US Club Soccer will launch a new integrated postseason linking the ECNL Regional League (ECNL RL) and National Premier Leagues (NPL) beginning in the 2026–27 season, creating a clearer, merit-based pathway for teams and players nationwide. For parents, this move is designed to support the simpler, more connected youth soccer landscape envisioned in U.S. Soccer’s recent Pathway Strategy.
A New National Postseason
US Club Soccer has introduced a formal competition pathway that connects its club-based platforms, ECNL and ECNL RL, with the team-based NPL structure from U13 through U19. Within that framework, ECNL and ECNL RL remain the top tiers for club-based play, while the NPL continues as the highest level of team-based competition under the US Club Soccer umbrella.
Beginning with the 2026–27 postseason, qualifying NPL teams will face qualifying ECNL RL teams in a new, integrated championship environment.[1] The exact postseason format, event structure and qualification details are expected to be released in the coming weeks, but the intent is clear: top performers from both platforms will meet in a shared, high-level environment instead of in separate, siloed events.
Scale And Impact Of The NPL
The NPL, established in 2011, now consists of 18 member leagues and more than 3,000 teams across the country, which means this change touches a large portion of competitive youth soccer families. Many of those teams operate in markets where ECNL or ECNL RL clubs also compete, so connecting the platforms at the postseason level creates a more visible ladder for ambitious players and families.
Over the past five seasons, nearly 230 clubs with multiple top-performing teams in NPL competition have been promoted into ECNL RL or full ECNL competition. From ECNL RL to ECNL itself, 37 boys clubs and 21 girls clubs have made that jump over the last four cycles, demonstrating that the pathway has already functioned as a promotion-by-performance model even before this new postseason integration.
Clarity As A Central Goal
US Club Soccer CEO Mike Cullina framed the initiative around one core theme: clarity. He emphasized that the work is about helping players, families, teams and clubs understand where they are, where they can play next, and how performance and development are recognized over time within the US Club Soccer ecosystem.
Cullina also underscored US Club Soccer’s commitment to U.S. Soccer’s broader pathways working group, which is tasked with making the American youth landscape more inclusive and understandable across organizations. In that context, US Club Soccer has invited other youth soccer entities to collaborate in pursuit of a more unified environment, signaling that this ECNL RL–NPL integration is one piece of a larger alignment effort.
ECNL Perspective On The Change
From the ECNL side, President Christian Lavers highlighted the importance of matching players and clubs with “the right level against the right competition” to maximize development and experience. He described the pathway and new postseason structure as mechanisms to recognize and reward performance and merit over time at all levels, not just at the very top of the pyramid.
Lavers also noted that this postseason integration strengthens the growing collaboration between ECNL, US Club Soccer and the NPL. For families, that collaboration means that league labels are less about isolated brands and more about how different platforms connect to form a coherent progression from local team-based play to national club-based competition.
Connection To U.S. Soccer’s Pathway Strategy
The timing of this announcement coincides with U.S. Soccer’s Pathway Strategy, an initiative aimed at making the game easier to navigate, more accessible and more supportive for players and families. That national strategy calls for clearer pathways, better communication, and more consistent standards across the youth landscape, so an integrated postseason structure between two large platforms aligns closely with those goals.
U.S. Soccer leaders have presented the Pathway Strategy as a long-term effort to reduce fragmentation, lower barriers, and put the player at the center of decision-making. Moves like the ECNL RL–NPL postseason integration are likely to be seen as tangible examples of that vision, particularly for families who have struggled to understand how different leagues relate to each other.
What Parents Should Watch For Next
For parents of players in NPL or ECNL RL environments, the next key pieces of information will be the specific qualification criteria, event locations and competitive formats for the new shared postseason. Clubs and leagues are expected to share pathway graphics and explanations in the coming months to help families understand how their child’s current league fits into the new structure.
This change also elevates the importance of club selection and communication. Families evaluating clubs will want to ask how the club positions players within the US Club Soccer pathway, how often its teams reach NPL or ECNL RL postseason play, and what the club’s track record is in moving players to higher competitive levels or college opportunities. As the 2026–27 launch approaches, those questions will become central to how parents interpret the growing number of “pathway” diagrams in American youth soccer.
Read the U.S. Club Soccer press release here.
Ron Stitt
Co-Founder, U.S. Soccer Parent