AURORA, Colo. (July 12, 2011) – Adding to the excitement of the 2010-11 Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) National Championship, ESPNU and ESPN3 will carry a live broadcast of the U-17 national championship game on Sat., July 16, with coverage beginning at 2 p.m. ET/noon MT from the Aurora Sports Complex in Aurora, Colo.

The ECNL National Championship, which kicked off on Thursday July 14, features 164 of the country’s top female youth soccer teams in what is one of the most prestigious events of the year.

The U-17 ECNL National Championship Group includes eight teams that will be playing quarterfinals on Thursday and semifinals on Friday, with the winners advancing to meet in the ECNL National Championship Game Saturday on ESPNU and ESPN3. The qualifying teams are: San Diego Surf (CA), PDA (NJ), FC Stars of Mass (MA), Challenge SC (TX), Solar SC (TX), Mustang SC (CA), Albertson Fury (NY) and Minnesota Thunder Academy (MN).

About the ECNL:
The ECNL is a non-profit national youth soccer league founded in 2009 to provide the best possible developmental environment for American female youth soccer players through the creation of the highest level of national competition and an identification and development program to provide an avenue for players to participate in U.S. Soccer’s National Teams. The 2010-11 season is the ECNL’s second season. Each of the 52 member clubs in 2010-11 field a team in the U-15, U-16, U-17 and U-18 age groups, each competing for the ECNL National Championship, the ECNL National Club Championship and promotion and relegation between flights. The ECNL is sanctioned by US Club Soccer.

Austin Hart (Springfield SC, Glendale) is one of six players on the Missouri State 94 Boys ODP team who were selected for the Region 2 94 Boys regional team pool. They are currently participating in the holdover camp in Overland Park, KS. The Missouri ’94 ODP squad, which also included and Reid Harbach (Springfield SC, Catholic) are pictured above.

On July 29, a majority of the team will travel Leeds, England, to participate in international play. Harbach, who is a member of the Region 2 pool, will be part of the team and they will also be joined by SSC clubmates Joe Curti and Jackson Patillo who are continuing their education at Richmond Academy and it’s international soccer program.

The 2011 Region 2 Boys Camps are being held in Overland Park, KS this week. The Camps bring in the State teams from Region 2 offering age group competition between the teams and leading to what is termed the Holdover Camp where individual players are invited to stay and participate on a Regional level squad. Last year four players – Jackson Patillo (Willard/American Academy in England), Taylor Arens (Catholic/Missouri S&T), Luke Straus (Catholic) and Lucas Moore (Nixa) – represented SSC in the Region 2 ODP pool.

94 Boys – July 8-11 in Overland Park
Reid Harbach (93/94)
Austin Hart (93/94)
Robert Neathery (93/94)

95 Boys–July 8-10 in Overland Park
Patrick Hubbard, Walnut Shade (Branson, 94/95II)
Ben Reinbold (95/96 I)

98 Boys–July 5-9 in Overland Park
Cole Johnson (98/99 I)

99 Boys–July 6-9 in Overland Park
Nikolas Chavez (98/99 I)
Zach Peters (98/99 I)
Josh Sheiderer (99/00 11v11)
Ian Hansen (98/99 I)
Peyton Wissig (98/99 II)

ODP Mission
The mission of the US Youth Soccer’s Olympic Development Program is to identify players of the highest caliber on a continuing and consistent basis, which will lead to increased success for the US National Teams.

The mission of Missouri Youth Soccer Association’s (MYSA) Olympic Development Program is to identify and develop the top players registered within the State of Missouri, to promote development through quality coaching, and to help these players gain recognition on the Regional and National levels.

Springfield Soccer Club has announced that a trio of their players have been added to the Missouri State ODP squad. Nicole Ortega (Catholic HS), Kasey Opfer (Glendale HS) and Aspen Hawkins (Central HS) (Alternate) have made the 95 Girls ODP State team. The three of them are teammates on the SSC 95/96 team that recently competed at the Missouri State Cup as U15 Girls.

They will travel to Region 2 Camp for the 95 Girls State Team Tournament will be held from July 9, 2011 to July 11, 2011 in Dekalb, IL. Players making the Holdover Team will stay from July 11, 2011 to July 15, 2011 in Dekalb, IL.

Below is a video interview I did with Nicole and Kasey after the State Cup. a

From the Missouri Youth Soccer Association’s (MYSA) website – The Olympic Development Program is to identify and develop the top players registered within the State of Missouri, to promote development through quality coaching, and to help these players gain recognition on the Regional and National levels.

Missouri Elite FC, a Springfield all-girls club soccer program committed to meeting the needs of female athletes, has a few more openings for the 2011-12 season.

If you are a junior or senior in high school looking to improve your game for high school and possibly beyond, please come to our open field on Tuesday evening, July 5, from 6:00-7:15pm at Lake Country Soccer on the South fields.

If you are a U12 competitive player looking for more, please contact us at moelitefc@gmail.com to arrange a trial session.

If you are a U8 or U9 player looking to have fun while learning the game of competitive soccer, please contact us at moelitefc@gmail.com.

For more information about the club, visit our website at www.moelitefc.com