How many teams have finished player searches?

midfieldersdad wrote:I don't think the 00 girls age group is as vacant and diluted because of ECNL as many have surmised.

futbollove wrote:

midfieldersdad wrote:I don't think the 00 girls age group is as vacant and diluted because of ECNL as many have surmised.

Wait till you see league play, then make that statement.

midfieldersdad wrote:

futbollove wrote:

midfieldersdad wrote:I don't think the 00 girls age group is as vacant and diluted because of ECNL as many have surmised.

Wait till you see league play, then make that statement.

Are we to believe ALL of the talent has left LH and that no one else can improve to fill the vacancies?

Where were you before I wrote this?!?! How can I un-ring that bell?!?

I still disagree....

soccergonenutz wrote:I agree with futbol.  I know of many teams including ECNL,D1,D2 and D3, who have lost top players on the team and not been able to find similar players.  That's why I posed the question on impact.

futbollove wrote:??? You lost me.
How can it be a similarly skilled league, when only SOME players declined? Most didn't. And with 4-5 new teams that came from a lower division and/or league?

skeets00g wrote:I should stay out of this banter of did ALL of the talent leave LH but I am kinda of bored.
Here is my zero cents:
1) Talent is an ambiguous statement as every dd has talent.  So, NO not all talent left for ECNL.  
2) Have the top 100 players in NTX left to play ECNL.  Answer is NO.  LP has 3-5 players that could play on any ECNL team and would rank in most observers top 100.  There are several other players that are ECNL ready but for a variety of reasons are not playing ECNL.
3) Yes, however, the vast majority of the Top 100 players are on ECNL.  The key to note is that players move out of top 100 and into top 100 based on development every year...it is a marathon not a sprint.
4) Will ECNL have higher level of play yes.  The 5 ECNL teams are filled with strong players from 1-20.

5) LH will still be very competitive.  May not be as high of level of soccer as ECNL but very competitive and the players will develop.

skeets00g wrote:I should stay out of this banter of did ALL of the talent leave LH but I am kinda of bored.
Here is my zero cents:
1) Talent is an ambiguous statement as every dd has talent.  So, NO not all talent left for ECNL.  
2) Have the top 100 players in NTX left to play ECNL.  Answer is NO.  LP has 3-5 players that could play on any ECNL team and would rank in most observers top 100.  There are several other players that are ECNL ready but for a variety of reasons are not playing ECNL.
3) Yes, however, the vast majority of the Top 100 players are on ECNL.  The key to note is that players move out of top 100 and into top 100 based on development every year...it is a marathon not a sprint.
4) Will ECNL have higher level of play yes.  The 5 ECNL teams are filled with strong players from 1-20.
5) LH will still be very competitive.  May not be as high of level of soccer as ECNL but very competitive and the players will develop.

midfieldersdad wrote:

futbollove wrote:??? You lost me.
How can it be a similarly skilled league, when only SOME players declined? Most didn't. And with 4-5 new teams that came from a lower division and/or league?

All of the players throughout ECNL are D1 etc. from their respective associations. ECNL is similarly skilled to LHGCL. I assumed our NTX teams will be competitive.....after all we are sending our best, right?

There are only 90-110 or less leaving a league of 540 players. How can that be considered MOST of the talent? Even if all of the players came from D1, they didn't. That is still only half, not MOST of the players in D1. Dual rostered players will continue to compete in LH, that's is the beauty of ECNL.

But, if I do see the talent pool drop and no one improves over the season, I will thread it out with you! Till then, see you on the pitch, unless you're player is in ECNL

InaB wrote:"I agree with you futbol. Each club D1 team didn't just take a whole D1 team and move to ECNL. They shopped around taking a majority of players from within their own club as well as top players from other club teams. This is the year of shape shifting after all. That means that the top talent from D1 and D2 teams (maybe even a D3 team) are now moving on. As you said, that doesn't mean that there isn't any talent left in the league, it simply means that those girls who ranked the highest (according to ECNL team coaches) have gone. So now the D1 and D2 teams left with holes to fill are taking the next line of players who are looking. Does that mean that all of the players available are top ranked players, no, but some are. Those top players who chose not to go to ECNL are filling in positions in D1 teams. Then they go to the D2 top teams (if need be).

