EDP vs Non-EDP
The Elite Development Program (EDP), founded in 1999, is one of the largest organizers of youth soccer leagues and tournaments in the U.S. EDP operates youth leagues for boys and girls ages 8-19, conducts a Futures program for players ages 7-10, and operates U20/23 men’s and women’s leagues. EDP also runs over 20 tournaments each year. One of the major priorities of EDP’s leagues and tournaments through its Pathway to College™ programming is to enable youth soccer players to reach their full potential, with an emphasis on attending college. More than 5,000 teams participate in EDP’s leagues, and more than 170,000 players compete in EDP tournaments annually.
(https://www.edpsoccer.com/about)
One of the biggest misconceptions about EDP is that it the competition is always better than other regional leagues, this is not always the case. HSC plays in EDP, EDP Futures, and MOSA leagues. The reason that we don’t have all of our teams participate in EDP or EDP futures is because the competition and the cost do not always make sense. EDP costs more than MOSA to participate in and may be fewer league games.
Leagues
MOSA offers 10 league games in the Fall and Spring seasons while EDP only guarantees 8, but there can be up to 10. The EDP leagues also cost more to participate in versus MOSA. This is one reason that we start teams in MOSA instead of EDP. There are more opportunities to play games against like skilled teams. MOSA and EDP both have a relegation and promotion model. If a team excels against their competition, they can move up flights to play against stronger competition. If a team struggles, then they are moved down to play against less competitive teams.
The promotion and relegation model is the same one that is used in soccer leagues around the world. HSC believes that if your team has advanced up to the Premier flight in MOSA and wins consistently, then they should move into the EDP futures or EDP league so that they can continue to play stronger teams and develop their skills.
Tournaments
HSC’s standard is to have teams play in a minimum of one Fall and one Spring tournament. These tournaments are usually “non-strstricted” tournaments. A non-restricted tournament means that EDP and non-EDP teams can enter and play against each other. We have preferred these because it allows us to enter all of our teams in the same tournament which often comes with a club discount.
EDP has their own tournaments that are only available to teams that play in EDP or EDP futures leagues. While this may seem unfair, there are some advantages as they are better able to flight teams and have more competitive divisions at the tournament. EDP closed tournaments usually cost more than open tournaments.
Teams from HSC that participate in additional tournament, EDP and open, are asked to pay for them by either fundraising or but asking parents to pay extra. HSC does this so there is an equity between EDP and non-EDP teams.
Cups
The MOSA league runs an open cup in both the Fall and Spring. Standard HSC fees cover the cost for teams to enter this cup. The MOSA Curci Cup is open to teams in all flights, and they play in a single elimination tournament style with a single winner being crowned. EDP has their own cup tournament. EDP and non-EDP teams that are u-11 and older can participate in the NJ State Cup. The NJ State cup has three levels with the top-level feeding into the National Cup series (HSC has won the State Cup three times).
Conclusion
Hopefully this helps explain some of the differences in EDP vs non-EDP team participation. The goal at HSC is player development and offering a cost-effective way to participate in competitive travel soccer. If teams excel in their MOSA leagues, then they can advance to playing in EDP. This allows parents to understand that their kids are getting better and playing at a higher level can help them improve even more.
