Plano West Dynasty

Just doing the math....it makes absolute sense that the former ESD player made it to UNC without ever playing ECNL since she is a '95 or older player.

Now if a '97 or younger player were to make it to UNC during the ECNL era having not played in an ECNL event then that would be news worthy and fuel for the non-ECNL fire.

Why?...

1. ECNL is 4 years old ('96 would be the first class to have spent 4 years in ECNL)....
2. The first year of ECNL, ECNL and USYSA were on a level playing field and the ECNL teams played in both ECNL and USYSA playoffs with the girls potentially gaining exposure from both ECNL and USYSA events. After 2010 USYSA began to take a back seat to a larger degree.
3. '97 girls would be the first class in the ECNL dominant era.

Are there any girls that are top flight Division 1 prospects (with the D1 scholarship offers to prove it) in the '97 age group that haven't played ECNL? It is an honest question....my eldest DD is an '00 so I don't know the '97 age group.

The google docs sheet doesn't list who all received full rides, but there are absolutely a significant # of players committing to top D1 schools from non ECNL clubs. I'm working on the data now, but I was actually surprised how many there are...including international players. It looks like the top programs are going after top talent wherever they can find it. Of course ECNL clubs monopolize the texas commit list, but it's not the case elsewhere in the country.

Well, outside of DFW - ECNL isn't always available and in some areas, it's not always the top situation (Atlanta, part of California for example). So, obviously, it stands to reason there are other paths.

Within the DFW metroplex, there is no doubting in terms of numbers that ECNL has the greater talent depth  and college exposure - I don't think anyone is doubting that, are they?

These conversations turn into such a defending one's decision rather than any sort of objective measure. The true comparison should be the collegiate commitments of ECNL roster numbers 10-20 versus LHGCL.  That would eliminate the obvious outliers in ECNL.

I also know of someone from UNC's camp who was getting interest from Anson. Don't know if that's just due to the coach being a former UNC alum or if that's a common concurrence. I do know other sports rely heavily on their camps as another method of trying to see things they can't view during games. Why is this seen as such a one-off and fairy tale? As if we have dozens going to UNC yearly?

The (where to play) decision is such an individual one, that I don't think you can state definitively that there is a preferred place.  How would anyone be able to state a nonstarter in ECNL has a better situation than a starter in LHGCL, there's no metric possible that would ever be able to tell you.  For example, why would someone leave the best coach available to join an ECNL team? That answer varies from person to person and it done annually in every age group.  

I am enjoying the banter that discounts anything and everything if it doesn't match one's current situation or decision, however.


Post Edit Sorry - didn't see the prior post - could have saved time and just put Ditto.

I believe there are several girls playing LH D1 who could comfortably compete in ECNL but choose not to for a variety of reasons.

The ESD girl mentioned (now at UNC) could have played two years of ECNL from its inception (chose not to) before she actually did her senior year...and well after she already had the scholarship offer from North Carolina at Chapel Hill....UNC.

tornado11 wrote:I believe there are several girls playing LH D1 who could comfortably compete in ECNL but choose not to for a variety of reasons.

The ESD girl mentioned (now at UNC) could have played two years of ECNL from its inception (chose not to) before she actually did her senior year...and well after she already had the scholarship offer from North Carolina at Chapel Hill....UNC.

Curiously, I wonder how competitive she was that year. I would assume a player destined for great things at UNC would run roughshod over the lesser NTX kids.

tornado11 wrote:I believe there are several girls playing LH D1 who could comfortably compete in ECNL but choose not to for a variety of reasons.

The ESD girl mentioned (now at UNC) could have played two years of ECNL from its inception (chose not to) before she actually did her senior year...and well after she already had the scholarship offer from North Carolina at Chapel Hill....UNC.

You have gone on long enough about this player and her very admirable accomplishments that you are getting scary.

Either you are the player, a family member, or this player needs to be very worried about your infatuation with her.

Lefty wrote:

tornado11 wrote:I believe there are several girls playing LH D1 who could comfortably compete in ECNL but choose not to for a variety of reasons.

