There have been a lot of questions about US Club and the ASE Board wanted to address these questions. If you have more questions, please email them to our Director of Operations at
soccerop@asesoccer.com.
Who is US Club?
US Club Soccer is a non-profit organization whose mission is to develop competitive club soccer in the United States. A member of the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) since July 2001, US Club Soccer has grown to include member clubs and leagues in 50 states. US Club Soccer is a National Association member of the USSF.
In addition to registering players and staff, sanctioning leagues, tournaments and other soccer programs, as well as offering a range of programs for its members, US Club Soccer annually conducts the National Cup. US Club Soccer also directs its own player identification and development program called the id2 program.
US Club Soccer is founded on the belief that soccer clubs, which are in the business of player development, need an organization of their own to foster growth, address concerns, and sanction and provide programs with a minimum of rules and restrictions.
Policy decisions for the organization are made by a nine-member Board of Directors, who must be experienced coaches in member soccer clubs.
While the core membership is competitive clubs, US Club Soccer also sanctions training academies, travel leagues, recreational leagues and club in-house (recreational) programs.
The mission of US Club Soccer is “To Create, Develop, and Grow the best USSF-sanctioned organization to foster the growth and development of club soccer programs throughout the United States. The result of which will be to improve the level of play of the competitive soccer player, and thereby the U.S. National Teams and professional leagues.”
How does US Club’s philosophy integrate with ASE?
US Club Soccer is built on the belief that:
· Soccer clubs are the primary vehicle through which players are developed.
· Too much time has been spent governing competitive soccer rather than encouraging its growth.
· The business of the day-to-day development of top youth players rests with the club.
· A business-friendly environment must be created...
oto develop programs and services which assist the club and player,
oto provide a minimum of rules and regulations to assure basic fairness,
oand to allow clubs the flexibility to build programs that meet their needs.
· Clubs must work together to grow the club system.
oThis includes speaking with a collective voice on important issues affecting them; assisting clubs organizationally and technically through our technical committee, staff, and club services programs; and coordinating player development with national teams and professional clubs.
This philosophy is what interested ASE in participating in US Club programs. Since then, after participating in these programs, ASE became fully convinced that US Club cuts through the bureaucratic nonsense displayed by other organizations and leaves the responsibility of development at the club level.
Can you really reach the highest levels of play within US Club?
US Club provides sanctioned leagues throughout the United States. In Washington, we play within the US Club sanctioned Puget Sound Premier League (PSPL) who offers a variety of competitive soccer leagues around the State of Washington that are open to teams and clubs seeking a competitive soccer experience for a reasonable cost.
The advantage ASE sees in this league is that it provides an inclusive environment where a team can play into the highest level of soccer in the Northwest. It is not exclusive as with other State sanctioned leagues here in Washington. US Club uses “promotion” and “relegation” from league to league so if a team is good enough to win in one league, they can choose to be promoted into the next even more competitive league.
The Inland Northwest Copa League is where competitive play starts in Eastern Washington. This league is played in Eastern Washington and caters to the “select” level teams. If teams don’t want to have overnight travel, this is the league to enter.
There are three different divisions of statewide competition within PSPL. In ascending order of competitive levels are the Copa league, Classic league and then the highest level of statewide competition are those teams competing in the Super League.
If individual teams are competitive enough to win the Super league, then they have the opportunity to play in the Northwest Champions League, the highest level of competition provided in the Northwest today. The Northwest Champions League consists of the best teams from Washington and Oregon. If you look at the NW Champions League website and compare it to the WYS RCL Division 1 leagues, you will see many of those teams competing in the NW Champions League. To have those teams along with the best Oregon Premier teams, this league has quickly become the league where the most elite teams are competing.
If I have a child with great aspirations of playing on the National Team, how can he or she be identified?
It is important to the ASE coaching staff to help players get to “the next level” If a player aspires to be identified for Olympic Development or Youth National teams, then there are multiple ways of going about this. Currently our GU12 team has put five players in the ODP player pool. That program is available to ASE players. That player might have to register for WYS for insurance purposes which can be done directly with the State.
US Club also has a great identification program called the id2 program. Established in 2004, US Club Soccer’s id2 national identification and development program provides an opportunity for the country’s top youth talent to be identified and developed for possible inclusion in U.S. Soccer’s National Team programs. There is no cost to the player to be scouted or recommended for the id2 program.
For more information about this program, Click HERE.
You can find out more about Who is US Club Soccer and US Club Soccer FAQs.
