2012-13 National Premier Leagues season kicks off; redesigned website and new logos are launched
Following its inaugural year, the 2012-13 National Premier Leagues (NPL) season kicked off throughout the country, with games and showcases in almost every league last weekend. Additionally, US Club Soccer has unveiled a number of enhancements in conjunction with the start of the new NPL season.
The NPL now includes 17 leagues, nearly doubling the number of leagues in competition since September 2011. Beyond the addition of new leagues and playing divisions, the NPL’s online presence has been strengthened with a redesigned website at NationalPremierLeagues.com, featuring a new look and increased content for each league.
The NPL and many of the member leagues also have new and more modern logos beginning in the 2012-13 season, all of which can be seen at NationalPremierLeagues.com.
“The quality of the NPL was certainly seen in the quality of play and the excitement at the 2012 NPL Champions Cup,” said US Club Soccer Executive Vice President Christian Lavers. “We are even more excited to start the 2012-13 season with more leagues, more events, and more clubs participating in the top league-based national competition in the country.”
The NPL provides a unified, league-based national developmental platform with each league providing the highest level of competition in its geographic area. The NPL was created to elevate and change the competitive youth soccer landscape based upon US Club Soccer’s fundamental principles and extends developmental principals espoused by the U.S. Soccer Development Academy into younger age groups and additional clubs.
In addition to the regular-season league schedule, NPL members have the opportunity to take part in scouting showcases and Player Development Programs (PDP), which are platforms for additional player identification and development. The culminating event of NPL competition is the season-ending NPL Champions Cup, which includes the winners from all NPLs across the country and is held in July of each year to crown NPL national champions. Dates and location for the 2013 NPL Champions Cup will be announced shortly.
Among the opening events of the 2012-13 season was the Midwest Developmental League Fall Scouting Showcase, held Sept. 8-9 at Sportscore Soccer Complex in Rockford, Ill. The event included a total of 32 teams from 16 clubs in the U-13 and U-14 boys age groups and offered teams the chance to play cross-divisional opponents in front of scouts from both US Club Soccer’s id2 Program and U.S. Soccer.
Also taking place on Sept. 8 at HBC Complex in Long Island, N.Y., was a US Club Soccer PDP hosted by the New York Club Soccer League. The event brought together approximately 30 boys born in 1999 and 30 girls born in 1998. id2 Program scouts were on-site at the event to scout players for potential inclusion in upcoming id2 Program Training Camps.
Additional scouting showcases and PDPs will be hosted by other NPL member leagues throughout the fall and spring.
