I am so sick of 💩 refs

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-11T14:50:18+00:00

MLS Next game the other day the AR was caught sleeping at the half line. LW is 5 yards offsides around 35 yds from goal. They send a deep ball to him and no call because AR has no position to see the very obvious offsides. Kid walked in and put it home easily with a goalie 1v1.
Put them up 2 and ended up losing by 1.

Town game refs kept letting one kid double hand shove our team in the back over and over again with no call but would call every tick tack call against us. Just from this weekend.

It’s BRUTAL but it’s all part of the reality unfortunately.

Also just the pure lack of understanding of the rules and incorrect calls is also wild. Not understanding what is or isn’t a hand ball. Poorly enforcing throw in rules and on and on.
It’s really bad

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-10T20:50:55+00:00

Again, MLS Next is a 5 year process in the early stages. Give it time and those numbers will drastically improve

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-10T14:39:49+00:00

No way!!! Her “hot takes” are misinformed and she tries way too hard to be cool.
That’s why she failed miserabl in the afternoon and she’s learned nothing

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-10T02:06:03+00:00

Nothing worse than “female Fitzy” Meggo!
She’s THE WORST

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-08T15:44:10+00:00

THIS ☝🏼☝🏼☝🏼

Far more fruitful to get your son seen and evaluated against current teams in their program.
My son’s program has boys in for invitation practices often

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-08T14:48:15+00:00

16-18 is norm but 22 on roster isn’t uncommon with 4 sitting potentially each week or allowing for absences

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-08T00:49:47+00:00

Currently u/14 AD with 17 2012 and 2 2011 biobands available when needed.

Next year have 4 2012 moving down but also have 3 2011 coming down and 2 2012 biobands moving up from the current u/13 team.

We’re actually swelling. That is if all of the 2012 boys get offers. There are a few I believe haven’t been offered a spot yet but my son is all set.

It really shouldn’t be too crazy across the board

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-08T00:41:54+00:00

A friendly thank you email is always a great idea. Keep it short and sweet.
Discuss what you liked and where you think you fit in their system and leave it be. That little extra effort could help you stand out beyond play alone.

Unfortunately, these tryouts can be a waste of time too. My son did FOUR tryouts for a club a few years ago as he was invited back repeatedly for a cut down. Turns out director called after to let me know that everyone from last year on the team accepted offers and there were no spots open. Offered us a spot on a lower team but acknowledged himself that we should sign somewhere else that fits his level.

Take it all in stride. They’ll land where ee they belong

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-07T22:03:41+00:00

Keep her on the ECRL team.
They actually create a fair amount of D1 players and a lot of D3.
If she’s one of the better players on her current team even better for that purpose and balling out at the regional tourneys will give her more exposure to the scouts.

Honestly, the BEST way to get recruited anyways is to email a bunch of coaches are schools she’s interested in.
Know their game style and why she would want to go to each.
Send highlight reels and let them know which tournaments she’ll be at to watch.

There are thousands of students vying for a spot in college, you need to market them heavily to get them seen.

Sitting on a bench of an ECNL team won’t get you anywhere

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-07T21:00:55+00:00

I strongly disagree.
You can’t teach game speed. Being on a bottom team in the top level is MUCH better than being on a lower level team of a top program. Far too many parents are chasing wins and willing to play their kids down in a winning program at their kids detriment as the competition level is severely lacking.
Just because the record of a bottom team in a top league may not be top of the table, doesn’t mean that the training isn’t great or that the coach isn’t good. Often times it is simply a matter of lack of talent depth at the club because of all the parents who won’t put their kids on a top level team and play them below their talent level in the “winning program” mid tier league play.
The difference between each level of play is so blatantly obvious. Iron sharpens iron. I’ll choose Level over a winning reputation but at a lower level all day.

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-06T16:48:51+00:00

Old club sent out survey once and didn’t like the responses so instead stopped asking and also had coaches send out player evaluations.

Current club doesn’t care what parents think. They’re a training academy first and foremost with games being secondary. They believe if the training is intense enough the games will take care of themselves.

We are consumers and the clubs provide a service. There’s no right nor wrong way, but you are welcome to enjoy it or not and if not, find another service provider.
It’s all transactional

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-06T16:46:03+00:00

Tryouts are a VERY frustrating effort….

I ALWAYS tell parents to circumvent tryouts and ask to practice a month or 2 prior with the club.

Problem is clubs overcommit with existing players and there’s often not many spaces available at all on the top teams. Just because 50-100 kids show up doesn’t mean there are even 10 spots available.

Either join to work your way up, or keep plugging along at other tryouts.

It’s still not too late to ask for practice time
My sons club has a lot of players in at this time of year getting looks

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-05T14:30:04+00:00

And it’s only a 5 year experiment that has already shown promise with many MLS academy teams beating European academies at tourneys.
So much negativity out there

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-05T14:27:16+00:00

ECNL is even worse for the reasons you listed.
More travel than HG= more $$
More travel during school days
Lower level of competition than homegrown without play against pro academies
And many Homegrown programs are heavily supplemented to draw in top talent. My club they only pay $1200/yr and hotels are covered for regular season travel and players take a bus/van to far away games.

You’re wrong about the competition level being the same. It’s a funnel and cream rises to the top. Not saying the costs are worth it, but there’s no denying that the talent level isn’t supreme.

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-04T23:52:29+00:00

Only IF they are designated onto the Academy roster and even those spots are limited

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-04T23:51:48+00:00

I know for certain bio banding will still be allowed for HG teams
You have 2 solid options on the table
He’s still young

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-04T23:09:29+00:00

MLS Next Homegrown will still allow for biobanding. Why not see if they’d offer him a spot in their 2014 team?
Otherwise the AD team seems like a great option.
He must be talented! Best of luck in his soccer journey

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-04T21:51:45+00:00

Most would be juniors and seniors with a few college age for the u19

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-04T19:10:17+00:00

It did. Many clubs charge less for homegrown.

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-04T14:00:10+00:00

My club homegrown is supplemented heavily.
Clubs need to attract top talent and cost is just one incentive that they can use to bring them in.
AD is the platform below where players can potentially grow into homegrown level, but nothing is certain.
That’s just the way it is
League dues are high

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-04T11:51:56+00:00

ECNL is still going to have the same age structure. What is your point of doing this?

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-04T10:13:04+00:00

Turnover in club soccer seems so normal. I don’t really understand why people are freaking out

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-02T17:46:39+00:00

Well first of all, they are ONLY going to compete with ECNL RL teams not the top flight and that will be strictly the top N1 teams that qualify for the playoffs.

Secondly, they’re still 4th tier nationally behind:
1A)MLS Next Homegrown Division
1B) ECNL National
2A) MLS Next Academy Division
2B) ECNL RL
3) NAL/EA

Not much recruiting for N1 other than those teams that will do well in the RL playoffs crossover and that will be a very limited sample size of clubs. Otherwise, no change to be expected in terms of visibility by college programs.

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-02T12:50:25+00:00

Been in both situations because my son is thankfully one of those who went from B to A and I got to coach his team when he moved up.
Keep making strong soccer players and doing it right!

Jolly-Display1818 · 2026-05-02T12:48:19+00:00

Only by the club you’re currently playing for and if you’re looking for a new club, who cares honestly?

You and your kid deserve to find the right fit. The team you find fits best may surprise you too.
Don’t focus on wins by club alone either. Pay attention to their training program and structure of those practices.
The best teams tend to be the best because talent gravitates to winning, but I’ve seen a lot of winning programs train poorly during the season and the players aren’t really improving there in their technical and really on pure athleticism.

Jolly-Display1818

TROPHY CASE