Home Forums Long Island & Eastern New York Soccer Message Boards BOTN Main Message Board EDP launches ground game on Long Island

It took them longer than I thought it would be it now appears that EDP is going to turn up the heat on Long Island.

While I have known as long a year ago that EDP was going to make a move, I thought it would have happened a long time ago.

Targeting primarily the NYCSL group of leagues, and secondarily the LIJSL, EDP has put a man on the ground who has started pitching Long Island EDP to certain clubs.

BOTN was contacted by no less that 3 clubs over the past few days to share and question EDP's move.

What is initially being touted is for clubs to enter their younger teams in EDP for the coming Spring with a $50 registration fee.

The point man that will be calling you if he hasn't already is Tyler Botte. Mr. Botte played for the Rough Riders and is or was an assistant coach at Molloy. This appointment was a surprise to me as I thought a better and seasoned marketer, one with a credible sales background would be a better choice. Going up against NYCSL for market share should not be left to a neophyte.

While the NYCSL has its detractors they are a formidable sales force even with the mixed promises and league manipulations which we find is the soccer version of three card monty.

So, as we enter the new year, this match for your club and teams to join EDP, which IMO is superior in many ways to NYCSL should entertain us in the coming months.

Here is the text of the email Mr. Botte sent to clubs.

From: Tyler Botte <tyler@edpsoccer.com>
Date: December 18, 2019 at 3:39:44 PM EST
To: [addressees removed]
Cc: John Tait <john@edpsoccer.com>, Alan Shilling <alan@edpsoccer.com>
Subject: EDP Long Island

Good afternoon,

Thank you for taking the time to speak over the course of the last few weeks! There has been a common theme throughout all of the conversations, that there is a need on Long Island for localized programming in the younger age groups! We are very optimistic that we have the critical mass, on the boys side, to put together a league for this coming Spring (2012, 2011, and 2010).

Laying the groundwork this Spring, on a small scale with a base of 4-5 clubs, should help lay a good foundation that allows us to grow participation in Fall 2020. If there are any holes that need to be filled (e.g. Club A doesn’t have a 2012 team) we will work together to fill that slot.

With the holidays approaching we realize the chance of getting everyone together in the next few days to iron out all the details will be tough! Let's plan to get together in January when everyone is back in the office from the holidays. Please send me your availability throughout January and we'll set a date/time to get together.

Thank you and have a great holiday with your families!

Tyler Botte
Regional Manager (New York / Long Island)

Can you play for and EDP team and a different NYCSL team?

Yes.

LIJSL has been playing nice with EDP so far. That will end if EDP attempts to compete with them in the younger age groups.

I think you have things reversed. EDP is apparently going to compete immediately with the younger age groups of both NYCSL and LIJSL according to the email from the Botte guy, and his conversations with clubs as they reported back to me. If LIJSL via ENY gets aggressive then EDP will card direct and by-pass ENY/LIJ and that is not something neither of them (LIJSL & ENYYSA) want. Do not underestimate EDP's position in the pecking order.

EDP is definitely a 1st class operation. It will be interesting to see what happens as last season EDP got out of carding directly and had LI/NYC clubs either use LIJSL or CJSL for passes. I don't see that changing just yet or at all. I do expect that there will be more teams from local clubs currently playing in LIJSL and CJSL that have advanced teams going to EDP leagues and playing more locally as opposed to travelling too far at young ages. Those less competitive clubs/teams will stay as either intramural or within LIJSL leagues. EDP coming in to offer more for the young teams is good for the LI soccer landscape.

Without outing anyone, I will disagree with your "EDP got out of carding directly and had LI/NYC clubs either use LIJSL or CJSL for passes. I don't see that changing just yet or at all" comment. 100% disagree. If push comes to shove, EDP will start carding. Take it to the bank. Right now everyone is playing nice and there is no reason to think otherwise now, but........

Do you know what clubs they will get to join or are targeting to join.

I know of a couple, but I think the reality is they are targeting every club. Now that you know you can contact EDP and get in the league. This is not an invitational league or only open to a select few. If you want in, you're in!!

wonderful...just another league to further dilute our talent pool here on Long Island.
Its already a mess.

