US Youth Soccer announces additional National League conferences

FRISCO, Texas (Via US Youth Soccer) — US Youth Soccer has announced an additional five conferences in the new US Youth Soccer National Leagues Program, which is set to kick off in the 2018-19 soccer season.

Announced last month, the US Youth Soccer National Leagues Program will feature a network of Conferences (formerly known as Regional Leagues) that are geographically focused, under one leadership and management structure, and linked into the National League and National Championship Series.

The Conferences are now under the management umbrella of the US Youth Soccer National League. League Managers will oversee the day-to-day activities of the Conferences in accordance with National Leagues Policy and the National Leagues Rules and Regulations.

The five conferences are primarily based in US Youth Soccer’s West and Midwest Regions. The conferences include:

• US Youth Soccer National League Northwest Conference
• US Youth Soccer National League Pacific Conference
• US Youth Soccer National League Desert Conference
• US Youth Soccer National League Midwest Conference
• US Youth Soccer National League Great Lakes Conference

For teams participating in the Conferences (during the 2018-19 soccer season), the long-time linkage with the Regional Championships and the National League will continue. In addition to the traditional team vs. team model of play within each Conference, newly formed club vs. club brackets may be offered and would serve as additional pathways to the National League and Regional Championships.

Specifically, teams playing in the National Tier of the 13U through 19U age groups within the Conferences will continue to have an opportunity to play for a spot in the 2019 US Youth Soccer Regional Championships. 13U through 18U teams playing in the top tiers of each Conference can also earn qualification into the following season’s National League (2019-20 season). Premier I level slots earned under the current (2017-18 season) Regional Leagues system will be honored at the Premier I tier within a team’s respective Conference in 2018-19. The Leagues Program will also be developing a series of US Youth Soccer National Showcase events involving both National League and Conference teams.

CONFERENCES IN THE WEST REGION ANNOUNCED

Within the West Region, the US Youth Soccer National Leagues Program announced the formation of the following Conferences:

• US Youth Soccer National League Northwest Conference
• US Youth Soccer National League Desert Conference
• US Youth Soccer National League Pacific Conference powered by CRL

The Pacific Conference powered by the California Regional League (CRL) will include teams from the two State Associations within California, Cal South and Cal North. Cal South’s league administrators will serve as the League Manager for the Pacific Conference powered by CRL.

“Cal North is excited to be a part of the new US Youth Soccer National League Pacific Conference powered by CRL,” Cal North Executive Director Matthew Madeira said. “We believe that the standards based approach will be a huge benefit to our teams, players and coaches.”

“The collaboration between the National League Pacific Conference and the California Regional League creates exciting possibilities for athletes, teams and clubs playing in the CRL,” Steve Hoffman, Cal South Director of Coaching and Technical Advisor to the CRL, said. “The Pacific Conference, powered by CRL, is an exciting opportunity for our clubs and athletes to experience a quality playing environment.”

Current US Youth Soccer West Region Operations Coordinator Chris Webb has been appointed to serve as the League Manager of the Northwest Conference and Desert Conference. Webb has over 23 years of soccer experience as a coach or administrator, spending the past two years as the League Administrator for the Desert Premier League of the Far West Regional League. She previously served as Arizona Soccer Association’s Director of Operations and was able to restructure the State Association’s Advanced Leagues, creating a clear pathway between its leagues to State Cup, the regional league (Desert Premier League) and to the National League.

“I’m honored to lead both the National League Desert and Northwest Conferences,” Webb said. “The new league platform is elevating the standards and competitiveness across the US Youth Soccer landscape. I’m looking forward to working with the state association leaders as well as Paul Luchowski and his team of league managers.”

CONFERENCES IN THE MIDWEST AND PART OF EAST REGION ANNOUNCED

The Midwest Region will see the US Youth Soccer National Leagues Program operate two conferences:

• US Youth Soccer National League Midwest Conference
• US Youth Soccer National League Great Lakes Conference

The Midwest Conference will feature the western states of the region; while the Great Lakes Conference will include the eastern states of the region along with New York West, Pennsylvania West and West Virginia from the East Region.

The US Youth Soccer National Leagues Program recently hired Marc Frankland to manage the Midwest and Great Lakes Conferences. A former Director of Coaching and coach of teams that have participated in the US Youth Soccer Midwest Regional League and National League, Frankland spent the past five years as the assistant men’s coach at Western Michigan University primarily heading up the school’s recruiting efforts. In addition, Marc has organized and provided event management services for a number of youth soccer tournaments and showcase events for more than 1,200 teams annually.

“Having been involved in the US Youth Soccer Regional and National Leagues for the past 15 years both as a head club coach and as a recruiting college coach, I am excited to oversee the development of our new US Youth Soccer National League Conferences in both the Midwest and Great Lakes Conferences,” Frankland said. “My experience in running large scale youth soccer tournaments for multiple organizations will allow me to combine my event management experience with my soccer coaching background to move these programs into the next level, in order to provide a well-organized and clearly defined pathway for our players and teams.”

The current system of US Youth Soccer Regional Leagues (Eastern Regional League, Midwest Regional League, Southern Regional Premier League and the Far West Regional League) will cease to exist at the conclusion of the 2017-18 soccer season.