Club Champions League partners with Northeast Soccer League

Charlottesville, VA (Via CCL / NSL) – The Northeast Soccer League (NSL) and the Club Champions League (CCL) have agreed to partner effective immediately.

The NSL, located in New England, has over 360 teams and 6,000 players participating from the heavily populated states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The CCL, located in the youth soccer hot-bed of Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. has over 560 teams and 10,000 players participating in all CCL divisions. CCL member clubs boast over 65,000 players participating at all levels of its programming.

The partnership is a further reinforcement of the NSL and CCL’s emphasis on development, club standards, and high-level competitions that showcase top players talents. There will also be a clear opportunity for players/families, coaches, teams, clubs, and leagues to benefit from the many national strategic partnerships and events that the CCL will bring to the NSL.

“We believe that this relationship will allow the NSL to reinforce its current structure and in addition provide an opportunity for all clubs across the New England region to compete in a league that provides access to the highest level of competition in the USA,” stated John Barata, Executive Director of NSL Soccer. “Our discussion with CCL and their leadership has provided the NSL with a great prospect to build our league within the Northeast region.”

CCL is based on the philosophy that the player is a member of the club as well as a member of the team and that successful clubs develop players and teams from within. Over the past ten years, CCL member clubs have won numerous US Youth Soccer National Championships and East Region Championships, staking it’s claim as the ‘Best Regional League in the United States’. The alliance will provide the NSL with an established partner in the marketplace to solidify its current structure while also offering its member clubs top level events, club and coach education, league collaboration, social media and marketing platforms, and established college pathway programs.

“Those who are in youth soccer understand that the youth soccer landscape has been fractured for many years and it looks like it will continue to be that way for years to come. It will only take like-minded leaders around the country to come together and bring the pieces of youth soccer back together. The NSL and CCL partnership is the start of this process. We believe that this partnership will greatly enhance our members overall experience on-and-off-the-field as well as show the rest of the country that leagues can partner in two different geographic areas with a desire to work together for our youth,” said Brian Kuk, CCL Executive Director.

NSL President, Steve Robinson, believes that this partnership is a game-changer for the region. “Our league members have continued to pursue a developmental approach for their players and coaches, and we feel this partnership is recognition of that emphasis. Working alongside the CCL and its full-time office of soccer experts is the most significant advancement for our league since we were founded as MAPLE,” said Robinson.

Steve Danbusky, CCL President, shared his excitement, “We are excited about this partnership with NSL. This will highlight the strengths of CCL and NSL while enhancing the competitive footprint of New England and the Northeast.”

More information about the partnership will be released over the next few weeks.