EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. –EDP has entered into a long-term agreement with U.S. Youth Soccer to manage four National League conferences in the East Region starting in 2018-19.

These conferences are:

* US Youth Soccer National League New England EDP Conference

* US Youth Soccer National League North Atlantic EDP Conference

* US Youth Soccer National League Mid Atlantic EDP Conference

* US Youth Soccer National League South Atlantic EDP Conference

In addition to managing these conferences, EDP — as a recently approved affiliate member of U.S. Youth Soccer by the organization’s national board of directors – will see its league play, tournaments and college showcases be U.S. Youth Soccer sanctioned events, with college showcasing a feature of much of this new program’s efforts.

EDP is one of the country’s largest leagues with over 3,500 teams located on the east coast of the United States.

Beginning this fall, U.S. Youth Soccer National League EDP Conferences will offer an expected two tiers of divisions in addition to the existing EDP programming.

Both EDP and new to EDP teams will be eligible to apply for these divisions, which will provide local/regional regular season league play, cup competition and regional/national showcase events, with top teams advancing directly into the US Youth Soccer National League and the Regional Championships in the US Youth Soccer National Championship Series. Club v. club and team v. team models will both be offered in the US Youth Soccer EDP Conferences.

EDP clubs that have already committed starting next season to playing in US Youth Soccer National League EDP Conferences – either in the club v. club or team v. team divisions — include:

* Alleycats SC (NY)

* Beachside SC (CT)

* Bethesda SC (MD)

* BRAUSA United FC (MD)

* FC Berna Legacy (NJ)

* FCUSA New Jersey (formerly Jersey United) (NJ)

* Ironbound SC (NJ)

* Lehigh Valley United (PA)

* Lower Merion SC (PA)

* Maryland Rush SC (MD)

* Massapequa SC (NY)

* NJ Crush FC (NJ)

* NJ Rush SC (NJ)

* NJ Stallions Academy (NJ)

* PDA Shore (NJ)

* Penn Fusion SA (PA)

* Philadelphia Ukrainians Nationals SC (PA)

* Pipeline SC (MD)

* Princeton SA (NJ)

* Soccer Association of Columbia (MD)

* SJEB Rush (NJ)

* Smithtown Kickers SC (NY)

* WHSA NJ Elite (NJ)

Other clubs will be announced in the near future.

“US Youth Soccer’s commitment to reimagining their family of programming while establishing clear alignment with the prestigious National League and National Championship Series made this a very attractive opportunity for EDP,” EDP CEO Alan Shilling said. “This structure will provide teams with a fully integrated games program that combines league, cup and showcase play, which is exactly what our members want.

“With this new relationship with US Youth Soccer, EDP will maintain its dedication to its core principles of a great game every week with sensible travel and pathways to college.”

All EDP clubs, no matter what EDP division they play in, will receive the same EDP customer service they are accustomed to, including the same player registration system at a reduced cost to our membership.

Shilling noted that all current aspects of the EDP league, playoffs and tournaments will remain the same for the current 2017-18 season.

“I am very excited to have EDP join US Youth Soccer as an affiliate member and the overwhelming vote by our board to approve EDP indicates that our board shares my perspective,” U.S. Youth Soccer CEO Chris Moore said. “We are committed to supporting and serving our membership throughout the country and EDP amplifies our ability to do so within the East Region. US Youth Soccer is the leader in youth soccer and we are confident that this strategic partnership will help drive this beautiful game in a positive direction.”

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.