Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) - Learn more about ECNL

SDSC Surf is proud to be a member of the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) for our top boys teams. We have always strived to put our players in environments that will maximize growth opportunities. The ECNL has done this for our boys program, as it provides the best competition in Southern California, as well as national exposure opportunities. SDSC Surf top teams at U13-18 (6 teams) all play in the ECNL. Our U11 and U12 top teams play in what is called the Pre-ECNL. They follow a similar schedule, playing against some of the top clubs in Southern California.

In 2021, our B2007 and B2008 teams advanced all the way to the national finals, and players from those teams have been invited to be a part of residential academies of Major League Soccer (MLS) teams.

Elite Clubs Regional League (ECRL)

The second teams in the U13-18 age groups play in the ECRL. The ECRL is run by the ECNL and all of our teams in this circuit play against the same clubs that the ECNL teams do but against the second teams from those clubs rather than the first teams.

A season as part of the ECNL/ECRL with SDSC Surf looks like this:

• Practice begins in July

• 3x per week of training

• Top-level coaching

• Filming of all home games

• Video analysis by the coaching staff

• Athletic Trainers to handle injuries at all games

• All games are played on top quality fields

• Several tournaments to showcase players and prepare for the league season

• Approximately 12-15 games in the fall

• ECNL teams play 1 or 2 showcases (depending on the age group) that require travel outside of California. The events are heavily attended by college scouts.

• ECRL and Pre ECNL teams play 1 showcase, optional for ECRL, that may or may not be in Southern California.

• Our high school aged teams will be allowed to play high school soccer in the months of November through the end of February.

• Our non-high school aged teams, U11-14, will take time off in December and resume with 2x per week training and potentially some league games in the months of Jan/Feb.

• All teams resume with full 3x per week training in March through the end of May.

• Teams will play approximately a 10-12 game season in the spring

• The league season concludes by early June.

• Teams that qualify for playoffs will participate in that event in late June, other teams will be off until the new season begins in July