By Paul Nicholson
March 31 – The United Soccer League (USL) is expanding again, this time with the launch of a Third Division men’s professional national league that will start play in 2019.
January 17 – CONCACAF has launched a high level initiative in conjunction with Mexican federation FEMEXFUT to boost the standard of referring and coaching at the top levels of its member federations.
By Paul Nicholson
January 10 – Tomorrow the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) opens their annual conference in Los Angeles, the largest soccer convention in the world and the largest coaching convention of any sport worldwide. More than 20,000 participants are expected to attend, an increasing number of them international visitors.
December 7 – Mexico’s Liga MX is to start an 18-team women’s league in 2017. President Enrique Bonilla (pictured) said the league will begin with a cup competition in the spring before the formal season begins in September.
By Paul Nicholson
August 23 – The leading coaching body in the US is proposing a shake-up of the College calendar, turning it into a 10-month season rather than the currently compressed four month competition format.
August 2 – The fast expanding United Soccer League (USL), part of the professional tier of US football below the MLS, will play a longer season in 2017. The league that starts matches at the end of March will now run for 30 weeks with teams playing 32 games.
By Paul Nicholson
July 5 – The US Soccer Federation has officially announced a new 25-club Girls’ Development Academy that will start matches in the Autumn of 2017. The academy structure is “an initiative designed to accelerate the development of world-class female players” in the World Champion nation.
June 15 – Big tournaments generate big money – from marketing and broadcast rights fees, tickets and merchandising. And for the host country there is a measurable economic impact for its cities as well as the enhanced profile for the country as a destination.
By Paul Nicholson
June 1 – The newly launched Elite National Premier League (ENPL) will complement the newly activated USSF Development Academy (DA) programme and league, not detract from it, says Kevin Payne, CEO of US Club Soccer, one of the founding organisations of the new national league alongside the Elite Clubs National League (ENCL).
By Paul Nicholson
May 30 – The Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) and US Club Soccer have combined to launch a new national competition platform for boys that will challenge the national US Academy competition that the US Soccer Federation has been promoting to clubs across the country.
March 28 – Sonia Bien-Aime has been appointed to head a Women’s Football Leadership Group in the CONCACAF region, aimed at promoting the game to women and stimulating growth of the women’s game.
February 24 – In a welcome break from news on reform and political manouevring issues, CONCACAF has announced that it is using the quarter finals of its club showcase championship, the Scotiabank Champions League, “to promote social well-being through soccer”.
January 15 – The first official Futsal coaching badge in north America has been announced at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) conference in Baltimore this week. The NSCAA Diploma for futsal will be created with the co-operation of U.S. Futsal.
By Ben Nicholson
November 12 – In response to a pending lawsuit regarding concussion protection amongst youth ‘soccer’ players, the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has changed its practices so as to improve concussion awareness and education, and ban heading altogether for U10s.
October 26 – US Club Soccer has named Fit for 90 as its Official Player Monitoring System, integrating it into its Players First platform that is designed to give players an improved club experience.