CHARLESTON, S.C. (Dec. 2, 2009) – The 2009-10 Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) regular season will continue Dec. 4-6, 2009, in College Station, Texas, with the ECNL Final Four Showcase. The event also marks the introduction of the ECNL Player Identification Program.

Held in cooperation with The IV ‘09 Girls’ College Cup Showcase, hosted by Challenge SC, the event also coincides with the NCAA Division I Women’s College Cup.

Thirty-two of the 40 ECNL member clubs (96 total teams) will participate in the event. A complete list can be viewed at the ECNL Final Four Showcase Web page. Attending clubs will bring a U-15, U-16 and U-17 team to Texas, with each squad playing one game on each of the event’s three days.

Veteran’s Park will serve as the headquarters facility, while Penberthy Intramural Sports Center and BRAC fields will also be used.

Designed to identify players with national team potential, the ECNL Player Identification Program focuses on the 1994 and 1995 birth years for the 2009-10 season and will expand to include additional age groups in 2010-11. Over 15 ECNL scouts will be in attendance at the ECNL Final Four Showcase.

Each scouted player will be rated on the technical, tactical, physical, and psychological traits exhibited during the game, and the ECNL scout assigned to the game will discuss the identified players with their club coaches for more detailed feedback. The ECNL will then combine this scouting information with the information from the identification forms completed by every ECNL head coach after each game to begin creating a player identification database that allows long-term tracking of those players that stand out as potential national team-level players.

Based upon the performances of players in the 1994 and 1995 birth year at the ECNL Final Four Showcase and the Disney Soccer Showcase, approximately 30 players will be invited into a new US Club Soccer id2 training camp in conjunction with the ECNL, Feb. 26-March 1, 2010, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. These identified players will be combined with approximately 30 players previously identified through US Club Soccer’s id2 program to create a 60-player camp that will be staffed by some of the nation’s top coaches and U.S. Soccer National Team staff. The ECNL will be paying all costs of the camp (except travel to and from the camp) for the approximately 30 invited ECNL players.

“The ECNL Final Four Showcase will undoubtedly be a great showing of the best girls’ soccer in the country,” said US Club Soccer Executive Director Bill Sage. “We’re also proud to work with the ECNL to increasingly improve the league’s identification and developmental offerings with the id2 training camp.”

“We are very excited about ECNL Final Four Showcase,” said ECNL President Christian Lavers. “This will be one of our largest events of the year and will be a great showcase of our league, clubs, teams and players. The introduction of the ECNL Player Identification Program makes this an even more important event. The ability to provide our players with the opportunity to be identified and advanced through our program is an exciting prospect.”

The ECNL Final Four Showcase is the second of five 2009-10 ECNL regular-season tournaments. Member clubs must select three of the five events to attend in advance of the 2009-10 ECNL National Championship, scheduled for July 15-18, 2010, in Seattle.

Eight clubs participated in the Chicago ECNL Showcase, Aug. 14-16, 2009, in what was the league’s inaugural event.

Those interested are also able to follow the action at the ECNL Final Four Showcase with daily updates and highlights at the ECNL Web site: http://www.eliteclubsnationalleague.com