And, last but not least and relevant to this thread...
5. After all that opportunity I've provided for some of the Challenge players, I can offer support to my Premier players interested in playing a higher level and release them to participate in ODP without putting me in a bind for the ECNL event.

You have to get beyond the one roster for two leagues perspective, and recognize you are actually working with two rosters for two leagues. Currently as last year, the club sponsoring the ECNL teams in SC uses the one roster two leagues approach... by decision not requirement. One roster two leagues means you are participating in ECNL using SCYSA roster limitations.

Now, when ECNL drops the other shoe on ODP participation... you're toast.