The ECNL Girls will be adding a new league to its growing platform of Regional Leagues, as the ECNL Girls Regional League – North Texas will begin play in the 2020-21 season. The ECNL Girls Regional League – North Texas will be operated by the Texas Clubs Soccer League (La Liga, LLC) and will include competition at the U11 through U18/U19 age groups.
The Texas Clubs Soccer League (TCSL) encompasses more than 5000 players from all over the Dallas/Ft Worth area. Top finishers from the ECNL Regional League-North Texas will meet top finishers from the ECNL Girls Regional League – Texas Conference and United Soccer Clubs for the opportunity to advance to the 2021 ECNL Open Cup at the Playoffs.
“The national growth of the ECNL Regional Leagues reinforces the tremendous youth female talent pool across the country,” said ECNL Girls Commissioner, Jen Winnagle. “It is our goal to provide a pathway for players and teams to reach their fullest potential by providing the opportunity to compete against the best in the country, and the ECNL Regional League – NTX will help this happen.”
ECNL Girls Regional Leagues are designed to service a deeper player pool from member clubs within the ECNL Girls, and to provide a competitive platform for objective evaluation of new clubs for full ECNL membership in the future. Through a post-season pathway, top performing teams in ECNL Girls Regional Leagues earn the opportunity to compete in the Open Cup Division of the ECNL Playoffs at the U15, U16 and U17 ages, where they will match up against other ECNL Girls Regional League qualifiers as well as member clubs of the ECNL.
Texas Clubs Soccer League is thrilled about the licensing of the ECNL Girls Regional League- NTX division as a new ECNL Regional League, and the expanded opportunities it will bring to the players and clubs participating in the league,” said board member, Steve Dunker. “The enhanced pathway into ECNL Open Cup competitions is a game changer for the league and our members.”
There were six ECNL Girls Regional Leagues operating in the 2019-20 season: Northeast, Northwest, Ohio Valley, Southwest, Texas and Virginia. In the past few months, the league announced the addition of the ECNL Regional League – Carolinas, ECNL Regional League – Heartland and ECNL Regional League – Florida for the 2020-21 season.