OFC Joins Super Y League (SYL)

http://www.sylsoccer.com/news_article/show/770915?referrer_id=2242489

Does anyone know anything about this league? We were expecting to play SRPL with my U12 daughter next year. Will joining this league affect us? Any info would help....thanks.

Super Y is equivalent to SRPL, possibly a little better. Their boys program was strong but their girls wasn't. With DA coming on the scene, Super Y will compete with SRPL for the 4th level teams - DA, DA2, ECNL, Composite ECNL, Super Y, SRPL. Your daughters team will want to look at the competition in both leagues to determine the best fit. TSC is also doing Super Y but I personally think it dilutes the player pool at this level. I guess it could replace SRPL if all of the clubs support it, but if they don't it will just divide the teams into two leagues instead of one.

Thanks for the info. Judging by the SYL website, they are adding quite a few clubs. Maybe there is some kind of shift from SRPL over to SYL? If that's the case, why not just stay in SRPL? I have to tell you, this club soccer thing is unlike any sport I played growing up. The phrase, "pay to play" seems to come up in everything I read and hear about player development. It all seems like a scam to me. It shouldn't cost more to get a college scholarship than the scholarship itself? Somethings just seems out of whack to me...

Pay 2 Play! Thats a whole another can of worms!

NeverPlayedSoccer wrote:Thanks for the info.  Judging by the SYL website, they are adding quite a few clubs.  Maybe there is some kind of shift from SRPL over to SYL?  If that's the case, why not just stay in SRPL?  I have to tell you, this club soccer thing is unlike any sport I played growing up.  The phrase, "pay to play" seems to come up in everything I read and hear about player development.  It all seems like a scam to me.  It shouldn't cost more to get a college scholarship than the scholarship itself?  Somethings just seems out of whack to me...

Please tell me you aren't doing all of this for a scholarship... You can do all of this because they want to play in College but getting money for education is slim. All of this can prepare them and even give them an opportunity to play in college but more often the money comes from the academic side if anywhere.

I'm definitely not doing it for the scholarship. But for a sport that requires cleats and shinguards, why does it cost so freaking much? lol Maybe I have too much conspiracy theorist in me, but lot's of people are getting rich off our kids' "development."

Unfortunately we are in the age where time is money... The best leagues get the most exposure and attract the best competition. I don't feel like we overpay for what we get. The amount of time these coaches spend away from their families to put up with our kids and worst of all the parents... I say we are getting a deal. I wouldn't do it for the little they get paid. Tournaments and leagues have people that are behind the scenes putting in a ton of work so it makes sense why the entry fees are what they are. Travel costs incurred from gas, food, and hotels are part of any sports travel. Refs get paid for their time... Who is getting rich?

Not playing for scholarship money contradicts everything ECNL and DA is about. When I talk to parents about ECNL scholarship money is all its about. Why do folks need to fork out tons of moneu to these programs when they could accomplish the same goals paying less money. Just a thought.

Yellow, it's only recent that best play and competition means that you paid for it. And if you think paying $50k for your kid to play a sport is not overpaying, we will just have to agree to disagree. As far as people getting rich, not sure how to put it but yes. There are people that make a living from stuff that years ago were done by volunteers. There was a time when you could get a college scholarship in sports by just playing for your high school! Imagine that. Kids playing a sport they love, and the talented ones rise to the top. In this new system of paying, talented kids without money are not given a fair chance.

Yes at one time soccer was coached by parents and volunteers but with the advent of trying to create caliber teams the lack of quality coaches through the youth ranks was in need of fixing. The $1000's needed to obtain licenses require coaches to charge for quality coaching. Clubs exist to fill the vacuum of play between rec and college. As far as leagues they have been around for decades although quality was hit or miss. If you discuss cost it comes down to what caliber of play your team is looking for. In Oklahoma you can only play OFC, Blitz, Celtic and TSCH a couple of times a year and even then it begins to stale. So the search for quality competition requires teams to travel. This costs money but if your team wants to improve there is no other answer. As far as 50000 costs that figure is high for our market. Fees for ECNL vary but right around $2300-$3000. Travel costs will vary but to say they come out to be <$7000 per year is pushing the scale. You get what you pay for, is the system perfect not hardly but if you are looking for competition there are only so many avenues. Academic scholarships are for 4 years a soccer scholarship is a yearly evaluation. If your DD doesn't love the sport the cost of any upper league is probably to much, but if she loves it and has the talent it's hard to put a price on watching them play and seing the improvement.

