MLS Next 2 offers the most college exposure for elite youth soccer players, but visibility drops sharply in lower leagues unless you hit major showcases like Jefferson Cup or Dallas Cup. Pick camps based on your league tier and class year: elite camps for MLS Next players, MassID for sophomores, Division I/III programs for lower tiers.
What's the deal with this new MLS Next 2 league? And where does it fit in the entire pyramid? So let's do an entire pyramid video real quick, and at the very end I'll explain how you're going to play college soccer based off this pyramid and even what camps you should probably go to. So on the boys' side, we're going to start— MLS Next is the top, then ECNL is second. Now after those two, it becomes a little bit of a debate. You have ECNL RO, which is very good. You have MLS Next 2, which is very good. You have NAL, and you have Boys Elite Academy. All of which are very good. In regards to the level of those leagues, they're all very similar, but it's exposure. And as of right now, MLS Next 2 might be taking the bag of exposure because they're saying they're going to be going to MLS Next Fest and FLEX events. So that would mean it would be a little bit above the Easton RL, Boys Lead Academy, and NAL. Now NAL and Boys Lead Academy are kind of affiliated with MLS Next 2, so that could be like an avenue for you depending on which club you're in. Easton RL does still have showcases and playoffs and whatnot. So it's still also very good and Division 3 and Division 2 are very realistic. Then below that you have things like USU Soccer, EDP, E64, DPL, NPL. With those levels, there's very little exposure at the showcases unless you go to like Jefferson Cup or Las Vegas Cup and you're an exception to the rule or Dallas Cup, then you might have the opportunity to have exposure. Now the question is which camp should you go to based on what level you're at? Assuming you want to play at the highest level. So if you're playing MLS Next or ECNL, what I would have you do is go to camps that are individual camps if you are a junior or a senior. If you're a sophomore, I would go to MassID camps. And if you have great grades, I would aim for the top academic camps, Division I or top academic Division III individual schools as well, because you're playing at such a high level. If you're playing one level below that, I would not be going to the Clemsons of the world. It's not realistic. It's a waste of your time. Instead, you should be going to slightly smaller Division I programs or Division III programs. In the tier 2 list of Division 3s, or even the tier 1 list—NYU, Carnegie Mellon, those types—but you have to have very good grades still. If you'd like to know the list of camps in your state, comment the initials of your state, for example, IN for Indiana, and then one word, INcamps. And on my Instagram, you'll get an entire list of every single camp in your state. If you comment the word quiz, you'll be given a quiz about which camps you should do. If you want more help, give me a call. Links in the bio. Talk to you soon. Goodbye. Give me a call. I'd love to see your video, and that's really how I can determine which camps you should go to.