The ESD girl mentioned (now at UNC) could have played two years of ECNL from its inception (chose not to) before she actually did her senior year...and well after she already had the scholarship offer from North Carolina at Chapel Hill....UNC.

You have gone on long enough about this player and her very admirable accomplishments that you are getting scary.

Either you are the player, a family member, or this player needs to be very worried about your infatuation with her.

...None of the above although I do know the girl and her parents quite well...( had dinner with the three of them a few days before she went off to UNC)...I keep up with her progress and stay in touch with her mom and dad on a regular basis.... and she has played some her freshman year...not bad for a relatively unknown at that school..

She is convinced...and has told other ESD teammates the same thing...that going to the summer camps of schools you are interested in is absolutely the way to go....

Borussia wrote:So the luck of one should dictate for all... just silly.

...No 'luck' involved....the girl can actually PLAY this game...unless you believe the most successful coach in women's college soccer history doesn't know what he's doing..

tornado11 wrote:

Borussia wrote:So the luck of one should dictate for all... just silly.

...No 'luck' involved....the girl can actually PLAY this game...unless you believe the most successful coach in women's college soccer history doesn't know what he's doing..

And she's played only 37 minutes total so far in 16 games. Maybe the days of recruiting from camps is over. It's not 1996 any more.

Uncle Numanga wrote:

tornado11 wrote:

Borussia wrote:So the luck of one should dictate for all... just silly.

...No 'luck' involved....the girl can actually PLAY this game...unless you believe the most successful coach in women's college soccer history doesn't know what he's doing..

And she's played only 37 minutes total so far in 16 games. Maybe the days of recruiting from camps is over.  It's not 1996 any more.

Just wait until next season will be Tornados next response... haha

The player and parents should know all options available to them and take the path most likely to get the player to where he/she wants to go. It is the education that matters most as their is nothing out there for the girls that will carry them for a lifetime like an education will.

Uncle Numanga wrote:

tornado11 wrote:

Borussia wrote:So the luck of one should dictate for all... just silly.

...No 'luck' involved....the girl can actually PLAY this game...unless you believe the most successful coach in women's college soccer history doesn't know what he's doing..

And she's played only 37 minutes total so far in 16 games. Maybe the days of recruiting from camps is over.  It's not 1996 any more.

That is an average of 2 minutes, 18 secs per game. I don't know what is the statistically average for Freshman Women Soccer playing time, but I have seen girls clock 20 - 40 minutes per game as Freshmen at UT, A&M, Baylor, Pepperdine, Stanford, Florida, OU games just to name a few I am aware off. 

If this kid can actually PLAY this game, as Tornado11 claims, at an average of 2 minutes per game (assuming there is no major underlining reason like a serious injury or medical condition) what is the ROI for UNC?

Pele98 wrote:

Uncle Numanga wrote:

tornado11 wrote:

Borussia wrote:So the luck of one should dictate for all... just silly.

...No 'luck' involved....the girl can actually PLAY this game...unless you believe the most successful coach in women's college soccer history doesn't know what he's doing..

And she's played only 37 minutes total so far in 16 games. Maybe the days of recruiting from camps is over.  It's not 1996 any more.

That is an average of 2 minutes, 18 secs per game. I don't know what is the statistically average for Freshman Women Soccer playing time, but I have seen girls clock 20 - 40 minutes per game as Freshmen at UT, A&M, Baylor, Pepperdine, Stanford, Florida, OU games just to name a few I am aware off. 

If this kid can actually PLAY this game, as Tornado11 claims, at an average of 2 minutes per game (assuming there is no major underlining reason like a serious injury or medical condition) what is the ROI for UNC?

The ROI of a UNC Chapel Hill education is about 80K to start and 120K+ after 5 years.

Noob wrote:

Pele98 wrote:

Uncle Numanga wrote:

tornado11 wrote:

Borussia wrote:So the luck of one should dictate for all... just silly.

...No 'luck' involved....the girl can actually PLAY this game...unless you believe the most successful coach in women's college soccer history doesn't know what he's doing..

And she's played only 37 minutes total so far in 16 games. Maybe the days of recruiting from camps is over.  It's not 1996 any more.

