Details of Elite 64 Season Announced

The USYS National League is excited to announce the competition format for the Elite 64 National Finals, which will debut at the end of the 2022-23 Elite 64 season.

The competition — which will crown an Elite 64 Team Champion in each age group for both genders, along with an overall Elite 64 Club Champion for each gender — is set to take place at the SoCal Sports Complex in Oceanside, Calif., with girls play taking place June 26-July 2, 2023, and boys play taking place July 5-11, 2023.

“We can’t wait for the players to experience the Elite 64 National Finals, which will serve as an exciting conclusion to their Elite 64 seasons,” said Simon Collins, USYS National League Commissioner. “The format of the event will allow the top-performing teams from the regular season to enjoy the spotlight of competing to become the Elite 64 Team Champion, while it also presents every player and team the chance to contribute to their club’s pursuit of the overall Elite 64 Club Championship.

“This continues the long-standing staple of the National League — events in which every game has meaning, leading to an atmosphere full of excitement and emotion.”

Within each gender age group, teams will be placed into four different bracket tiers, based on regular season standings from each of the eight Elite 64 groups:

• Finals Bracket – 1st- and 2nd-place finishers from the regular season
• Tier 2 Bracket – 3rd- and 4th-place finishers from the regular season
• Tier 3 Bracket – 5th- and 6th-place finishers from the regular season
• Tier 4 Bracket – 7th- and 8th-place finishers from the regular season

For each gender, the 16U, 17U and 18/19U age groups will play early in the event, and the 13U, 14U and 15U age groups will play later in the event. Each team will compete over three days (three games). The teams that advance to the title match in the Finals Bracket will play their final match (fourth game) on their fifth day of the event following a rest day.

>> Click here to see a sample event schedule

Featuring the top two regular season teams from each group, the Finals Bracket allows teams to compete to become the Elite 64 Team Champion in each age group.

The Finals Bracket follows a format similar to the World Cup knockout rounds, beginning with a Round of 16, followed by Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals. Teams win to advance in the pursuit of the Elite 64 Team Championship.

Teams who do not advance past the Round of 16 (Day 1) or Quarterfinals (Day 2) play games on the subsequent days against equivalent competition that count toward Club Champion points (giving them 3 games total).

>> Click here to see a sample day-by-day Finals Bracket

The Club Champion recognizes the club with the best cumulative performance across all age groups at the Elite 64 National Finals. All tiers (Finals, Tier 2, Tier 3, Tier 4) contribute to the overall Club Champion point totals — adding meaning to each game played at the Elite 64 National Finals.

For each game, teams can earn 3 points for a win; 1 point for a tie; and 0 points for a loss. Those points will be added to the Club Champion point totals, with a multiplier applied to points earned in each tier:

• Finals Bracket (4x points earned)
• Tier 2 (3x points earned)
• Tier 3 (2x points earned)
• Tier 4 (1x points earned)

The multiplier gives added weight to the higher tiers and adds importance and meaning to every regular season game, as each individual spot in the group standings holds an impact.

Once all games are complete, the overall point totals will be compiled and the club with the highest cumulative point total across all age groups will be crowned the season’s Elite 64 Club Champion.