That being said, you are right, it does dilute the talent pool of any given team all the way down through D3 as better players decide to leave and move upward. Then you have hopefuls from Plano or Arlington teams who move up to D3 and possibly D2 teams to play at a higher level. 

This requires a retooling period where teams have to readjust over the fall period with new players. This will impact the level of play for everyone. Each division will also be made up of at least 50% new teams to the division. So the play will be different from this year to the next season because the competition will be different. It can't help but be different.

It is a bit like having a favorite pair of shoes that have been broken in and are comfortable. Then one shoe suffers a non-repairable break. So, you go out and buy an identical pair and use one shoe to replace the one that broke. It takes a few weeks for the new shoe to be as comfortable and workable as the old shoe. In the meantime, you dealt with blisters and an aching foot.

I think we will see a lot of aching feet at the first of the season."



I venture to say that there are many "top ranked" players who are not out looking to fill these reputed openings with these higher ranked teams. They are staying right with the teams that they are on, even if they are on the lowly little Plano or Arlington teams (being facetious). Due to loyalty, logistics, whatever and maybe because they know that the team they are on is good enough to compete with and even beat teams in LH D2 on down so why move? Maybe they also recognize that with soccer being the ultimate team sport, that unity, cohesiveness, comraderie, teamwork and coaching/player development matter and directly correlate to team success. Additionally, would a star player on a high quality "lower level" team leave and travel halfway across the metroplex to ride the bench on a "higher level" team? I'm sure some have and will, but probably not as much as some might think. Consequently, what I think you may see happen, is that "lower" division teams with a solid core will leap frog up as a team. So at the end of the day those top players will end up playing at the same level of competitive play as they would have had they left the teams they were on. Just my thoughts..

KnKsDad wrote:

InaB wrote:"I agree with you futbol. Each club D1 team didn't just take a whole D1 team and move to ECNL. They shopped around taking a majority of players from within their own club as well as top players from other club teams. This is the year of shape shifting after all. That means that the top talent from D1 and D2 teams (maybe even a D3 team) are now moving on. As you said, that doesn't mean that there isn't any talent left in the league, it simply means that those girls who ranked the highest (according to ECNL team coaches) have gone. So now the D1 and D2 teams left with holes to fill are taking the next line of players who are looking. Does that mean that all of the players available are top ranked players, no, but some are. Those top players who chose not to go to ECNL are filling in positions in D1 teams. Then they go to the D2 top teams (if need be).

That being said, you are right, it does dilute the talent pool of any given team all the way down through D3 as better players decide to leave and move upward. Then you have hopefuls from Plano or Arlington teams who move up to D3 and possibly D2 teams to play at a higher level. 

This requires a retooling period where teams have to readjust over the fall period with new players. This will impact the level of play for everyone. Each division will also be made up of at least 50% new teams to the division. So the play will be different from this year to the next season because the competition will be different. It can't help but be different.

It is a bit like having a favorite pair of shoes that have been broken in and are comfortable. Then one shoe suffers a non-repairable break. So, you go out and buy an identical pair and use one shoe to replace the one that broke. It takes a few weeks for the new shoe to be as comfortable and workable as the old shoe. In the meantime, you dealt with blisters and an aching foot.

I think we will see a lot of aching feet at the first of the season."



I venture to say that there are many "top ranked" players who are not out looking to fill these reputed openings with these higher ranked teams. They are staying right with the teams that they are on, even if they are on the lowly little Plano or Arlington teams (being facetious). Due to loyalty, logistics, whatever and maybe because they know that the team they are on is good enough to compete with and even beat teams in LH D2 on down so why move? Maybe they also recognize that with soccer being the ultimate team sport, that unity, cohesiveness, comraderie, teamwork and coaching/player development matter and directly correlate to team success. Additionally, would a star player on a high quality "lower level" team leave and travel halfway across the metroplex to ride the bench on a "higher level" team? I'm sure some have and will, but probably not as much as some might think. Consequently, what I think you may see happen, is that "lower" division teams with a solid core will leap frog up as a team. So at the end of the day those top players will end up playing at the same level of competitive play as they would have had they left the teams they were on. Just my thoughts..

soccersounder wrote:Just look at it as a math problem. ECNL will take 80 or more good to very good players out of LHGCL. We will see how deep the 00s are. The 98s fell way down in level of play in D1 compared to before ECNL. The 99s, not as much...


The 99's fell pretty far as well.