Chasing Opportunities: Girls soccer players are shifting towards joining Super Cup teams provided by ECNL clubs instead of playing high school soccer

Then-freshman Natalie Scobie stepped onto the hot turf field for the last game of the season — the state championship against Mill Valley. The daily cycles drill and passing drills at after-school practices led to the 2023 season’s final game.

The season consisted of the passed-on traditions of biscuit basket — where one player leads the chant of “biscuit basket”, a passed-on tradition before every game. Then some weeks gifts were exchanged to other teammates at practices in a tradition called rally girls and team dinners were held. 

In just four months, a brand-new team dynamic was formed.

Over the next year, Scobie hoped to continue spending her spring season with high school teammates from East and competing against other high school teams, but she made her own personal decision to stay with her club. 

Scobie’s club coach, Colin Bulwich, insisted on having the entire Sporting Blue Valley 2008 Elite Club National League (ECNL) team play for their club’s Super Cup team to get the team further in playoffs and for their personal college recruitment opportunities. Scobie had to miss out on her sophomore season of high school soccer for Super Cup. 

“I was stuck on Super Cup,” Scobie said. “It kind of sucked, but at the same time I felt like I was able to focus on myself and my own development as a player before my social life.”

ECNL clubs offer this alternative choice for players with the option to choose high school soccer or stay with their club. They also do this for “trapped players” — players in eighth grade while the rest of their teammates are freshman in high school. 

During the Super Cup season, the team travels and plays other Super Cup teams that are also playing Super Cup for their clubs instead of high school soccer. 

Many East girl players chose to do Super Cup their sophomore year of high school and come back to play high school after they are recruited just like Scobie will be doing her junior season after she recently committed to Clemson University. 

College coaches are allowed to contact players in June after their sophomore year, making most recruitments happen after sophomore year and into junior year for soccer players. Before June coaches can only email players about upcoming camps they are hosting. 

Sophomore Mia Mosher started her first Super Cup season as an eighth grader, the same year she joined her first ECNL team at Sporting Blue Valley on the same team as Scobie. She wanted to play at the highest level possible, and the best path for her to make a college soccer team was playing ECNL for every year of high school. 

“I’m going to continue doing Super Cup because I think that since I was already behind, it’ll just be what’s good for me,” Mosher said. 

The Super Cup season closely resembles the regular fall club soccer season as they have similar practice times and drills including rondos and scrimmages. However on Super Cup team, players get the opportunity to play alongside multiple different age groups within their own club.

A year after Scobie’s last freshman debut at East, then-freshman Bella Tilgner was in almost identical circumstances as Scobie in spring 2024.

Tilgner took to the cool turf field, unsure of whether or not this would be the last game of the season. Shawnee Mission East faced Mill Valley in the second round of playoffs. No one was hoping for this to be the last game of the season. 

Shawnee Mission East girls varsity faced the undefeated Mill Valley and lost 0-2.

High school offers the same feature of playing with and against different age groups. However, some games may not be as elite as ECNL games since players come from different clubs and leagues. 

More girls are starting to stay with their club soccer teams and play Super Cup to get more college recognition, like sophomore Lauren Mercer. She chose to play Super Cup with her club, Kansas City Athletics instead of playing another year at East

“As a sophomore, I would for sure do Super Cup because Super Cup is beneficial if you’re wanting to go to the next level,” junior Natalie Scobie said. “I also think playing high school freshman year you get to meet new people and new friends. It really impacted the friends I have today since freshman year because of [the] high school season.”

During the regular fall club season, players on ECNL teams get the chance to travel to multiple showcases all over the country in places such as Seattle, Phoenix, Florida and San Diego. At these showcases, hundreds of college coaches come to watch players for recruitment.

Players that do Super Cup get the chance to travel to more showcases. These showcases can be the difference between a player being selected for a college-level team or not. 

“If you’re in your recruiting year [sophomore year], I would definitely do Super Cup, because you get to go to a whole other showcase, and be in front of 200 extra coaches,” Mosher said.

Tilgner enjoyed her freshman year of high school soccer and is choosing to play again for the benefits that high school offers. 

“You’re getting new friends and you’re getting new coaching experience instead of having the same coaches or similar coaching styles,” Tilgner said. “Also having to be able to communicate with new teammates or people that you might not know as well and playing with a lot of different age groups and playing with people that you’ve never talked to or never met.”

All four players believe that Super Cup will continue to grow and be more popular in years to come for high school girls.  

For now, players are shifting towards Super Cup to compete at higher levels during their recruiting season so they can be spotted by more college coaches and to prepare with their club teammates for playoffs.

“If you want to get exposure and if you’re preparing for playoffs, then I would say Super Cup is way better,” Scobie said.