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Breaking the Line returns to the airwaves for Episode 130 with a Thanksgiving flair. 

ECNL President Christian Lavers and ECNL Vice President Doug Bracken tackle a hot topic within soccer circles, one that will be moving to the forefront ahead of the World Cup and beyond: playing formats and player development. 

Bracken asks a simple question: how much does playing format dictate player development? The answer: a great deal. 

The BTL crew dives into the topic, examining what the current playing formats are in US Soccer, and how that compares to countries such as England, Spain and Germany. They ask how the US can improve, and what they think is the right way to move forward. Lavers also brings to the table a study that examined this very issue, and how smaller sided games lead to more development across the board. 

The episode closes out with a very special Bracken Brain Buster, where the whole team shares what they're thankful for this Thanksgiving season. And Breaking the Line would like to thank all of our loyal listeners, because without you, we wouldn't be able to do any of this!

As always, make sure to submit any questions to https://ecnl.info/BTL-Questions, to subscribe to Breaking the Line on YouTube, and to follow the ECNL on all social channels.

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Breaking the Line has gone international!

After the historic announcement of the ECNL International Tournament, Powered by Coaches' Voice and in association with Everton International Academy, ECNL President Christian Lavers and ECNL Vice President Doug Bracken sit down with EIA's Mark Thompson, one of the major players in the creation and implementation of the International Tournament. 

In Episode 129, Thompson discusses his playing and coaching career, including stops in both the United States and United Kingdom, and dives into Everton International Academy's role in facilitating and ultimately hosting the International Tournament. This leads to a broader discussion about the talent levels of youth soccer in both countries, the factors that lead to that, and how the sport can grow on both sides of the pond. The episode then closes out with a great Bracken Brain Buster regarding the best soccer match each person has attended in person. 

As always, make sure to submit any questions to https://ecnl.info/BTL-Questions, to subscribe to Breaking the Line on YouTube, and to follow the ECNL on all social channels.

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Breaking The Line returns for Episode 128 with ECNL President Christian Lavers and ECNL Vice President Doug Bracken getting inspiration for this week’s topic from breaking news on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. 

Hearing news of LSU firing football coach Brian Kelly and Nottingham Forest sacking manager Ange Postecoglou, the Breaking the Line crew asks the question: what is the average life span of a coach in the United States, and in soccer globally. 

The answers may surprise you. 

Lavers and Bracken then discuss if the same factors apply to youth coaches, and how can clubs evaluate their coaches, and when is it the right time to change coaches? And what role does coaching methodology play into both player and coaching development?

As always, make sure to submit any questions to https://ecnl.info/BTL-Questions, to subscribe to Breaking the Line on YouTube, and to follow the ECNL on all social channels.

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This week's edition of Breaking the Line features a hot topic across the soccer landscape and the sports world as a whole: the economics of sport, and youth sport in particular. 

ECNL President Christian Lavers and ECNL Vice President Doug Bracken dive into this nuanced topic, discussing the current economic model of youth sports and the reasons behind it, the emerging role of private equity and big business in the youth sport space, and what all this means for clubs, leagues, parents and players.

Throughout this hour-long conversation, the conversation weaves between how these economic factors affect the youth sports experience, where soccer falls in the broader youth sports landscape, and how the ECNL balances soccer and business decisions.

As always, make sure to submit any questions to https://ecnl.info/BTL-Questions, to subscribe to Breaking the Line on YouTube, and to follow the ECNL on all social channels.

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The Breaking the Line team has returned for another player-focused episode, this time discussing player development. 

ECNL Vice President kicks off the conversation with a thought-provoking question: if you were building an ECNL club from scratch today, where would you start?

With that as the starting point, he and ECNL President Christian Lavers weave their way through all the different aspects of player development: coaching, training, club roles, where does a league fit in to player development, player growth and more. 

Throughout the discussion, the pair give advice to all different parties, sharing their dos and don’ts, and define what growth and player development looks like at different age groups. 

The episode closes out with the same question posed at the beginning, but does their answers change? Listen to find out. 

If YOU were starting an ECNL club from scratch today, what would be your first move? Let us know on social media or in the comments. 

As always, make sure to submit any questions to https://ecnl.info/BTL-Questions, to subscribe to Breaking the Line on YouTube, and to follow the ECNL on all social channels. 

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It's a very special episode of Breaking the Line, as the podcast celebrates its 125th episode!

After an invigorating discussion about navigating birth years and skill levels within youth soccer, ECNL President Christian Lavers and ECNL Vice President Doug Bracken continue the conversation with a parent email regarding how to properly handle when an athlete has the skill to compete at a higher level, but not necessarily the physical attributes to do so. 

