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For the entirely of US Club Soccer’s National Premier Leagues, the NPL Finals and Greensboro, N.C. is popping up on the horizon like a mouthwatering waypoint. The event itself is only the beginning of the concrete march to a national title, but teams have to get there to play for it. And leagues across the country are beginning to separate the wheat from the chaff. 

One league that’s already partly decided participants at the NPL Finals is the Florida Premier League, which has the benefit of playing through some of the winter months that prove to be trickier in more northerly leagues. And one particular side in that league stood out from the pack.

Earlier this month, the West Florida Flames U14 boys side clinched the league title with a 7-0-2 regular season record, hugely impressive in one of the most stacked leagues in the nation. That came thanks in part to the contributions of id2 invitee Bryan Gilbert and Florida ODP midfielder Luis Quintero. Weston SC gave chase in the No. 2 spot, but the deciding factor ended up being the Flames’ 2-1 win over Weston on Jan. 18, which allowed them to finish four points clear of their second-place rivals with meaningful games already finished.

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The Flames outlasted teams like Weston FC, Tampa Bay United and Boca United to reach Greensboro, but it won’t be coach Juan Garcia’s first trip to the NPL’s biggest stage. Last season he guided West Florida’s U16 team to the finals in Colorado, and his side probed all the way to the championship game before narrowly tasting defeat in a 3-2 loss to CZ Elite. 

Now, Garcia and a brand new cast of faces return for another crack at the title.

Texas Pre-Academy League hitting stride 

As far as incubators of top youth talent go, it doesn’t get much better than the Texas Pre-Academy League. The league features U12, U13 and U15 teams that feed into both of the state’s MLS sides in addition to Development Academy mainstays like Solar, Dallas Texans and Lonestar SC.

As the NPL Finals draw near, the league’s jockeying for top positions is coming down to the wire. Classics Elite head up the U12 division with 16 points off a 5-1-1 record, but Dallas Texans are giving chase in second just three points off the pace. The two teams face off in a pivotal, league-deciding fixture on March 30 in the DFW Metroplex that could end up being the blow that wins the league. Classics certainly has the advantage, but both teams have quality for days.

In the U13 division, the race for first couldn’t be much more heated. FC Dallas (24 points), Dallas Texans (23) and Texas Rush (22) are all within two points of one another atop the league, and there are scant few games left to determine a winner. The only game between the three left this month comes on March 30 between Texas Rush and FC Dallas, which could be a determinate.

Finally, Solar is attempting to put the U15 race behind lock and key. Through 12 games, the club has a five-point lead atop the league and they'll attempt to keep it through a difficult stretch of the season. Dallas Texans and FC Dallas are pursuing in second and third, but Solar will attempt to take its league-best attack (32 goals) to Greensboro.

A rivalry is born in the South Central Premier League

Earlier this season, the South Central Premier League became the newest NPL member league by opening its doors to a small collection of teams in Oklahoma and Texas. As the league begins to get its feet on the ground with a fresh roster of teams and brand new opponents, it’s reasonable enough to expect most if not all of these teams to suffer through an adjustment period.

The bourgeoning rivalry between the Eclipse SC and Tulsa United Blitz girls sides seems to be bucking that trend.

While both have talented boys teams, it’s been the girls rivalry that’s grown to enormous proportions as the season’s progressed. The teams are 1-2 in the U13 and U14 age brackets, while Eclipse SC sits in second place in both the U16 and U17 divisions. The teams’ records across all age brackets represent their closeness, especially so since they’re the two best league-wide records across all ages. Tulsa currently sits at 21-10-3 while Eclipse, which is knocking on the door of top spots in the U16 and U17 divisions, is a cumulative 19-4-3.