ECNL Girls Join New Frontier Conference

FC Wichita joins other regional clubs, creating a more competitive 16 game league with better travel for all teams.

The ECNL announced a wave of promotions today, with additions across the country for the 2024-25 season, as well as the creation and rebranding of a number of Regional Leagues. With this movement, FC Wichita decided to take an opportunity to join a newly formed conference for the upcoming season. 

The ECNL Regional League - Frontier will be the new conference beginning in the fall of 2024, including clubs from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.  Some of these clubs are new while others are bringing their girls programs into the platform after already participating in the Boys ECNL.  Collectively, the combination creates a more competitive 16 game league with better travel for all teams.

FC Wichita will move from the ECNL Regional League - Heartland, while Tulsa and West Side Alliance (OK) will move from the ECNL Regional League - North Texas. The three clubs will be joined by Arkansas Comets, Blitz Academy, Northeast Oklahoma FC, Oklahoma Cosmos, and Sporting Springfield (MO).

From a club perspective FC Wichita's leadership team is pleased with the structure which will see the girls playing 8 home and 8 away games inside the new league table, in addition to out of conference showcases and friendlies. 

"We're excited the ECNL is in a place to offer this change," says FC Wichita ECNL Director, Blake Shumaker. 

"The new structure gives our club all the assurances we could wanted, it also guarantees our players 8 league home games and ultimately cuts travel requirements for the families by more than half. Our goal is to use the travel time we've saved to provide our players with up to 16 competitive local games." 

On the League level, this growth further solidifies the national footprint with more quality clubs across the country that increase the competitive quality and depth and presence in multiple new markets to provide opportunity for more players. 

The additions announced today bring the number of ECNL Regional Leagues across the country to 20 girls leagues, and put many of the final touches on the overall ECNL pyramid and pathway.  In the 2024-2025 season, the League platform will include nine different regular season events for college showcasing, as well as a Playoff event in every region for top teams chasing a berth in the National Finals.