Re: NPL - National Premier League for Virgina
Posted by:
Gio
()
Date: May 21, 2014 05:11PM
Standings are published, Soccerist. Individual game scores are not, but you can see the standings. All the clubs are competitive, just not in every age group, and again- it changes from year to year. Any division in NCSL or WAGS will reflect disparity in teams' scores as well. That is the nature of youth soccer. Your point is valid- not everyone is competitive with everyone else- but the same can be said of all the leagues, from ODSL to CCL and EDP/NPL to ECNL and Academy. CCL across the board is a stronger league than NCSL or WAGS. There are still good teams in those, of course, but you can't pull the CCL clubs out and not take a hit. Look at the VYSA list of champions and runners up in state cup- CCL clubs dominate it.
I'm not saying everyone should play CCL by any stretch, but I vehemently disagree that it "was a good idea, poorly executed".
In the end, new soccer dad, find a team where your child likes the rest of the team, where the coach is positive, where he can explain his philosophy for developing kids, and where your child will get on the field during games. Touches, good training, and fun are the critical pieces here- not which league you are in necessarily. By high school, if your child is good and wants to play in college, you need to be looking for teams which can get into top tournaments where college coaches go to recruit- think tournaments such as Bethesda, Annandale, Jefferson Cup, CASL, and for the truly top- tier, Disney. ASsuming the child is young, U9 or U10, then your goal is the playing time, player development, and happiness of your child. If you're thinking of certain teams, go watch a game they play before tryouts to get a feel for how many kids get on the field and how the coach conducts himself on the sideline. You might chat with some parents on the sdieline as well to see what they think of the team.