ECNL Composite Team

What is everyone's thoughts on the ECNL Composite team? What's its purpose and is it worth playing on? I just don't know alot about it and would like to get others opinions.

I just see it as a way to provide a version of ECNL to a broader group of players. The OK market might struggle with it but some larger markets like Dallas or California I am sure could use it. This way they can keep more players in their systems and provide a place for those bubble players to fit in and continue to develop and be seen by the ECNL staff and I would guess hopefully be the first replacement if an injury happened on the regular ECNL team for an event or league games.

The way I understand it... It is another ECNL team that will travel to all of the same weekends as the other ECNL teams... Same exposure and playing other top clubs in the league. From what I understand it will be another great avenue. Same practice schedule as the others at 3 times per week same rules in the games, etc... The only difference is that it's not pure age so there will be a combined group of players from two age groups. It will also allow the other teams to pull players to other teams if needed since they are labeled ECNL. I would say if your player doesn't get picked for pure age but does get picked for composite it would be a great compliment.

I have heard that ECNL can cost anywhere from 8000-10,000 a year. Does anyone know if this is an accurate statement?

Great question FUBAR. All cost info I've heard has been very subjective. What I'd really like to hear what is the monthly payment...? (Meaning dues and team expenses.) I assume the ECNL teams do it the same way as the other competitive teams, with a manager establishing a team budget and taking up money for club dues and team dues all in one monthly payment...is that correct? I think I can ballpark what the travel expenses are going to be. Just curious what the actual monthly payment is for these ECNL teams.

I've heard around $175ish

Probably depends on the number of players

TSC website has a link that says for 2016-17:
Registration is $259.50 per year, club dues $130/month.
Team dues (ECNL events, coach per diem, travel fees, ref fees) not listed. Uniforms not listed.

So fully loaded probably $25 - $50 more per month than a normal SPRL team and the number of events you attend is more limited with more coaches attending those events and when you attend a college ID camp you probably already know the coach so you can limit your college ID camps to the schools that you know have already expressed a true interest (vs the generic email "inviting" you to their ID Camp).

Club dues are $42 a month more than competitive. I would expect team expenses to exceed cost of a top OPL competitive team as well, knowing you'd be paying for some coaches flights, rental cars, etc. on those trips to South Texas, San Diego, South Carolina. The $175 figure sounds low to me. I'm thinking more like $225-250, but sure like to hear it from someone whose got a player on that U14 or U15 ECNL team this year. Or is it one of those things where if you have to ask, then you can't afford it....

Great point about the ID camps. Something else that has been brought to my attention is that while ECNL players will get great exposure to college coaches the scholarships that follow are usually never a full ride. Does anyone have any idea how much of a scholarship is offered to ECNL players?

FUBAR wrote:Great point about the ID camps.  Something else that has been brought to my attention is that while ECNL players will get great exposure to college coaches the scholarships that follow are usually never a full ride.  Does anyone have any idea how much of a scholarship is offered to ECNL players?

Scholarships are highly variable. It will depend on the school, academics of the kid, position needs of that school and the player. If you have a top 20 national player she can get a full ride. If your familiar with college baseball its done similar where you can get a 1/3 or 1/4 1/2 etc. if you play for scholarships just quit and put the money in a piggy bank and focus on grades. it will help you more with school.

Also, schools can help get additional "scholarships" if your kid is good and has good grades. They can do a mix of academic and athletic scholarships.

ENERGYFC04 wrote:

FUBAR wrote:Great point about the ID camps.  Something else that has been brought to my attention is that while ECNL players will get great exposure to college coaches the scholarships that follow are usually never a full ride.  Does anyone have any idea how much of a scholarship is offered to ECNL players?

Scholarships are highly variable.  It will depend on the school, academics of the kid, position needs of that school and the player.  If you have a top 20 national player she can get a full ride.   If your familiar with college baseball its done similar where you can get a 1/3 or 1/4 1/2 etc.   if you play for scholarships just quit and put the money in a piggy bank and focus on grades. it will help you more with school.  

Also, schools can help get additional "scholarships" if your kid is good and has good grades. They can do a mix of academic and athletic scholarships.

Exactly...

Blameitontheref wrote:Club dues are $42 a month more than competitive. I would expect team expenses to exceed cost of a top OPL competitive team as well, knowing you'd be paying for some coaches flights, rental cars, etc. on those trips to South Texas, San Diego, South Carolina. The $175 figure sounds low to me. I'm thinking more like $225-250, but sure like to hear it from someone whose got a player on that U14 or U15 ECNL team this year. Or is it one of those things where if you have to ask, then you can't afford it....

Yes the club dues are $42 more per month but that helps cover the league fee the club has to pay yearly to be a member... The difference in cost is not much from a team that has played SRPL or a top OPL team that does a ton of tournaments. Remember that ECNL doesn't have the expense of the $450 - $650 Tournament that many teams do once a month. Also, coaches do ride and stay together to help offset the cost incurred. So from speaking to one of the parents of a current ECNL player they said it wasn't that far off from a monthly expense when you ball it all together. Most teams that travel for tournaments etc. are already paying $135-$165 per month all inclusive. The expense will come in if your whole family travels to national events, or regular game weekends in Houston, Dallas, Etc... But there are ways to cut costs on that. Another expense might be the extra gas and mileage for the additional training. I would encourage anyone trying out to look at this past years schedule of events for the u14 age and determine if that is right for you... Do some rudimentary calculations like Energy04 does to come up with your expenses for your family etc... This can vary so slightly depending on player count... But factor in the National Events are $1000 per team... So there is that. Nobody said it would be cheap! But its not extreme if you are already on a top team (which most are if they are trying out). Last suggestion is to do some fundraising! There is a great way to add additional money to your team account to help with per diem and coaches airfare, etc...

Another thought is ECNL does not play every weekend. Have your daughter get their ref license and ref games on the weekends ECNL does not pay and they can either pay for their monthly fee in full or put some portion of their ref money towards it.

Looking at U14 team this year, they went to Dallas 4 times, South Texas twice, Sandiego and South Carolina once apiece. Of course that's just what I can see on their ECNL schedule. Not sure if there were additional travels that don't show up there. The Texas stuff is all drive-able if you have the patience and a few Fridays/Mondays off. Probably the big expenses are those gotta fly trips though.

I suggest an airline mile credit card... LOL

That covers it. The youngest and oldest have 2 National Events.

Also when you look at the league about 1/2 the games are in Tulsa and 1/2 are in Texas. SRPL it winds up being about 1/3rd in the state of OK and 2/3rds in Texas.

Is SRPL a spring only league? Or is it year round?

How does a team qualify for SRPL?

U13 it is Spring only... U14+ it is a very early fall league. Not year round so if you only play SRPL you will need many events to keep your team busy and ready for State Cup.

Thanks Rainbow

Good infomation everyone... it's greatly appreciated

nat wrote:How does a team qualify for SRPL?

From OSA website: "SRPL selections are made by using Soccer City OPL standings from spring and fall. The top four finishers receive SRPL bids. In the case of teams already in SRPL, head to head competition between OK vs OK teams is used to determine seeding and/or relegation. The bottom team in SRPL can be challenged by the OPL winner for the SRPL spot"
It's anyone's guess how they'll handle this year, with so much change on rosters.

Outside of the change to birth year you have to throw in the OSA factor as I do not think they have used the same rules for league placement over the last 3 years so it's kind of a WAG based on common sense.