Breaking the Line: The ECNL Podcast
The Elite Clubs National League was founded in 2009 and continues to lead by daring to do things differently, embedded with grit, collaboration and tenacity – all things learned from the beautiful game. The ECNL protects and propels the integrity of the game and everyone it impacts by facilitating the perfect symmetry of excellence and humility, exclusivity and accessibility, freedom and community. We believe that challenging everyone to rise to their best creates game-changers that live well, long after cleats are unlaced. Born out of the belief in a better way. Continued in the ever-evolving pursuit of excellence.
Breaking the Line: The ECNL Podcast
Expanding Talent Identification: ECNL, id2 and the Search for America’s Next Soccer Stars | Ep. 122
Let us know the topics of interest to you!
Fresh off the ECNL National Playoffs and Finals, and a live podcast recording, Breaking the Line returns to the airwaves with its newest episode featuring a very special guest, US Club Soccer’s Technical Director Ross Paule.
Paule joins ECNL President Christian Lavers and ECNL Vice President Doug Bracken to discuss an ambitions new initiative from US Club Soccer: expanding the id2 program to multiple age groups in hopes of continuing to bolster the United States’ youth soccer scouting network and player pool.
The Breaking the Line team discusses exactly what the id2 expansion looks like, and what role the newly announced ECNL U14 Spotlight Games play in the overall youth soccer talent search in the younger age groups. Paule also gives insight on how US Club Soccer and US Soccer work together to expand the pool, and how each organization is handling the increased scouting network.
It’s a fantastic episode examining how the US can get better at soccer development, and how that development can translate into youth and senior national team success.
As always, make sure to submit any questions to https://ecnl.info/BTL-Questions, to subscribe to Breaking the Line on YouTube, and to follow the ECNL on all social channels.
This is the August 6, 2025 edition of Breaking the Line, the ECNL podcast. After a couple weeks off, we are back and better than ever, with ECNL President and CEO Christian Labors and ECNL President and Chief of Staff, doug Bracken. Today, christian and Doug welcome one of the truly great people of the game to the show Ross Pauley. Ross is a vital part of a strategic partner with the ECNL US Club Soccer, led by Mike Cullinan. Ross is the technical director at US Club Soccer who is on the verge of taking scouting to a whole new level, and he will do a lot of that, working with the great people and great players of the ECNL. Ross Pauley will lead US Club Soccer's talent identification and player development initiatives, including the ID2 program and player development program.
Speaker 1:Established in 2004, the ID2 program is a leader in player identification and development as it provides opportunities for elite athletes to be identified, developed and scouted for inclusion in US Soccer's Youth National Team Program.
Speaker 1:Pdp events hosted by approved leagues and organizations throughout the country, in addition to ID2 selections and scouting of various competitions, build a player pool of boys and girls that are scouted every year. Scouted birth years each year are established in conjunction with US Soccer's Priorities for Youth National Team Camps. Further to this initiative, with some assistance from ECNL Boys Commissioner Jason Kutney, ecnl will now bring you ECNL U-14 Spotlight Games, a collab between ECNL and the US Club Soccer ID2 program. This will include 11 different games across ECNL events this upcoming season. Seven boys and eight girls, best versus best matches, with unparalleled atmosphere and environment for the age group. It is simple but very exciting, as US Club Soccer wants to expand its talent ID process and ECNL clubs and coaches want to showcase their talent to US club soccer. It's a win-win for all involved. This show will also feature discussions about talent ID and Zone 1 expansion and the hiring of some more fantastic ECNL commissioners. Great show with great people and it all starts after this message from Nike with great people.
Speaker 2:And it all starts after this message from Nike. Nike is a proud sponsor of ECNL. Nothing can stop what we do together to bring positive change to our communities. You can't stop sport because hashtag. You can't stop our voices. Follow Nike on Instagram, facebook and Twitter.
Speaker 1:You heard the open, you know what we're talking about and you know we have a special guest today from US Club Soccer in Ross Poly. But for now I turn it back once again to ECNL President and CEO Christian Lavers.
Speaker 3:Thank you very much, dane. It's been a minute since we've been on the podcast here all the way back to the on-scene podcast in Seattle for the playoffs. A lot's happened since then, doug.
Speaker 4:That was fun though to do it on-site Fun for us, I think.
Speaker 3:It was a different experience. And then since then we've crowned a lot of national champions at the ECNL boys girls regional league. It's been a really exciting summer and everybody takes a deep, deep breath this week already kicking off the conference cup girls' conference cup powered by Discount Tire, a group of the top 80, 90. What's the number we have in Chula Vista this week?
Speaker 4:Thought the number was 90.
Speaker 3:Might be a little more than that. Players that are some of the best from around the country, coming in for a couple of days of representative competition, playing with best against best from all over the country, which is a very nice little segue into what we're going to talk about today. So kudos to all the Conference Cup players and having a great experience out there, powered by Discount Tire. Now we're going to introduce our guest for the day, ross Pauly Ross. Thanks for having me. This is exciting to be on. I think this is the first appearance. This is the first appearance, all right. Well, this is a big moment, then, for all of us.
Speaker 4:We might get a couple more listeners with. Like Ross's family will probably jump in and start to listen, we're going to expand viewership.
Speaker 3:Hopefully you got a big family.
Speaker 5:I have a large family. I'm from Memphis, tennessee, so you know how we do it in the South, so I love that.
Speaker 4:That's really going to see. We're going to see a spike in listenership this time.
Speaker 3:I love that. Jacob, you got to be ready to analyze the stats from Tennessee and that that area code. See if we get a bump. I've already got the satellites located. Counting on.
Speaker 4:Ross here.
Speaker 3:Ross, we should start with a little bit of background on you. Obviously you go back as a player. Are you a 76? Do I remember that for some reason? You are correct, 76. I'm a 76 as well. I think we crossed paths. Your path went a lot higher than mine, but at ODP back in the day, what region was Tennessee in? Region three, four, four, three, all right yeah, maybe not, I don't know.
