Yesterday, the USL released its 2023 schedules for USL League Two and USL W League. Those leagues make up the part of the USL system referred to by the USL front office as “preprofessional.” Those preprofessional (or amateur) leagues have experienced incredible growth in the last two years. League Two is now over 120 member clubs, filling large portions of the domestic map from coast to coast. The W League, about to launch its second year, is now 65 clubs, up 21 from last season. Much like League Two, the women’s amateur league is making strides to fill the map, adding divisions in California and the Northwest this season. Clearly the preprofessional portion of the USL system is growing rapidly and scheduling so many teams is no quick task.

The process of creating a schedule for so many teams begins early, as you might guess. Joel Nash, the USL Vice President who oversees both preprofessional leagues, discussed the process in a recent interview with Protagonist Soccer. It’s a combination of “virtual scheduling, where we as a league work with a specific division. We get on a virtual conference call and work through that process.“ In some cases, “divisions where the footprint of membership is a little bit closer and they are able to do it in-person.” But while the divisions and the clubs are the primary drivers on the schedules, “the League is involved on every single scheduling aspect. But it's ultimately us trying to foster organization and equity.”

South Georgia Tormenta is the perfect example of a USL club.

That concept of equity is especially evident in one of the more interesting aspects of the two schedules released yesterday. From the W League press release, “As part of the USL’s commitment to its unique men’s and women’s pathways, 27 different W League clubs have at least one home doubleheader with their Championship, League One or League Two counterparts this season.” While the idea isn’t unheard of in lower league soccer, the USL’s stated commitment to unified support of both its women’s and men’s leagues is an exciting development in the game. That support is rooted in the league’s desire to build complete clubs.

In Nash’s interview, he talked about his concept of a club. “We're not just building teams. A team is what a coach and a sporting team do with the players in the roster. That's a team…A club has teams in leagues and there are women's soccer fans and men's soccer fans, but there are plenty that support both sides. There are people who also really want to support the CLUB.” The USL is hoping that “these doubleheaders can allow those fans to interact and also celebrate their independent support. We're really excited about these clubs that even have youth academies or youth clubs underneath them. On a weekend, you've got youth games throughout the day and maybe they're going off to dinner or they're going home, but then they're coming back out and there's a true kind of familial camaraderie there between the entire club. That's what we're really looking forward to.”

For Nash and the USL, the goal of creating clubs is a solid one and clearly shown in the league’s multiple avenues of play. The USL has two professional leagues, USL Championship and League One (and a coming third league, the women’s Super League), two preprofessional leagues, USL League Two and USL W League, and its rapidly developing Academy program. Giving equal focus to the leagues through unified scheduling encourages fans to celebrate the club’s players and teams, regardless of level. It’s an excellent idea and something more leagues should highlight in their scheduling.

- Dan Vaughn