This question, paired with some realizations from Ep. 124, leads to the meat of this week's episode: the parent-player-coach dynamic. 

The Breaking the Line team dives into the relationship from all three parties, and discusses the roles and responsibilities of each side of the dynamic, and how to ensure everyone is copacetic and have positive relationships and interactions throughout an athlete's journey. 

As always, make sure to submit any questions to https://ecnl.info/BTL-Questions, to subscribe to Breaking the Line on YouTube, and to follow the ECNL on all social channels. 

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After a quick Labor Day pause, the Breaking the Line team returns to your airwaves. Fall is in the air, the kids are back at school and the 2025-26 soccer season is ready to kick off. 

This week, ECNL President Christian Lavers and ECNL Vice President Doug Bracken discuss two topics that were submitted by Breaking the Line listeners. First up was a question about a topic that has been discussed at length on the podcast: birth year vs. school year. This episodes, the pair examine how clubs are going to navigate the shift beginning in 2026, and more importantly, the distinction that not every player will automatically stay with their birth year or their school year, and that there are a multitude of factors players, parents and coaches need to examine when determining which team these players born from Aug. 1 - Dec. 31 will play on. 

The second segment of the show follows a similar through process, which is how, as a parent, do you know when your player has outgrown his current team environment? Once again, it's a gray area, but Lavers and Bracken go through their ideas of what development looks like at different age groups, what are good determiners of development, and more. 

It's a fantastic episode that every soccer parent will want to listen to, and the BTL crew even gives a teaser for episode 125. 

As always, make sure to submit any questions to https://ecnl.info/BTL-Questions, to subscribe to Breaking the Line on YouTube, and to follow the ECNL on all social channels. 

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Breaking the Line, the ECNL Podcast, welcomes newly-hired Pre-ECNL Commissioners Bobby Reiss and Ruairi McGuinness to the airwaves for a riveting discussion surrounding the ECNL’s entry into Zone 1: the Pre-ECNL. 

ECNL President Christian Lavers sits down with Reiss and Ruari to dive into exactly what the Pre-ECNL is, what the ECNL has for the Pre-ECNL platform this upcoming season, how the ECNL plans to balance atheltes’ desire to win with the need for development, especially in Zone 1, and so much more. 

As always, make sure to submit any questions to https://ecnl.info/BTL-Questions, to subscribe to Breaking the Line on YouTube, and to follow the ECNL on all social channels. 

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Fresh off the ECNL National Playoffs and Finals, and a live podcast recording, Breaking the Line returns to the airwaves with its newest episode featuring a very special guest, US Club Soccer’s Technical Director Ross Paule. 

Paule joins ECNL President Christian Lavers and ECNL Vice President Doug Bracken to discuss an ambitions new initiative from US Club Soccer: expanding the id2 program to multiple age groups in hopes of continuing to bolster the United States’ youth soccer scouting network and player pool. 

The Breaking the Line team discusses exactly what the id2 expansion looks like, and what role the newly announced ECNL U14 Spotlight Games play in the overall youth soccer talent search in the younger age groups. Paule also gives insight on how US Club Soccer and US Soccer work together to expand the pool, and how each organization is handling the increased scouting network. 

It’s a fantastic episode examining how the US can get better at soccer development, and how that development can translate into youth and senior national team success. 

As always, make sure to submit any questions to https://ecnl.info/BTL-Questions, to subscribe to Breaking the Line on YouTube, and to follow the ECNL on all social channels. 

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Filmed LIVE on Day 1 of the ECNL Boys National Playoffs in Redmond, Washington, the Breaking the Line team sits down right on the fields to discuss all things ECNL Playoffs. 

ECNL President Christian Lavers and ECNL Vice President Doug Bracken are joined by ECNL Boys Commissioner Jason Kutney to give insights about everything surrounding the ECNL Boys Playoffs: how many teams get in, the formatting, why there's only Champions League for most age groups, how college scouts fit into the equation, and much more. 

The BTL Crew also has a conversation about how you cannot decouple winning from player development, and how that concept translates across all levels of soccer, not just youth soccer. 

Breaking the Line producer Jacob Born dives into the mailbag and the team answers questions submitted from listeners and the Bracken Brain Buster has the guys remembering their favorite ECNL moments. 

It's a jam-packed episode from the best event on the youth soccer calendar. 

As always, make sure to submit any questions to https://ecnl.info/BTL-Questions, to subscribe to Breaking the Line on YouTube, and to follow the ECNL on all social channels.