Speaker 5:Maybe just know your name from then.
Speaker 4:Great player.
Speaker 3:Maybe you can give a little background on that. Went into the MLS, Then longtime coach at Creighton University where. I know my club, my own club in Wisconsin, had a lot of players go play for you and Creighton.
Speaker 4:There was an Ohio League player that played for him as well. We talked about it before you came on.
Speaker 3:Christian, there we go, we could ask which ones were better prepared, and we could have a death over that, a death match on that but that's probably not appropriate.
Speaker 4:We had talked about that before you came on the call already, so oh, okay ask an answer.
Speaker 3:All right all right, ross. Well, why don't you give us the uh 20 000 foot version of your background in the game? We skipped the fifa part, but we'll uh let you, let's use tell the tale yeah, thanks for that.
Speaker 5:I've been a part of the game in every way, really starting from the bottom grassroots player, just going, working my way up, trying to navigate my way through it. It was a very different time back then Navigated through ODP, ended up going to Creighton University, which everybody was shocked because I was a part of that U-17 national team mix and you can go anywhere, but I ended up going to Creighton. I just felt like it was the best place for me to develop and achieve my dreams. I wanted to be a pro. I didn't even know what that meant back then because Major League Soccer wasn't even going yet until the end of my career at Creighton. So I left Creighton early. I actually left after three years. I wanted to move on. I wanted to get into an environment where I was challenged not just challenged, but in an environment where I wanted to achieve what I wanted to achieve, which is to play professional, which was to play for our country. I didn't get to play for our country officially. I was called into camp with Bruce Arena, just never got the nod to get in there. But I had a good career playing. You know, I had a 10 year career playing in Major League Soccer, which is a good career. I had to retire with post concussion syndrome and then I wanted to get back in the game quickly. I just didn't know where. So, from my perspective, I wanted to earn my way as a coach. What I thought about doing that is going back to the very beginning. So I started my own youth academy at the grassroots level in Memphis, tennessee. So I worked my way from being at grassroots to building my own academy and then moving into Creighton University for nine years which was great going back to the place that I played and helping build a program there with the culture that I got to grow up in and who helped shape me into the person and player that I am.
Speaker 5:After that, I ended up leaving Creighton and I got an incredible opportunity to work with FIFA with the FIFA Talent Development Scheme. Not many people have heard of it, but it's really a talent identification program globally. The whole mission behind it was to give every talent a chance, no matter where you're born. So it was an incredible experience to go into this group that was led by Arsene Wenger, which was pretty incredible, but it was the people that I was around that I got to see how things were done in other countries, what they focused on, what was important, the development pathways that they had. How do they achieve what they're achieving now? And to be a part of that group and to go into developing countries and help build their talent, id and development structure and preparation was unbelievable.
Speaker 5:And then I got this opportunity here with US Club with ID2. Was unbelievable. And then I got this opportunity here with a U? S club with a ID too. And to tell you the truth, it is very similar to what FIFA's scheme was was to give every talent a chance and we'll get into the ID too perspective of it. But that's what I'm thinking now is how can we widen the pool in the United States? And now, here we are today. So I've been a part of the game in every level, but to me it's just about learning from every one of those, because they're all so different from being at the college to professional, to grassroots. It's all so different but very important in the pathway for a player.
Speaker 3:So ID2, a little background. Id2 is an Olympic development program. Some people associate that acronym, odp, just with USYS because of historical reference, but it's actually a designation from US soccer. Id2 is an ODP program, which means it's, in theory, on the identification pathway for the Olympic teams and the national teams. It's been a really really strong and powerful program for a long time.
Speaker 3:The biggest problem with ID2 has been that it's only been in one age group, which is under 14, which the genesis of ID2 was to provide an identification mechanism for US soccer to help with identifying players for the first national team age group, which was under 14. Hence, that's where ID2 focused and then sort of left off. One of the primary principles of ID2 is that it's free to participate, there's no charge to participate, which has been that way since its beginning and through today. What's really exciting and I'll turn it back over to you once I summarize this no-transcript. So, ross, do you want to talk a little bit about the expansion of ID2 from an age group perspective and why and how that's going to be done?
Speaker 5:What's really important is the principles. Those principles are still in place that it's open to anybody, no matter the US soccer affiliation. There's no cost to the players. It separates ourselves as an ID2 program from many of the others. Number one is when you have a talent ID program, you have to have a scouting network. So the number one thing that I'm focused on right now is building a scouting network, and the goal behind that is we want to widen the reach. We have to have more scouts out there, widening the reach and partnering with programs that we're going to talk about with the spotlight game. To me, talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not. We need to have the scouts that go out there and find that talent and give the opportunity to those players and find those players that maybe US soccer is not finding. There's many of them. Our country's huge. So I'm building that network and it's all about building the relationship with our leagues, with our clubs, with our coaches and finding the right people to be our ID2 scouting network.
Speaker 5:Going into what your topic or what you're talking about is, it always was just a one-year program, a U14 program, which it was great, you know. You look back at the players that have come through the program are not just any little players. I mean like Pulisic, Adams, Rodman, Mallory Swanson are a few of those that have come through ID too. Talent ID is not just a one-year thing. It's not a tryout and you make it. It's a longitudinal program that you have to look at these players over time. So we weren't doing our country and these players the service that they need to develop in the right programming by just having a one-year program. So this first year our focus is the U14s, 2012s, but also the U13s. We're scouting U13, U14 right now. U13 is basically to discover those players. The 2012 A-Trip has discovered those players which US Soccer, like you said, their first programming is U14.
Speaker 5:So we're running this program. It's parallel to what US soccer is doing, but we are trying to find more players. We are trying to find players that fit into the youth national team, but also there's a big pool right on the outside of that and the outside of that. We want to focus on that pool to get them in there. So our focus right now is the 2012 U14s discovering those players. We'll have a scouting program from now all the way through January where we're going to select 102 players for the boys and 102 players for the girls, for our interregionals at Chula Vista Amazing place for us to bring in all those players to, where we were able to find those top players that we see as high potential players.
