Rapids Youth Soccer has set the standard in its elite player development pathway with two further tiers of exciting and challenging competition.
The concept of a second and third tiers of playing teams has been in delivery since August 2021. The rationale behind the project was to provide more players who were close to the tier 1 “ECNL” level the opportunity to practice and play together whilst remaining full-time players within their region and select teams.
In the 2023/24 season, the teams entered an elite competition administered by US Club Soccer called National Premier League (NPL). The NPL is a competition platform that provides a developmental environment for young athletes. The NPL is managed by US Club Soccer and includes a variety of member leagues across the country.
In the 2024/25 season, we further added teams into the Development Player League (DPL) and the Elite Academy League (EAL). The Development Player League (DPL) is a national soccer league for girls that provides a professional training environment and competitive model to help players develop their skills and prepare for college or professional play. The EAL aims to uphold the collective standard of elite clubs nationwide and ensure the competition remains at the forefront of youth soccer. At its core, the Elite Academy League is driven by a mission to provide a national platform characterized by standards-based competition.
Now, we are able to bolster the pathway further with the creation of full-time teams at 13u-19u competing in ECRL (tier 2) and NPL/DPL/EAL platforms (tier 3) based in the following locations:
ECRL GIRLS NORTH | Trail Winds, Thornton
ECRL GIRLS SOUTH | Gates South, Centennial
ECRL BOYS CENTRAL | Aurora Sports Park, Aurora
NPL BOYS NORTH | Trail Winds, Thornton
NPL GIRLS CENTRAL | Aurora Sports Park, Aurora
DPL GIRLS CASTLE ROCK | Douglas County Fairgrounds, Castle Rock
EAL BOYS CASTLE ROCK | Douglas County Fairgrounds, Castle Rock
The selection process for ECRL & NPL will come from participation in the Elite Department ‘Kickarounds’ due to begin in early May.
We also ask the Directors of Coaching across the Club to work in close collaboration with the coaches at Select level teams to identify and nominate those who they feel have a skill set that would allow them to push toward these teams.
There may also be supplementary kickarounds for players interested in the ECRL and NPL platforms held within those host regions. The Directors of Coaching will distribute information on these dates and venues in mid-April.
For players external to the club, should you be interested in participating in these events, please complete your information in the ‘Interest Form’ below. Please bear in mind that to effectively manage the responses, the player’s experience and the current competition level are important parts of our ability to understand if the tryout process would be appropriate for each player. To this end, we cannot always offer this opportunity to everyone who completes the form.
Rapids Youth Soccer has set the standard in its elite player development pathway with two further tiers of exciting and challenging competition.
The concept of a second and third tiers of playing teams has been in delivery since August 2021. The rationale behind the project was to provide more players who were close to the tier 1 “ECNL” level the opportunity to practice and play together whilst remaining full-time players within their region and select teams.
In the 2023/24 season, the teams entered an elite competition administered by US Club Soccer called National Premier League (NPL). The NPL is a competition platform that provides a developmental environment for young athletes. The NPL is managed by US Club Soccer and includes a variety of member leagues across the country.
In the 2024/25 season, we further added teams into the Development Player League (DPL) and the Elite Academy League (EAL). The Development Player League (DPL) is a national soccer league for girls that provides a professional training environment and competitive model to help players develop their skills and prepare for college or professional play. The EAL aims to uphold the collective standard of elite clubs nationwide and ensure the competition remains at the forefront of youth soccer. At its core, the Elite Academy League is driven by a mission to provide a national platform characterized by standards-based competition.
