US Club Soccer adds Iowa based Club Development League to membership

CHARLESTON, S.C. – US Club Soccer has welcomed the Iowa-based Club Development League (CDL) to its membership, beginning with the 2021-22 season.

With this partnership, ten clubs and their more than 300 teams and over 7,000 players and staff in U-6 through U-19 age groups will benefit from an all-inclusive suite of programming and resources offered by US Club Soccer.

“This is an exciting time for the CDL,” said Alen Kudumovic, CDL president. “The ability of our member clubs to come together to develop our own programming, standards and calendar allows us to enhance our program offerings and improve the coach education and player development environment across the state.”

“The timing is right for CDL member clubs to determine their own pathway,” said CDL league administrator, Ian Bradley. “The landscape of youth soccer in Iowa and across the USA continues to change and evolve, and this move puts us at the forefront of that change”.

Among the Highlights:

• League play: The CDL will provide league competition for three levels of competitive teams in the Fall and Spring. League highlights include central game sites, gender specific play dates and competitive match ups.
• State Cup: The CDL will run a US Club Soccer two-flight State Cup in the U-13 through U-19 age groups, from which teams will advance directly to the Regional or National Cup Finals — US Club Soccer’s national cup-based championship events. More details on this exciting opportunity will be released in the near future.
• Coaching Education: The CDL will host U.S. Soccer coach licensing courses via US Club Soccer. In addition, the CDL will benefit from US Club Soccer’s educational and developmental offerings, including LaLiga coach education programming.

“We are thrilled to welcome the Club Development League into the US Club Soccer family,” said Kevin Payne, US Club Soccer CEO/Executive Director. “Adding a strong and growing league in Iowa continues our impressive growth in the Midwest and nationally as the country emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic. Our founding principles of soccer people making soccer decisions, local decisions made locally, and professional management is resonating with soccer leaders everywhere. We look forward to a long relationship with the Club Development League and its membership for years to come.”

Quotes from clubs:

Bill Ajram, FC United Director of Coaching: “On behalf of FC United, we look forward to our expanded participation with US Club Soccer. The US Club Soccer competitive platforms are cognizant of the needs of our members and align with many of our organizational objectives. In particular, it has allowed us to provide our players developmentally appropriate games where we could realistically assign our most experienced and credentialed coaches to manage the environment.”

John Sheridan, Sporting Iowa Central Executive Director: “Sporting Iowa is extremely excited for the CDL to become part of the US Club Soccer family. The US Club Soccer values align with those clubs in the CDL, a Players First, centered organization. This is an exciting time for soccer in Iowa and we are looking forward to the opportunities this new platform will present for our players, coaches and families.”

Chris McGill, Vision Soccer Academy Director of Coaching: “We feel our club is wholly aligned with the purpose of the CDL and US Club Soccer. We will continue to work tirelessly to enhance the developmental experience for our members.”