It is too bad Oklahoma will never get a DA club. There are no monthly fees and I believe that you will truly have the best players on the top teams. You will eliminate the pay to play mentality.

Both of my sons are too young to worry about anything other than OPL right now. We do have the possibility of boys ECNL through TSCH coming but really have no experience with ECNL other what I read on here or Facebook. Everyone has their opinions on ECNL and it is tough to get an understanding if it truly is all of the top players and if it is worth the money.

When I was young we only had Rec, Classic and Premier. All of the college coach exposure came from college showcase tournaments. We went to a handful my junior and senior years and that was enough for me to get a division 1 scholarship. One of my favorite experiences was playing high school soccer and winning state. That topped all my club accomplishments including winning state and multiple tournaments. ODP was a blast too traveling to Coco Beach every summer. Things sure have changed.

Bigbadwolf wrote:Not playing for scholarship money contradicts everything ECNL and DA is about.  When I talk to parents about ECNL scholarship money is all its about.  Why do folks need to fork out tons of moneu to these programs when they could accomplish the same goals paying less money.  Just a thought.

Then those parents are severely misinformed and doing it for the wrong reason. They might get lucky but that's a small percentage... This is a good read for anyone thinking their kid is getting money to go to school playing soccer... https://beachfc.demosphere-secure.com/_files/college-alumni/WomensCollegeSoccerRecruitingGuide.pdf

NeverPlayedSoccer wrote:Yellow, it's only recent that best play and competition means that you paid for it.  And if you think paying $50k for your kid to play a sport is not overpaying, we will just have to agree to disagree.  As far as people getting rich, not sure how to put it but yes.  There are people that make a living from stuff that years ago were done by volunteers.  There was a time when you could get a college scholarship in sports by just playing for your high school!  Imagine that.  Kids playing a sport they love, and the talented ones rise to the top.  In this new system of paying, talented kids without money are not given a fair chance.  

Wow... $50k? That's reaching a little bit unless you are talking about every soccer related expense over their entire career... Getting rich and making a living are two entirely different things... We are talking about a different time in which everything costs money... not just soccer. If the kid is good they will play. I have seen many scholarship kids in these clubs that get a fair chance.

FootballDad05 wrote:Yes at one time soccer was coached by parents and volunteers but with the advent of trying to create caliber teams the lack of quality coaches through the youth ranks was in need of fixing. The $1000's needed to obtain licenses require coaches to charge for quality coaching. Clubs exist to fill the vacuum of play between rec and college. As far as leagues they have been around for decades although quality was hit or miss. If you discuss cost it comes down to what caliber of play your team is looking for. In Oklahoma you can only play OFC, Blitz, Celtic and TSCH a couple of times a year and even then it begins to stale. So the search for quality competition requires teams to travel. This costs money but if your team wants to improve there is no other answer. As far as 50000 costs that figure is high for our market. Fees for ECNL vary but right around $2300-$3000. Travel costs will vary but to say they come out to be <$7000 per year is pushing the scale. You get what you pay for, is the system perfect not hardly but if you are looking for competition there are only so many avenues. Academic scholarships are for 4 years a soccer scholarship is a yearly evaluation. If your DD doesn't love the sport the cost of any upper league is probably to much, but if she loves it and has the talent it's hard to put a price on watching them play and seing the improvement.  

Pretty much spot on... I agree with this so much.

Gatorade95 wrote:It is too bad Oklahoma will never get a DA club.  There are no monthly fees and I believe that you will truly have the best players on the top teams.  You will eliminate the pay to play mentality.

Both of my sons are too young to worry about anything other than OPL right now.  We do have the possibility of boys ECNL through TSCH coming but really have no experience with ECNL other what I read on here or Facebook.  Everyone has their opinions on ECNL and it is tough to get an understanding if it truly is all of the top players and if it is worth the money.  

