Girls Academy

Girls Academy
Founded	2020
Country	United States
Confederation	CONCACAF
Number of teams	95 (2023-24 Season)
Current champions	Tophat Gold (U13); South Shore Select (U14); Tophat Gold (U15); Lou Fusz (U16); TSJ FC Virginia (U17); Sockers FC (U19)
Website	girlsacademyleague.com

Last updated July 23, 2023

Girls Academy (GA) is a soccer league and development platform for female soccer players in the United States. Formed in 2020, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including National Women's Soccer League.

Competition format

Girls Academy features age groups starting at U-13 through U-19.^[1] During the regular season, teams play other members from their respective conferences. The league includes ten conferences (Northwest, Pacific Northwest, Frontier, Mid-America, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Mountain West, Southeast, and Southwest).^[2] Top teams from each conference will participate in Playoffs, and National Finals for qualifying teams based on playoff performance. Non-playoff teams will also participate in a season-ending showcase.

Different age groups will also have a varying number of national events throughout the year to provide additional talent showcase opportunities in front of college and professional scouts.

Champions League

Two members of each conference are selected for Champions League, a separate competition for the most competitive clubs in Girls Academy.^[3] Participants qualify based on final league standings. For the U14 through U19 age groups, the highest-ranked wildcard teams at the National Playoff from each age group are added to the mix for a total of 20 teams per age group.

National events

Girls Academy hosts five national events each season — Winter Showcase, Champions Cup, Spring Showcase, Summer Showcase, and National Playoffs, plus two U13/U14 events: East and West regionals.^[4]

GA Rising

On April 27, 2023, Girls Academy announced the launch of GA Rising, a pilot program to begin in the 2023-24 season. The league is a second-tier league comprising Girls Academy second teams, along with non-member clubs. As of June 2023, paticipating member clubs include the Mid-America^[5] and Northeast^[6] conferences.

History

Citing the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced it was ending the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, leaving top boys and girls clubs to look for a new home.^[7] Former Development Academy clubs had a few options, many choosing to move to the Girls Academy,^[8]^[9] founded by a group of leaders from the Development Player League (DPL).^[10]

Former University of Washington women's soccer coach Lesle Gallimore served as its founding commissioner of the Girls Academy. She accepted the position in the summer of 2020, after the conclusion of her 26-year tenure as head coach of the women's soccer team at the University of Washington.

In October 2020, Girls Academy announced a strategic relationship with Major League Soccer and a partnership with USYS.^[11] According to the press release, Girls Academy will work in coordination with MLS Next, to “deliver a true pyramid for female youth players in the US, with the GA serving as the USYS premier girls platform in conjunction with MLS.” The partnership will focus on establishing academy standards for coaching and player development, improving talent identification partnerships, enhancing coaching education, and creating competitions to showcase players. While GA will maintain full autonomy over its league, they will also benefit from advice from the leaders of MLS and USYS as it aims to become the premier league for elite female soccer players in the United States.

In June 2023, Lesle Gallimore announced her resignation as Girls Academy commissioner to become General Manager of NWSL club OL Reign.^[12]

League Champions

National champions


	U-13	U-14	U-15	U-16	U-17	U-19
2020-2021^[13]	Oklahoma Energy FC	Cincinnati United Premier	NEFC	Cincinnati United Premier	Nationals	Bay Area Surf
2021-2022	Colorado Rush	Nationals	TSJ FC Virginia	Albion SC^[14]	Oakwood SC	Bay Area Surf
2022-2023	Tophat Gold	South Shore Select	Tophat Gold	Lou Fusz Athletic	TSJ FC Virginia	Sockers FC Chicago