Now, we are able to bolster the pathway further with the creation of full-time teams at 13u-19u competing in ECRL (tier 2) and NPL/DPL/EAL platforms (tier 3) based in the following locations:
ECRL GIRLS NORTH | Trail Winds, Thornton
ECRL GIRLS SOUTH | Gates South, Centennial
ECRL BOYS CENTRAL | Aurora Sports Park, Aurora
NPL BOYS NORTH | Trail Winds, Thornton
NPL GIRLS CENTRAL | Aurora Sports Park, Aurora
DPL GIRLS CASTLE ROCK | Douglas County Fairgrounds, Castle Rock
EAL BOYS CASTLE ROCK | Douglas County Fairgrounds, Castle Rock
The selection process for ECRL & NPL will come from participation in the Elite Department ‘Kickarounds’ due to begin in early May.
We also ask the Directors of Coaching across the Club to work in close collaboration with the coaches at Select level teams to identify and nominate those who they feel have a skill set that would allow them to push toward these teams.
There may also be supplementary kickarounds for players interested in the ECRL and NPL platforms held within those host regions. The Directors of Coaching will distribute information on these dates and venues in mid-April.
For players external to the club, should you be interested in participating in these events, please complete your information in the ‘Interest Form’ below. Please bear in mind that to effectively manage the responses, the player’s experience and the current competition level are important parts of our ability to understand if the tryout process would be appropriate for each player. To this end, we cannot always offer this opportunity to everyone who completes the form.
The Tier II and Tier III programs solve the problems found in the elite development pathway. By providing additional levels of elite programming, we give players more time and space to grow while providing exposure to elite environments.
Rapids Youth Soccer is committed to providing a pathway for all our players, from recreational to Elite. Our child-centric approach focuses on developing the heart of our players through fun, safe, and age-appropriate soccer environments. Our competitive program starts at seven years old and continues for as long as a player wants to participate in our competitive programming. As seen in the diagram below, as players grow, there are opportunities to enter our other pathways throughout the club.
The US has many ‘National Platforms’ that all claim to be the home for developing elite level talent in the country. Elite Club national League (ECNL) in our opinion is the prominent platform for youth clubs in developing talent. ECNL split the nation across multiple divisions from age groups 13u-19u where the best of those States compete annually to win the right to progress to National Playoffs, and then National Championships, where an eventual age winner on the boys and girls side is found. This is the Youth Club’s top tier for developing talent.
ECNL also offers a second tier, ECNL Regional League (ECRL). This is for clubs who are looking for more development opportunities against some top clubs across the country, but aren’t quite competing at that top tier level. ECNL has been developing these divisions in recent years as interest in breaking into that top tier has increased. We consider our participation in this platform as an excellent accompaniment to our top Tier, where players can pass between programs should the need and circumstances suit.
The Mountain West League of the NPL will bring the highest quality competitive soccer teams together from Utah, Colorado, Idaho, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Nevada all competing for the chance to go to the NPL Finals. The Mountain West National Premier League provides teams with 3 events per season, playing up to 4 games over the weekend, thereby creating more value for the time and money spent traveling.
These divisions are playing through to a title and the winners from the U13s to U19s (in both boys and girls) receive direct pathways to the annual NPL postseason, in which teams have an opportunity to compete for National Premier Leagues championships, where qualifiers from all NPL member leagues throughout the country compete for National Premier Leagues titles.
We chose to participate in NPL for similar reasons to ECRL, in that we believe it offers players the opportunity to experience a higher level of competition than is available in State, along with more college coach exposure at their events. Similar to ECNL and ECRL, they have end of year playoffs flowing into National Championships, where exposure is good. We provide this as our Tier 3 offering.
