Taken from USLSoccer.com
United Soccer Leagues announced today the preliminary Super Y-League First and Second 11 Club rankings for the 2007 season, recognizing the league’s top competitive and administrative clubs. Northern Virginia FC earned the number eleven spot on the First 11 Club ranking, distinguishing the Royals and Majestics program as the eleventh best Super Y-League club in North America.
The release of the list precedes the upcoming SYL North American Finals, where 21 of the clubs in the rankings will be competing for the 10 championships up for grabs November 16-20. The U14 Royals, U17 Royals, U16 Royals, and U16 Majestics all have previously qualified for the championship tournament and the chance at a North American title.
Northern Virginia Football Club, comprised of both the Northern Virginia Royals (male) and Northern Virginia Majestics (female) USL teams, is represented by the club record of both thirty-six players in SYL ODP Camp pool and four teams in the 2007 North American Finals. On the individual boys and girls Super Y-League First and Second Club rankings, the Royals finished twentieth overall and the Majestics earned the fifteenth spot on the continent.
The Super Y-League launched a new club ranking system in 2005 with the top clubs ranked from 1-22 and separated into the First and Second 11. With the extensive growth of the second-year USL Super-20 League, the 2007 rankings also include a club’s performance in the new league. This system publicizes the top 22 clubs in both the boys and girls categories as well as overall. The rankings are based primarily upon the on-field results - winning percentage accounting for 70 percent of the score. Minimum standards and operations complete the other 30 percent.
“The criteria used to rank these clubs is basic yet essential to the Super Y-League’s philosophy of providing a professionalized atmosphere for the top youth players in North America,” said USL Super Y-League and Super -20 League Director of Operations Melanie Fitzgerald. “United Soccer Leagues wanted a way to salute those clubs who consistently succeed not only on the field but off the field as well.”
Twenty-one of the top 22 clubs in the Overall First and Second 11 tables will be sending representatives to Tampa for the SYL North American Finals November 16-20. Regarded as the top youth soccer event in North America, it is a five-day tournament that includes over 130 of the best youth soccer teams in the US and Canada from U13 to U17 for boys and girls. Teams will qualify from their respective regions and will face the best from around North America in a quest to become league champions.
The event will include over 5,000 players, parents and spectators. The 2006 finals featured teams from Vancouver to Miami with teams representing some of the top professional clubs in the nation such as Major League Soccer’s DC United and Red Bull New York. This year’s event will begin on Thursday, November 15th with the first day of matches being played on Friday, November 16th. Championship matches are scheduled for Tuesday, November 20th.
