Zev Taublieb breaks down Girls Elite Academy for college soccer: 77% of college players come from ECNL, 15% from GA. GA can produce Division I athletes, but players compete against ECNL teams for exposure. Showcase events like Champions Cup matter, and MLS Next recently added GA to its umbrella.
Is Girls Elite Academy good enough to play college soccer? Absolutely. About 15% of the girls that play college soccer all come from Elite Academy. Now that other 77% is coming from ECNL, and then the other percentage is from other leagues and nuanced situations. But your Girls Elite Academy is definitely good enough for Division 1, definitely good enough for Division 2, and definitely good enough for Division 3. And good enough also means there's exposure rate that will allow you to play at those levels. But you do need to know you're still competing with ECNL teams. Now if you're the best GA team, that's a big fish little pond concept, meaning you may be the best one in your pond, which would be better than being in ECNL where you're just a small fish in a big pond. Navigating that is part of my job with you, but also know you must go to Champions Cup-like events, and MLS Next just put you under their umbrella, which might mean more opportunities for you, but not for a while. That really might help on the boys' side, but since there's no MLS Next or NWSL affiliations with Girls Lead Academy is not going to make the world of a difference for you yet, but over time it could. So if you are a freshman, sophomore, junior playing in Girls Lead Academy— seniors, it's too late for the most part— but if you're playing Girls Lead Academy, you can definitely still play college soccer. If you want a list of ECNL teams in your state, comment the word "state" and I will send you a list. If you want to play college soccer at the highest level, give me a call. Links in the bio.
