Club Chaos: What Does The Changing Youth Soccer Landscape Really Mean? | Ep. 114

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The Breaking the Line team is back from Las Vegas and a lot has changed since early February.  

In Episode 114, Christian Lavers and Doug Bracken sit down to discuss the changing youth soccer landscape. Clubs are in peak tryout season, and with that comes plenty of questions about club visions and player pathways. As a player and parent, how do you know which club is right for you? What about a club is important, and what is just white noise?

That conversations leads to a much bigger discussion; club movement across leagues. More than 20 clubs will join either ECNL Boys or ECNL Girls for the 2025-26 season through new entry or promotion, and an additional 15 clubs will join the ECNL Regional League ranks in either Boys or Girls. With this movement, ECNL Boys will introduce the Far West Conference, and the ECNL Regional League will launch the Regional League - Gulf Coast, Regional League - Greater Michigan Alliance and a revamped Regional League - NorCal and Regional League - Golden State in ECNL Regional League Boys, and Regional League - Greater Michigan Alliance in ECNL Regional League Girls. 

That's an incredible amount of movement from year to year, and the Breaking the Line team discusses what has caused this movement, why it's important, and what does it mean for the ECNL as a whole. 

It's a great discussion into where we have been, where we currently are, and where we want to go. 

If you have any questions about player or club movement, make sure to submit them at https://ecnl.info/BTL-Questions. And as always, make sure to follow the ECNL on all social channels, and don't forget to watch this podcast in video on YouTube!