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 the senior teams 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 are required to meet a set of minimum standards across a series of categories. By developing these standards, USL aims to pursue the following key goals:

Build Pathways:
Establish as many youth to pro player development pathways, linking elite youth organizations with USL Senior Teams in Championship, League One, & League 2.

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.

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 CUP

The annual National USL Academy Cup, presented by PUMA, is an elite tournament that brings teams to Tampa, Fla. from across the country to compete against unique teams they would not normally play. USL Academy Cup emphasizes the importance of on the field and off the field development with multiple panels throughout the weekend.
The inaugural national USL Academy Cup, presented by PUMA, took place in May 2021, with 76 teams representing clubs from all levels of American soccer across the United States.  

The 2023 USL Academy Cup will take place March 30 - April 2, 2023:  Like the 2022event, there are roster rules in place to allow the younger players to get a chance to develop by playing against older opponents.

USL Academy Cup also promotes development off the field for not only players but coaches, staff members and referees. At past events, there have been workshops and panels that emphasized player development, technical practices, educational seminars, and referee programming.

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.

The inaugural season of the USL Academy League displayed strong competition and growth for academy teams across the country through competitive play and development attributions.

USL ACADEMY CONTRACTS

In the past, many young American players have been ready to test themselves by competing against professionals but were limited in their ability to do so for fear of sacrificing their collegiate eligibility. The structure of USL Academy contracts directly addresses this issue.

USL Academy contracts allow Academy players at USL clubs to sign, train and compete in matches with professional senior teams without affecting their eligibility to play college soccer. These contracts help young players accelerate their development by challenging them and allowing them to gain experience playing with and against professionals at a young age. They also allow senior team staff to evaluate the top talent in their academies on a more frequent basis and in a professional environment, which adds another step in the pathway to professional soccer. 

Currently, there are over 75 players signed to USL Academy contracts with independent clubs in the Championship and League One, showing the commitment of USL teams to developing young talent as well as the benefits of the rapidly-increasing number of clubs providing pathways to professional soccer in their local markets.

USL ACADEMY FAQ’s:

Will there be a boys and Girls Academy Team?
Yes we will offer both Boys and Girls Academy teams.  The Girls will launch this summer with a pilot league and we will also participate in the Women’s Academy Cup Tournament.

What age are the players?
The USL Academy League rosters are made up of players between the ages of 15 and 19 and p[lay as a U19 team in the Academy League.  The USL Academy Cup also has additional age groups for U13B and U15B and will be adding more age groups in the future for Boys and Girls.

How many players are on the roster?
Teams are able to register as many players as they desire but they have an active roster of 26 players and a game day roster of 18 players.  At FC Carolinas we plan to carry a roster of ~23 players with some players in the Pre Academy program as reserve players.

Where will the players be from on the roster?
The roster can be made up of players form all different clubs as long as they meet the age requirements.  The league has different player classification that allow them to remain on another roster for their parent club.  At FC Carolinas will have players from our current club rosters as well as players form other clubs around the area.

Where will training and games be played?
We will be training at our FCC Soccerplex and the majority of home games will be played at the FCC Soccerplex as well.