Local clubs sitting out west coast 2010-11 ECNL opening weekend

The Elite Clubs National League will open the 2010-11 season Friday with the ECNL Fall National Showcase at the John Blanche Memorial Soccer Complex in Temecula, Calif.

A total of 64 U-15 through U-18 girls’ teams will take part in the Fall National Showcase, which will be held Aug. 27-29. The Fall National Showcase will serve as the first of five regular-season ECNL events in 2010-11 leading up to the ECNL National Championship in July 2011.

The Potomac regions\' four member clubs (Bethesda SC, FC Virginia, Freestate SA, and VA Rush) will not participate, instead chosing other league events closer to home.

[ + Click here to see a list of teams and schedules for the Fall National Showcase ]
 
“The second ECNL season will see some big changes from the first season and I think all of the clubs are very excited to get started,” said ECNL President Christian Lavers. “First, we have added some great new clubs and expanded into the U-18 age group. Just as importantly, we have significantly improved and expanded the ECNL Player Identification Program, which we believe will be a tremendous vehicle for us to help identify the best players in the country based on their performances against other top players in the most meaningful games.”

Twelve new clubs have been added to the league lineup for the 2010-11 season, bringing the number of ECNL member clubs to 52. Also new in 2010-11 will be regional play, as each team will play four regional ECNL games as part of the regular-season schedule. In total, teams in the U-15 through U-17 age groups will play 13 regular-season games while U-18 teams will play 10 regular-season contests.

“The addition of regional play will help the ECNL grow to be the focal point of our clubs’ competitive schedules,” said Lavers.

US Soccer will have four National Staff scouts on-site for the entire event to scout, identify and evaluate players: Rene Miramontes, Shannon MacMillan, John Napier, Jim Obleda. In addition to these US Soccer scouts, the ECNL Player Identification Program will be scouting many games on Friday and Saturday in the U15 and 16 age groups to begin identifying players for consideration for the ECNL / id2 National Training Camp in February 2011, and for selection to the ECNL Fall National Showcase All-Event Team.

For 2010-11, the ECNL has developed a scouting network of over 150 ECNL Player ID Program Scouts. These scouts include coaches from member clubs of the ECNL as well as independent coaches. Scouts within the ECNL Player ID Program include some of the country’s best youth club coaches, coaches with former experience with U.S. Soccer National Teams, and coaches from top Division I, II, and III colleges.

In late February 2011, the ECNL will again be co-hosting a National Training Camp with US Club Soccer. The top 30 players in the 1994 age group and the top 30 players in the 1995 age group, as identified by the ECNL Player ID Program, will be invited to this three-day camp, where they will have the opportunity to train and perform in front of U.S. Soccer National Team staff.

In addition to the ECNL Player ID Program, the ECNL works closely with US Club Soccer id2 staff to solicit recommendations of top players from coaches throughout the ECNL. Players recommended through ECNL coaches are submitted to US Club Soccer for inclusion in US Club Soccer’s id2 Regional Training Camps at the 1996 and 1997 age groups.

Following the Fall National Showcase, the ECNL will hold four more regular-season events between December and the end of May. The second regular-season event will be the ECNL Final Four Showcase, which will be held Dec. 3-5 in Raleigh, N.C. The season will then continue with an ECNL National Event taking place Dec. 27-29 in Sanford, Fla.

The first event of 2011 will be held March 4-6 in San Antonio, Texas before the 2010-11 regular season comes to a close at the PDA College Showcase May 28-30 in Zarephath, N.J. The ECNL National Championship will take place July 14-16 in a location soon to be determined.