After the U.S. Soccer Federation announced that the U.S. Development Academy would close amid financial pressures due to the coronavirus, youth football in America was left in a rather dark hole. Someone needed to fill the void with clubs and academies around the country waiting for a new system or league to be developed.
This week, Major League Soccer announced plans for the Elite Development Program which sees 95 clubs across the country, 30 of which are MLS academies and five are connected to USL teams, play in a youth league of varying ages. You can read the full plans here.