Nebraska State Soccer (NSS) is excited to announce that three state leagues will be moving to a more unified structure for league play starting this spring.  Eastern Nebraska Soccer Association (ENSA) and Nebraska League (NL) will be merging into the new Nebraska Youth Soccer League (NYSL).  The focus of the new league will be on offering multiple levels of play while providing the administrative resources to member clubs so that they can provide their teams with the best possible playing experiences.   By merging, the former leagues will now be able to better share resources as one, instead of competing for them.  

Bringing together resources, NYSL will be able to provide a pathway for teams to move up or down according to their desires and abilities and still get the best games possible.  The merger creates one league with close to 800 teams and nearly 12,000 players. Clubs and parents will now have one place to go for information, communication and questions.  By joining forces, NYSL will also be able to partner closely with the Nebraska Referee Development Program (NRDP) to institute a more supportive and defined pathway for referees.

The new league will allow NSS and membership to work towards a more complete focus on Levels of Play and move away from confusing and outdated definitions of play.  NSS released a Levels of Play document as an educational piece to membership earlier in 2019.  The idea behind the Levels introduction was prompted by the confusion many teams faced when defining themselves.  Terms like competitive, classic, recreational and select often did not help teams find and be placed in the most appropriate levels of play.  By focusing on both the intentions of teams, i.e. serious year-round travel, seasonal but competitive, and just-for-fun, and the competitive level of the team, the Levels of Play allow all membership to embrace a new dialogue and a clearer pathway as NYSL develops.