Proving the Pathway: Performance Earns Promotion
ECNL announces the promotion of 24 clubs across boys and girls divisions for 2025-26, highlighting the league’s commitment to performance-driven advancement and the highest standards of youth soccer.
The ECNL is proud to announce that the league has promoted 24 clubs into ECNL Boys or ECNL Girls for the 2025-2026 season, showcasing the league’s proven pathway for clubs and players and its continued emphasis on rewarding performance while providing the best standard of competition in the country.
These 24 clubs will move from many different ECNL Regional Leagues to the ECNL, each promotion earned through regular season results in the ECNL Regional League, performance at national events, and postseason success – usually over multiple years. 
“Promoting clubs into the ECNL Boys is one of the most exciting times of the year because of what it means to these players and coaches to see their hard work, dedication and commitment rewarded,” said ECNL Boys Commissioner Jason Kutney.
“With these new clubs coming into ECNL Boys, all of whom are aligned with our league values and vision, the future is brighter than ever and the quality of competition will be higher than ever. The ability to point to demonstrable competition results for these decisions is a major differentiator for our league, and a driver of stability and transparency in the soccer market overall.”
“The ECNLGirls competition standard is totally unmatched by any other league, by every objective metric, and it has been that way for many years” added ECNL Girls Commissioner Ralph Richards. “That competition standard rises every year through the great work of the clubs and players, and the club additions and subtractions this year prove that even more. With the addition of top teams from the ECNL RL in multiple different regions, the league is a proven pathway for every player, coach and club in the ECNL Regional League and will propel America’s top talent forward.”
With these promotions, the ECNL will be home to 15 boys conferences and 10 girls conferences in the 2025-26 season, and will include 24 ECNL regular season events across all age groups.
Below is a league-by-league look at the promoted clubs coming to the ECNL Boys and ECNL Girls for the 2025-26 season
ECNL Boys Far West – NEW CONFERENCE
In a historic first, the ECNL Boys promoted six clubs from the ECNL Regional League Boys – Far West into ECNL Boys, recognizing the performance and professionalism of the clubs and the need in the region. Boise Timbers, Capital FC, Eugene Metro, FC Portland, Idaho Rush, and Oregon Premier all will enter the ECNL Boys, and United PDX will move from the ECNL Boys Northwest Conference into the Far West Conference, aligning with their fellow Oregon clubs.
ECNL Boys – Florida
After an impressive string of results in the ECNL Regional League Boys – Florida, including finishing as a U16 ECNL Regional League Boys National Finalist and multiple age groups in first-place in the 2024-25 regular season, Doral SC will be joining the ECNL Boys – Florida Conference for the 2025-26 season.
ECNL Boys – Heartland
The ECNL Boys – Heartland will see a significant infusion of talent for the 2025-26 season, as Kansas Rush, Missouri Rush and St. Louis Stars will all join the conference. Kansas Rush is home to the reigning U16 ECNL Regional League Boys National Champions, the U18/19 ECNL Regional League Boys Central Champions, and Daouda Kante, the 2024 ECNL Regional League Boys Coach of the Year, while Missouri Rush is having a strong season across all age groups in the ECNL Regional League Boys – Heartland. St. Louis Stars will join the conference as a new club, supported by many of the top collegiate coaches in the city, with multiple city and state championships over the past few years.
ECNL Boys – Mid-America
Louisiana Fire, which provided the majority of the player pool for Louisiana TDP Elite in MLS Next during the past seasons, will move to the ECNL for 2025-26, becoming Louisiana’s first ECNL Boys club.
ECNL Boys – Mid-Atlantic
With strong showings at ECNL Boys national events to supplement their league performance, which includes two first place and three second place teams in the ECNL Regional League Boys – Carolinas this season, Highland FC earned promotion into the ECNL Boys – Mid-Atlantic Conference for the 2025-26 season. Last year, the club advanced five teams to the ECNL Regional League Boys Playoffs – East, with the U17 team finishing as ECNL RL National Semifinalists.
ECNL Girls – Midwest
Missouri Rush will join ECNL Girls in the Midwest Conference, after winning both the U13 and U16 ECNL Regional League Girls National Championships in 2023 and with multiple teams ready to make a deep ECNL RL postseason run again this season.
ECNL Boys – New England
Three new clubs will be joining the ECNL Boys – New England conference for the 2025-26 season: AC Connecticut, East Coast FC and Scorpions Soccer. All three teams have sent multiple teams to the ECNL Regional League Boys Playoffs – East and will add more great competition to the New England Conference at the ECNL level.
ECNL Boys – North Atlantic
The top four performing clubs from the ECNL Regional League Boys – Northeast during the past 18 months, Delaware FC, Philadelphia Ukrainians, PSA Monmouth, and South Jersey Elite Barons (SJEB) will all be promoted into the ECNL Boys – North Atlantic Conference for the 2025-26 season. With these additions, the ECNL Boys – North Atlantic will reach 12 clubs, improving the schedule and structure of the conference as well as adding depth and quality.
ECNL Boys – Northern Cal
Following great results within the ECNL Regional League Boys – NorCal, Los Gatos United will be joining the ECNL Boys – Northern Cal for the upcoming season, following back to back seasons where the club had multiple age groups qualify for the ECNL Regional League Boys Playoffs – West.
ECNL Girls – Northern Cal
One of the premier clubs within the ECNL Regional League Girls – NorCal, California Odyssey has earned promotion into ECNL Girls – Northern Cal with consistent results across all age groups during the past few seasons and a proven record of developing top young players.
ECNL Boys – Northwest
Three Rivers SC won the U14 ECNL Regional League Boys National Championship in 2023 and has continued to produce on the field in both league play and national events, currently sitting in first or second place in four of six age groups in the ECNL Regional League Boys – Northwest.
ECNL Girls – Ohio Valley
Greater Toledo FC will be joining the ECNL Girls – Ohio Valley Conference heading into the 2025-26 season following multiple stellar seasons within the ECNL Regional League Girls – Ohio Valley. GTFC Impact won the U16 ECNL Regional League Girls National Championship and the U18/19 ECNL Regional League Girls – Central Championship in 2024 and qualified two other teams for the ECNL Regional League Girls Finals in the past two seasons.
ECNL Girls – Texas
West Side Alliance enters the ECNL Girls – Texas Conference for the 2025-26 season, fresh off of multiple ECNL Regional League Girls Finals appearances in 2023-24 and impressive showings at ECNL Girls national events this season.
