NYC Soccer Collective

Worst coed league in the city. The organizer has very questionable business practices, including dishonesty and looking out for the best interest of her wallet than her players. This has been going on for years.
Games always start late and the quality of referees have led to many player injuries, including women.
Do NOT play in this league and support this type of behavior for a sport you love. MetroSoccer, Urban Soccer, NY Coed, even Zog is better.

I’ve been a player and a captain in the league for a few years now. It’s a pretty good all around deal for the money:
–The level of play varies, but is usually good. The games are very fast paced, and a great way to quickly improve your skill and fitness levels.
–My guys actually prefer the LES fields to Pier 40, so we’re glad our league rarely plays there. LES is a lot more convenient for most of us, and it’s a great area to get beers after a match.
–The scheduling can be difficult, especially at the start of each season, but it gets done without too many problems. The time slots are after work, and usually late enough for those of us with difficult jobs to still make most of the games. This is a big selling point for a bunch of my players.
–Refs are more interested in letting you play than getting in the way. You come to appreciate that.
–It’s decently priced.
Overall NYCSC is a good option for no-​frills games, against good opponents. We get a regular chance to play hard, have fun, and get beers afterwards.

(WARNING-​The ‘positive’ reviews are misleading! I have insight into the various teams and unhappiness is by far dominant)
I’ve managed very successful teams for 20 years and played on various ‘leagues’ and interacted with their respective ‘director’s. Soccer Collective is run terribly (see major reasons below). Stay away from them! There are much better soccer leagues in NYC.
— league director does not take responsibility for poor management and doesn’t address key issues. examples below:
— schedules botched: some teams play 9 games some play 8 (??). To me that means the standings are flawed. Period. End of story.
— out of the 6 games played, we have had one team forfeit (no show) and two other teams undermanned. The latter two we provided our own players even. So we’ve had only 3 ‘proper’ games out of six.
–The league relies on captains to update results through a crappy login mechanism. So the results are often weeks old, if at all, and you have no idea the team you’re are playing against. The league director is given results by the referees yet she doesn’t update the results. This makes absolutely no sense.
–League is NOT exclusively at Pier 40 – although the homepage strongly implied otherwise (they updated it recently but it is still misleading). The other fields are in the LES. One is at the East River and very difficult to get to. This also leads to more management by captains and more confusion on where and when by players.
–Pier 40 game has been pre-​empted. As if 3 bogus games weren’t enough, one night ALL the games were cancelled and postponed to a month later (imagine the length of the league and overlap with other leagues). I understand the Parks simply told her they had an impromptu event – she forgot or they forced her. Either way not good.
–The league teams are unbalanced. They are either good or very poor. AG, CP, and ZOG have more balanced teams and better competition week after week.
–League is $ 1550 which is the most expensive after CP.
There are, however, some significant positives IMO:
–the flip side of multiple fields is that each has different size fields and goals. the strategy is very different and excellent for prepping a team and exposing it to different scenarios.
–Friday night co-​ed league

My team has been in NYC Soccer Collective the past 6 seasons or so, a bit more than 2 years. I have played in a variety of rec coed leagues around the city, and it fits the best for me.
The good: I play in the coed rec league, so we play on any weeknights during the week, and almost always at Chinatown’s Nike Field. This is good for me and my schedule, I don’t want a game EVERY Tuesday night or whatever, and the field is the best size for small-​sided coed.
— The refs are a bit hands off, but I think they are smart — they aren’t like some of the wackos who think they are reffing the World Cup. If there are any scuffles, hard tackles, they remind players of the casual nature of the league.
— The teams are slightly more competitive than some of the beginner leagues, but not out of control.
— The league is very good about almost always getting the games in — I can’t remember a forfeit.
Its not perfect — some of the annoying things include:
— It always takes a few weeks between sessions/​seasons to get the schedule up. Similarly, it takes a game or two to get your league shirts.
— There is often one (and usually just) game a season that gets rescheduled for dumb reasons, like not knowing the field was going to get resodded, etc.
— Sometimes the divisions can be unbalanced. Our team is pretty middling, so about 2 times a season we get creamed by hyper competitive, steroid infused college player squads.
Finally, while I understand some reviewers (one reviewer) frustration with the league owner — it can be frustrating — for the most part she is responsive, she cares, and works really hard to be accommodating.

League is well organized, refs are good — erring on the side of «play on!» — and the players compete to win without getting nasty. Pier 40 fields are great, Nike Field is canted and a bit worn, Chelsea Waterside Park is pristine having recently been redone. Runs 4 seasons a year with «Polar Bear» (Jan-​March) being the most hysterical.

I’ve played in this league for 3 years, over 8 seasons, and it’s great. The mid-​week evening games work really well for my schedule, and they are something to look forward to when things are crazy.
It’s a good league of varied skill, but good competition. Refereeing is good and everyone involved is out to compete, but shake hands after and have a laugh. And definitely a beer afterwards.

This is a fun league. The competition is good and Pier 40 — where many of the games are played — is great. Sometimes, the reffing isn’t great, but that is true of any league.
This is the only league that I know of that does a great job of asking captains in advance of any byes that they would like to schedule. Very cool.