FRISCO, Texas (May 5, 2021) — The US Youth Soccer Frontier Conference is excited to announce that teams competing in the Fronter Development League (FDL) will have a direct pathway into the USYS Southern Regional Championships, beginning in the 2021-22 season.

The FDL is a Club vs. Club Division within the Frontier Conference that features competition for girls teams in the 13U through 18U/19U age groups. In the upcoming season, the first-place finisher in each age group bracket — which will each feature up to 12 teams — will secure an automatic berth to the 2022 Southern Regional Championships.

“In addition to quality competition and meaningful games, a pathway toward the National Championships has always been a key characteristic of the National League and its competition formats,” said Mike Leland, League Manager for the Frontier Conference. “This added pathway for FDL teams provides them with another exciting chance to continue on that path and will lead to even stronger competition and development opportunities for the players.”

The Southern Regional Championships are one of four Regional Championships within the USYS National Championship Series. Winners of the Regional Championships advance to the annual USYS National Championships, where they compete for the most prestigious National title in youth soccer.

The direct pathway to the Southern Regional Championships adds to the existing opportunities available to FDL teams, which also includes automatic qualification spots into National League P.R.O. for teams in the 13U-17U age groups. Frontier Conference teams that compete in the Premier I Division (Team vs. Team format) will continue to have their own direct pathway to the Southern Regional Championships and National League P.R.O.

The Frontier Conference is one of 13 Conferences within the USYS National League and serves teams primarily from North Texas, South Texas and Oklahoma. Top tier divisions of each conference provide teams with an opportunity to earn their place in National League P.R.O., which provides teams in the 14U-19U Boys and Girls age groups with the chance to play some of the top competition in the country while competing for berths to the USYS National Championships. For each gender, 12 teams per age group will advance to the National Championships from National League P.R.O.

Click here for more information on the USYS National League, including the 13 Conferences, National League P.R.O. and the National League Showcase Series.