About USL Academy
With the launch of USL Academy, United Soccer League now has an elite youth platform to offer to its clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two.
As such, these clubs can now develop a more clearly defined path for top youth prospects in their area to reach the professional level and sign directly with their senior team while improving local quality and community.
The USL Academy brand is composed of four key components: Standards, USL Academy Contracts, USL Academy Cup and USL Academy League.
USL Academy Standards
The purpose of the USL Academy Standards is to create optimal player development environments and provide local youth prospects the best chance of reaching the professional level, all league-approved USL Academy programs will be required to meet a set of minimum standards across a series of categories listed out in this document. By developing these standards, USLHQ aims to pursue the following key goals:
Build Pathways: Establish as many youth to pro player development pathways as possible, linking elite youth organizations with USL Senior Teams in Championship, Super League, League One, League Two & W League.
Produce Players: Increase the number & quality of locally produced talents for USL Senior Teams, while striving to develop world-class players able to compete at the highest level.
Drive Return on Investment: Provide USL ownership groups an efficient player development model for their Senior Teams, while increasing the likelihood of a return on that investment.
Improve Quality: Improve the standard of long-term player development programs across the United States, positively impacting every aspect of those environments & pathways.
USL ACADEMY LEAGUE
USL Academy works diligently with each USL club to accelerate its strategic plans in the youth development space, with the ultimate goal of creating academies across all USL clubs. The USL Academy League provides elite youth talent from across the USL landscape an additional opportunity to compete at a high level.
The USL Academy League establishes a high-level pre-professional training environment, with a direct connection to the local USL senior team. It provides meaningful games to aid in those players’ development and to provide all clubs an opportunity to compete amongst each other in regionalized competition.
USL Academy League displays strong competition and growth for academy teams across the country through competitive play and development attributions. The Academy League season runs from February-November, and the USL Academy League Finals at the end of the year, together mirroring the length of the professional season to allow for young talents to train and play at the highest level.
