Champions League confirmed

Taken from NPL site US Club Soccer

CHARLESTON, S.C. (June 28, 2016) - The United Soccer Clubs and Lake Highlands Girls Classic League have partnered to create the Texas Champions League, a top regional girls league that will join the NPL for the 2016-17 season. The Texas Champions League includes U-14 through U-18 clubs from south Texas, north Texas and Oklahoma.

Since its inception in fall 2015, the United Soccer Clubs has already doubled in size, hosted the first-ever LaLiga Formation Methodology course and sent players to id² Training Camps. The Texas Champions League represents a continued evolution of local to regional to national competition.

The Lake Highlands Girls Classic League is a coveted league in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and has traditionally been considered among the top girls leagues in the country, producing numerous collegiate and U.S. National Team players over the years.

The Texas Champions League is comprised of:

Eight teams from Lake Highlands, five teams from ECNL clubs and three additional Lake Highlands qualifiers based on last year’s results
Six teams from United Soccer Clubs, four teams from ECNL clubs and two additional United Soccer Clubs qualifiers based on last year’s results, plus Oklahoma FC and Tulsa SC
Sixteen teams make up each age group for a 15-game schedule. League winners qualify to the annual NPL Finals, which is the coveted destination for all NPL member leagues. There are additional national title qualification opportunities within the National Cup, US Club Soccer’s cup-based national championship series. US Club Soccer will also extend opportunities from its Player Development Program (PDP) and id² Program to the league.

"When clubs collaborate to make their competitive environment better, great things happen," said Christian Lavers, US Club Soccer Executive Vice President and ECNL President. "We are excited to support these clubs as they further develop their league and its programs."

"This is an exciting time for our league as we expand on our mission, now providing the most competitive playing environment for our players both locally and regionally," said Stephanie Cherry, Lake Highlands Girls Classic League President. "We are looking forward to competing with the best from South Texas and Oklahoma."

"United Soccer Clubs is excited about the opportunity to partner with arguably the strongest girls league in the country, Lake Highlands Girls Classic League, to form a regional platform that will the increase the opportunities for the players in Texas and Oklahoma to compete and develop," said United Soccer Clubs President Pat O'Toole. "We have come a long way in a short period of time in developing a league that is 100 percent focused on the development of the players and the clubs they represent. We will continue to work with like-minded clubs, leagues and US Club Soccer to provide the best opportunities for the players and coaches in our league."

Nice to see US Club Soccer and United Soccer Clubs publish some info on this. Crickets from LHGCL.

Eight teams from Lake Highlands, five teams from ECNL clubs and three additional Lake Highlands qualifiers based on last year’s results
Six teams from United Soccer Clubs, four teams from ECNL clubs and two additional United Soccer Clubs qualifiers based on last year’s results, plus Oklahoma FC and Tulsa SC
Sixteen teams make up each age group for a 15-game schedule. League winners qualify to the annual NPL Finals, which is the coveted destination for all NPL member leagues.

Say what?

So each of the 10 Texas Conference ECNL teams will have their first team play ECNL (and/or DA) and have their 2nd teams play in this Champions League. Also in the Champions League will be OKFC along with 3 qualifiers from Lake Highlands and two qualifiers from South Texas. The qualifiers will either be non-ECNL first teams or, conceivably, ECNL third teams.

Sound pretty cool and an excellent solution to the Composite fiasco. While it does give non ECNL teams an avenue to participate, I think this should probably lead to even more consolidation amongst the clubs. If you aren't ECNL/DA/Champions League, you probably aren't being seen very much by colleges. I'd want my DD to be a part of a club with 2-3 teams in these elite leagues.

I do wonder how they determine the five qualifiers (3 NTX, 2 STX). I'm sure in year one they simply take the top teams from the league standings, but what about year two? Do the existing qualifiers already playing in the Champions League have a playoff against the top 3 finishers from the current season?

timmyh wrote:So each of the 10 Texas Conference ECNL teams will have their first team play ECNL (and/or DA) and have their 2nd teams play in this Champions League.  Also in the Champions League will be OKFC along with 3 qualifiers from Lake Highlands and two qualifiers from South Texas.  The qualifiers will either be non-ECNL first teams or, conceivably, ECNL third teams.

Sound pretty cool and an excellent solution to the Composite fiasco.  While it does give non ECNL teams an avenue to participate, I think this should probably lead to even more consolidation amongst the clubs.  If you aren't ECNL/DA/Champions League, you probably aren't being seen very much by colleges.  I'd want my DD to be a part of a club with 2-3 teams in these elite leagues.

I do wonder how they determine the five qualifiers (3 NTX, 2 STX).  I'm sure in year one they simply take the top teams from the league standings, but what about year two?  Do the existing qualifiers already playing in the Champions League have a playoff against the top 3 finishers from the current season?

Yes.. From what I've heard, there will be a contested challenge for the spots.. One game winner gets in.

timmyh wrote:I do wonder how they determine the five qualifiers (3 NTX, 2 STX).  I'm sure in year one they simply take the top teams from the league standings, but what about year two?  Do the existing qualifiers already playing in the Champions League have a playoff against the top 3 finishers from the current season?

Year 1 invites will be based on last year's LH standings. I have heard that the proposal is to have challenge based system for year 2 and beyond.

The proposal I heard (it's about a month old, so it may not be accurate anymore), was that if an LHGCL qualifier finishes in top 2 of TCL league standings, they will get a bye back into TCL for the following year. Otherwise there will be a series of challenge games between the 3 teams currently in TCL, and the top 3 finishers from LHGCL, to determine who gets the TCL spots for the following year.

Is this League still an option for D1 college exposure? I have not heard great things, but I can't say for sure.

Soccahplayah wrote:Is this League still an option for D1 college exposure?  I have not heard great things, but I can't say for sure.

IMO, the league itself, no. Coaches of any level rarely, if ever, attend league matches. If the ECNL clubs can figure out a way to co-schedule the TCL dates and locations with the ECNL games, that could change, but it hasn't happened so far.

However, the teams that play in TCL typically get decent coach traffic at showcases, but the D1 traffic will be limited and you're talking about lower-tier D1 (Southland Conference schools and their equivalents) on down. TCL, like LH D1 these days, are primarily D2/D3 level players.

Build a fire and send smoke signals that might draw some attention.

Medicine Man wrote:Build a fire and send smoke signals that might draw some attention.

Nobody would see it at Fairview.