Leagues

Various youth leagues are available for soccer participation, from recreational to premier levels. Each state is affiliated with US Soccer through their youth program. Additional leagues, such as US Club and Red Bull, have specific criteria and goals for clubs, teams and their players. In general, the higher the level of play,the more time and commitment required from a player.

Youth Soccer Organizational Structure
Though Focus on Futbol is geared towards youth soccer, for the sake of completeness we’ll begin at the top for all soccer.

FIFA ( Federation Internationale de Football Association) is the international governing organization for association soccer. There are 208 member associations. In the United States, the FIFA member association is the United States Soccer Federation (USSF or more commonly, US Soccer).

Per the US Soccer webpage (www.ussoccer.com) “As the governing body of soccer in all its forms in the United States, U.S. Soccer has helped chart the course for the sport in the USA for more than 90 years. In this time, the Federation’s mission statement has been very simple and very clear: to make soccer, in all its forms, a preeminent sport in the United States and to continue the development of soccer at all recreational and competitive levels.” Click Organizational Structure for a schematic.

Focus on Futbol will limit the discussion on leagues to those affecting youth soccer and, specifically those in Washington State. Of the youth soccer branch of US Soccer, that includes: United States Youth Soccer (USYS), United States Soccer Development Academy (USSDA), and United States Club Soccer (US Club). The United Soccer Leagues (USL), though in the professional soccer realm, operates the Super Y League for youth. As stated on their website, The Super Y League is designed to help in “professionalizing” player development, focusing on elite youth players in the United States and Canada. The Super Y-League? is a national competitive league for elite players from the top clubs in the country. It has also been sanctioned to hold its own Olympic Development Program (ODP). Since 2002, Super Y League has had a partnership with US Club.

US Youth Soccer (USYS) offers a wide range of soccer opportunities for youth from recreational programs to highly competitive leagues. US Youth Soccer is made up of 55 member state associations; one per state except for California, New York, Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania which have two associations each. For the state of Washington, the association affiliated with USYS is Washington State Youth Soccer Association (WSYSA). The Washington State Youth Soccer Association (WSYSA) mission statement declares its intention to provide for the physical, mental, and emotional growth and development of its youth through soccer via recreational programs and competitive leagues. Additionally, TOPSoccer and Soccer Start programs are administered via WSYSA. TOPSoccer serves differently-abled players, with mental or physical disabilities age 4 yrs and older, and allows play based on their skill level rather than age. Soccer Start helps lower income children in underserved areas. There are several routes for soccer on a competitive level in Washington: Washington State Premier League (WSPL), Inter District League (IDL) and the Olympic Development Program (ODP). WSPL is divided into four divisions, Division I, Division II, Division III, and Division IV. Each division is comprised of 8 teams. Division I would contain the top eight teams of the state, with successive groups of eight filling out the respective divisions. Games for teams within the same division are scheduled for league play. Leagues currently in IDL are: Commissioners Youth League (CYL), Player Development League (PDL), District III, and Inter Association League (IAL). Recreational and competitive teams have options for post-season tournament play. Please see the WSYSA website for information on specific tournament qualifications and other program details


US Club Soccer is also available for youth teams in Washington State. Quoting from their mission statement: “To Create, Develop, and Grow the best USSF sanctioned organization to foster the growth and development of club soccer programs throughout the United States. The result of which will be to improve the level of play of the competitive soccer player, and thereby the U.S. national teams and professional leagues.” US Club primarily focuses on club programs but also sactions training academies, travel and recreational leagues, and club in-house programs. Recently, US Club and Super-Y ended their partnership whereby US Club registered and provided cards to SYL players. Cards are valid and offer full insurance until 12/31/08. US Club has created the id2 program that facilitates the identification and development of the top players in the country. Clubs /teams in Washington that are members of US Club Soccer are in Region IV ( or West Region). In addition to these competitive, travelling teams, US Club recently sanctioned the formation of two new leagues in Washington State: The Inland Premier Soccer League and the Puget Sound Premier League. Both leagues are for youth U10-13 and available to any team or club interested in playing other competitive teams in their region (the Inland Premier Soccer League covering Eastern Washington; the Puget Sound Premier League comprised of the Puget Sound region). League standings are kept. Between Memorial Day and July 4th regional tournaments are held to determine which teams advance to the National Cup. The most recent league sanctioned by US Club is the Elite Clubs National League,ECNL; a league of the top 40 clubs for girls U15-17. Please see the US Club website for more details.

US Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) was created by the US Soccer Federation to provide the best possible environment for development of the elite player. Sixty-four clubs were asked to participate in this new league. The 64 teams from these clubs were divided into 8 conferences with 8 teams in each conference. The USSDA season is 8 months with 30 home and/or away games. To determine the top team, an Academy Finals tournament for conference champions is held at season’s end. At present, USSDA teams are for BU16 and BU18 teams only. Crossfire Premier Soccer and Washington Premier FC are the only clubs from Washington State that are part of USSDA. They compete in the West Conference. Please see the USSDA website for additional information.


As the largest organization of elite-level soccer leagues in North America, “the United Soccer Leagues (USL) is dedicated to growing the sport at the grassroots level in every community.” The USL’s Super Y League serves elite soccer players, both boys and girls U13-17, from North America destined for professional or international careers. The USL’s Super Y-League? is affiliated with US Soccer and partnered with US Club. Teams from Washington State are in the Western Division. Super Y League was allowed to institute an Olympic Development Program to identify players for US National Teams. Please see the Super Y League website for more information.

Washington
WSPL and WSYDL Rules & Guidebook