Champions Soccer League USA

Champions Soccer League USA
Country United States
Confederation CONCACAF
US Soccer
Founded 2014
Divisions 3
Number of teams 12
Level on pyramid 4
Promotion to Internal
Relegation to Internal
Domestic cup(s) Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup
Website CSLUSA website

The Champions Soccer League USA (CSLUSA) is an American soccer league commonly recognized as being a fourth tier league. It is a league featuring women's and men's teams throughout the United States. The league implements promotion and relegation policies.

The league is officially affiliated to the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA), and qualifies for the U.S. Open Cup through the USASA, the league is generally considered to be at the fourth tier of competition in the United States soccer pyramid, behind Major League Soccer (MLS), the North American Soccer League (NASL), and the United Soccer League (USL), and roughly equal with the USL Premier Development League (PDL) and National Premier Soccer League (NPSL).

Format

The Champions Soccer League USA (CSLUSA) is formatted to two seasons, the Championship Season played from May until August and the Pro Season played from August until April. Both seasons feature three tiers within each regional market. Teams in the Championship Season play between 8-14 games each season with the ideal being 12 games and in the Pro Season ideally 30 games. The Championship Season is designed to allow college students to compete during their summer break. The Pro Season is designed to bring players throughout the country to warmer climates to play year round in a similar format to most European markets. The CSLUSA is eligible for the U.S. Open Cup where they gain eligibility towards the CONCACAF Champions League.

History

The CSLUSA began in 2014 with the initial play beginning in 2015 with women's play beginning in 2016. The league began in the southeastern United States and is currently expanding throughout the United States. The league features a very affordable fees to entry as the league looks to remove the barriers to entry while maintaining financially viable teams. The league provides similar benefits of ownership compared to the NPSL and USL PDL but have more reasonable entry costs. The NPSL reports costs to join the league as of 2013 to be a one-time $10,000 franchise fee and a $3,500 annual league fee.[1] The low entry fee compared to the USL PDL's of $75,000 has made the league an attractive alternative to teams looking to compete at the highest level of amateur play.

Teams

References