What does ECNL RL stand for?

ECNL Regional League. It is the regional competition the Elite Club National League runs under its national league, for girls and for boys.

Is ECNL RL the same as ECNL?

No. They are separate competitions run by the same organisation. Our directory lists 133 ECNL Girls clubs and 411 ECNL RL Girls clubs; 105 clubs are in both.

It is the second level of the ECNL’s ladder, with 411 girls’ clubs and 448 boys’ clubs in our directory. How strong one team is depends on the club.

How many ECNL RL clubs are there?

Our directory lists 411 girls’ clubs in 40 states and 448 boys’ clubs in 41 states.

Do college coaches recruit ECNL RL players?

No college rule names any league, and a coach may watch a player in any competition. A Regional League player should write to coaches with video rather than wait to be seen.

Guides

National and regional

ECNL vs ECNL RL: what is the difference?

The short answer

ECNL is the Elite Club National League’s national competition; ECNL RL (the ECNL Regional League) is the regional competition it runs under it. Our directory lists 133 ECNL Girls clubs and 411 in the girls’ Regional League, and 170 ECNL Boys clubs and 448 in the boys’. 105 of the 133 ECNL Girls clubs hold a place in both, and 130 of the 170 ECNL Boys clubs.

Sources last checked October 5, 2026

Pictured: Baldwin Wallace v Wooster, men’s, 2023

Erik Drost · CC BY 2.0

ECNL and the ECNL Regional League in our directory
ECNL Girls / ECNL RL Girls	133 / 411 clubs
ECNL Boys / ECNL RL Boys	170 / 448 clubs
Girls’ clubs in both	105 (79% of ECNL Girls clubs)
Boys’ clubs in both	130 (76% of ECNL Boys clubs)
States, girls: ECNL / ECNL RL	34 / 40
States, boys: ECNL / ECNL RL	39 / 41

How do ECNL and ECNL RL compare?

The national league and the Regional League, counted

	ECNL Girls	ECNL RL Girls	ECNL Boys	ECNL RL Boys
Clubs in our directory	ECNL Girls133	ECNL RL Girls411	ECNL Boys170	ECNL RL Boys448
States	ECNL Girls34	ECNL RL Girls40	ECNL Boys39	ECNL RL Boys41
Club list	ECNL GirlsList	ECNL RL GirlsList	ECNL BoysList	ECNL RL BoysList

States where our directory lists Regional League clubs but no national-league club: for girls, Arkansas, Delaware, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota; for boys, North Dakota, South Dakota.

Are ECNL and ECNL RL teams at the same clubs?

105 of the 133 ECNL Girls clubs also hold a place in the girls’ Regional League (79%), and 130 of the 170 ECNL Boys clubs in the boys’ (76%). At those clubs a player can move between the two competitions without changing club.

The other Regional League clubs, 306 on the girls’ side and 318 on the boys’, have no ECNL national-league team in our directory.

Where are the ECNL RL clubs?

Girls: clubs by state, for the states with the most

State	ECNL Girls clubs	ECNL RL Girls clubs
California	25	73
Texas	11	75
Virginia	5	17
Florida	9	12
Minnesota	1	19
Ohio	5	15
Pennsylvania	5	15
Michigan	5	14
New York	4	14
Washington	5	12

Boys: clubs by state, for the states with the most

State	ECNL Boys clubs	ECNL RL Boys clubs
Texas	17	99
California	29	77
Florida	11	18
Minnesota	2	23
Virginia	7	17
Ohio	3	20
New York	8	14
Washington	8	13
North Carolina	7	10
Michigan	1	13

A state’s name links to every club in that state, in every league.

Can you get recruited from ECNL RL?

Yes. No college rule names a league: the NCAA and NAIA manuals mention none, and the NCAA defines a coach’s evaluation as the observation of a player taking part in any practice or competition at any site (Bylaw 13.02.7).

What a Regional League player cannot do is wait to be found. Send video and a short email to colleges that fit your level, and say where and when your team plays next: how to email college soccer coaches. 1,653 of the 2,215 college teams are outside Division I: see D1 vs D2 vs D3 vs NAIA.

Should a player move from ECNL RL to ECNL?

If you would start. A higher level of match every week, on film, is the reason to move.
If you would sit. A season with few minutes gives a college coach little to watch. Staying and starting can be the better year.
If it means a new club. Add the drive, the cost and the new coach to the comparison.

The full ladder for each side: girls’ club soccer levels and boys’ club soccer levels.

Q&AQuick answers

What does ECNL RL stand for?: ECNL Regional League. It is the regional competition the Elite Club National League runs under its national league, for girls and for boys.
Is ECNL RL the same as ECNL?: No. They are separate competitions run by the same organisation. Our directory lists 133 ECNL Girls clubs and 411 ECNL RL Girls clubs; 105 clubs are in both.
Is ECNL RL good?: It is the second level of the ECNL’s ladder, with 411 girls’ clubs and 448 boys’ clubs in our directory. How strong one team is depends on the club.
How many ECNL RL clubs are there?: Our directory lists 411 girls’ clubs in 40 states and 448 boys’ clubs in 41 states.
Do college coaches recruit ECNL RL players?: No college rule names any league, and a coach may watch a player in any competition. A Regional League player should write to coaches with video rather than wait to be seen.

How this was counted

Club counts are our club directory, built on 2026-10-05 from the ECNL’s own published club lists. A club is one name in one state; a club counted in both leagues holds a place in each. The ECNL’s site prints no club count of its own that we could read, so every figure here is ours.

Sources

Last checked against these sources onOctober 5, 2026. Figures marked Startline are counted from the data we hold and move when it does. Rules change: check anything dated against the governing body itself.

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