US Youth Soccer Announces Details of Elite 64

The US Youth Soccer National League is excited to announce the first eight boys and girls clubs that will compete as inaugural members of Elite 64.

Elite 64 – The First 8 Clubs

The initial group of Elite 64 clubs share a collective vision and are dedicated to providing an elite gameday experience, in addition to maintaining the highest standards, both on and off the field, to maximize the opportunities available to their players.

“We are thrilled to welcome these first-class clubs as inaugural members of Elite 64. They each have a proven record of developing great players, and they understand the needs of players looking to compete at the highest level,” said Simon Collins, USYS National League Commissioner. “We look forward to working with the leaders of each of these clubs to provide a great experience for the players competing in Elite 64 and a clear development pathway for every level of athlete within their clubs.”

The newly-announced elite performance tier of the National League, Elite 64 will begin play this fall and feature club-based competition for the nation’s top boys and girls players in the 13U, 14U, 15U, 16U, 17U and 18/19U age groups. The 64 clubs in each gender will be geographically positioned into eight groups of eight clubs. Teams play a 14-game league season and have access to two national showcases (alongside National League P.R.O.) and the Elite 64 national finals.

Each of the inaugural Elite 64 clubs will benefit from world-class performance analysis from ProScore and new USYS partner STATSports, which will provide Elite 64 clubs with unparalleled access to the world’s most advanced performance wearable technology. All data and analysis collected will be shared with college coaches and professional scouts — making every Elite 64 game or training session a recruitable moment.

Acceptance into Elite 64 guarantees each club a minimum three-year involvement in the competition, with 18-month evaluations of every club taking place to ensure standards are met and Elite 64 maintains the highest possible level of competitive balance across the platform.

More information on Elite 64 is available on the USYS National League website.

Clubs interested in applying to be an inaugural member of Elite 64 can access forms for each gender using these links: BOYS APPLICATION | GIRLS APPLICATION

HEAR FROM THE CLUB LEADERS…

CEDAR STARS ACADEMY (Elite 64 – Boys and Girls)
“The Elite 64 platform will help broaden our structure at our club — giving these players on the boys and girls side from 13U to 19U the best possible standard to play at and showcase themselves for college. Elite 64 partnering with STATSports gives our players the opportunity to track and record data. With the data from STATSports, it really makes every moment in games and training a recruitable moment.”
Anthony Nixon, VP and Sporting Director

CHICAGO INTER SC (Elite 64 – Girls)
“After competing successfully in the Midwest Conference Club vs. Club division and the current USYS National League P.R.O., we believe that the Elite 64 platform will offer even more college recruiting opportunities for our players — especially with the new software with team and player tracking technology that is going to be implemented through the league. It will allow us to track each player’s performance, and it will also give the opportunity for college coaches and scouts to better assess players. Another great thing about Elite 64 is that our players and teams will have the freedom of choice to play in other competitions, such as State Cup and USYS ODP."
Sena Halilovic, Club Director

GALAXY SC (Elite 64 – Boys and Girls)
“Galaxy SC is extremely honored and excited to be selected to join the USYS National League Elite 64. The opportunity to compete with the best clubs in our region and across the country in this ideal platform aligns perfectly with our vision and mission. We strive to develop top level talent while providing an elite game day experience to help our athletes reach their highest desired level of play. Elite 64 will provide Galaxy SC players the ideal platform at the top of our developmental pathway by creating the optimal game day environment for our athletes and their teams. Joining Elite 64 will provide our players the top level of competition needed for them to reach their full potential… The inclusion of the performance analysis from STATSports and ProScore will provide our players and coaches with valuable data to help improve both training and game day results. We plan to use the information gathered to create leaderboards and in-team competitions to push each player to be the absolute best that we can be. Having the data and video available not only to us but to the college coaches is a huge plus! Any tool we can use to help our athletes reach their college goals is a welcome addition to our Galaxy SC program.”
Brett Strang, Executive Director

JACKSONVILLE FC (Elite 64 – Boys)
“The USYS National League Elite 64 platform will be a fantastic opportunity for our boys program to be able to compete against the best clubs and players around the country. The Elite 64 platform, along with the partnerships with STATSports and ProScore, will offer our players unique access to data and video analysis to aid in their personal development.”
Pat Cannon, Executive Director