Speaker 5:But now, after our national selections event in the 2012s which we're building, we're not going to be ending the program Now. This program is going to go to U15. And what makes that really important is, as you get older, the pool narrows, especially with US soccer. With US soccer, they're going to choose their 60 players to go to the national camp. There's a lot more players on the outside of that that. I think we can find those players and we can serve those players to help develop them, to hopefully give them that chance.
Speaker 3:To your point, and you hinted at this, and I want to dive a little deeper on the scouting piece in a minute, but I guess the academic phrase is the non-linear nature of talent development, right? And so if US soccer is focused in on 60 players in an age group or whatever their number is, as the pool does narrow as you get older, that doesn't mean it doesn't change of people coming in who develop later and people that drop out because for one reason or another, their potential may not be as high as it was once thought to be. And you end up with. I think part of this is trying to mitigate the negative effects of early selection and early deselection, right? So that by ID2 expanding to more age groups, groups so that kids that may not be bubbling up another colloquial phrase but may not be bubbling up at 14, but at 15 or in a couple of years, 16, have developed to a point and narrow because, one, hasn't been a mechanism to identify them and, two, there hasn't been a program for them to take a step into and then shine in that program, to get into that.
Speaker 3:Us Soccer 60. Is that a fair statement?
Speaker 5:Yeah, it's a fair statement and that's so true that players develop at different rates. In my mindset, when I'm scouting, you, look at what you can see. You can see the technical side. You can see the game see. You can see the technical side, you can see the game understanding. You can see the player's attitude, mentality. You can see their winning mindset of trying to be effective. You got to wait for the body. You know the body will catch up. It all comes equal as time goes on. I don't know the exact age. Some people say it's at 18. Some people say at 20. I don't know. But eventually the body will catch up and there will be the equality there.
Speaker 5:And when we deselect players, we may be deselecting one of those players that could be one of those, our future top players, in order for us to widen the pool. We got to look at ID2 also, as could be a US Soccer Reserve program, a futures program. We're not trying to find the same players. If we find ID2 players at any of our scouting events and they get into the youth national team, that is amazing. That is amazing. But there's going to be more that are in that group. Like you said, the in-out group, there's going to be players that make one camp but don't make the next camp. There's going to be players that don't make the first three camps. There needs to be something for those players to continue to be challenged with the best, with best environment, because our country again, we have a large pool, a really large pool.
Speaker 3:Correct me if I'm wrong on this, but with an extended program over multiple years and so short version is you expand to U15s in a year, u16s a year after that. So it's sort of this staircase up so that the kids coming in at U14 or that birth year this year will have this programming for the rest of their youth career really, and that also gives your staff and the people coaches and scouts that are working with them the ability to partner with that player and their clubs as they're coming in and out of other things to have some consistency in terms of an IDP maybe, or some additional feedback on their development beyond just their club and the programming. That if you are deselected or you're dropped off from a national team, there's something there to give you the extra best on best type of competition, to hopefully act as a trampoline and push you back up, whether that's to a national team or even to a pro team for that regard. But is that something in your thinking as well? Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 5:You got to look at that. These again, these players are going to grow at different rates and you got to really make sure again that we're evaluating these players are going to grow at different rates and you got to really make sure again that we're evaluating these players over time and multiple environments to where we get to see what does our progression look like. We have to see, okay that we saw this player at u14 potentially we could be looking at this player, evaluating and monitoring and tracking and evaluating this player over the next three years, and so we can see progression there or we can see regression or we can see no development. And then you got to start thinking are they in the right environment or are they just not intrinsically motivated? One thing that also that you get to see when you evaluate players over time is you get to see the intrinsically motivated players. You get to see talent is really not just born, it's developed. And you get to see those players that put in their effort at home starting to show up on the field. You get to see that maybe they're in a great environment with their club and their coach and their environment of competition and you just see they're in a great environment and they're progressing. So that's a big thing with talent Adding age groups is how incredible is it to think that we're going to have not only the 102 players that we select for interregionals? We're going to see thousands of players at events to where we're going to have evaluations on them. There'll be some players in that 100 that don't get selected to the 102 that we'll see in the program the next year. We'll see players in that. So every evaluation that we see, we get to see are they progressing, are they in a good environment and are they players that need to be in that top pool with best, with best and given that opportunity to develop, like you said, because again, if you narrow the pool too much too early, then I think we're leaving too much on the plate there. I think we have so, so much talent, potential talent out there to develop in the right environment to where ID2, that's our sweet spot. We need to be the ones that are widening the pool, elevating the level of that talent pool and partnering with the clubs. Like you said, that is a huge part of development is giving feedback, giving honest feedback, and that's what IDP is. Idp is getting to know, first number one. What does a player want? Do you want to be this? Okay, now I can hold you to the standards of this within your IDP. And then it's also about giving feedback to the coaches. This is what we saw. This is what we see. We played your player in the left back position and she was just unbelievable at that spot and I saw a lot of potential from her in there. Think about that, maybe. I mean, it's not telling them what to do, it's just telling you the experience that they had with best for best.
Speaker 5:When I'm evaluating players again, I look at what all the core skills that you have to have to ensure that you're going to be successful. And we I'm sure we could talk about that forever about what do you need at each age and stage to move up? And that's those core skills. That's the foundation that you have to have at a young age. But as you get older, it's about what do you do with those skills.
Speaker 5:So you're perceiving on the field all the time. You know what do you see? You have to make decisions and then you have to have the execution. You look at, those three things are the pillars of development of you have to have be able to execute in multiple ways certain skills. That way you have more tools to have more decisions and more, more ideas. So perceiving comes later on. The decision-making comes when you have the tools to make decisions. So we need to start with the execution.