When I was young we only had Rec, Classic and Premier.  All of the college coach exposure came from college showcase tournaments.  We went to a handful my junior and senior years and that was enough for me to get a division 1 scholarship.  One of my favorite experiences was playing high school soccer and winning state.  That topped all my club accomplishments including winning state and multiple tournaments.  ODP was a blast too traveling to Coco Beach every summer.  Things sure have changed.

Most of the people with bad opinions on ECNL probably didn't get picked for ECNL and are bitter. Everyone I know that is in it is happy with it for the most part.

These arguments make sense explaining cost in a sparsely populated state like OK where travel is a necessity to face talent but why is it still expensive in states like CA, TX, and FL? I get that time is money and you get what you pay for, but it is flat out ridiculous that us parents will spend more money helping our kids become better players than the cost of a scholarship. People need to speak up and continue to find ways to develop our kids without spending so much money.

As far as ECNL bitterness, I can see how people would be bitter after spending all this money...lol. I also know our coach has an older SRPL team that recently played FC Dallas ECNL, who is in first place in the ECNL standings, in Dallas to a 2-2 draw after beating a Dallas Texans and another FC Dallas team. Just because a team plays SRPL doesn't mean they can't compete with the best of the ECNL. Which is why I think teams should be invited to leagues not clubs. A great club could have a couple of week teams just by chance and maybe a traditionally weak club could have really good teams that don't have the chance to compete...Doesn't make sense to me.

The U16 and U18 FCD teams are in first place and are phenomenal teams. Both teams have multiple national team players and I've seen them play several times. The U16 team is currently ranked #3 in the country and the U18 team is ranked 5th. My hats off to any SRPL team that gets within 7 goals of them. When did these two teams play?

Never mind, I just found the game on Youthsoccerrankings. The U18 OFC SRPL team tied the U17 FCD ECNL team 2-2. The U17 FCD ECNL team is good but not in first place. Still a good accomplishment though.

Like it or not there are teams not in ECNL that are as good or better than the teams in ECNL. That said, ECNL also serves as the current best path to consistently play competition that improves your game.

I don't buy into the junk that ECNL coaching and/or practices are better than non-ECNL clubs. However, i do buy in that even though it has its flaws it serves as a better opportunity than other leagues. I also believe, given the parameters of getting in - that clubs are held to a higher standard of play. You typically don't see clubs garnering ECNL invitation who simply play smash mouth or certain styles of play.

NeverPlayedSoccer wrote:These arguments make sense explaining cost in a sparsely populated state like OK where travel is a necessity to face talent but why is it still expensive in states like CA, TX, and FL?  I get that time is money and you get what you pay for, but it is flat out ridiculous that us parents will spend more money helping our kids become better players than the cost of a scholarship.  People need to speak up and continue to find ways to develop our kids without spending so much money.

As far as ECNL bitterness, I can see how people would be bitter after spending all this money...lol.  I also know our coach has an older SRPL team that recently played FC Dallas ECNL, who is in first place in the ECNL standings, in Dallas to a 2-2 draw after beating a Dallas Texans and another FC Dallas team.  Just because a team plays SRPL doesn't mean they can't compete with the best of the ECNL.  Which is why I think teams should be invited to leagues not clubs.  A great club could have a couple of week teams just by chance and maybe a traditionally weak club could have really good teams that don't have the chance to compete...Doesn't make sense to me.

You make some good points... Teams being invited to a league is definitely something that makes sense! Again, on the scholarship thing... We don't do this for a scholarship. Getting to play College soccer would be a great reward and getting money for school would be icing on the cake. We do it for the kid, because they want to play against the best competition they can. SRPL is only slightly less expensive than ECNL when all the dust settles. I have seen quite a few SRPL teams that could hang with or possibly beat ECNL teams. Some may be 2/10 times but still that's awesome and I don't think anyone would disagree! Bottom line is if you think your kid has what it takes to play at the highest level, I suggest putting them in front of the right people and see if its true. Take money out of the equation... If the kid can play they will get an opportunity but if you don't try you won't know.

Neverplayed refer to the post by 918soccer in the HighSchool ODP ECNL category. This will apply to your DD bring her out for the training and the opportunity. We welcome your DD to try out and if nothing else get some great training.

