Anonymous wrote:Dear MYS Families,
We are excited to announce that McLean Youth Soccer is embarking on a significant new chapter by joining the Girls Academy (GA) for the 2025-2026 season. The entire MYS Board and leadership team felt strongly that this strategic move creates a dynamic new pathway for our female players that will strengthen our club development and align to the MYS strategic plan for the future.
Why Are We Making This Change?
Our commitment at MYS has always been to provide the best opportunities for player development while aligning with our vision for the future. This transition to the Girls Academy is the next step in ensuring our female players have access to high levels of competition, coaching, and development.
By joining the Girls Academy, we are:
Elevating Player Development: The Girls Academy provides an elite level of competition, with a focus on both technical skill development and mental fortitude, which will benefit players at all levels.
Providing National Exposure: The platform offer players exposure to college scouts and top-tier development opportunities.
Building Long-Term Stability: This move strengthens MYS’ position as a leader in youth soccer. By joining this league, we are setting our club up for long-term success, ensuring our female players have the best possible resources for growth and achievement.
Aligning with Our Strategic Plan: This decision is in line with the goals outlined in our Strategic Plan, which focuses on the growth and sustainability of the club, community engagement, and creating a culture of excellence and inclusion. By becoming part of the GA, we’re reinforcing the vision to provide a clear and powerful pathway for all of our female players.
What’s Changing for Our Female Players?
As we transition to these new platforms, it’s important to understand what this means for our current members, particularly those involved in FVU and ECNL.
Fairfax Virginia Union ECNL: This move means MYS will be parting ways with Fairfax Virginia Union (FVU) and will no longer compete within the FVU ECNL program beyond the 2025 spring season. While this is a significant change, we want to emphasize that the decision was made with the future of MYS in mind. We deeply value the relationships that have developed within the FVU community and the experiences shared by our players and families. We are committed to ensuring a smooth transition for everyone involved and to answering any questions that may arise.
For Current ECNL Players: We understand that this decision impacts many players within our club who are involved in ECNL. The opportunities available through the GA will offer a high level of competition, with exposure and growth opportunities. Our technical staff and coaches will be working closely with players and families to ensure a seamless transition into this new framework.
For ECNL-R Players: We recognize the significant commitment our ECNL-R players have made to the club, and we are excited about the new pathways that will be open to them moving forward. The transition will be thoughtfully managed to ensure that everyone remains on track to achieve their full potential. Our girls' teams will compete in Girls Academy Aspire, a division within the Girls Academy that offers a structured environment for player development and competition.
What’s Next?
We understand that change brings questions, and we are committed to keeping our families informed throughout this process. In the coming weeks, we will:
Host an Informational Session on Thursday, February 27 at 6:30 PM at the McLean Community Center for both players and parents to address any questions or concerns you may have.
Host ID Sessions the week of February 24 - ID Sessions Schedule. Players who plan to attend the ID Sessions should register HERE.
Provide detailed communication regarding next steps for both FVU and ECNL-R players, ensuring they understand their placement options moving forward.
Continue to foster open communication between our leadership, coaching staff, and families to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible.
We want to emphasize that while we are leaving FVU, this decision is not about looking backward—it is about positioning MYS for long-term growth and success. We are excited about the future and the possibilities it holds for our female players, coaches, and community. Importantly as part of this new structure with the GA, these teams will be solely managed by MYS, ensuring a unified approach to player development, coaching and club operations.
Thank you for your continued support of MYS. We are excited to embark on this next chapter together as we work to build a club that is recognized nationwide for its commitment to excellence, development, and community impact. Please see the attached FAQs for additional information. And stay tuned for more exciting news to follow about the boys program!
John Forte, Chair
MYS Board of Directors
Louise Waxler
MYS Executive Director
For Current ECNL Players: We understand that this decision impacts many players within our club who are involved in ECNL. The opportunities available through the GA will offer a high level of competition, with exposure and growth opportunities. Our technical staff and coaches will be working closely with players and families to ensure a seamless transition into this new framework.
For ECNL-R Players: We recognize the significant commitment our ECNL-R players have made to the club, and we are excited about the new pathways that will be open to them moving forward. The transition will be thoughtfully managed to ensure that everyone remains on track to achieve their full potential. Our girls' teams will compete in Girls Academy Aspire, a division within the Girls Academy that offers a structured environment for player development and competition.
This is the key part of McLean's soccer business. They just dropped two poor clubs that they had to share their ECNL badge with to become independent again and added two teams. GA is established brand, DPL is too you just may not have heard of it because it didn't really exsist until now because thats what GAAspire is. McLean can function like themselves again with out being weighed down by two clubs who could not keep their badge a BRAVE. The boys move is more lateral but should work out fine is as tier 2 MLSN.
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