A parent asks whether their youth soccer player should join MLS Next or ECNL. The coach matters most for playing time and development. Top ECNL teams offer competition equal to MLS Next, and 85% of recruited players attended the ID camp of the school they committed to.
I'll be playing MLS Next or ECNL. That's what this mom asked me the other day, and it's really hard to decide, but I was telling them these 3 points. Number 1 is the coach. Whichever coach you like the most is where you're gonna have a better playing time experience and play better, so that's where you should stay. Are you gonna be at a disadvantage if you play ECNL over MLS Next? Partially yes, because FEST is such a big deal and so many coaches go, but if you're an ECNL team that goes to playoffs or you're a top ECNL team, that could be even better than MLS Next team. And then finally, no matter what club level you're playing, if you want to do something that's in your control, you have to go to ID camps. 85% of students that get recruited have gone to the ID camp of the school they end up committing to. So if you're playing MLS Next Gen, you want to go to your individual camp. The great part for you is, given your level, if you go to the camp, it'll be really well worth your money and time, versus if you're an NPL player and you go to Maryland, that's probably a waste of your time.