National titles and Champions Cup wins
Team	National Champs	No. of Wins	Champions Cup	No. of Wins	Total combined
Cincinnati United Premier	2021 (U14, U16)	2	2022 (U15); 2023 (U13, U15)	3	5
Nationals	2021 (U17); 2022 (U14)	2	2022 (U14); 2023 (U15)	2	4
Tophat Gold	2023 (U13, U15)	2	2023 (U13)	1	3
Bay Area Surf †	2021 (U19); 2022 (U19)	2	2022 (U19)	1	3
South Shore Select	2023 (U14)	1	2022 (U13)	1	2
Albion SC	2022 (U16)	1	2023 (U17)	1	2
Colorado Rush	2022 (U13)	1	2022 (U16)	1	2
NEFC	2021 (U15)	1	None	0	1
Oakwood SC	2022 (U17)	1	None	0	1
Oklahoma Energy FC †	2021 (U13)	1	None	0	1
Sockers FC Chicago	2023 (U19)	1	None	0	1
TSJ FC Virginia	2023 (U16)	1	None	0	1
Florida United	None	0	2022 (U17)	1	1
† Club no longer a member of Girls Academy

Teams

For the 2023-24 season, Girls Academy included 95 teams.^[15]


Conference	Member Name (Location)
Frontier	BVB International Academy NTX (Carrolton, TX)
Frontier	HTX Soccer (Houston, TX)
Frontier	Lonestar SC Red (Austin, TX)
Frontier	Lonestar SC Black (Austin, TX)
Frontier	Lou Fusz Athletic (St. Louis, MO)
Frontier	Louisiana TDP Elite (Baton Rouge, LA)
Frontier	Renegades Soccer Club (Richardson, TX)
Frontier	RISE Soccer Club (Houston, TX)
Frontier	San Antonio City SC (San Antonio, TX)
Frontier	St. Louis Development Academy (St. Louis, MO)
Mid-America	Chicago FC United (Glenview, IL)
Mid-America	Cincinnati United Premier (Cincinnati, OH)
Mid-America	Indy Premier United (Noblesville, IN)
Mid-America	Lexington Sporting Club (Lexington, KY)
Mid-America	Michigan Jaguars FC (Novi, MI)
Mid-America	Nationals Blue (Detroit, MI)
Mid-America	Nationals Gray (Detroit, MI)
Mid-America	Sockers FC (Chicago, IL)
Midwest	Central Illinois United (Rantoul, IL)
Midwest	Galaxy SC (Naperville, IL)
Midwest	Kansas Rush Soccer Club (Olathe, KS)
Midwest	Salvo SC (Rosemount, MN)
Midwest	SC Wave (Brookfield, WI)
Midwest	Sporting Nebraska FC (Omaha, NE)
Midwest	Tonka Fusion Elite (Plymouth, MN)
Midwest	VSA Rush (Waukee, IA)
Mid-Atlantic	Baltimore Armour (Baltimore, MD)
Mid-Atlantic	Baltimore Celtic (Baltimore, MD)
Mid-Atlantic	Beadling SC (Bridgeville, PA)
Mid-Atlantic	Century United FC (Pittsburgh, PA)
Mid-Atlantic	Keystone FC (Mechanicsburg, PA)
Mid-Atlantic	Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals (Philadelphia, PA)
Mid-Atlantic	PA Classics (Manheim, PA)
Mid-Atlantic	Real Jersey FC (Medford, NJ)
Mid-Atlantic	SJEB FC (Pitman, NJ)
Mid-Atlantic	Skyline Elite SC (Charlottesville, VA)
Mid-Atlantic	Sporting AC (Wilmington, DE)
Mid-Atlantic	TSJ FC Virginia (Leesburg, VA)
Mountain West	Albion SC Las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV)
