Date: March 12, 2021
From: Charlotte Soccer Academy, 13333 Dorman Road, Pineville, NC 28134
Contact: Brad Wylde – 704.708.4166
For Immediate Release:
Charlotte Soccer Academy ECNL Boys National and Regional Program
Coaching Assignments and Structure for 2021-2022 Season Announced.
Registration for ECNL Assessments Now Open.
Charlotte Soccer Academy is pleased to release the ECNL National and Regional Boys structure and club coaching assignments for the 2021-2022 season.
“We are very excited about our program opportunities for our Elite players on the boys’ side and our infrastructure for the 2021-2022 season.” states Executive Director, Brad Wylde. “We have made some productive changes in how we are structuring the club this year. These adjustments have been made to continue to provide the highest level of soccer for the top players in the Charlotte Region."
Highlights of our structure include our continued presence in the ECNL. With the termination of the US Soccer Development Academy program last year, CSA transitioned its Academy teams into the ECNL under a newly formed 10-to-11-month program for the club’s top-level players. The league stands alone as the top program in the country for boys' youth soccer. Steve Gummer will enter his sixth year heading the National Academy teams. The program has gone from strength to strength under his leadership over the past six years with over 95% of players in the program receiving scholarship opportunities to play at the collegiate level. More players have gained national exposure along with positive team results which has positioned CSA into one of the leaders in boys’ soccer across the country.
CSA is fortunate to have a 2nd spot under the ECNL National structure providing more players within the club an opportunity to play at the ECNL National level. The 15U-19U ECNL National teams will predominantly run their games and full-time practices in the spring, approximately a six-month program, to give the players an opportunity to play high school soccer in the fall. Phil Hindson will enter his 2nd year with CSA heading up this program. Coach Hindson has brought a tremendous amount of professionalism and experience to the program since arriving at CSA. These teams have performed extremely well competing with other organizations first level teams on a consistent basis during league play.
To assist in the preparation of our players for the ECNL program, CSA will continue to provide a Pre-ECNL program for next year. Our top 11U and 12U players throughout the organization will play in a Pre-ECNL league around the State and Region versus other ECNL National level teams. Ben Cook will continue his role directing the program with boys’ teams in the Charlotte section, combination boys’ team from Matthews/Mint Hill/Uptown and combination teams from the North/Huntersville area. These teams will again play in the CDL (Carolina Development League). Coach Cook has continued to challenge our youngest talented players and put them on a great pathway and platform to prepare them for 11 v 11 play as they enter the National leagues at 13U.
Steve Magee will continue to direct and oversee our teams in the ECNL Regional League which compete in the Carolinas Conference. This program has been created to gain more opportunities to advance the development for more players within its league format. This past year has been a fantastic success with many teams finishing at the top end of their respective age groups. With this success comes more individual player opportunities to advance to the National level due to the continued player development curriculum that has been implemented.
The Regional League will have a presence across all sections with teams predominantly playing in the South and North/Huntersville sections of the club. DOC Matt Denton will assist Coach Magee on the North/Huntersville side.
Our new CSA Director of Coaching infrastructure for the ECNL National and Regional programs along with coaching assignments accompanies this press release. Spots listed as TBD will continue to be filled as the assessments approach for the Regional teams. Continue to check our club website for updated information throughout the spring.
Registration and dates for the ECNL Boys Assessments are now open and posted on the club website. ECNL Regional team assessments will begin in early May. Continue to check the clubs website for updated information.
The new club structure will be in effect as of August 1, 2021. The current DOC structure will stay in effect through the end of our spring season. The transition to the new structure will be in place during our first week of the season at our pre-season camp in August.
ECNL Boys Program Structure Diagram: Click here
ECNL Boys Coaching Slate: Click here
For Assessment Information and Registration, please click here.
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Charlotte Soccer Academy is the the premier full-service club in the Charlotte NC area, offering members opportunities to play and develop at all ages and levels. Visit the Charlotte Soccer Academy website to learn more about CSA’s competitive, recreational, camp and tournament programs.
www.charlottesocceracademy.com