Today, U.S. Youth Soccer President John Sutter released a statement on an issue regarding rival organization U.S. Club Soccer, stating it had brought about a retraction from the latter organization over requirements that teams competing in US Club-affiliated Nor Cal Soccer Leagues or ECNL, not be permitted to participate in similar U.S. Youth Soccer-sanctioned competitions.

The statement included a letter from US Club Soccer Bill Sage agreeing that there was no such prohibition, but a statement sent to TopDrawerSoccer.com from US Club Soccer raised some questions about the characterization made by the U.S. Youth Soccer statement.

Rather than get lost in the myriad of titles, insinuations and nuances the way soccer-playing youth potentially will continue to as these groups battle for market share, let’s just share their statements.

The statement from U.S. Youth Soccer President John Sutter read:

“Over the past months US Youth Soccer has been negotiating with US Club Soccer regarding positions and statements by its members the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) and Nor Cal Soccer Leagues (Nor Cal) regarding attempts to limit participation by stating that certain play, including games, leagues and programs sanctioned by US Club Soccer and its members ECNL and Nor Cal would be allowed only if the participants registered solely with US Club Soccer and its member leagues. This requirement for participation is a clear violation of the United States Soccer Federation Bylaws and Policies (Bylaw 603 and Policy 212-1) and is explicitly prohibited and unenforceable.

“As the largest National Association member of the Federation, US Youth Soccer works tirelessly to ensure fair play and opportunity within the youth soccer community while ensuring the benefits of membership in US Youth Soccer and the Federation are afforded and accessible to all players. When US Youth Soccer was made aware of the alleged violations, documentation and a request for a retraction was immediately sent to US Club Soccer's leadership to remedy the situation. After several discussions and seeking to avoid litigation with US Club Soccer, a formal letter of clarification was agreed upon by US Youth Soccer and US Club Soccer leadership. “


TopDrawerSoccer.com tried to contact U.S. Club Soccer Executive Director Bill Sage and Senior Vice President Christian Lavers, but neither has been able to be reached for comments.

However a US Club Soccer spokesperson did respond with a statement saying:

“While we were happy to discuss this matter with USYS, and confirm our mutual commitment to respect players’ rights to play in the programs and competitions of their choosing, the statement from USYS somewhat mischaracterizes the issue. There was never any attempt by either of our leagues to limit the ability of players and teams to register with other state association programs, in fact many do so. The discussion was specifically limited to whether or not teams playing in ECNL or Nor Cal could concurrently play in state cups or a CYSA (Cal North) league. This had as much to do with the potential for conflicting schedules as anything. Nevertheless, US Club Soccer agreed with USYS that there could be no blanket prohibition for participation in multiple leagues, even though joint scheduling challenges might at times create difficulties in achieving this.”

Also attached to U.S. Youth Soccer’s statement was a letter written and signed by Sage. In it explains U.S. Club Soccer’s position to any “discriminatory policies” by the organization or any of its members, ECNL and Nor Cal Leagues.

An excerpt reads:

“There are no current ECNL or Nor Cal rules that prohibit participation in any other league or competition, and there will be no rules or policies in the future that explicitly prohibit or have the impact of prohibiting participation, nor does ECNL or Nor Cal Leagues currently have nor will they have any discriminatory policies that negatively impact the opportunity to participate as doing so would be a violation of the Federation Bylaw and Policy referenced above and discussed in your correspondence to US Club Soccer. Statements by individuals otherwise are not condoned by US Club Soccer and do not represent the position of US Club Soccer or its members, ECNL or Nor Cal Leagues.”

At TopDrawerSoccer.com our commitment as an editorial staff is for the direction of the game in this country to move toward a better environment for player development for elite players, including improved training and competitive schedules, coaching education and progressive talent identification systems and methods, with full opportunity for participation among players of all levels.

We will strive for this while reporting accurately the business and organizational developments that affect the youth game.