We understand it is difficult at times to make sense of the alphabet soup of leagues. Our platforms are designed to suit what we feel are the needs of our membership. Having multiple platforms at different stages of development allows us to offer further opportunities to players who may be looking for additional challenges. We recognize that exposure to college coaches for those who wish to play beyond High School is important, and we don’t want to limit that to only a select few at the top of our pathway. Finally, being a club of 12,000+ members is a difficult ship to steer at times, and a barrier to participation can be the distance players need to travel to find the right opportunity. By utilizing these platforms, it allows us to spread these tier 2 and 3 opportunities across the 100 miles of the front-range we serve, and reduce the limits that may exist to these players challenging themselves
ECNL BOYS & GIRLS | Elite Performance Center at Regis University
ECRL GIRLS NORTH | Big Dry Creek, Westminster & Trail Winds, Thornton
ECRL GIRLS SOUTH | Gates South, Centennial
ECRL BOYS | Aurora Sports Park, Aurora
NPL GIRLS | Douglas County Fairgrounds, Castle Rock
NPL BOYS | Big Dry Creek, Westminster & Trail Winds, Thornton
Yes. All these teams will be full-time.
ECNL remains the destination that we will be pushing our top talented boys and girls towards, and their base of operations is the Elite Performance Center at Regis University. In considering how we best allow for the next tier of talent to develop without the barrier of geography, we requested to ECNL that we be granted 2 clubs in order to increase accessibility. We fully believe that as one club we have a responsibility to create opportunities that make sense for our members, and knowing that all 5 of our regions have a depth of quality at various ages and stages meant that ensuring the pathway was accessible for those players was important to us. We are delighted to bring what we believe will be 12 competitive girls teams to ECRL in season 2023/24.
Internal kickarounds will be taking place through the month of April and May as we look to build our ECNL roster for 2023/24 season. Players from ECNL and EDS will all receive an invite to those kickarounds with a view to building as many of the following teams as possible:
Based on the regional coach, EDS coach, and ECNL coach’s feedback, players will be offered a spot on these teams as selected. Information on the dates and times of the kickarounds will be coming in the weeks ahead.
For Rapids Youth Soccer players not currently in the EDS or ECNL program, the Director of Coaching in each region will be asked to provide any further recommendations to attend kickarounds. This makes sure that the players attending kickarounds are amongst the level we are seeking to place on these new teams. If you require further information in this area please reach out to your Director of Coaching.
Additionally, kickarounds supplemental to the Regis based ones will be arranged in May, hosted by the region housing the programs (e.g. ECRL Girls North – Kickarounds held in Windsor). This will allow players outside the EDS programs to have access to further roster spots available.
For players who are not currently Rapids Youth Soccer players but are interested in trying out, you should complete the ‘player interest’ form available from either the Boys or Girls ECNL, ECRL, or E64 section of the website – ECNL Home Page
Once you have selected either the boys or girls pathway, click on the ‘Interest Form’ button and complete the information. That will be sent directly to the Elite Director, where a shortlist of players will be invited. This is based on a number of factors, including the level of play you are currently involved with.
We will confirm the costs of the program once the final resources are created.
Yes. For example, if you are offered a spot in ECRL Girls North, but you attend the North, Central, South, or Castle Rock region, then you are able to accept that spot. It will obviously be your choice, depending upon personal circumstances; however, you are able to do this.
Practice days will most likely be Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with game days over the weekend.
ECNL Boys teams in season 2024/25:
ECNL Girls teams in season 2024/25:
ECRL Girls in season 2024/25:
NPL Girls Season 2024/25:
NPL Boys Season 2024/25:
We are currently in the process of recruiting the Head Coaches and will have them in place before the end of the CSA season.
Yes. We will be devolving that responsibility to the Director of Goalkeeping from each region, with a direct line to the Elite Director of Goalkeeping.
Potentially. The pathway between ECNL and ECRL is a seamless one in that once a player is registered to a single ECNL club, they are eligible to play in both ECNL and ECRL without taking up an additional roster spot, another positive reason for this development pathway.
Similarly, with the tier 3 NPL league we will look to create opportunities for player movement from here into ECRL or ECNL. Further registration adjustments are required here; however, movement is a possibility should it suit the needs and circumstances of each case.
Yes, but only at 11U and 12U. That remains a key part of the early identification process for the 13U Elite Pathway. It will remain housed out of the Elite Department at Regis University. It will not continue beyond those ages.