This "leasgue", EDP has been here for years. Teams have been playing in MAPS/MSSL/EDP for over 20 years. Maybe it is you who are new? EDP is far from a mess. Huge in-house staff with a national footprint. The mess you are referring to is the NYCSL league who has whored themselves out with BS promises and heavy favoritism. Y'all should be happy that maybe EDP can help mop up the mess on Long Island. I'm just questioning EDP's choice of their Long Island/Regional Director, Tyler Botte.

The best teams and players on LI already play in EDP. They are very well run and have great support for the clubs that play in their leagues and tournaments. If anything, they have provided an avenue to better play and expanded the horizons for the talent on LI.

yep, this is exactly what I was leading into....BS and pride, and bashing other leagues....

with all these leagues on Long Island (NYCSL, LIJ, DA, ECNL, Interleague).

How do we determine (without argument) which league is best? (lets leave opinions out of it).
How do we determine the best teams? (without argument).
How do we determine the best players? (without argument).

So certainly wasn't speaking from a point of boastful pride nor bashing any other leagues. I just don't see EDP as diluting anything but rather improving things. You can't stay the same forever as the soccer landscape is always changing and people want more for their kids. For example I support LIJSL because they provide a solid league for two of my three children to play at their own level locally. They are decent but not great players. The teams & training are decent and the kids are having fun, learning the game and doing something healthy. Like LIJSL or not, they provide a good avenue for the vast majority of kids on LI to play. The third son plays for an EDP team and competes at a high level. His former town team (LIJSL member) could not provide the training nor team where his abilities could be built upon, so he and three of his other teammates left for a higher caliber team that is part of EDP. For me that is what EDP provides, an avenue for the better players to improve and compete at a higher level. As parents I think we need to put our kids where they can achieve the success they want, whether it be in LIJSL or EDP (or substitute whatever league you like i.e. ECNL, NYCSL etc).

Well said. I think EDP will be a great avenue for really good players that are standouts at current town teams like Mineola, Great Neck, New Hyde Park and Floral Park. They can remain with those town teams but also play with and EDP caliber team. Just hope the games aren't scheduled at same time.

You say "soccer landscape is always changing" you are correct, but, this also means things stay the same, correct?
lets see this for what it is....a new brand in the market place (nothing new)....there was a time when suffolk interleague was the new and best place for soccer development (in the 80s) a step up from PAL. Next came LIJSL in the 90s, then came NYCSL......you get it?....its all BS smoke and mirrors designed to offer false promises to the american soccer parent while emptying your pockets....there is really nothing new here.

Your chronology is bit off. SSI did not predate LIJSL, and EDP has been here, albeit for 20+ years. Before changing their name to EDP they were called MAPS.

The statement of "soccer landscape is always changing" simply means that if you don't evolve with the times you will stagnate and the growth of the talent and sport on LI would suffer. This is true of any sport or business. I 100% disagree with you that "there is nothing new here", your just looking at this from a cynical point of view. And the "false promises" comment, I suppose if you are a totally unrealistic parent about your kids ability then you let that happen. No one has offered any promises, false or not to me or my kids and I'm entirely realistic about their ability and what they are getting out of soccer. Perhaps parents should be more judicious about where their kids are playing, whose training them and what they are being sold on. Caveat Emptor......

Ive been part of this game for a few years already myself....the only "growth" I have seen are in the bank accounts of private trainers, not for profit soccer clubs, and private academy's and we certainly don't see any of these entities suffering....we are also not seeing many (if any) LI kids playing soccer at a D1 or D2 level after HS, nor are we seeing many go the "prolevel"....a bit surprising being that the Long Island market has one of the deepest soccer pools in the country....thanks for playing.

The quality of LI has not dropped off, the rest of the country caught up. Better weather, better facilities and access to the sport in othrr parts of the country have opened the doors. Same can be said for Lax.

That's not accurate.

No? Then what would you say is accurate?

lmao!!!! yea and 3rd world countries produce world class players because the kids play in "better facilities"...gtfoh!!!

For Boys, DA is the highest, then yes it is USYS National Conference run by EDP is the next highest level in this area.
All of the on DA metro clubs in the area have their first teams in USYS NL Conferences. Also DA has aligned their
Teams without age group representation with usys and some tournaments are certified for DA teams to participate in.
There are no DA teams on Long island (defined as Nassau and Suffolk)

*All of the non-DA....