Mountain West	Broomfield Soccer Club (Broomfield, CO)
Mountain West	Colorado Rush (Littleton, CO)
Mountain West	Las Vegas Sports Academy (Las Vegas, NV)
Mountain West	New Mexico Soccer Academy (Albuquerque, NM)
Mountain West	Rio Rapids SC (Albuquerque, NM)
Mountain West	Utah Celtic FC (Highland, UT)
Mountain West	Wasatch SC (Kaysville, UT)
Northeast	Cedar Stars Academy – Monmouth (Trinton Falls, NJ)
Northeast	Cedar Stars Academy – Bergen (Teaneck, NJ)
Northeast	Long Island SC (Glen Cove, NY)
Northeast	NEFC (Mendon, MA)
Northeast	New York Soccer Club (Purchase, NY)
Northeast	Oakwood SC (Glastonbury, CT)
Northeast	Rochester NYFC Youth (West Henrietta, NY)
Northeast	Seacoast United (Epping, NH)
Northeast	South Shore Select (Hingham, MA)
Northeast	STA (Morris Plains, NJ)
Northeast	Syracuse Development Academy (Solvay, NY)
Northwest	Almaden FC (San Jose, CA)
Northwest	Clovis Crossfire (Clovis, CA)
Northwest	Lamorinda SC (Orinda, CA)
Northwest	Los Gatos United (Los Gatos, CA)
Northwest	Sacramento United (Sacramento, CA)
Northwest	San Francisco Elite Academy (San Francisco, CA)
Northwest	Santa Clara Sporting (Santa Clara, CA)
Northwest	Silicon Valley SA (Palo Alto, CA)
Northwest	West Coast Soccer Club (Tracy, CA)
Pacific Northwest	Bridge City SA (Portland, OR)
Pacific Northwest	Capital FC (Salem, OR)
Pacific Northwest	Columbia Premier SC (Vancouver, WA)
Pacific Northwest	Eugene Metro Fútbol Club (Eugene, OR)
Pacific Northwest	Liverpool FC IA Washington (Issaquah, WA)
Pacific Northwest	OL Reign Academy (Tacoma, WA)
Pacific Northwest	Spokane Sounders (Spokane, WA)
Pacific Northwest	Washington Rush (Everett, WA)
Pacific Northwest	Washington East Surf SC (Spokane, WA)
Southeast	AFC Lightning (Fayetteville, GA)
Southeast	Florida United (Miramar, FL)
Southeast	IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)
Southeast	PBG Predators (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)
Southeast	South Carolina Surf (Mt. Pleasant, SC)
Southeast	Southern Soccer Academy (Marietta, GA)
Southeast	Tophat Gold (Marietta, GA)
Southeast	Tophat Navy (Marietta, GA)
Southeast	United Soccer Alliance (Fleming Island, FL)
Southeast	Wake FC (Holly Springs, NC)
Southeast	West Florida Flames (Apollo Beach, FL)
Southwest	Albion SC San Diego (San Diego, CA)
Southwest	City SC (Carlsbad, CA)
Southwest	FC Tucson (Tucson, AZ)
Southwest	FRAM Soccer Club (Torrance, CA)
Southwest	LA Surf SC (Pasadena, CA)
Southwest	Murrieta Soccer Academy (Temecula, CA)
Southwest	SC del Sol (Phoenix, AZ)
Southwest	SDSC Surf (San Diego, CA)
Southwest	West Coast FC (Irvine, CA)

