Four exciting days of action at the National League Conference Playoffs in Orlando, Fla., saw 110 girls teams across the 14U-19U age groups earn their place in the next stage of national events: National League P.R.O.

All games at the Conference Playoff took place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

 

“What a wonderful opportunity it is for us to step outside of our state and match up against some of the best teams in the country at this event,” said Utah Surf 10G coach Brad Silvey, whose team picked up six points during the weekend. “Winning is awesome and excellent, but our team’s ability to grow and develop by playing teams from outside our region at this event is what we want.

 

“For them to be able to maximize their potential, they have to be challenged at the highest level.”

 

The Conference Playoffs represent the first of two stages of National League events, which provide every competing team with an opportunity to ultimately advance to the USYS National Championships. The 110 teams that earned advancement to the next stage — National League P.R.O. — will play in one of two P.R.O. events, with 71 teams moving on to play Feb. 24-27 in Tampa, Fla., and 71 teams moving on to play May 3-6 in Oceanside, Calif.

 

Two of the three defending USYS National Champions advanced to their respective National League P.R.O. event, as 14U Columbus United G10 Lions (OH) and 19U DASC Black (SD) each went 3-0-0 in Orlando.

 

“Having this competition at a high level is really important for us because we don’t get that where we’re from,” said DASC’s Makenzie Nelson. “We don’t get as many opportunities in playing in these big events, so when we do, we definitely want to show and get to the next level so we can possibly get another bid and go to Nationals again.” 

 

Teams advancing to play at National League P.R.O. will enjoy a truly unique environment in American youth soccer, as the team-based (Conference) qualifiers will compete against the club-based (Elite 64) qualifiers in a singular competition to determine the National League’s representatives at the National Championships.

 

PDF: NATIONAL LEAGUE P.R.O. QUALIFIERS