The Girls ECNL was founded in 2009. The goal of this program is to strengthen the developmental experience for elite female soccer players in the United States through:

• Developing a player-centered programming model
• Fostering one of the most competitive environments in youth soccer, through national events and leagues with multiple flights
• Improving the process for identifying elite soccer players for the U.S. Soccer youth national teams through a systematic scouting and identification program based on national competitions.
• Improving the daily training environment for member clubs by providing best practices, and guidelines, while also giving each club freedom to decide what is best for their players