Speaker 5:So now I'm looking at this player is really good, is exceptional at dribbling in tight space, but they're not able to get their head up and play the ball out in this position. So anytime a team comes against them, they're going to know that the head's going down. We're going to go defend this player. They have to have more tools, more of those core skills, to be able to continue to progress along the way. So to me that's a roundabout way of looking at an IDP Focus on their exceptional qualities. How can you give them more tools, more skills, the abilities on and off the ball to be more successful, especially when you get to a higher age, when you have to be adaptable, versatile and deal with team scouting.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean what I like about this and, doug, you may have a comment on this I like the fact that this is going to be expanding the pool of players in the country who are getting this type of experience, programming and exposure. Because scouting is notoriously subjective, everybody tries to make it more objective, by its nature. When you're trying to predict talent, it is really really difficult. Expanding to include more people mitigates the risk of missing somebody.
Speaker 3:And I think also, scouts can sometimes tend to get wedded to their early selections and some sort of proof of expertise, and so I love the concept of ID2 selecting sort of a secondary national team, national selection that can be looked at in comparison to a federation selected national team. We talk about competition all over the place, competition at the heart of improvement and development, so competing with another group of players, I think, to showcase themselves and push everybody is a really, really great thing.
Speaker 4:My question to that is obviously, for that to work in some ways, there's got to be some relationship with US soccer. How much you guys are talking, and connected might not be the right word, but can you talk a little bit about those conversations?
Speaker 5:That communication started a long time ago. When I first got this job with ID2, I knew we have to have a tight connection to what US soccer is doing. We're aligned with them in the US way. We look at the key qualities that they're looking for. So everything that they're looking for from their evaluation process, how they identify players, it's the same. It's going to be different people that are in it. We're not going to be working as a US soccer trying to find for US soccer. We're looking for, again those players that we believe, whether US soccer trying to find for US soccer. We're looking for again those players that we believe, whether US soccer believes it or not. We're going to select those players. We're going to be selecting players that we believe will end up fitting into the US youth national team at some point and, by the way, there's a small percentage that make it to that. So we also want to help all these players become their personal best, and that could be a high level college, that could be a professional.
Speaker 5:That could be going to another country because they're dual citizen. We need to look at what ID2 also can do. To your question, though, I feel we have a great relationship moving forward with US Soccer Talent ID, because we are working a program parallel to them, like I said, with U14, we're both starting building the depth charts, a large, large, large depth pool. We're even starting at U13, like I said, but U14 together at the end of this year, but U14 together at the end of this year. There's going to be a huge pool that US soccer found, that ID2 found, that some of them will end up in US soccer youth national team and their U14 national camp because they not going to happen, but if they did, you know what?
Speaker 5:I think there's another 40 players, 20 players on top of that that we can select and move on to our national selection, which we're working on, our national selection event too, which I'm even working with US soccer about. Can we do a parallel camp with US soccer, with the US U-14 national group? Can we do one parallel to that Same city, same place? Don't know how it looks, but we're having those conversations at least, whether it happens or not. We're having those conversations because in the end, like I said we are going to widen the pool.
Speaker 3:There's no substitute for actually doing it. Talk about how you're going to widen the pool, because scouting is a whole nother issue. You can't overstate how many more scouts are necessary in this country because of the size and the scope than what US soccer has, and everybody talks about that a lot. One thing US club is doing with this expansion of ID2, which is a very expensive expansion because, again, one of the principles is the players aren't going to pay for this experience.
Speaker 3:The second principle of ID2 is that they're selected from their home environments in scouting right and so investing in a really broad base of scouts that do have expertise, that do have experience and listen, I'm going to say I don't think to be a scout you need to have a PhD in, you know, athlete development. I think there's some training necessary, but I think our country would do a lot of favors for itself to get more scouts rather than make the scouting pathway harder. You're doing that. You're building a robust scouting network, similar to what the Federation is doing, but it's going to be a very different group of people that will identify some of the same players, some different, and then we'll help them matriculate up the pathway as they get older, but talk about the scouting network and what you're doing, and then we can pivot into Spotlight and how that plays a role in it, because we're really excited about that as well.
Speaker 5:Me, too, I'm excited about talking about that, but the scouting network is all about a relationship. It starts with speaking to people that you trust and making sure that you're being connected to the people that are in our soccer community already, that are coaches, that are directors, that are past players, that are just graduated from college and want to get into the game Scouting. You're right If you have passion for the game and you played the game at a decent level or you're driven to learn. It's all about speaking the same language and making sure we have a common idea of what is our benchmark. You know, together, what are we looking for. What does talent look like? So, from my standpoint is I'm looking for the right people. They have to have integrity. That's the number one thing with me when I'm meeting with the scouts. We are going to do this with integrity, because it's all about the player. It's the player first. This has nothing to do with that club, that club or whatever. It's the player first. This has nothing to do with that club, that club or whatever. It's about trying to help a talent that you find or we see and get them to progress along their way and hopefully have a little joy along the way, find finding a way into it.
Speaker 5:Building the scouting network has been fun because I've connected to some people. Like I said, I've been a part of the game for a long time, so there's been some people that have been in the game for a long time. So there's been some people that have been in the game for a long time that have been scouting for us, and there's some new, young scouts. But the key is do they want to be a scout and do they want to learn and do they want to do this for the right reason? And that's with the integrity, with professional conduct, knowing that we are doing this for the player. This network is growing rapidly, coming into like what we're going to talk about next with the spotlight game. There will be many scouts at those games that you're going to start to see, so I'm sure we'll talk about that.
Speaker 1:We will indeed talk about that, but not before we hear from three of the great ECNL corporate partners. Ecnl corporate partners.
