(East Brunswick, NJ; March 31, 2022) —The Elite Development Program (EDP Soccer) has expanded its EDP Pathway to College™ programming through a series of partnerships with video and student athlete profile service providers that connect college coaches with the talented youth soccer players in its leagues and tournaments. These services will now be included for those teams participating in EDP Soccer’s leagues and popular Showcase tournaments.
“EDP Soccer is committed to providing its players and their parents with as many opportunities as possible through our Pathway to College™ programming. The growing suite of services we provide facilitates high school student athletes in finding the best higher education opportunities,” said Steve Shilling, founder and CEO of EDP Soccer.
EDP Soccer President Alan Shilling added: “This innovative platform enhances our youth soccer community through unmatched recruiting experiences for athletes, clubs, and college coaches, resulting in more exposure and opportunity for prospective student-athletes.”
The recruiting arm of the EDP Pathway to College is the foundation of the program. At its core are three key areas – 1) game film capture, 2) event-based evaluation and 3) recruiting and video analysis. EDP Soccer showcase tournaments offer a prime environment to see all these elements come together, and these partnerships enhance the capabilities EDP Soccer can provide.
EDP Soccer’s new Pathway to College™ partnerships include:
Next Level Video --- EDP Soccer is continuing its partnership with Next Level Video (NLV) as the official video provider of game film for EDP showcases. Games for all genders, all ages and all brackets will be filmed in high definition using the latest AI camera technology. This new, complimentary capture model offered by EDP Soccer delivers access for every showcase participant to use game film to enhance their journey and increase connections. High quality video is critical to the recruiting process and the footage sharing program based on NLV’s services will not only extend EDP Soccer recruiting events for college-bound players, but also deliver player development opportunities for club coaches. College coaches registered and in attendance at EDP Soccer showcases will also have complimentary access to all game film. In addition, NLV will offer highlight reel editing services that recap key moments, helping players display their skills to further engage scouts. NLV’s capture processes and operations seamlessly integrate with the SportsRecruits/EventBeacon and Spiideo platforms. SportsRecruits / EventBeacon --- EDP Soccer has teamed up with SportsRecruits as the official recruiting technology partner to enhance both players and college coaches recruiting experience. SportsRecruits provides free profiles where players can detail their academic, athletic, and personal information for the college coaches in attendance. Players and parents can utilize the school search to research every college program in the country, build and organize a list of favorite schools, and utilize the built-in video editor to create their own highlight reels. Their digital system will provide each college coach in attendance with all athletes’ relevant athletic and academic information. EDP Soccer will power its events with the EventBeacon app, a product created by SportsRecruits, to provide coaches instant access to digital player profiles, athlete information, and game schedules. In EventBeacon coaches can build a strategic schedule, evaluate athletes, take notes, and export it all to their recruiting software of choice. Following each recruiting event, EDP Soccer will host all full game film on EventBeacon On-Demand for college coaches to watch anytime, anywhere. EventBeacon On-Demand is a virtual recruiting experience for college coaches that delivers game film directly within the SportsRecruits platform. All of these tools are completely free of cost to coaches who attend EDP Showcases. Spiideo --- EDP Soccer has partnered with Spiideo to bring EDP Soccer clubs and teams world-class video analysis and provide live-streaming tools to their coaches, players, and parents. All game film from EDP Soccer showcases will be accessible through Spiideo, EDP Soccer’s official video analysis and exchange partner platform. Any college coaches and clubs that participate in EDP Soccer leagues and tournaments can also register for free access to the EDP Soccer video exchange hosted by Spiideo. Teams playing at EDP Soccer showcases will also receive a free 1-month trial of the Spiideo Perform platform, allowing access to use some of its powerful editing and analysis tools. Spiideo systems are currently used by top youth academies, amateur, and pro clubs around the world to improve strategy and gain a competitive advantage by making real-time tactical adjustments. They offer both stationary and mobile AI cameras that deliver easy-to-use, accessible, and innovative video recording and analysis solutions for practices and games. The industry-leading, cloud-based Spiideo Perform software delivers advanced editing and video analysis tools such as instant replays, camera angles, notations and tagging, drawing and adding graphics, sharing to social media, and creating player moments and highlight reels. The system also delivers data and statistics through automated live tagging, player tracking, and game breakdown. EDP Soccer clubs that sign up for an advanced Spiideo Perform club subscription will receive a free automated Spiideo camera system. In addition, the Spiideo Play platform offers incredible streaming solutions where EDP Soccer and its clubs can broadcast their games to connect with their families and remote fans. “This partnership moves EDP Soccer events ahead of the curve by preparing EDP Soccer to explore offering live streaming of its competitions in the future,” said Andy Roderick, Director of Business Development at EDP Soccer. He added: “This is an ongoing evolution of our services and the EDP Pathway to College program. We will continue to look for additional leading industry brands and partners to support our clubs and their student athletes to grow, develop, and prepare for the future. EDP Soccer believes in doing everything they can to support and facilitate connections between colleges and universities, and its family of youth soccer players, their parents, and their clubs.” EDP Soccer’s Pathway to College also includes an expansive series of showcase tournaments each year where top youth teams fielding 15U-19U players compete in front of hundreds of college coaches scouting for prospective student-athletes. In the East Region, EDP Soccer manages the US Youth Soccer Conferences, which attract scouting visits by college coaches as well as play in opportunities into the US Youth Soccer National League, the highest competitive level in the US Youth Soccer developmental system.
