Girls Academy League unveils Mid-Atlantic Conference member clubs

The Girls Academy League revealed the eight member clubs that will be competing in the Mid-Atlantic Conference for the inaugural season.

Eight clubs representing the states of Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia have solidified their spots for the 2020-2021 season. 

Seven of the eight Mid-Atlantic Conference clubs are former Girls DA members: Arlington Soccer (VA), Baltimore Armour (MD), The St. James FC Virginia (VA), Cedar Stars Academy – Monmouth (NJ), PA Classics (PA), SJEB Rush (NJ) and Metro United (VA). One of the top Eastern Pennsylvania clubs, Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals, is featured in the conference as well.

The Mid-Atlantic is the fourth Girls Academy League conference to be announced. The Northeast, Southwest and Mid-America Conferences have already been unveiled. Meanwhile, member clubs for the Frontier Conference and the Southeast Conference are expected to be announced in the coming days. To see what all former Girls DA clubs are doing, follow SoccerWire’s Girls Development Academy Club Realignment Tracker.

The Girls Academy League is a new competition platform launched by members of the Development Player League (DPL). The DPL was originally created through a collaboration of Southwest Division DA clubs, with a national leadership group consisting of representatives from LA Surf (Barry Ritson), Legends FC (Kevin Boyd), Tophat Soccer (Troy Garner), Lonestar SC (Wes Schevers) and FC Dallas Youth (Matt Grubb).

Although the DPL’s Girls Academy League will be primarily composed of former DA clubs, it will not be strictly limited to them. The DPL has stated that it will continue to provide its clubs with flexibility in the following two key areas:

• Permission for all players in the Girls Academy League to participate in high school soccer.
• Revising the substitution rules to encourage clubs to better utilize their player pools, especially when showcasing their players to college coaches.

To learn more about the DPL’s newly-launched Girls Academy League, Click Here or visit girlsacademyleague.com.