Speaker 2:Did you know ECNL provides free recovery sessions. Ecnl has partnered with MarkPro, a staple for recovery in professional sports. Markpro is a unique, safe, portable eStim device that feeds sore muscles and removes metabolic waste. Stop by the recovery zone during your next event. Soccercom is proud to partner with the ECNL to support the continued development of soccer in the US at the highest levels. They've been delivering quality soccer equipment and apparel to players, fans and coaches since 1984. Living and breathing the beautiful game ourselves. The goal at Soccercom is to inspire you to play better, cheer louder and have more fun. Visit Soccercom today to check out our unmatched selection of gear, expert advice and stories of greatness at every level of the game. Want the same expert advice from the pros at a discount tire store while shopping online? Meet Treadwell, your personal tire guide. Whether you're driving to practice or game day, Treadwell gives you tire recommendations based on your vehicle location and driving habits. Get matched with the perfect tires so you can stay focused on the goals that matter most. Shop with Treadwell at DiscountTirecom.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to Breaking the Line, the ECNL podcast, where Christian Labors and Doug Bracken meet with US Club Soccer Technical Director Ross Pauley. We turn it back now to Christian Labors and Doug Bracken meet with US Club Soccer Technical Director Ross Pauley. We turn it back now to Christian Labors.
Speaker 3:Let's pivot to Spotlight and how that program will fit into this, and I think we got to give Jason Kutney some credit for this idea and pushing this forward and then having discussions with you, ross. But Spotlight is a program we are launching in the ECNL boys and girls and regionally as well. It'll be a standalone, awesome experience for these 13 and 14-year-old players and it'll be integrated into the ID2 scouting process and program to get these players involved in that program. And what it is is at our existing U14 and younger events. On day one of those events usually a Saturday, occasionally a different day, but on day one of those events, ross, you will be leading a team of scouts that will be, at every field where the relevant age group is playing.
Speaker 3:So every player in that event at the targeted age group is playing. So every player in that event at the targeted age group will be scouted in person by an objective scout, and by that we mean somebody who is not involved with their club or a rival club, but a neutral person will look at those players. There will be an opportunity for recommendations to be sent and film and that sort of stuff for players ahead of time, but on site on day one, every player will be seen the night of day one. A group of players 30, 36 somewhere in that range, depending on where we think the level is by we I guess I should say you, because you're going to be making leading the selections, not us there will be a group chosen to play under the lights in the spotlight game on day two of the event.
Speaker 3:So this will be a unique experience for these kids to get a best on best, really exciting and inspiring environment of having the lights, the uniforms, some profile pictures, things that some people may say, okay, that's marketing, but we look at it as inspiration to say, hey, the better you get, the more fun this sport can be. So keep training and working hard. Those players that are identified on day one, they'll also get to play with their club on day two, so they're not missing anything. They'll play in the spotlight game on day two and from the spotlight game some of those players will be invited into your inter-regional camps and then we'll go along the process of the ID2 program. You talked about that with Jason way back at the stage of coming up with this idea. What do you want to add to that about the spotlight and what you're excited about with that?
Speaker 5:From a talent ID perspective, it doesn't get better than this because it's going to be consistent. We're going to see the multiple events at this, so it's convenient obviously for ID2 to where we're coming in to, where some of the best players in the country are playing all in one place and, like you said, it's going to be bias neutral. So, from a talent ID perspective, what stands out to this is talent ID starts with the clubs and the directors who work with the players on a regular basis. That's why we do the recommendation process. We respect what those coaches, what those directors, are saying about their players. They're going to give us recommendations. I just got them today for our first event. The process behind this is that recommendation Now I get to assign to my scouting staff okay, these are the recommended players. Now we need to find ways to watch these players.
Speaker 5:And another thing with ID2 is we're embracing video technology, ai, in order for us to get a good evaluation or get a good idea of who are these players and what does the team look like, because we're not just looking at just the recommended players. We're looking at the team, we're looking at the players around them. We may select a lot of the recommended players. But there may be players that are not recommended, that are standing out because of what we saw on video Because, like you said, we get to see them all on day one. So scouts will see them on video day one. And what's even better is the players that we select. Now we get to see them in another environment. We get to see these players in a comfortable environment with their club. It should be because they know what's happening there. Now they're going into an environment where there's a lot of really good players around. You get to be coached by a new coach. You get to be in an environment where people are watching under the lights. That's experience that these players will never forget, and not only never forget, but it's something that is going to never forget and not only never forget, but it's something that is going to be part of their development process. Some of them, like you said, will move on to that. That next level in a regional will move on to that. There'll be some that we'll see again in future spotlight games or a part of a part of the program or with us youth national team.
Speaker 5:That's what I'm excited about. I'm excited about the opportunity for these players, first of all, to go into an environment and be scouted everybody in that age group getting scouted, and then players getting chosen to play in another environment. It's something that I know these players will always remember and it will help part of their development because every experience they have at a higher level, the next experience gets a little bit easier. You get a little bit more confident in yourself that, ok, I can do this. Or I saw a player over there. You know what that player was really, really way above me. Now I have a benchmark. Now I get to see, oh, there's a gap right there, maybe I need to do some more work on my own. So now I get to see the benchmarking between players. Again, you get to see the intrinsically motivated players that get to be involved in that.
Speaker 5:So when I spoke to Jason about this a while ago and he told me his vision behind it, we just started discussing it back and forth and it's just been progression from there. But I expect nothing but great things to come from this. Obviously it's a new event for the youngers. I think it's only going to grow, I think it's only going to gain traction and also at that spotlight game, us soccer will be there. I'm sure there'll be professional academies there. I'm sure there'll be many scouts that are looking at these players. So what an incredible opportunity that they're getting with this ECNL Spotlight game.
Speaker 3:The Spotlight is an ECNL property. It's going to happen at all our events, which also, by the way, is a way to keep costs down, because the players are already there and we're adding something of high value to a trip a game and a weekend that's already planned, paid for all that sort of stuff, and obviously no cost to participate in the Spotlight game either. A weekend that's already planned, paid for all that sort of stuff, um, and obviously no cost to participate in the spotlight game either, and that'll be really cool. But the cnl is a big part of your scouting because of the level of clubs and players in it, but it's not the only one, because you were doing this at the npl finals this summer in colorado and at the national cup, and you'll be doing it scouting at other events.
