USL Academy Program

With the expansion of USL Academy to the mountain region, the United Soccer League now has an elite youth development platform to offer to its clubs in the Championship, League One and League Two. As such, CISA can now offer a more clearly defined pathway for top youth prospects in the area to reach to the college or pre-professional levels and sign directly with their senior team while improving local quality and community.
The USL Academy brand comprises four key components: Standards, USL Academy Contracts, USL Academy Cup and USL Academy League.
You can learn more about the USL Academy HERE

To CISA, the launch of our USL Academy pathway will serve as a developmental building block between our youth program and senior USL 2 (#path2pro). Our club model within the USL Academy will consist of four key components:

Development Pathway – A complete entire club pathway from our Recreational and Advanced competitive ages U11-14 to Pre-Academy, USL Academy U20 to CISA senior men (USL2)
Training Environment – Emphasis on long-term player development, overseen by qualified staff and relevant support structures (Qualified coaching staff, Game Film, Sports Psychology, Sports Performance)
Programming – Structured programming and games schedule designed with a purpose with player development and periodization in mind.
Club Connectivity – Connecting our youth program to USL Academy, USL2, and USLW.

The USL Academy Standards aims to create optimal player development environments and provide local youth prospects the best chance of reaching the professional level. All league-approved USL Academy programs are required to meet a set of minimum standards across a series of categories.

By developing these standards, USL aims to pursue the following key goals:
Build Pathways: Establish as many youth-to-pro-player development pathways as possible, linking elite youth organizations with USL Senior Teams in Championship, League One, & League 2.
Produce Players: Increase the number & quality of locally produced talents for USL Senior Teams while striving to develop world-class players able to compete at the highest level.
Improve Quality:
Improve the standard of long-term player development programs across the United States, positively impacting every aspect of those environments & pathways.