That is an average of 2 minutes, 18 secs per game. I don't know what is the statistically average for Freshman Women Soccer playing time, but I have seen girls clock 20 - 40 minutes per game as Freshmen at UT, A&M, Baylor, Pepperdine, Stanford, Florida, OU games just to name a few I am aware off. 

If this kid can actually PLAY this game, as Tornado11 claims, at an average of 2 minutes per game (assuming there is no major underlining reason like a serious injury or medical condition) what is the ROI for UNC?

The ROI of a UNC Chapel Hill education is about 80K to start and 120K+ after 5 years.  

UNC is a great education no question.

ROI depends on degree and grades like any other school.

We regularly hire all the UNC grads we want in the $50k range and train them to be what we need.

The other factor I have not heard is how much she is getting in scholarship $ at UNC. Depending on that answer her parents may be paying as much for that education as if she had played at Stanford, Duke, ND and more than at TX, A&M, Baylor. Everyone has to make their decision based on their dd's goals and family finances.

Pele98 wrote:

Uncle Numanga wrote:

tornado11 wrote:

Borussia wrote:So the luck of one should dictate for all... just silly.

...No 'luck' involved....the girl can actually PLAY this game...unless you believe the most successful coach in women's college soccer history doesn't know what he's doing..

And she's played only 37 minutes total so far in 16 games. Maybe the days of recruiting from camps is over.  It's not 1996 any more.

That is an average of 2 minutes, 18 secs per game. I don't know what is the statistically average for Freshman Women Soccer playing time, but I have seen girls clock 20 - 40 minutes per game as Freshmen at UT, A&M, Baylor, Pepperdine, Stanford, Florida, OU games just to name a few I am aware off. 

If this kid can actually PLAY this game, as Tornado11 claims, at an average of 2 minutes per game (assuming there is no major underlining reason like a serious injury or medical condition) what is the ROI for UNC?

The girl has only participated in 4 matches, so in those matches, she's averaged about 9 minutes per.  I don't know if she's had any injuries or other issues.

I think there is some value in attending camps for the schools in which your dd is interested.  Unfortunately you've got to first figure out if they have any interest in you as a player, or simply as a camp revenue stream.

To use a sample size of one to make a blanket statement that attending the camp is the single best way to get into the college of your choice is a little crazy.  It seems to be more of a case of using anecdotal evidence to bolster an agenda.

Getting broad exposure for the player while at the same time, strategically and selectively attending camps would seem to make better sense.  Playing at the highest levels (like ECNL) also pays dividends in continuous improvement for the player.

Anson Dorrance runs a top flight program, that's for sure.  However, I don't think you can simply say that just because a player was recruited by the school it automatically means anything.  I would guess even Anson would admit that some recruits just haven't worked out.  Every other school has had a miss or two.

tornado11 wrote:

Lefty wrote:

tornado11 wrote:I believe there are several girls playing LH D1 who could comfortably compete in ECNL but choose not to for a variety of reasons.

The ESD girl mentioned (now at UNC) could have played two years of ECNL from its inception (chose not to) before she actually did her senior year...and well after she already had the scholarship offer from North Carolina at Chapel Hill....UNC.

You have gone on long enough about this player and her very admirable accomplishments that you are getting scary.

Either you are the player, a family member, or this player needs to be very worried about your infatuation with her.

...None of the above although I do know the girl and her parents quite well...( had dinner with the three of them a few days before she went off to UNC)...I keep up with her progress and stay in touch with her mom and dad on a regular basis.... and she has played some her freshman year...not bad for a relatively unknown at that school..

She is convinced...and has told other ESD teammates the same thing...that going to the summer camps of schools you are interested in is absolutely the way to go....

Please keep us updated on how that works out for all this years ESD players when it comes to signing.

Always interesting to follow the outcomes when someone tries to use an exception as a general rule.

How did this morph into a discussion on how good the player is - she's on one of the top notch programs in the country? Even if she has zero scholarship - it still doesn't matter in terms of what the end game should be. Whoa is me - I'm number 20 on UNC, what will become of my life?

I do agree with about everyone that camps would be helpful but certainly not the preferred method of self-recruiting.