EDP Soccer regularly distributes a variety of informational materials to college coaches, including league and tournament updates, a newsletter for college coaches, and a college section on its website featuring college commitments and youth players competing in EDP leagues and tournaments.
Additionally, the EDP Foundation educates clubs, parents, and players on the recruiting process and the value of continuing education after high school through programs such a College Nights for EDP Soccer clubs, League Games on Campus, EDP Showcase Advisory Sessions, and Academic Scholarships.
“Overall, EDP Soccer’s existing initiatives and these new partnerships continue to expand the EDP Pathway to College™ program as an added benefit to all that participate in EDP Soccer leagues and tournaments,” Roderick said. “By combining forces with Next Level Video, SportsRecruits/EventBeacon, and Spiideo, EDP Soccer aims to foster more opportunities for athletes to compete at the next level and continue their academic careers.”
John Peruso, CEO of Next Level Video, added, "At NLV we strive to consistently work with top tier event providers. We have worked with EDP Soccer for several years and could not be more impressed with their consistent high level of execution and we are proud to continue to partner with them. Game film has become essential to soccer; the addition of automatically providing game film to every athlete in the EDP Soccer event portfolio is just another example of the forward-thinking agenda of our partnership. We are excited to take this working relationship to the next level!"
“Our mission has always been to use technology to empower student-athletes as they navigate the recruiting process,” said Chris Meade, Co-CEO of SportsRecruits. “EDP Soccer represents an organization that is committed to helping student-athletes reach their full academic and athletic potential, and this partnership will give student-athletes participating in EDP Showcases the tools they need to do just that.”
Matthew Delicâte, Director of Sales - North America of Spiideo, concluded, "Our partnership with EDP Soccer is the next step in creating a unique video ecosystem from youth to pro in North America. With most professional and college teams already living in the Spiideo platform, EDP Soccer members will be able to leverage the powerful combination of Spiideo Perform and Spiideo Play. Spiideo has emerged as a leading player development tool in elite soccer, our partnership with EDP Soccer aligns with their goal of developing athletes and preparing them for the future."
About EDP Soccer Founded in 1999, Elite Development Program (EDP) is one of the largest organizers of youth soccer leagues and tournaments in the U.S. EDP Soccer operates youth leagues for boys and girls ages 9-19, conducts a Futures program for players ages 7-11, operates U20/23 men’s and women’s leagues, and manages multiple conferences of the US Youth Soccer National League. EDP Soccer also manages more than 25 tournaments each year. One of the major priorities of EDP Soccer’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 4,500 teams participate in EDP Soccer leagues, and more than 170,000 players compete in EDP Soccer tournaments annually. For more information about EDP soccer, please visit www.edpsoccer.com. About Next Level Video Next Level Video (NLV) is a best-in-class digital service provider for large scale youth tournaments across the country. By filming every game on every field, and offering individual player highlight reels, NLV has established itself as an industry leader in youth sports media. More information can be found at www.nlvproductions.com. About SportsRecruits / EventBeacon SportsRecruits is the leading sports recruiting network, connecting athletes, clubs, events, and college coaches in the recruiting process. The company’s network and tools are trusted by sports organizations such as the IWLCA, IMLCA, and Junior Volleyball Association. Every year, millions of connections are made on the network, resulting in commitments to the best academic and athletic institutions. To learn more about SportsRecruits and EventBeacon, visit www.sportsrecruits.com or www.eventbeacon.com. About Spiideo Spiideo delivers astonishingly simple, powerful, and innovative solutions to the global sports community that shape the future of sports video production, analysis, and consumption. Spiideo’s fixed and mobile camera systems for both indoor and outdoor sports, feature automatic recording, AutoFollow, and virtual panorama technology that integrates directly with both Spiideo Perform and Spiideo Play. By living in Spiideo, sports organizations and media-rights holders are able to eliminate manual filming processes, analyze the performance in a single platform, share footage from the cloud, and automate streaming. More than 2,000 organizations are currently using Spiideo, including teams in the Premier League, NHL, Serie A, MLS, NBA, Ligue 1, NCAA, and Bundesliga. Spiideo’s solution is also used by customers such as the MLS NEXT PRO, USL, NWSL, SEC, Sweden’s Allsvenskan, Iceland’s Pepsi Max League, Denmark’s Metal Ligaen, and various media-rights holders throughout both Europe and North America. Spiideo was founded in Malmö, in the south of Sweden, in 2012. Since then, the company has expanded and now has international offices in the UK, US, China, & Germany. To learn more about Spiideo, visit www.spiideo.com.