Empire 8

[Spartan94]

See a lot of topics across a lot of the leagues, and didn't seen anything for the Empire 8.  I am not from the region where these schools and team compete, but looking to gain some knowledge about the schools and the programs from people that might be in the know. 

- Is it a competitive league?
- Is the level of play fairly good, or regional kick and run club kids? 
- Coaching - good/bad experiences (try and stay away from baseless rumors!  )
- Level of education kids have received and post-grad outlooks

Or anything else!

Thanks!

[stlawus]

There are worse leagues than the E8 competition wise.  Among themselves they are pretty competitive.  In recent years they have been down a bit when it comes to the NCAA tournament and out of conference play in terms of wins, but I've seen some teams hang with the top tier of D3 soccer.  I am not familiar with the coaching landscape but haven't heard anything negative.

Much different story in terms of academics.  Lots of good schools in the league.  Naz, SJF, Alfred, Hartwick, Sage, Utica etc are all very strong academically.  You're pretty set in terms of post-grad opportunities.