How many out of DFW go to UNC? I know several who have played there, but it's likely an average of one per year. Kudos to anyone who makes that cut regardless of how they did it.

Agreed. This kid didn't ask tornado11 to hype her up on a parent's soccer forum. She's at one of the top soccer programs in the country, and playing behind several seniors that are likely to one day feature on full WNT.

NTX parents dissing her minutes as a true freshman is ridiculous.

4-3-3 wrote:Agreed.  This kid didn't ask tornado11 to hype her up on a parent's soccer forum.  She's at one of the top soccer programs in the country, and playing behind several seniors that are likely to one day feature on full WNT.  

NTX parents dissing her minutes as a true freshman is ridiculous.

Not dissing her minutes at all, simply corrected the implication that she was playing 2 minutes a game.  Freshman minutes are all over the place.  My dd's team has freshman players with 0 minutes at this point in the season, and there are those that play virtually the entire game, and everywhere in between.

Tornado11's obsession with her and constantly throwing her out there as an example to bolster whatever argument he's trying to make was destined to end badly.  Disagreeing with him was bound to look like a diss against her since she was his sole example.

ballhead wrote:

4-3-3 wrote:Agreed.  This kid didn't ask tornado11 to hype her up on a parent's soccer forum.  She's at one of the top soccer programs in the country, and playing behind several seniors that are likely to one day feature on full WNT.  

NTX parents dissing her minutes as a true freshman is ridiculous.

Not dissing her minutes at all, simply corrected the implication that she was playing 2 minutes a game.  Freshman minutes are all over the place.  My dd's team has freshman players with 0 minutes at this point in the season, and there are those that play virtually the entire game, and everywhere in between.

Tornado11's obsession with her and constantly throwing her out there as an example to bolster whatever argument he's trying to make was destined to end badly.  Disagreeing with him was bound to look like a diss against her since she was his sole example.

Does your DD play for a top 5 program? Even if she did, you'd need to look at the talent in the upperclassmen at same positions to make any such comparison. UNC is loaded at her position... and YNT players up and down the roster. We should celebrate this kid getting minutes at all as a true freshman.

I wasn't referring to you initially, but I'm sure everyone here is smart enough to attack tornado11's argument without being negative about one of our own success stories. Righteous rant over.

dfeetersarethebomb wrote:How did this morph into a discussion on how good the player is - she's on one of the top notch programs in the country? Even if she has zero scholarship - it still doesn't matter in terms of what the end game should be.  Whoa is me - I'm number 20 on UNC, what will become of my life?

I do agree with about everyone that camps would be helpful but certainly not the preferred method of self-recruiting.

How many out of DFW go to UNC? I know several who have played there, but it's likely an average of one per year. Kudos to anyone who makes that cut regardless of how they did it.

As much as I admire the sentiment, I just can't bring myself to agree. What is the end game? I assume for just about all of us as parents, it is to make sure our daughters get a good education... and live happily ever after. So if we consider the time and effort a player of UNC caliber has put in since she was 5 years old, all of the money the parents have spent on soccer, AND the fact that playing the sport in college at a D1 level is absolutely a full-time job, I would definitely try to talk my daughter out of playing at a school like this if there was no scholarship money. I mean honestly; how many females are going to play on the WNT and actually make money doing it? For what it would cost to send a young lady out of state to a college like UNC while killing herself on a soccer field, a parent could cover the costs of a more prestigious school while the girl studies law or pre-med and actually has the time to enjoy college life. When there are institutions like the NFL, NBA, MLB, et cetera waiting to pick up a top athlete after four years of study and lots of hard work in the sport, the investment - sans scholarship - would make more sense to me. But for female soccer players, this isn't the case. The scholarship would have to be there.

4-3-3 wrote:

ballhead wrote:

4-3-3 wrote:Agreed.  This kid didn't ask tornado11 to hype her up on a parent's soccer forum.  She's at one of the top soccer programs in the country, and playing behind several seniors that are likely to one day feature on full WNT.  

NTX parents dissing her minutes as a true freshman is ridiculous.