Speaker 3:This, as you said earlier, it earlier it's not about I mean, we complain about this a lot, you know in other conversations it's not about scouting only one league. That's not the way to develop the best talent, identify the best talent. It's about having a wide scope. So why don't you talk about the other places that you are scouting? Because you want to have a wide net that collects players, as you said earlier. I think you said talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not.
Speaker 5:So maybe talk a little bit about that. Yeah, I mean it was. It was really a great opportunity for us to go straight into the NPL finals. It was right after our announcement came out to go directly into the NPL finals and, by the way we got, we asked for recommendations there. We got over 60 plus recommendations. We got to scout every single one of those players, which in turn got to scout thousands on top of that. You know, just from having multiple scouts out there watching every, every game, every. We got to watch every game for the U14. So the NPL is a good place to start At each one of the NPL leagues, some of them have player development programs very good player development programs to where we will go in and scout at events that they already have.
Speaker 5:Norcal is one. They have a great PDP program and they have an inter-regional where they bring in their best on one day, to where it's going to be, to where it's consistent level of play, to where we get to go to one location and scout all of the players, the higher, highest potential players in the NPL. So we work within the leagues of NPL. The scouting network is where it gets really interesting, because our scouting network isn't just from one league. These are scouts that are in multiple leagues. They're in from Major League Soccer, from GA, from all all over MLS Next.
Speaker 5:I mean it's just there's scouts out there that are involved in other other platforms to where, OK, now they know what the talent looks like in that, in that area. We have scouts that are just going to be focused on their local area. We know that there's some programs out there that just don't travel because they don't have the funds to travel right now or they don't want to. So we are going to try to go find those clubs, those communities that don't have that opportunity to be scouted. I know there's multiple of them out there. I've already spoken to them. So it's just about the communication to those other platforms, and partnering is not the right word, but more like just communicating.
Speaker 3:Well, I think you're being intentional to include players from a variety of different competitions and a variety of different leagues, and then you're going to pick the best from wherever they come right. But, as opposed to the criticism of Talent ID in some places're going to pick the best from wherever they come right. But, as opposed to the criticism of talent ID in some places, are you finding the best players? Are you finding the players where you're looking Right and listen? There's always going to be a rock that is not turned over. You're never going to be able to prove that, but there is, I think, a really viable question Are people being intentional enough about expanding where they're looking for players, or is there a narrative driving player selection? And we don't need to go too far down this political landmine. What I'll say is this is not, by the way, a US club's ECNL sanctioning body, but this is a US club program paid for by a US club. Your scouting network is going to be picked by you, right, and just like players are recommended, scouts are recommended to you, but you will pick and manage those players. It is a significant investment and I give great credit to US Club for bringing you on, first of all, as a full-time person solely in this space. Okay, which is what it takes.
Speaker 3:It takes somebody who wakes up and thinks about this all day, every day, and then to expand the network of people that are recommending players, because that's another thing again is, if you look and I think it's a fair criticism that there have been too many obstacles put in front of people who want to recommend players, people who want to scout people who want to recommend players, people who want to scout people who want to be a part of helping players move on, and instead of embracing that, there's a lot of people who just put obstacle after obstacle in front of that, overburdening them with requirements or just deselecting the scout.
Speaker 3:And you're opening that up and, at the end of the day, what comes out of this will be a whole parallel scouting network to invest in a whole new set of players and if everything is perfect in a utopia that doesn't exist, what this does is expand great programming for great players that are just outside the national team. Well, we know we're not in utopia. What this is going to do is it's going to catch more players that were left out, that are going to get an opportunity, and maybe we'll bubble up. And for players that were brought into a national team and then get dropped out. This will be, hopefully, a trampoline to help them move back, and this will be an investment in people scouting in areas that, quite honestly, haven't had that resource provided to them in the past.
Speaker 5:Yeah, 100%. One of the things that really drew me to this job was the investment that US Club is putting into this program and the purpose behind it. We said the principles have not changed. We are sticking with those principles. But, yes, our goal is to widen the pool and make sure that we truly are widening the pool, and the scouting network is the number one thing that we have to continue to build.
Speaker 5:This is an ambitious program. This is not something that is just going to be all daisies from the start. This is something that is going to be challenging, very challenging. We're going to run into those walls that you're talking about. There's going to be walls there, but we got to stick to what we know that we can widen the pool. We can give more players an opportunity. We can find more players. We can build a scouting network that reaches areas we're not reaching in. Do too much too fast, but hold ourselves to the standards and the goals that we want. We believe we can widen this pool this year. We believe that we can be a part of developing the talent that pool and making it a higher level talent pool. It's an ambitious project. It's one that I believe in.
Speaker 3:So let's vision cast for us to close this out, and then, Doug, we can Hold on.
Speaker 4:I do wanna ask one question here. Talk about, because I think we can all hear what you're saying and you're passionate, but the real challenge is what's your plan to expand the scouting network and how do you go about that? And then the training of that scouting network so that people are generally looking through the same lens.
Speaker 5:Building the scouting network. Again, it's making sure that we're not just accepting anybody and everybody, but we're doing vetting along the way, we're making sure that we're finding the right people and continuing to build on top of that. And continuing to build on top of that, it's growing rapidly. Just from finding scouts that I'm assigning to these ECNL spotlight games. I'm telling these meeting with this group and doing the education side of which I'll get to, and they're thinking, oh wow, I have this person, this coach over here, this one over here. They need to be involved in this program. So really it's growing organically from the inside out.
Speaker 5:All these scouts that are now in our network are calling me and telling me you need to speak to this player, this scout, this scout, this scout. Obviously there's only a certain amount of time in the day, but I speak to them all individually and I want to know why do you want to be a scout? Why does this make sense to you? These are not volunteers, these are scouts, or scouts are going to be paid by ID2. So they're actually going to be contracted by us to go into these events. So they're doing a service for this. They're not just going in and just to be a scout. There's a purpose behind what we're trying to do and these scouts will know that once they're signed on as a scout.
Speaker 5:We have education. We have regular education on what is it? Like I said, what is talent? That's the number one thing you know. And what are we looking for? And how are we looking for that together? What is the benchmark and what are the biases? There are so many biases out there and you're always going to have them, but you just got to be aware of them.
