ECNL Membership Application | ECNL Web site

CHARLESTON, S.C. (Oct. 30, 2009) – The Elite Clubs National League membership application is now available for youth soccer clubs interested in becoming members of the league starting with the 2010-11 season, which is officially set to begin Aug. 1, 2010. The application period opens on Nov. 1, 2009, and continues through Jan. 15, 2010.

All applications will be reviewed by a committee selected by the ECNL Board of Directors, and new membership decisions will be based on four criteria:  1) the club’s player development guidelines and curriculum, 2) the club’s history of youth player development, 3) the club’s history of success in elite tournaments and leagues, and 4) the experience and qualifications of the club’s technical staff.

Acceptance notices and a membership agreement will be mailed to new member clubs on March 1, 2010.

“We’re happy, but not surprised, that the ECNL has been met with so much success in its inaugural year,” said US Club Soccer Executive Director Bill Sage. “As a result, we anticipate a large number of clubs to submit applications to join the league in the second season.”

ECNL member clubs are required to field teams in each of the U-15, U-16 and U-17 age groups and adhere to the recently-adopted ECNL Member Club Standards and Guidelines, establishing technical guidelines and administrative requirements.

“The ECNL has received a tremendous response from the soccer community over the past year, which we believe is a strong endorsement of the league’s goal to improve the developmental environment in female youth soccer,” said ECNL President Christian Lavers. “We are very excited about expanding the ECNL in our second year to involve more high-quality clubs that share these goals as well as increasing the number of top-level competitions for member clubs.”

“The application process begins an important phase in the future of the ECNL,” said ECNL Vice President Doug Bracken.  “The addition of new clubs as members of the ECNL will further improve the already-high quality of competition in the league, will allow member clubs to play each other more frequently, and will continue to improve the ECNL Player Identification Program ”

For the 2010-11 season, the ECNL will expand upon its current base of 40 member clubs while also increasing the total number of regular-season league games.

The ECNL’s current and inaugural season began in August and will culminate July 15-18, 2010, in Seattle with the ECNL National Championship.

 The next ECNL regular-season event will be held in conjunction with the NCAA Division I women’s soccer championship, Dec. 4-6, 2009, in College Station, Texas.

For more information about the ECNL member club application process, please visit the ECNL Web site at www.eliteclubsnationalleague.com or contact ECNL Vice President Doug Bracken at dbracken@ohioelite.com.

About the ECNL:
The ECNL is a 501(c)(3) non-profit member-based organization founded in 2009 to enhance the developmental experience of the female youth soccer players in the United States through: (i) creation of a true nationally-based competitive league with multiple flights; (ii) creation of an identification program for identifying elite female soccer players for the U.S. Soccer youth national teams through a systematic scouting and identification program based on national competition; and (iii) improving the daily training environment at female youth soccer clubs through developing best practices and training and organizational guidelines for its member clubs. The 2009-10 season is the ECNL’s inaugural season. The ECNL is sanctioned by US Club Soccer.

http://www.eliteclubsnationalleague.com

About US Club Soccer:
US Club Soccer is a non-profit organization whose mission is to develop competitive club soccer in the United States. A member of the United States Soccer Federation since July 2001, US Club Soccer has grown to include member clubs and leagues in 49 states. In addition to sanctioning and administering tournaments, leagues and other competitions as well as offering a range of programs for its members, US Club Soccer annually conducts the National Cup and the National Collegiate Showcase. US Club Soccer also directs its own player identification and development program – id².

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