North American Finals Qualification

TAMPA – United Soccer Leagues announced today the qualification format for the 11th Annual Super Y-League North American Finals. Representing one-third of USL’s SoccerFest along with the USL AGM and Five-A-Side Frenzy, the North American Finals will be held from Thursday, November 19 through Tuesday, November 24 in Tampa, Florida, the home of USL’s front office.

On the boys’ side of the seven-month long qualification process, the top 16 teams from the U13 through U17 age divisions will meet in Tampa to decide the top team in North America in each of the five divisions. Teams from the six divisions of the United States and Canada that make up the Super Y-League will be drawn into four groups of four.

Group play will begin on Friday, November 19 and continue through Sunday, November 22. The winner of each group will advance to the semifinals on Monday, November 23. The top two teams remaining in each of the five age divisions will meet on Championship Tuesday, November 24. The top 12 girls’ clubs from each age group will compete in three groupings of four teams. On Sunday, November 22, the three group winners and the non-group winner with the highest point total following group play will advance to the semifinals.

A total of 140 teams will attend the Super Y-League North American Finals. Six berths in the finals are the most delegated to any one division. That division, the Mid Atlantic, typically receives additional berths in the North American Finals based on the number of teams in each division.

“There is a tremendous amount of excitement for the Super Y-League finals in November,” said USL Senior Director of Youth League Development, Jeff McRaney. “Last season’s event was bigger success than the year before and I expect this year to be no different.”

The 2008 version of the Super Y-League finals marked the end of the ten-season journey of the first elite-youth development program in North America. The 1999 USL initiative that began as a 16-team, exclusively East Coast league expanded rapidly from the start, jumping from 16 to 75 teams in just a year. The league contained 200 teams in 2001, and as more and more adult clubs and professional franchises delved into youth development, the league saw exponential growth.

In 2005, the league contained an astounding 780 teams from across North America. And more recently the principles and standards established by the Super Y-League ten seasons ago have been adopted by U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy, a program that will lead to future success at the National Team level.

Last season, the North American Finals brought together clubs who would otherwise never compete. Clubs from Vancouver, Canada competed against clubs from Miami, Florida. Clubs from Los Angeles faced the best New Hampshire had to offer. Teams also represent the youth academies of some of the top professional clubs in North America.

The Super Y-League includes youth teams organized by Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire, Red Bull New York and Real Salt Lake (Florida), as well as youth sides of Women’s Professional Soccer club, the Washington Freedom.