JUVENTUS ACADEMY BOSTON (Elite 64 – Boys)
“Youth soccer in the United States desperately needs bold and thoughtful leadership. Parents and players want something tangible that has staying power and prioritizes our enormous player pool's diverse needs and goals. By introducing Elite 64, USYS has taken a big step forward to support our most ambitious and talented players. These players need more development opportunities against top competition that puts them in front of the most trained and educated eyes as often as possible. Elite 64 shows foresight and innovation by bringing together the top 64 player development academies under a single league competition and providing them with state-of-the-art technology for match and player analysis. This new and exciting platform has the opportunity to redefine what a top youth soccer league can truly be. It is a very exciting time to be a promising young soccer talent in this country, and Juventus Academy Boston is thrilled to be a part of Elite 64!”
Bill Altieri, Club President

NORCAL SURF SC (Elite 64 – Boys and Girls)
"At Surf Nation, we are delighted to see our NorCal program selected to compete in the USYS National League Elite 64 platform. It's been an exciting collaboration between our Surf affiliates in Northern California to create extended opportunities for players outside of their existing program.”
Tommaso Trevisan, Surf Select Director

“We are very excited to be an inaugural Elite 64 club and look forward to the opportunities it will create for our NorCal Surf players. The Elite 64 platform will challenge our players against elite-level competition and add to the developmental pathway for each athlete. Combined with the performance analysis provided to Elite 64 players by STATSports and ProScore, every individual will have the personalized feedback and game environment to enhance their experience and improve the recruiting process as they look to move on to the collegiate and professional levels.”
Adam Cooper, Walnut Creek Surf Director of Coaching

PRINCETON SOCCER ACADEMY (Elite 64 – Girls)
“It is an honor for PSA to be selected as an inaugural member of USYS National League Elite 64 and to be recognized as a leader in youth soccer development. We are excited to be able to provide our elite players a platform to be able to compete nationally within a league model against like-minded clubs across the region and country. Our players strive day in and day out to be able to showcase themselves at this level. We look forward to the future with US Youth Soccer and Elite 64.”
Ollie Hilliker, Executive Director

SOUTHERN SOCCER ACADEMY (Elite 64 – Boys and Girls)
“SSA is extremely excited and honored to be part of the Elite 64. We have worked extremely hard over the last few years to put Southern Soccer Academy on the national soccer map for both genders. With close to 8,000 players and 10 divisions spanning across Georgia and a brand new state-of-the-art facility, it means being part of Elite 64 gives our club the ability to compete with the very best teams across the country. What excites us about E64 is that it’s player-centered, which aligns with our philosophy at SSA. E64 has also partnered with STATSports and ProScore — this ensures that the player-coach-parent experience is at the level of pro clubs across the world. With these add-on partnerships, it affords our players the ability to be recruited by colleges and pro scouts at the touch of a button, and also to be benchmarked against the best soccer players in the world. All these benefits are a huge enhancement to the SSA’s player development pathway.”
Simon Davey, Executive Director

SPARTA UNITED (Elite 64 – Boys)
“Sparta United is excited to be part of the new Elite 64 platform with our boys program. This new platform will provide the players with the best competition at top level facilities. Our experience with the National League and National League P.R.O. confirms that US Youth Soccer is the platform to develop our players to the next level. The performance analysis provided by STATSports is a great tool for coaches and players. It makes the evaluation process so much easier if you have hard data available. To convince players or coaches to work on specifics is only possible if data from games is available. Another step in the right direction to create a top-level development platform.”
Marco de Ruiter, Director of Coaching

TFA CINCINNATI (Elite 64 – Girls)
“Total Futbol Academy of Cincinnati continues to stretch our players to reach their potential by providing them with competitive platforms. Our ability to compete against the best in the country is a driving force in our individual and collective player development. National League P.R.O. has given our players a massive opportunity to understand the mental toughness, technical ability, and tactical acumen required to have success at the top level. Our entrance into Elite 64 raises the level and expectations for our organization.”
Erik Schoening, Executive Director of Coaching

WEST FLORIDA FLAMES (Elite 64 – Boys and Girls)
“Elite 64 is the cutting edge programming from a competition standpoint that we have not seen in the U.S. It’s a competition that crosses and connects leagues and doesn’t separate leagues… We’re a developmental club. We believe in the development of the player. For us, this is huge because we can move our players within our organization appropriately so that they can continue their developmental platform. Players tend to rollercoaster — they start out well, they grow, they drop a little, they grow a little more. With this platform, we are able to utilize our players within all our leagues because now they’re interconnected with Elite 64. So, the player can be placed appropriately to their competition level at that moment. [The partnership with] STATSports is amazing. It’s brilliant. It gives up real-time information on the player. It helps us show the progress and also where there are still needs. Form a developmental standpoint, now we can appropriately address each player’s individual development versus just a team development. The real-time data allows us to specifically develop the player. And then having that information to move forward when we start recruiting processes. Whether it’s collegiate, pro, semipro, you have real data that you can share with coaches and staff.”
Gary Rach, Executive Director