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 2021-22 season, the Elite Academy League executed a major expansion, adding new conferences in all corners of the country. the 2022-23 Season begins in August 2022 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.

  • Will our boys teams still play in National League?

    Perhaps select teams; teams with a relevant status (Premier 1 or higher) in National League may still register, however, the competitive balance within the Mid-America conference of the EA will be the best fit for the majority of TFE at this time providing us with a more balanced competitive landscape.

  • Will our boys teams still play in USYS State Cup?

    Yes; the tryout window for EA still allows our teams to participate in USYS State Cup. However we will make a decision on USYS State Cup or US Club MN Cup this fall as we determine which event best fits our team's spring season plans.

  • Will the EA replace our in-state league play?

     No; in the 2022-2023 season, our TFE Boys teams will be participating in the Minnesota NPL which will include 12-16 league games and an opportunity to advance to US Club Nationals. 


  • When will EA games take place?

    EA contests will begin in September for our u13/u14 EA teams, while our high school age teams (u15+) will begin in November. With our access to year-round, full-field facilities (domes, etc.), we anticipate hosting our conference home fixtures over the course of the winter months, then traveling for our conference and cross-conference away games in the fall and spring months. 

  • What does the EA season structure look like? How much travel is involved?

    The EA Mid-America conference is split into East and West to minimize long travel distances and reduce travel demands in the National Platform.  Our teams will compete in the Mid-America West conference which includes 6 home games, 6 away games, and a set of cross-conference games with Mid-America East (Keep in mind that 1 home and 1 away game will be against Minneapolis United).  We anticipate 2-3 travel weekends over the course of league play - league rules state we can only play one game per day, so most travel weekends will include two games. Full season schedules will be available in July 2022 to plan for conference and showcase travel. 

Elite Academy Programming

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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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