About ECNL Regional League

The fee covers league and player registrations, game day field rentals, referees, athletic trainer support, Veo subscription and equipment, team goalkeeping training, game day operations, and NUU ECNL Administration Staff.

Items not covered in the ECNL RL fee are; NUU club fee, coaches fee, winter indoor training (ECNL RL teams will be guaranteed a minimum of 2 hours per week during the winter), coach and player’s travel and accommodations for tournaments, uniform costs, (the NUU uniform being renewed on a 2-year cycle), and any additional tournaments at the coach’s discretion.

Yes. The ECNL RL schedule allows our families to plan well in advance of events. The league schedule is usually completed by mid June with play starting in September. National Showcase event dates and locations are announced in May for the following year. This early schedule completion also allows our players that are in the active college-recruiting phase to contact potential schools with a firm schedule for optimizing college exposure.

Providing this opportunity to Cache Valley is an evolution of NUU striving to provide quality programs and pathways for ambitious players and teams. We want players to have every opportunity to be able to chase their soccer dream, no matter how big. By providing grass roots, challenger, state, and now elite competitive options we can truly provide every player a pathway to their soccer goals. Change is hard, but with it comes new opportunities. It is clear that the ECNL provides quality programming and a structure for player development. Clubs can not simply say they are joining the ECNL RL. There is a comprehensive list of qualifications and expectations to be considered as a member. We are honored to have NUU chosen to be a member of ECNL and the ECNL RL based on the quality of our teams and results they have accomplished throughout the age groups. We are grateful for our great coaches, players, and families for their commitment. Without you we would not be able to provide this new and exciting program to all of Cache Valley.

The ECNL is a national youth soccer league founded in 2009 for U13, U14, U15, U16, U17 and U18 for the purpose of providing the highest level of competition and the best developmental environment for American soccer players, as well as an identification program for identifying players for US Soccer Youth National Teams. WITH THE FORMATION OF the ECNL Regional League, the ECNL continues its commitment to player development and the pathway for clubs and players to earn opportunities in ECNL as players or clubs.

The ECNL and ECNL RL were founded based on the belief that elite player development in the United States needed a structure that would increase the number of meaningful, quality games nationally and regionally. The ECNL RL sets forth a vision that provides a clear path to that goal: a regional competition schedule, playoffs and national showcase opportunities linked to that competition, and an organization in which best practices in player development can be shared throughout the country.

The ECNL and ECNL RL was formed with one driving purpose: to improve the developmental environment for elite soccer players. In order to accomplish this, the ECNL has several specific objectives: (i) increase the frequency with which the top players and teams have the opportunity to compete against each other; (ii) decrease the number of uncompetitive games for the top players and teams so that they can train more frequently; (iii) increase the collegiate recruiting exposure; and (iv) provide an alternative identification program for these players to be identified for US Soccer Youth National Teams.

Every member club of the ECNL and ECNL RL is dedicated to accomplishing these objectives. By coming together into the member clubs can help to make the changes necessary to accomplish these objectives far more quickly, efficiently, and effectively.

Competition: Every ECNL RL game is intended to be very competitive and played at a significantly higher speed with more physical, psychological, technical and tactical demands on the players than the “average” game. The consistency of this competition and the demands it imposes creates more skillful, intelligent, and focused players. Second, in order to maximize the competitive level of each game, the ECNL only schedules 1 game per day per team, and no more than 3 days of games in succession.

Substitution: The ECNL limits the number of substitutions in each ECNL pr ECNL RL game by prohibiting re-entry of players in each half. In other words, once a player is subbed out of a game, the player may not re-enter the game in that half of play. This forces players to maintain their concentration and work-rate for far longer periods of time than in most other competitions, and helps to prepare them for competition at the national and international level. In other words, without the massive substitution common in other youth soccer events, players in ECNL and ECNL RL games are forced to adapt to the physical and psychological demands of playing for 90 minutes without break and without the “cushion” of temporary substitution to re-energize or re-focus.

Roster Rules: The ECNL allows a flexible roster of up to 30 players per team, and allows players to be rostered on multiple teams within their ECNL club. In addition, the ECNL allows players to move from one team roster to another from day-to-day, allowing players to play in different age groups in the same event. (A player may only play in 1 game per day.) This allows talented players to “play-up” against older players when a club determines it is in the best interests of the player to do so in order to maximize challenge and learning.

Discovery Players: Each ECNL RL team is permitted to roster discovery players. A discovery player is defined as any player that represents a club other than NUU or Utah Avalanche in any other league. Teams are allowed 2 discovery players (4 for u18/19).  

Standards and Recommendations: The ECNL provides a recommended set of minimum standards and expectations for players and staff of ECNL member clubs to create a more professional soccer environment. In addition, the ECNL provides member clubs with the opportunity to share best practices in player development and club organization and administration to improve the daily experience of the players.

NUU ECNL RL teams will compete in League play. They will play every team in the mountain division at least once. The boys and girls league structure varies slightly. At the completion of league play, top teams will qualify for ECNL Regional League Playoffs in early June and can advance to ECNL RL National Playoffs with a top two finish at regionals.

Boys: Teams will play 17 league games (8 home games, 7 away). Home and away matches vs. all clubs (with the exception of El Paso Locomotive). All boys teams, U13-U19 will have the same competition dates against the same opponents for matches played against the teams from Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Travel will include 2 trips to Arizona for 2 days each, and 1 trip to New Mexico for two games for a total of 6 games. The remaining 11 games will be played in Utah (8 home games, 3 road games.) For U13 and U14, additional friendlies against teams from Utah and Idaho will be added to the total number of games.

Girls: Teams will play 20 league games (10 home games, 10 away). Home and away games against all of the Utah and Idaho clubs (12 games). Home or away games against all of the Colorado clubs (8 games). Travel will include one weekend to Boise for 2 games, and 2 trips to Colorado for 2 or 3 games each. The remaining 3 away games will be played in Utah. For U13 and U14, the 20 games were split evenly over the fall and spring seasons. For the high school aged teams, the games against Colorado are played in the late fall or late winter months.

The ECNL hosts several national showcases each year for U13-U19 age groups. These events bring together players and teams from all over the country and provide a great opportunity to play teams you wouldn’t normally see. Many of the ECNL RL showcases take place at the same complex and at the same time as ECNL events. This provides a great opportunity for those actively involved in the college recruitment process to have increased exposure. At the ECNL RL level, these events are optional. Most of our teams will be attending one of these events each year.

The NUU ECNL RL director will work closely with each age group coach to identify a handful of players that exhibit the qualities and competencies to train with the Utah Avalanche ECNL program. Players will then have the opportunity to join training with the ECNL team on a regular basis. The frequency of those training sessions will be determined by age, time of year, and competition schedules. Players from NUU will and have been invited to participate in full ECNL games and showcases.

Yes. The ECNL does not put restrictions on players to prevent them from participating in any other identification program. Many players that participate in the ECNL RL will participate in USYS ODP or other identification programs, and some players that participate in the ECNL will not participate in USYS ODP or other identification programs. These choices will be made by individual players according to their own interests and desires.

NCAA Division I, II and III college soccer programs recruit nationally, and opportunities to play in NCAA Division I tend to go to players from nationally competitive teams. Elite players maximize their opportunities to be recruited for college and to be identified by playing against the top talent from the region and around the country at events and games that college coaches regularly attend.