In 2020, Major League Soccer formed MLS NEXT: a “new elite youth competition platform intended to provide year-round high-level matches” for academies.
The youth league boasts teams from Under 13 to Under 19 to carefully guide players into the next stages of professional football. Today, the program manages 133 clubs, 590 teams, 11,000+ players across the U.S. and Canada and features over 90% of the current youth national team player pools.
But in the early 2000’s the league looked completely different. U.S. Soccer originally ran the program as the U.S. Soccer Development Academy before Major League Soccer took over in 2007 to completely revolutionize the experience.
"MLS NEXT will transform the way players learn and grow. Taking youth soccer to the next level. The future starts here. MLS NEXT provides the best player development experience in North America," said the league.
"Founded on a collaborative approach to governance and a commitment to innovation, MLS NEXT players have access to the highest levels of competition and to training to prepare them for their futures, both in soccer and in life."
To encourage the path to professional football, MLS created another program to work as a buffer between a youth academy and senior team: MLS NEXT Pro. Launched in 2022 by the American league, MLS NEXT Pro stands as a professional men’s soccer league in the United States and Canada that completes the pro player pathway.
The league contains 27 teams, all affiliated with MLS clubs like Atlanta United 2, Austin FC II, Crown Legacy FC (Charlotte FC), Huntsville City FC (Nashville SC), LA Galaxy II, Los Angeles Football Club 2 and New York Red Bulls II. Young MLS NEXT players use the Pro league as a stepping stone to a senior team, developing the necessary skills to make it on the world’s biggest stages.
Players with an MLS NEXT Pro affiliate team can be signed to an MLS side on short notice, promoting the league’s intention to create a pathway to professional football. As players make their way from MLS NEXT, to MLS NEXT Pro and finally to Major League Soccer, the bridge between the three programs strengthens.
And the pathway is working. MLS has seen success stories like the one of Real Salt Lake player Axel Kei, who made history by becoming the youngest-ever player to make a professional appearance in American team sports.
After working his way through MLS NEXT, scoring in the Under 15 Cup playoffs to win the Golden Boot and draw attention, he went on to sign with RSL’s second team the Real Monarchs.
Several players are bound to follow in his footsteps, as Vice President of player development Fred Lipka boasts.
“I think we cracked the code with a lot of humility in saying now we are able to develop players exactly like Mexico, Argentina, Brazil. And we don't have to be shy, we have to be proud, we have to be proactive, we have to look forward,” Lipka said.
"Nothing is done, but we don't have to be shy because our players are very good.”
This article was originally published on 90min as The history of MLS NEXT .