Speaker 5:And you got to know what all those are, and that's all about everybody having the same mindset and making sure we know what we're trying to do is common language, common purpose, building that scouting network is huge for us right now I want to sum this up for everybody is five years from now.
Speaker 3:Tell me what I'm missing. Tell me where you add to it. Five years from now, you got an ID2 program that ranges from U13 to U18. You got programming at every step. That includes international competition. As you get older, it includes domestic competition and camps. When you're younger, you got direct comparisons as a national B team with the age appropriate federation team to check the level of competition and the size and scope of the player pool. You have the ability to compare outcomes in scouting networks over years and to see who comes in, when and where they come from. You have, as you just mentioned, another way of educating scouts, another program to educate more people on how to scout effectively. You have a broader pool of scouts, so you're getting more data and that's got to be filtered appropriately, but you're welcoming the data and getting it in from a more robust set of scouts. What am I missing?
Speaker 5:You really said it right there. It's going to be each year is going to have a purpose behind it. The big thing for me is, in five years we have programming in place for each age group with purpose at each age and stage. What's important for them at that time? We are building programs to make sure that we are giving experiences, not just domestically but internationally, where we're competing against the top level clubs in Europe or South.
Speaker 5:Now, seeing all those players that were involved in the program and seeing where they are now, seeing them with the youth national team, seeing them with another country playing with their country, seeing them playing professionally, seeing them continuing to progress in the sport. It's going to be about we have that, our youth national team and then what do we have on the outside of that to support the group? That's going to be about. We have that our youth national team and then what do we have on the outside of that to support the group? That's on the outside of that, and once we get to the point of these players which in five years would be getting close to that U-17 World Cup, how many of those are involved in something like that that may weren't, may weren't, with the youth national team at then, but they they were with our reserve group that found their way into that.
Speaker 5:You know, those types of wins are what I'm looking for is the player. What did the player get out of this about being a part of this program in a small way, a big way? Was it going to be a part of their pathway to whatever their best is? Because, like I said, some are going to very small, are going to make it there, but there's other pathways. So if we're able to impact a large group of players as they grow up in our program, then we're doing our job and we've made a massive impact on the US soccer ecosystem.
Speaker 3:This is awesome. So congrats on the job, congrats on the work to get it to this point. It's just starting in many ways, but the first spotlight game is August 23rd in New Jersey. I believe. We have 15 or so spotlight games scheduled throughout the season all over the country, so there's going to be a lot of people that are going to be seen by your scouts and then selected into those games and sort of matriculate up, which is going to be great.
Speaker 3:This, from an ECNL perspective, is the beginning of Doug and, if you have a comment on it, it's the beginning of our focus as we get a little bit younger and we look at what can we do to impact the development and competition environment of, you know, 13, 1414 and then even Zone 1. Obviously, we've just hired two pre-ECNL commissioners who are going to be focused in that Zone 1 area, and that's not about making players in Zone 1 out to be professionals. It's about looking at that environment that needs improvement, it needs better quality, it needs things that inspire players more. We're going to be leaning heavy in on that over the next six, nine, 12 months. Spotlight is at the tip of it, just out of zone one, u13, u14. I'm excited that we're a part of this. I'm excited that we're supporting what you're doing, ross, and integrating into it, because the more people aligned and moving in the right direction together, the more effective we're going to be.
Speaker 4:Working together is the key.
Speaker 1:You are so right, doug Bracken. Working together is the key and certainly the future is bright with this kind of collaboration. Speaking of work together, we'll work with Doug Bracken on the Bracken Brain Buster. After a couple more messages from ECNL corporate partners.
Speaker 2:The ECNL is pleased to announce Quick Goal as the official goal provider and partner for ECNL girls and ECNL boys. A new partnership created to support the growth and development of the country's top players, clubs and coaches at all national events, including national playoffs and national finals. The Quick Goal Coaches Corner will provide hospitality and social space for ECNL girls, ecnl boys and collegiate coaches. Quick Goal will also be the presenting sponsor of the national championship-winning ECNL girls and ECNL boys coaches of the year and the ECNL girls and ECNL boys goals of the year. Quick Goal looks forward to helping the ECNL Boys Coaches of the Year and the ECNL Girls and ECNL Boys Goals of the Year. Quick Goal looks forward to helping the ECNL continue to elevate the standards of youth soccer and provide more opportunities to players on and off the field in the coming years.
Speaker 1:Drive in the summer with Continental Tire, whether you're planning a road trip or heading to a soccer match. Purchase a set of four qualifying Continental tires now, through August 31st, and get a 110 Continental tire prepaid MasterCard by mail. Visit continentaltirecom to learn more Continental tire, the smart choice in tires. And with that we return to Doug Bracken and end the show with Bracken's Brain Buster.
Speaker 4:The end is the Bracken Brain Buster. That's where I ask a question, Dean. He named this segment, the Bracken Brain Buster. It's kind of grown on us, We'll have to say that, and it's a varying myriad of questions that might come up. But today I'm going to go with. We just finished another year, 16 years, Christian of ECNL. Who would have thought 16 years ago that we would be here? But here we are. And so now I want to kind of look forward, and a good buddy of mine, on your birthday, if you happen to be in your presence, will always ask you some questions, and one of them is what are you looking forward to this year? I know we just talked a lot about spotlight and all that stuff, but I will pose the question going into year 17 of the EC&L, what are? It doesn't have to be EC&L related, but what are you excited about in the coming year? Christian, you're going first today.
Speaker 3:I'm going first.
Speaker 4:You are Well, I think, with Besides working with me for another year.
Speaker 3:Of course, and getting to know our buddy Dean at an even deeper level. I guess from a league perspective, I'm really excited with the new commissioners we've hired and the ones that have been moved up as we've transitioned that to have six commissioners of the league ECNL, regional league, pre-ecnl each gender, I think it's a really, really talented group of people that are going to provide a lot of ideas, a lot of service and do a lot of things to help make our league better and our league in how we can support the clubs. So I'm excited about the growth of that department, specifically as we go looking into zone one and then you know personally I got to go personally too- it's your world.
