Premier Soccer

Connecticut's Premier League was established to provide the most skilled and committed soccer player with a truly intensive experience of practice and play.  Most Premier teams have two or three practices weekly.  They play in a state-wide league administered by the Connecticut Junior Soccer Association ("CJSA"), which places Premier teams in one of two divisions based on wins in the previous year.  Any team not qualifying for one of the two premier divisions enters a league called the Premier Qualifying League.

Premier teams currently start at U-12 and continue though U-19.  The age divisions are the same as in Travel. Teams are sponsored either by Premier Clubs, Town Clubs (which are primarily Travel and Town League-oriented), or a hybrid of the two (such as Western United Extreme). Whereas Travel team players primarily come from one town, Premier teams typically recruit from many towns.

Premier teams usually do not guarantee minimum playing time for each player.  Premier League and State Cup matches are held throughout the state.  Just like Travel, Premier has a fall and spring season, but most Premier teams also require a commitment to indoor winter practices and tournaments.  At U-15 and above, Premier play, like Travel, succumbs in the fall to the CIAC (i.e., scholastic) prohibition against club play during the high school soccer season.  CJSA rules leaves it up to each town club to determine whether to permit a child to play on its Travel or Town league team as well as on a Premier team.

Most premier clubs sponsor “academies” or “developmental teams” for players U-11 and younger. Although these groups do not compete in CJSA-sanctioned leagues, the development program permits the Premier club to both build skills in young players and have a group of players from which to eventually establish their premier teams. These developmental teams are structured and scheduled to serve as supplements to Travel team programs, rather than as alternative or conflicting programs.

Try-outs for Premier League teams are held in late June and early July each year.  The tryouts are open -- any player (including a player from out-of-state) may try out.