Illinois Youth Soccer started the State Premiership Division in Spring 2013 with support from our competitive member leagues. This exclusive competition was designed to give elite teams that are registered with Illinois Youth Soccer competitive member leagues (Illinois Women’s Soccer League (IWSL), Young Sportsmen’s Soccer League (YSSL), Central lllinois Youth Soccer League (CIYSL), St Louis Youth Soccer Association (SLYSA), and ILLOWA an opportunity to compete against the other top teams in the state.

In line with US Youth Soccer’s model for the Midwest Conference, the Illinois State Premiership will be adding a Girls Club vs Club Division starting Fall 2020. The Club v Club format will be in addition to the traditional teams based division of State Premiership I and State Premiership II.

In addition to the benefits the State Premiership currently offers teams, self-scheduling, club pass rostering, Cup seeding opportunities and marketing benefits, the Club v Club Division will provide participating clubs additional ease for scheduling and coaching assignments.  The formation of this new Girls division follows a continuing trend in the youth soccer landscape towards a club centric model.

The State Premiership Club v Club division will include up to 8 clubs staring in Fall 2020 and follow the same competition structure as State Premiership I and State Premiership II

Since its inception, the State Premiership division has boasted: 

• 284 Midwest Conference Teams
• 42 MWC Champions
• 1 US Youth Soccer National Champion
• 4 US Youth Soccer Regional Champion
• 13 State Cup Champions
• 20 State Cup Finalists,
• 28 State Cup Semifinalists
• 4 US Youth Soccer National Presidents Cup Champion
• 11 US Youth Soccer Midwest Presidents Cup Champions
• 22 Illinois Presidents Cup Champions

Benefits for teams that participate include:

• Self scheduling
• Games can count toward State Cup/MRL
• Top referees
• Club pass system
• Marketing & advertising benefits

Spring 2021 State Premiership Division Complete Details & Application

SPRING 2021 STATE PREMIERSHIP CHICAGOLAND DIVISIONS COMPLETE DETAILS & APPLICATION PROCESS

SPRING 2021 STATE PREMIERSHIP CENTRAL/SOUTH DIVISIONS COMPLETE DETAILS & APPLICATION PROCESS

RESOURCES

• State Premiership Rules (Updated rules coming soon)
  • Game play will follow the new Laws Of The Game. Click here for details on the new FIFA game play rules
• How To Enter Players Into Your GotSoccer Roster
• How To Print Your Gamecard

COMMON QUESTIONS:

What are the requirements to play State Premiership?
ANY team registered and in good standing with an Illinois Youth Soccer member competitive league can apply for the State Premiership. Team must complete the Premiership application and submit a resume for consideration for acceptance into the Premiership.

Beginning Fall 2020 the State Premiership will offer two competition models, team-based and club-based.

• The team-based competition will follow the same format as previous State Premiership seasons with two tiers of play (State Premiership I and State Premiership II) for 13U-19U teams
• The new club-based competition will follow a continuing trend in the youth soccer landscape towards a club centric model. This will offer clubs with high-level teams at the 14U-18U age group the opportunity to compete against similar skilled clubs, providing more ease of scheudling and coaching assignments

Where are games played?
All games are home team host. Illinois Youth Soccer gives each team a schedule with which games they are the home team.

What are the important dates for the Premiership?

• February 12: Applications Due
• February 17: Accepted Teams Notified
• February 22: $150 State Premiership Fee Due
• March 2: Schedules Release / Season Officially Starts
• April 26: Schedules Due
• July 2: Season concludes - all games must be played by

What are the playing rules?
State Premiership Rules (PDF) 

How are games scheduled?
Team schedule the game amongst themselves and a finalized schedule must be submitted to Illinois Youth Soccer by the schedule by deadline. Teams are allowed to reschedule games as need be, following a specific protocol.

Where do I find team contacts?
If you click on the schedule page for your age group, on the upper right just underneath the blue bar that runs across the top of the page, you will see CONTACTS. Click there to see the team contacts for each team

What are the Premiership fees?
The State Premiership fee is $150 along with $80 per game for referees. Teams are also required to register with and pay the registration and insurance fees with one of our five member competitive leagues: CIYSL, ILLOWA, IWSL, SISL or YSSL.

In previous season, teams had paid their $150 State Premiership fee to the member competive league along with their league registration fee but starting Fall 2020 that has changed.

At the time of registration teams will be required to enter a credit card for the $150 fee, that fee will NOT be charged and teams have until July 20 to submit a check payment to:

IYSA 
1655 S. Arlington Heights Rd
Suite 201
Arlington Heights, IL 60005

Teams are required to pay the officials at the field prior to each match

Any fees the team incures for field usage or rental is paid by the home team.

How does promotion and relegation work?
Team Based State Premiership Division

• State Premiership I: The top 6 teams in the State Premiership I retain their spots for the following season. The top 2 teams from the State Premiership II are promoted to State Premiership I.
• State Premiership II: The top two teams from the IWSL A & YSSL 1^st Division earn an automatic promotion into State Premiership II.  All other spots in State Premiership II are filled based on team applications.

 Club v Club Division

• Club v Club: Based on the Club v Club point system, the top 6 teams retain their spot for the following season. Two new clubs will be added based on applications from clubs that are registered to Illinois Youth Soccer member competitive league (CIYSL, IWSL, ILLOWA, SLYSA & YSSL).

How many games do we play?
Team usually play a 7 game schedule, but that may vary should the size of the division increase or decrease from eight teams.

We play a lot of games, can we count Premiership games as 2-for-1 with MRL, State Cup or Presidents Cup games?
Yes, as long as both teams agree. The rules for MWC or Cups should be used for those matches

What if we play another Premiership team in a non-Illinois Youth Soccer tournament. Can we double count that game?
Yes, as long as both teams agree and the tournament is sanctioned by Illinois Youth Soccer or a US Youth Soccer state association.

What if my team is not accepted into the Premiership?
Teams not selected for Premiership, play in the Illinois Youth Soccer member competitive league they registered with