As of August 2020. No update will be made in 2021.

I’ve created a Google spreadsheet that has clubs meeting one of the following criteria:

• Member of MLS Next, Girls Academy League or ECNL
• Member of ECNL regional league or top tier in NPL league
• Current member of USYS National League or conference
• Two age groups with team ranked in the top 500 at YouthSoccerRankings
• One team ranked in the top 200
• Subjective picks in Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming, Montana, Dakotas

As part of the directory, I picked up information on dozens of leagues across the country. That’s incorporated into the directory, but if you’d like more context, check the Guide to Youth Soccer (national league info) and the League Directory (every league’s info, or at least most of them), and to see how things got so jumbled, check the Hot Topic page for some history. (Not affiliated with the Hot Topic store.)

Disclaimer: If you’re shopping for a club, remember that clubs with a team in an “elite” league may not be “better” than neighboring clubs. Some “clubs” have a full range of services from the very highest level to recreational programs for all ages. Some are much smaller, which may or may not be a good thing.

And finally, I won’t object if you help support this effort financially by buying one of my books or just tossing me some money:

Two options for seeing the directory:

1. View and download the Google spreadsheet with complete info.
2. See some of the data in PDF form:

Shopping beyond the “elite”

The directory above shows how much of the country plays at some sort of “elite” level (with clubs added in the more remote states). But if you’re just looking for a place for your kids to play, you’ll want to check the more comprehensive U.S. Youth Soccer directories with locations, program details and reviews compiled by TiPEVO, which also has a good interactive map showing the coverage of youth soccer clubs across the country.