League play is becoming a greater priority in American elite youth soccer.

While tournaments and Cup play have long carried the day at this level, as reflected in budget priorities for teams and clubs, and also other sites that focus on team rankings, it is apparent that the greater value of league play is being recognized.

While tournaments have a certain excitement value and a short-term tangibility that comes with "winning something," league play challenges a team to perform at a consistent level over a longer period of time. It's no accident that major tournaments the world over are the exception to the rule, with league play being the normal, standard test of excellence. The "playoffs" format that dominates North American team sports at the end of a league season is somewhat foreign to soccer. In most places the champion is who wins the league round robin, and a tournament is a separate competition. Even the most exciting club competition, the Champions League, which due to logistics has to be decided with knockout rounds, employs a league aspect to a major part of its competition.

So the competitive landscape in American elite youth soccer is beginning to reflect this. Here are some of the leading league competitions which will begin play in the coming weeks:

•    Coast Soccer League – The top area league in the country from it's Premier level for U16, U17 and U18/19 teams to the Gold divisions in U15 and down, plus lower tiers all over Southern California that still offer a very high level of play. This league is a big part of why so many to players come from this area.

•    Classic League and Lake Highlands Girls Classic League – Longtime standards for competition in the Dallas area. You can always find a good game in North Texas. A number of things are changing with this area's soccer, but this isn't one of them.

•    Region III Premier League East, Central and West divisions – This pits the best teams in the southeast against one another. While not every match is terribly competitive, there are usually some very good showdowns over the course of the fall. It tests the consistency of these teams.

•    Midwest Regional League – Same as RIIIPL only for the Midwest and Region II. While the fall season battles against high school on the boys side, there is a full slate of games for U14 Boys and all the Girls age groups. In some ways I think it is more important for this area to have such a competition. While some games are lopsided, there are a lot of good games to be found. They also have an extensive 2nd tier with play-in criteria.

•    Far West Regional League – Region IV always has the toughest task to schedule league play because of how large the geographic area is, but here they are dragging teams from San Diego and Orange County up to Lancaster to play league games starting this weekend! I see there are games in Washington, Arizona and New Mexico as well which seems only fair for those teams, but again it illustrates the logistical challenges for the region. Despite all of that, the quality of teams in the region makes for some very good competition in this league.

•    The Region I Premier League - plays only in the spring.

•    U.S. Youth Soccer National League – It definitely features some top matchups of leading clubs, particularly on the Girls side. The relationship with qualifying via the regional leagues, State Cups and Regional Cups got a little jumbled as the year went on, but there are definitely some good games here. I'm struggling to learn when and where they begin play this fall.

•    USSF Development Academy – League play for some divisions will begin in the fall at U16 and U18 Boys division. The majority of divisions won't start playing until the winter. The first showcase this year will be in Los Angeles in December. Another changes will be a playoff Showcase in June for 32 teams per age group to determine who makes the national finals. Still up in the air is whether there will be some divisional play at the U14 age group this year.

•   Red Bull National League - Beginning at the NCAA Women's College Cup in December, this will be a lofty national competition for three girls age group. Rumor has it this could be the forerunner to an Academy League on the Girls side.

 

As part of our expanded TeamRank™ format, league play will again play the major role in determining regional, age group and national ratings. Teams will be able to report on their own progress through our improved interface. Stay tuned for more information on that.