Speaker 4:We're just living in it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm trying to schedule some more like mini breaks you know like a long weekend, you know, or a family day, you know every month, or six weeks or something.
Speaker 4:You will not be on any calls and stuff like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, just trying to prioritize and balance a little bit more, cause I think that I got kids. At this age, man, everybody tells me it goes too fast and I'm starting to feeling that already. So I'm trying to make sure I don't, you know, look back. Look back and say, man, I wish I would have not had that one extra call with doug bracken, you know, and instead I would have gone to sea world with my kids yeah, don't go to sea world.
Speaker 4:We can talk about that later, but you know putting a big fish in a tank is not very nice, I don't think fish have feelings too let's go to Ross, our esteemed guest.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I mean this year is a is a really big year. It really is for myself, you know to to to be able to lead an ambitious program like this. But when I look at what I want to see at the end, I try to wrap my head around. What is that? But the big thing for me is the team that I'm building right now to have the influence that is going to be a part of this program that I'm already building from the scouting network, from the coaches, from partnerships like this.
Speaker 5:When you go through a really tough and challenging year, it's the people that you always remember that helped through that process. And to me, I think about what is that team going to look like? And I'm excited to see what that group is going to be like, you know, and what we're going to do, because in the end, that group of people is trying to impact the player. I just really am excited about that whole process, even though it's going to be a very difficult process, and it's going to be about the people that makes it successful or not, and we've got to choose those right people.
Speaker 3:By the way, Ross, I'm looking forward to watching you professionally agitate the scouting system.
Speaker 5:Yep, that's going to happen, it already is happening, with the right people. But yeah, personally, it's all about family for me. I have all three of my kids are out of the house, you know, and one of them is married. They're all over the place in different states now and for me, I look forward to getting us all together because it doesn't happen enough. And yes, christian, it goes way too fast. It really does, and you only realize it when. Well, you'll realize it now, because it, I mean, it's just it goes fast, but no.
Speaker 4:Before you know it, you're a grandfather.
Speaker 3:It's not going that fast.
Speaker 5:Before you know your grandfather, it's not going that fast For you, no, yeah, yeah, I'm not a grandfather yet, so you never know, it could happen this year too, so that'd be the highlight.
Speaker 4:All right, that's good. All right, jacob, what do you got?
Speaker 6:For the ECL this year. I'm really excited to continue to expand our external PR outreach. That's something that I kind of oversee, and we've already seen dividends through it at the playoffs and finals. I'm really excited to kind of take that under a full year. And then, personally, my wife and I bought a house back in March, and so I'm really excited to actually have a full year under our belt here. We've made some improvements already, but really kind of make it our own and just spend time here.
Speaker 3:Just get ready for unexpected maintenance costs. Well, we're already there.
Speaker 6:The sump pump in the basement was not on our bingo card for 2025.
Speaker 4:Snake fences and whatever All right Dean bring it.
Speaker 1:First off, I do want to say that when Ross Pauley talks about integrity, he means it. I had the great honor of calling him when he played for the Colorado Rapids and he played with integrity on and off the field. So, Ross, congrats on all your success. I feel like you definitely deserve it. As it relates to an answer to the Bracken Brain Buster, it's simple. As you all know, my entire career was framed around the 1994 World Cup, the World Cup's coming back. It was also framed about meeting my wife, who will be the head of delivery for the World Cup. So I think it's going to be incredible year in so many ways and the fact that I can play a little bit of a role with the ecnl as it continues to develop beyond that. I'm honored by by all of it.
Speaker 3:So thanks, uh thanks for the question so are you the one we go to for tickets, that's what I was just getting ready to say if you got a thick wallet, Christian, yeah, I'm the one. I don't need linky level tickets, I need, like, just a step below.
Speaker 4:That's right we don't need the whole hospitality, I just need to be in the building. Yeah, just give me an. I look forward to continuing to work with the ECNL staff. I'm always super excited to see the people that we have and how they grow and all the new things that we do and how they kind of execute on all the ideas that we have and we make them quick and fast. So I'm always super proud to be part of that staff and just see those guys work. And then personally, world Cup is a huge one for me too, dean, really excited. I went to some games in the 94 world cup when I was here. I didn't know if I would ever see that again, um, so I'm super excited to go experience that with my kids and and and the family and just, uh, keep keep getting out there taking some trips seeing the world when I can, you know, with all those guys. So that's it.
Speaker 4:A lot of you guys had very corporate answers, which I was proud of. We also got the personal in, so that's the Bracken Brain Buster for this week.
Speaker 3:Ross, appreciate having you on. I'm sure we'll have you on again if you're willing to go back through this experience. And, dean, it's been a while since we've seen you, but looking good, looked like you just came off of the beach.
Speaker 1:Well, definitely some pool time. Speaking of bleach, by the way, ross Pauly, when he played we called him Powder. He had bleach, blonde, white yes, he did. When he played it was pretty awesome.
Speaker 4:Yes, he did.
Speaker 3:I mean, you know what?
Speaker 4:For the next one, we'll have a photo ready or maybe we can get a photo of that for the Instagram push. That's right. It affected him so deeply that he decided to go with no hair. That's right. It actually fell out because I bleached it too much.
Speaker 3:Fair enough. Great to see you, ross. Thank you all. Thank you, jacob. No, thank you, it was awesome.
Speaker 4:Thanks guys.
Speaker 1:Thank you all the Thank you, Jacob, no, thank you. It was awesome. Thanks guys. Thank you all the way around, especially to the amazing ECNL staff from top to bottom. Special thanks to Jacob Bourne for being the man behind the scene for Breaking the Line the ECNL podcast, and, of course, our producer, Colin Thrash, for each and every one of them and all of you. We'll see you in a few weeks for another edition of Breaking the Line the ECNL podcast.