To be honest, it's tough to think about sending my daughter to another club. Whether it be Dallas or Tulsa, part of me feels like I would be betraying our coach more than our club, but the club to an extent as well. Follow the logic. If all the top talent across the state of OK goes to Tulsa for ECNL, no other clubs stand a chance of being invited to ECNL.

While I can't say this for every coach in our club, I will say that I would put our coach up against any coach in the state. I feel extremely fortunate to have him as our coach. I trust his process and it's difficult to argue the results of his process. Despite playing in the SRPL, he consistently sends girls to small and big schools, and not just a handful from his teams...literally the whole team signs LOI's. He must be doing something right. Plus my daughter is just so young. She's only 12. As a dad, I'm thinking about next level stuff, but she's just a kid playing a sport she loves. I don't want to add extra stress that could lead to burnout. I think those type of decisions are a few years down the road...

Nobody else is in Oklahoma is ever going to get the invite to ECNL. As far as competetion of play goes i have heard ECNL is a different beast. And with DA taking most of the talent in NT SRPL and ECNL maybecome really watered down. I do agree if you have a coach that can get your DD the looks she needs to play in college you will never need ECNL.

The first teams in N TX will go DA in the 05's in another year but ECNL is starting full play in that age group now so the players you will be competing with next year will still be the first string N TX teams. The following year yes it will be the remaining girls from the combined teams that will play ECNL. These teams will also be very good quality as the DA team will only be able to roster 25 players and that leaves a lot of quality players in various positions from 3-4 top teams at each club. As we know N TX runs deep in player pool. This is the best league for girls that Oklahoma has access too. I can not say which team is better or if any ECNL team can be beaten by any other team but if you look at it specifically by quality of competion week in and week out it is hard to argue the point of better opponents make better players.

NeverPlayedSoccer wrote:To be honest, it's tough to think about sending my daughter to another club.  Whether it be Dallas or Tulsa, part of me feels like I would be betraying our coach more than our club, but the club to an extent as well.  Follow the logic.  If all the top talent across the state of OK goes to Tulsa for ECNL, no other clubs stand a chance of being invited to ECNL.  

While I can't say this for every coach in our club, I will say that I would put our coach up against any coach in the state.  I feel extremely fortunate to have him as our coach.  I trust his process and it's difficult to argue the results of his process. Despite playing in the SRPL, he consistently sends girls to small and big schools, and not just a handful from his teams...literally the whole team signs LOI's.  He must be doing something right.  Plus my daughter is just so young.  She's only 12.  As a dad, I'm thinking about next level stuff, but she's just a kid playing a sport she loves.  I don't want to add extra stress that could lead to burnout.  I think those type of decisions are a few years down the road...

Completely understandable. You might talk to one of the OKC girls who play ECNL to see if there is much difference and if it is worth it. One of them practiced with the 03 team last week (she plays on the 02 ECNL team) and I think her name was Madison Cockings - center mid, very good player, played at OFC. Might be worth the time to talk to them about their experience.

My oldest daughter plays on the 03 ECNL team (she played for 04 Griffin before the age change) and the biggest differences I see are the competition - the teams are much better than JR ECNL (TX clubs merge their top teams/players for ECNL) - and a less talked about change that happens in the girls themselves in regards to their confidence from reaching the highest level that only 16 girls make. They also gain a surprising amount of pride and comrodery because of the way ECNL is structured. During competition weekends, the kids' ultimate goal is for the club to win more games than they lose. The players and parents are energized over this goal, watch other games, cheer other players and talk shop all weekend. It is not uncommon for 2 or 3 ECNL teams in your club to watch your games and cheer you on as much as they do their own team. There is a much higher level of comradery in ECNL than other leagues and my daughter feels like she is a part of something bigger than just the team. This feeling of accomplishment and comradery has elivated her interest and her dedication to the sport much more than I could have anticipated.

Does that mean it is worth driving to Tulsa to play ECNL, for some yes some no, but it does mean that you should do everything in your power to get your daughter on an ECNL team if OFC gets it. It is much more than good competition and scholorships.