ELITE ACADEMY - Boys
League History
The Elite Academy League (EA) is an up-and-coming boys' development league that launched in the 2020-21 season. In its inaugural year, the league operated two divisions on opposite sides of the country. The Northeast Conference on the East Coast featured 10 clubs from New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, while the Southwest Conference featured 12 clubs all hailing from Southern California. With a few exceptions, the vast majority of the founding clubs all also field teams at a higher level of competition, primarily the MLS NEXT platform. For the 2024-25 season, the Elite Academy League executed a major expansion, adding new conferences in all corners of the country. the 2024-25 Season begins in August 2024 with new clubs across the country, specifically with midwest expansion.
Purpose
The Elite Academy League is composed of member clubs that represent Elite competitive clubs in their market and have shown to be of the standard and will benefit from being part of this platform. By unifying clubs from within the conferences, we have maintained the defining standards of previous elite platforms with a collective approach to making sure the platform sits atop the youth landscape.
Mission
The Elite Academy League has a mission to provide a National platform with a standards-based league giving clubs the ability to provide a full developmental model and pathway with top competition and exposure.
Vision
The EA's vision is to sit atop the youth landscape providing Elite Academy clubs and leaders the opportunity to guide the league and have the autonomy to develop the game in the US. The league will serve to provide a seamless elite pathway for clubs and players to excel in the competitive landscape.
Elite Academy Programming
League Structure
All teams play Home/Away within their division between September – May. Through their conference performance, teams can qualify for the EA National Championship tournament in June each year.
High School
A league break for Minnesota High School season based on each Division’s high school season.
Substitutions
Game Day Substitutions: Matches in the U13-U19 age groups will operate under the FIFA-7 players “per half” substitution system. Once replaced, players cannot re-enter the game during that half of play. There shall be a maximum of 3 moments to make seven (7) substitutions in any half or in overtime of any Elite Academy League Competition.
Standards
All games have film uploaded and shared on Hudl Sharepoint. Clubs provide athletic trainers at each EA home game. Host clubs are required to have turf fields reserved as a primary field or backup location for all hosted games to mitigate weather-related cancellations.
Player Centered
All games are to have a minimum of 30 minutes of
on-field
warm-up required for all games. Hydration stations are provided on benches during each EA contest.
Player Development
Players, coaches, and staff will have access to Jungo App as a league-wide initiative to standardize and share recourses to further player development plan process. Jungo was built to put athletes and their families first by connecting player ability to their ambition through the power of regular and actionable feedback with each player's coaching network. Jungo's permanent player profiles use multiple coaches' feedback to create a body of work and historical record along a player's developmental journey, leading to improved opportunities as they advance to the next level.
Talent ID
Using Jungo and regional panels, players will be identified for Regional and National ID opportunities.
The EA Talent ID has a mission to highlight, identify and expose the top talent players competing in the Elite Academy in an elevated environment, exposing them to opportunities for success at the highest level of competition.
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