Let us know the topics of interest to you!

The Breaking the Line crew is back with their newest episode, this time with a topic that came straight from a listener question.

A parent from Richmond, Va., asked Breaking the Line: "Is there an ideal blueprint for an ECNL club?" The question specifically cited the success of local club Richmond United, and to tackle this discussion, we went straight to the source.

In Episode 111, Jay Howell, Executive Director of Richmond United, joined Breaking the Line to discuss his origins in the youth soccer space and spearheading Richmond United since 2014 and how throughout the years, Richmond United has become a leader within the youth soccer space, culminating with a complete club rebrand launching at this podcast's release.

Howell and Breaking the Line discuss how clubs can build a structure that puts the players first, and how navigating a club structure can be difficult with multiple coaching philosophies and personalities, especially with multiple youth clubs joining forces.

They also discuss how to build and maintain relationships with professional organizations, and how youth clubs and pro clubs can work together to ensure all parties can see success on and off the field.

Finally, the crew works through what is a player pathway, how respective age groups and leagues fit into that pathway, and how putting the players first can lead to great moments across the club.

While there is no one right way to build a successful youth club, there are many factors that clubs can emulate and glean from this incredibly insightful discussion with one of the ECNL's top clubs.

Thank you to our fan who submitted Episode 111's topic, and as always, please submit questions to Breaking the Line here: https://ecnl.info/BTL-Questions.

Let us know the topics of interest to you!

The first Breaking the Line episode of 2025 features special guest Mike Cullina, CEO of US Club Soccer.

Cullina and the Breaking the Line crew open the episode with a topic on the forefront of everyone's minds: birth year regulations. The three provide an update to the discussion about what comes next for clubs and leagues regarding roster cutoff dates for birth year, why that decision was made, what does it mean for players and clubs and when will those changes be made.

That discussion evolves into a discussion into where US Club Soccer fits as a whole within the US soccer ecosystem, and why the American soccer ecosystem differs from other countries. The Breaking the Line team goes into how the US Soccer Federation was founded more than 100 years ago and how the organization operated in the past has led us to the decisions and conversations we're having today.

Finally, the group closes out the podcast recognizing the 20 ECNL alumni from 18 different clubs who were selected in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft on their incredible achievements. Congrats!

As always, if there you have any questions or topics of discussion for Breaking the Line, submit your questions here: ecnl.info/BTL-Questions.

Let us know the topics of interest to you!

The Breaking the Line team is back with their newest episode as we head into the holiday season and features a special guest, ECNL Boys Commissioner Jason Kutney.

Kutney and the crew open the episode with the inaugural ECNL Boys East Coast Super Cup, where eight teams from four East Coast conferences battled it out in Cary, NC to lift the Super Cup trophy. The team chats about how the Super Cup was formed, what the competition was like and the importance of winning, and also give a special shoutout to the champs, Florida Premier.

The ECNL Boys East Coast Super Cup ran along side the Men's College Cup, and the Breaking the Line team continue their discussion from last week regarding the pros and cons of the amount of international players within college soccer, and college soccer's place within the US' youth soccer developmental platforms. Does NCAA Soccer see itself as part of the developmental path for players? How do you balance winning vs. developing at the collegiate level? And how does NIL deals and the transfer portal affect how programs recruit and construct rosters? The BTL team tries to tackle these questions and more.

Also looking ahead, the lads look forward to the ECNL Coaching Symposium in Las Vegas in early February, discussing which speakers will be presenting at the symposium and who they are looking forward to the most.

Finally, with the new year on the horizon, this week's Bracken Buster features New Years Resolutions and what the whole team is looking forward to in 2025.

All that and more in the newest episode of Breaking the Line!