New Additions to Leagues Check Up (ECNL & GA)
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Anonymous
Or is it a possibility that they have to put out a proposal for bid to make it fair competition? |
Anonymous
Fair clarification. I fact checked myself and had it backwards. Looks like MLS intends to drop Adidas in 2030 as they shop for a new suitor. Here is one of many write ups on it. https://www.footyheadlines.com/2025/03/mls-to-end-adidas-deal.html |
Anonymous
Announcement today is USYS is exploring the same deal -- will decide after a 90 day review. Would GA do this next? |
Anonymous
Why would GA do anything? They're already in alignment with US Soccer. GA literally came from the ashes of DA which was US Soccers baby. US Soccer will now control US Club HR IT and Finance. Since this is were ECNL and most of the smaller regional leagues are sanctioned (where they get player cards, etc) it means distractions like BY to SY etc will all stop. There will be a single direction defined by US Soccer. USYS is like MLS and GA which essentially means they sanction themself. if USYS gives US soccer HR IT and Finance control it would mean that US Soccer could unify all youth soccer orgs in America. Again MLS and GA dont need to do any of this because they came from DA and US Soccer already controls them. |
Anonymous
One other thing technically ECNL could leave US Club and be sanctioned by someone else. GA used USSSA for a while. This would allow ECNL to thumb their nose at US Soccer. But I doubt this will happen. It's way too much work and if not done perfectly would cause serious issues with everything ECNL has built up to this point. It was easy for GA to change sanctioning because they're only girls and the league was newish at the time. But you never know what might happen. Thats why they say "If you dont like whats happening in youth soccer, wait a couple weeks" |
Anonymous
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To say there will be massive changes in youth soccer for the 26-27 season seems like an understatement.
https://www.thenationalleague.com/news/2026/01/09/__trashed/ |
Anonymous
| Sounds like lights out for ECNL! |
Anonymous
There is a clear move toward the centralization of power within U.S. Soccer, driven largely by MLS and MLS NEXT. Because the Federation’s voting structure is heavily weighted toward professional and former MLS players, the league is uniquely positioned to dictate the national agenda. This strategy aims to bring independent organizations like USYS and US Club Soccer under a single governing umbrella to ensure 'alignment.' While the US Club announcement came first, it is likely just the beginning of a nationwide shift. By this time next year, we can expect a unified system where MLS directs operations across all levels of the game |
Anonymous
Legit question, but why would this impact ECNL? |
Anonymous
ECNL uses US Club for cards, reg, etc. US Soccer controls US Club now. Which means ECNL leadership wont be able to push things like BY to SY anymore. All tactical decisions like that will come from US Soccer. Whats interesting is US Soccer could implement their own league that all the different leagues participate in. Or US Soccer could do like how colleges have different conferences but theyre all D1 as an example. It could also set up a cross league superbowl or different bowl game type situations. |
Anonymous
I can see the cross league showcase or tournament run by US soccer. I imagine this is why its been so quiet the last few weeks on the league announcements front. |
Anonymous
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These two bullets in the release are interesting:
* The unified pathway aligns competition structures to serve tens of thousands of teams nationwide – creating clearer progression, rewarding on-field performance, and maintaining strong connections to local and state-based competitions. * By better aligning levels of play and competition standards, the pathway is designed to reduce unnecessary travel while preserving – and in many cases improving –access to meaningful, high-quality matches. The result is a simpler, more efficient structure that improves the participant experience. Less travel out of state and more competition between local DMV GA and ECNL clubs could be on the horizon. |
Anonymous
The earlier comment about interleague play is an interesting one. Perhaps there is more of a state/ local play within the league and then interleague play within the state/ locality as well. Almost like how the NFL operates (probably a bad example, but those who know football get the gist). |
Anonymous
I think thats a great example. How the AFC and NFC exist post NFL/AFL merger. Under the merger agreement, the leagues maintained separate regular-season schedules for the next four seasons, from 1966 through 1969 with a final championship game which would become known as the Super Bowl, and then officially merged before the 1970 season to form one league with two conferences |