ELITE CLUBS NATIONAL LEAGUE
"Changing Elite Female Soccer in the United States"
Freestate Soccer Alliance is proud to announce itself as one of the member clubs in the Elite Clubs National League.
Freestate will field teams in the U15, U16, U17 and U18 age groups and compete against the majority of the top fifty two girls clubs in the United States. The ECNL is expected to provide the highest level league of girls youth soccer in the country.
Please visit www.eliteclubsnationalleague.com to gain a thorough understanding of the league rules, governance, player identification program, promotion and relegation system and overall vision and direction of the league.
Tryouts
Interested players should contact the respective age group coach if interested in joining a team.
U15 Strikers ECNL
Win Puffer (Head Coach) win.puffer@washingtonfreedom.com 443-739-9339
Kerry Smith (Assistant Coach)
U16 Elite ECNL
Steve Campbell (Head Coach) totalsoc@aol.com 410-627-6300
Kelly Hammond (Assistant Coach)
U17 Fury ECNL
Alyssa Radu (Head Coach) radu@umbc.com 443-602-6080
U18 United ECNL
Pat Noel (Head Coach) pnoel@queenanne.org 410-562-0951
Mellanie Nai (Co-Coach)
ECNL Club Goalkeeping Coach - Mellanie Nai
Member clubs for the 2010-2011 Season
Albertson Fury, New York-East; Arsenal FC, Cal-South; Atlanta Fire, Georgia; Bethesda SC, Maryland; Birmingham United, Alabama; Carmel, Indiana; CASL, North Carolina; CESA Premier, South Carolina; Charlotte Soccer Academy, North Carolina; Colorado Rush, Colorado; Concorde Fire, Georgia; Connecticut FC, Connecticut; Crossfire Premier, Washington; Dallas Sting, North-Texas; De Anza Force, Cal-North; Eclipse Select, Illinois; FC Delco, Pennsylvania-East; FC Milwaukee; Wisconsin; FC Bucks, Pennsylvannia-East; FC Stars of Mass, Massachusetts; FC Virginia, Virginia; Freestate Soccer Alliance, Maryland; FSA SoccerPlus, Connecticut; Irvine Strikers, Cal-South; KCFC, Kansas; Lonestar SC, South-Texas; Michagen Hawks, Michigan; Minnesota Thunder, Minnesota; Mustang SC, Cal-North; Neusport FC, Nevada; Ohio Elite Soccer Academy, Ohio-South; Ohio Premier, Ohio-South; PDA, New Jersey; Pleasanton Rage, Cal-North; Real Colorado, Colorado; Real So Cal, Cal-South; San Diego Surf, Cal-South; San Juan SC, Cal-North; Scorpians, Massachuestts; Sereno SC, Arizona; SC Del Sol, Arizona; Slammers, Cal-South; St. Louis SG, Missouri; Texas Challenge SC, Texas-South; Utah Alvanche, Utah; Vardar, Michigan; Virginia Rush, Virginia; Washington Premier, Washington; West Coast FC, Cal-North.
2010-2011 Event Calendar
Each member club will choose 3 out of the 5 events offered to attend. All member clubs have to attend the National Championship event culminating in July, 2010.
Each Freestate team will attend the following highlighted in Red.
ECNL National Showcase in Temecula, CA (ECNL Stand Alone Event)
Competition Dates: August 27 - 29, 2010
Location: John Blanche Memorial Complex
ECNL National Showcase in Raleigh, NC (NCAA Women’s Final Four)
Competition Dates: December 3 - 5, 2010
Location: CASL
ECNL National Showcase in Orlando, FL (ECNL Stand Alone Event)
Competition Dates: December 27 - 29, 2010
Location: Toyota Maus (Seminole) Soccer Complex
ECNL National Showcase in TX (ECNL Stand Alone Event)
Competition Dates: March 4 - 6, 2011
Location: Site To Be Announced in the Next 2 Weeks
ECNL National Showcase in Zarepath, NJ (PDA Showcase)
Competition Dates: May 28 - 30, 2011
Location: PDA Soccer Complex
The 2010-2011 ECNL National Championship will be held July 14 - 16, 2011 at a location to be announced in the Midwest.
Yearly Schedule
Each Freestate Team will follow the same schedule.
May-July
We will begin tryouts and then train/scrimmage throughout the summer and prepare for ECNL Nationals in mid-July.
September-October
We will train and scrimmage on Sunday evenings. We will have team building events and group outings to college games and conduct a college seminar. No league play. Players will be playing for their respective high schools through October - November.
November-December
We will train twice midweek. In addition to scheduled tournaments, we will also train or scrimmage on weekends.
January-February
We will train once midweek and on the weekends with practices at QAS, Soccer Dome, AACS and outdoor in Bowie. We will also play in the Freestate Winter League.
March-July
We will train twice midweek. We will also train or scrimmage on weekends where we do not have Region 1 or Colonial league play or tournaments.
Tournaments Date
Bethesda Tournament, MD November 2010
ECNL CASL Final Four, NC December 2010
ECNL Showcase, FL December 2010
Jefferson Cup, VA March 2011
Freestate Tournament, MD March 2011
MD State Cup, MD April-May 2011
Region 1 or Colonial League March-April 2011
ECNL PDA Memorial Day,NJ May 2011
ECNL Nationals, Midwest July 2011
Freestate and the ECNL
1. Why play for Freestate Soccer Alliance in the ECNL?
The Elite Clubs National League was formed to allow the top clubs in the country the opportunity for their college recruiting age players to play meaningful games, on quality fields, in an organized system. This league is likely to grow into the US Development Girls Academy and join the boys US Development Academy as the place for elite players.
2. How is the ECNL track different than the track of typical premier travel teams?
The ECNL has created agreements with events to place players on the highest quality and the most visible fields. Coaches have limited ability to see players in a weekend so the 52 clubs participating in this venture are at a significant advantage. Budget costs will also be lower than the budgets of past U-17 and U-18 teams who had to travel more to ensure that players were given ample opportunity to be seen by college coaches (quality events over quantity of events).
3. What does Freestate have planned for the ECNL teams?
Players will benefit from a quality coaching staff coordinated by Directors of Coaching, expanded curriculum, camaraderie of the four age-group teams, college success seminars, fitness testing, winter preseason camp, and a lot of fun! Players will be on the best fields and facilities that our club has to offer for training and games (indoor, turf fields, and quality grass surfaces).
4. What commitment is expected of the ENCL Teams?
The Freestate ECNL teams will participate in 5-7 elite tournaments over the course of the year, in addition to 3-4 weekends where the team may travel to play friendly games with other ECNL teams hosted by FC Virginia or Bethesda (our other local ECNL members). Teams will also participate in Region 1 or Colonial League play and participate in the Maryland State Cup.
5. How will the ECNL change college recruiting?
College coaches are always going to travel to the best events where they can see the best players playing against other talented players. Some events that used to be popular events will struggle to keep the attention of college coaches as their budgets only allow them to cover a limited number of tournaments each year.
6. Will players have to play ODP in order to be pulled into the US National Pool?
The ECNL provides a direct route to the National Pool through a combination of scouting ECNL games and the regional and national US Club Soccer ID2 program in order to identify talented players and get them into the National Pool. Several players from ECNL clubs made their way into National Team camps in 2008 and 2009 without being a member of their State Olympic Development Program.