College athletics

For the 2022-23 season, nearly 600 Girls Academy committed to play college soccer. 62.8% committed to Division I, 19.6% Division II, 13.4% Division III, and 2.6% NAIA.^[16] This was an increase over the 2021-22 season, which had 551 commitments.^[17]

Sponsorship

The following organizations are a partial list of officials sponsors of Girls Academy:

Adidas - official brand partner
Soccer.com - official retail partner
Gatorade - official sport beverage
Hudl - official video analysis partner
Veo - official video camera provider

Notable players

As of June 2023


Player	GA Club	Pro Club	Notes
Chloe Ricketts	Michigan Jaguars	Washington Spirit	On March 2, 2023, Ricketts signed a three-year deal (with an option for a fourth year) with the team at the age of 15 years and 283 days. The contract made her the youngest ever NWSL signee at the time, breaking the record set by Olivia Moultrie in 2021 (15 years and 286 days).^[18]

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References

↑ "Events | Girls Academy League". girlsacademyleague.com. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
↑ Clark, Travis (May 8, 2020). "DPL announces new Girls Academy League". Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved February 12, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
↑ "GA announces Champions League details". TopDrawerSoccer.com. January 18, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
↑ Langone, Matt (April 19, 2023). "Girls Academy Spring Showcase: Which teams shined brightest in North Carolina?". New England Soccer Journal. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
↑ "GA Rising Mid-America Conference Announcement". Instagram. April 27, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
↑ "GA Rising Northeast Conference Announcement". Instagram. May 16, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
↑ Carlise, Jeff (April 16, 2020). "USSF ends academy; MLS announces youth league". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
↑ Straus, Brian (April 16, 2020). "The Development Academy's Demise and What it Means for U.S. Soccer's Youth". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
↑ Nilsson, Ryan (April 25, 2020). "U.S. Soccer shutters Development Academy, but elite athletes have plenty of options". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
↑ Wharton, Chuck (April 26, 2020). "U.S. Soccer Development Academy: Girls league launches counter". Fansided. Retrieved February 12, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
↑ "MLS to collaborate with the Girls Academy, largest all-girls youth soccer organization in USA". Major League Soccer. October 22, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
↑ Evans, Jayda (June 6, 2023). "UW legend Lesle Gallimore takes over as OL Reign's GM". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
↑ "Girls Academy Finals conclude in North Carolina, league champs crowned". SoccerWire. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
↑ "Albion SC U16 wins Girls Academy National Championship". FOX 5 San Diego. July 28, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
↑ "Girls Academy Members". girlsacademyleague.com. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
↑ "Girls Academy Class of 2023". Instagram. May 17, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
↑ "Class of 2022 | Girls Academy League". girlsacademyleague.com. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
↑ Jackson, Wilton (March 3, 2023). "NWSL's Spirit Sign Youngest Player in League History". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 9, 2023.

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[1] "Events | Girls Academy League". girlsacademyleague.com. Retrieved February 12, 2022.

[2] Clark, Travis (May 8, 2020). "DPL announces new Girls Academy League". Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved February 12, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[3] "GA announces Champions League details". TopDrawerSoccer.com. January 18, 2022. Retrieved June 9, 2023.

[4] Langone, Matt (April 19, 2023). "Girls Academy Spring Showcase: Which teams shined brightest in North Carolina?". New England Soccer Journal. Retrieved June 9, 2023.

[5] "GA Rising Mid-America Conference Announcement". Instagram. April 27, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.

[6] "GA Rising Northeast Conference Announcement". Instagram. May 16, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.

[7] Carlise, Jeff (April 16, 2020). "USSF ends academy; MLS announces youth league". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 2, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[8] Straus, Brian (April 16, 2020). "The Development Academy's Demise and What it Means for U.S. Soccer's Youth". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 2, 2022.

[9] Nilsson, Ryan (April 25, 2020). "U.S. Soccer shutters Development Academy, but elite athletes have plenty of options". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 2, 2022.

[10] Wharton, Chuck (April 26, 2020). "U.S. Soccer Development Academy: Girls league launches counter". Fansided. Retrieved February 12, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[11] "MLS to collaborate with the Girls Academy, largest all-girls youth soccer organization in USA". Major League Soccer. October 22, 2022. Retrieved February 12, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[12] Evans, Jayda (June 6, 2023). "UW legend Lesle Gallimore takes over as OL Reign's GM". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 9, 2023.

[13] "Girls Academy Finals conclude in North Carolina, league champs crowned". SoccerWire. Retrieved February 12, 2022.

[14] "Albion SC U16 wins Girls Academy National Championship". FOX 5 San Diego. July 28, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.

[15] "Girls Academy Members". girlsacademyleague.com. Retrieved July 22, 2023.

[16] "Girls Academy Class of 2023". Instagram. May 17, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.

[17] "Class of 2022 | Girls Academy League". girlsacademyleague.com. Retrieved June 9, 2023.

[18] Jackson, Wilton (March 3, 2023). "NWSL's Spirit Sign Youngest Player in League History". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 9, 2023.

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