Not dissing her minutes at all, simply corrected the implication that she was playing 2 minutes a game.  Freshman minutes are all over the place.  My dd's team has freshman players with 0 minutes at this point in the season, and there are those that play virtually the entire game, and everywhere in between.

Tornado11's obsession with her and constantly throwing her out there as an example to bolster whatever argument he's trying to make was destined to end badly.  Disagreeing with him was bound to look like a diss against her since she was his sole example.

Does your DD play for a top 5 program?  Even if she did, you'd need to look at the talent in the upperclassmen at same positions to make any such comparison.  UNC is loaded at her position... and YNT players up and down the roster. We should celebrate this kid getting minutes at all as a true freshman.

I wasn't referring to you initially,  but I'm sure everyone here is smart enough to attack tornado11's argument without being negative about one of our own success stories.  Righteous rant over.

With the way tornado harps on this, it is inevitable that it will end up reflecting badly on this player who has accomplished much, though through a somewhat unconventional path.  There have been much better players than her who have come through the NTX process but never had anyone on the boards touting their accomplishments like tornado does.  Not sure what tornado is looking to accomplish other than irritating people with their rants on the player, UNC and ESD.

Do the player and her parents appreciate tornados posts?  If it was my dd that tornado was talking about I would be very unhappy and looking to have a serious conversation with tornado.  Maybe one of the players friends from soccer or ESD ought to give the players parents a heads up on tornados posts related to their dd.

Reguardless of her minutes at UNC, she must have been a central figure on this Plano West Dynasty. From what Tornado says, she probably carried the team, and without her they probably wouldn't have won many games at all.

Is anyone stepping back and reading their own posts?
- The 'end game' should not have ANYTHING to do with soccer - geez, not that hard to understand
- So, the poster who is trying to praise a local player is the problem and the local player and schools should be ashamed? Are you serious? This is a classic deflection - there isn't bad news here to use as fodder for killing the messenger or subject of the messenger. Should someone be ashamed and embarrassed for getting a gift?

A fact that someone took an alternate method to get to UNC is somehow a bad thing? You should be ashamed to even mention the player's prowess or the fact that she was scouted at a camp. The only contention should be that this is the best method, or, for that matter, a worthwhile method for getting scouted.

When I look through the past few years of players going to top universities, I guess there are several that are 'under the radar' or use fake hometowns, because, this board is starting to sound like it's 100% of ECNL players, or, at least txsoccer posters. Obviously, they are freshman starters. I just looked at the top ten schools, other than UNC, there's a total of 1 from Texas. UNC has four (1 from North Texas). I think there is a lot of dreaming going on here.

TripDDs wrote:Reguardless of her minutes at UNC, she must have been a central figure on this Plano West Dynasty.  From what Tornado says, she probably carried the team, and without her they probably wouldn't have won many games at all.

Played for ESD not Plano West.

clueless wrote:Is anyone stepping back and reading their own posts?
- The 'end game' should not have ANYTHING to do with soccer - geez, not that hard to understand
- So, the poster who is trying to praise a local player is the problem and the local player and schools should be ashamed?  Are you serious? This is a classic deflection - there isn't bad news here to use as fodder for killing the messenger or subject of the messenger.  Should someone be ashamed and embarrassed for getting a gift?

A fact that someone took an alternate method to get to UNC is somehow a bad thing? You should be ashamed to even mention the player's prowess or the fact that she was scouted at a camp. The only contention should be that this is the best method, or, for that matter, a worthwhile method for getting scouted.

When I look through the past few years of players going to top universities, I guess there are several that are 'under the radar' or use fake hometowns, because, this board is starting to sound like it's 100% of ECNL players, or, at least txsoccer posters. Obviously, they are freshman starters. I just looked at the top ten schools, other than UNC, there's a total of 1 from  Texas. UNC has four (1 from North Texas).  I think there is a lot of dreaming going on here.

Well said

Pele98 wrote:

TripDDs wrote:Reguardless of her minutes at UNC, she must have been a central figure on this Plano West Dynasty.  From what Tornado says, she probably carried the team, and without her they probably wouldn't have won many games at all.

Played for ESD not Plano West.

Oh, I thought I was in the Plano West thread. I don't even remember clicking on a ESD or UNC thread.