October 2023 will go down as a historic month for the Midwest Premier League. DeKalb County United announced a professional pathway partnership with SportsMate360 in Poland, AFC Columbia is joining forces with the Missouri Reign of the WPSL to enhance the game in Mid-Missouri, and three MWPL clubs have squared off against each other in two straight rounds of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup qualifying. The responsible growth of the league by those in charge has justified these achievements and the reward for MWPL fans everywhere is the MWPL 2030 Plan, revealed October 27th.

This plan has been tabbed by the league as a “vision that will restructure the competition model” which will include a tiered system within each conference that will feature promotion and relegation, but with an amateur league twist. “I’m excited for our league and member clubs to put this new plan in place. We’re supporters of the regional league model and believe this is the best way to move forward,” MWPL Commissioner Patrick Hodgins said in the league statement.

John Hall, member of the MWPL’s Expansion Committee and current President of Dekalb County United explained that this has been in the minds of league leadership since 2020, before a boot struck a ball in league competition. “The question that seemed to come up in many of our early meetings was "what are we trying to be" as an organization. I introduced the concept to give us some guidelines for growth over the next 10 years, which at that point was a hope more than anything. Zach Fisher (AFC Columbia) took my initial plan and simplified it somewhat. This has been presented to league membership on a couple of occasions since 2021.”

Firstly, the MWPL will not be dragging clubs kicking and screaming into this plan. The clubs themselves will determine how the plan gets implemented in each conference. The current number of clubs in the Heartland and Great Lakes Conference will be most likely be to go first. “Ultimately the plan will not be forced on our conferences, so the risk is minimal. When we provide clubs with the power to make decisions and run this league, we are in a much stronger position for success. The 2030 Plan was different from other soccer options too. Most other leagues were just "expand as it makes sense" but the competition for all clubs, regardless of league size, was the same,” added Hall.

Not every MWPL club is on the same level as one another with gameday operations, facilities, marketing, or other facets that go into running an amateur operation. That is genuinely not a knock on any member club, it is just the reality at this level. In fact, one of the endearing qualities is the consistency of play throughout its existence. The league recognizes that and rather than put the spotlight on a handful of operations and letting the lesser squabble, the door of opportunity is being opened. “One thing we recognized early on in the MWPL was that no two clubs are the same. So, the programming we offer may need to be more than one size fits all so that it allows clubs of different structures and resources to find their level to be sustainable without expecting every club to conform to the Midwest Premier League's standards,” Hall said.

It would be fair to speculate how the tiered system within each conference could look, the possibilities are numerous. Will the conferences use the previous year’s point totals to determine the first structure, or will they play a season and then decide? Taking into account the different levels of investment into gameday operations, marketing, and attendance, would it make sense for the top tier to have those that run their clubs as close to a professional club as possible? Would it make sense to potentially give bonus points in the table as compensation for adhering to tier standards? Nothing has been officially decided by league members and the most optimistic outlooks tabs implementation by 2025 at the earliest. MWPL fans should be optimistic more than anything because of the thoroughness of how the 2030 Plan has been developed.

If you haven’t guessed it, this whole plan places the power in the hands of the clubs. You deserve a say in the direction that your club is going, don’t you? Sustainability is a pillar of the league and one it makes sure you know about right out of the gate. “My personal goal has always been to see clubs be successful, which means to simply exist. We know that in running any business, supporting current "customers" is critical and more efficient than focusing on expansion and growth for growth's sake,” Hall explained. “We don't operate because of expansion fees, in fact, there are none in MWPL. I believe the league's current leadership agrees that having clubs stay within our league structure long-term is better for consistency, rivalries, best practice sharing, and these are core values for our group as we are all partners first. So, if conferences move forward then I think we've created a place where clubs can create more stories, build through their own means, and have achievable goals to be sustainable.”

The league also spent time talking with the other regional leagues across the country and the Eastern Premier Soccer League was mentioned as one of the operations with which dialogue was shared. The EPSL began their promotion and relegation journey in 2020 after the Cosmopolitan Soccer League and the Maryland Major Soccer League created the multi-league system involving feeder leagues. Hall praised their efforts, “They've done a great job of working with city/state leagues as well so there are a lot of great resources we can reach out to as things are implemented.”

By the time you read this article, you can count on one hand the number of days the 2030 Plan has existed. The details of how each conference begins to implement the plan have yet to be determined. “Cost/standard reduction for lower tiers would obviously need to be reviewed by the board to make sure the MWPL remains financially strong, and that the league’s Operations Manual reflects any amended rules as well,” Hall said. However, you must to learn to walk before you can run. While promotion and relegation are exciting and polarizing, it shouldn’t be lost on anyone the 3030 Plan announcement included the possibilities of a League Cup, a fall or extended season beyond the league’s typical May-July timeframe, a Women’s Division, and a top tier. Eventual league decisions on all these matters will always be with an eye towards long-term sustainability because a candle that burns twice as bright, burns twice as long.

With this announcement, the MWPL continues to do its part in refusing to be stagnate. This is another step in showing those on the outside what a coalition is capable of when a single entity isn’t playing puppet master. “I believe that the step between a "local league" and something like the MWPL is very attractive already as we've seen with our growth in these past 3 years. If we can create a tier that is a bit easier to adjust to then I think clubs making the jump will have a greater chance to succeed on and off the field,” Hall continued. “So yes, we expect it to help create that pathway for newer clubs across our region...and let's face it, the league partner that a club chooses can make or break them long term. Our goal is to be the best possible partner for all clubs.”

The topic of promotion and relegation has, is, and will continue to be one of immense contention within the American soccer landscape. Voices from either side of the argument have tangible reasons as to why it can or can’t be implemented successfully. While the sheer size of the U.S. alone can be justifiable reasoning for detractors, limiting a pro/rel system to smaller individual regions could make it more viable. Successful implementation of this system by the MWPL could be a model for other leagues to follow…with patience and diligence.

- Rich Schenck