TL;DR: Washington has 25 clubs in ClubScout's database with confirmed league affiliations, and 20 of them hold a place in a top national league. Two numbers explain the state. First: Girls Academy is the dominant girls pathway here, with 10 clubs against 4 in ECNL Girls — the reverse of almost every state we've covered. Second: 14 of the 25 sit in the Puget Sound corridor between Mount Vernon and Tacoma, and the six Eastern Washington clubs are separated from them by a mountain range, not a commute. If you live in Seattle, Bellevue, or Everett, you have real choice. If you live in Yakima, Wenatchee, or the Tri-Cities, you have one or two local options and a 150-mile drive to the next one. No Washington club publishes a season fee, so every cost figure below is labeled as modeled rather than scraped.
Are you a club director in Washington? There are 25 Washington clubs in ClubScout's data, and parents are actively searching. Claim your club's profile to verify your information, respond to parent reviews, and make sure families find accurate details about your program.
Washington Club Soccer at a Glance
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Total clubs in our Washington data | 25 |
| Clubs with live profiles | 18 (7 are still in review — see the data gaps section) |
| Clubs with confirmed league affiliations | 25 |
| Top-tier clubs | 20 (MLS NEXT, ECNL Boys, ECNL Girls, and/or Girls Academy) |
| MLS NEXT clubs | 9 |
| Girls Academy clubs | 10 |
| ECNL Boys clubs | 7 |
| ECNL Girls clubs | 4 |
| ECNL RL clubs | 11 — 11 boys, 8 girls |
| Pre-ECNL clubs (U9–U12) | 6 — 6 boys, 5 girls |
| NPL clubs | 5 |
| National Academy League clubs | 1 |
| Clubs holding a top-tier boys and girls place | 10 |
| Clubs publishing a season fee | 0 |
| Estimated annual cost range | ~$1,200 (junior academy) to $6,500+ (MLS NEXT) — modeled, see below |
| Tryout season | February through June depending on level and age group |
| Primary markets | Seattle/Eastside, Tacoma–Puyallup, Everett–Snohomish, Spokane, Tri-Cities, Yakima Valley, Wenatchee, Vancouver |
| State association | Washington Youth Soccer, a US Youth Soccer affiliate |
For what these numbers mean in dollars beyond registration, see our travel soccer cost guide and soccer on a budget guide.
What Makes Washington Different
The Cascades split the state in two, and it is not a metaphor. Fourteen of our 25 clubs sit in the I-5 corridor from Mount Vernon down to Tacoma. Six are east of the mountains — Spokane, Pasco, Yakima, Selah, Wenatchee. Seattle to Spokane is about 280 miles on I-90. Seattle to Yakima is roughly 145 over Snoqualmie Pass, and Wenatchee to Seattle is about 150 over Stevens Pass. Both passes close for weather in winter. That is a different kind of constraint than the ones we wrote about in Texas, where the four markets are far apart but the driving is flat and reliable. In Washington, a January league fixture can be cancelled by snow on a highway 60 miles from either team. Ask any club east of the mountains how they handle pass closures before you commit to a travel schedule.
Girls Academy is the larger girls pathway here, which is unusual. Ten Washington clubs hold a Girls Academy place; four hold an ECNL Girls place. In most states we've covered, ECNL Girls is the broader of the two and Girls Academy is the challenger. Washington is the other way around. Practically, that means a family comparing girls programs here will find more Girls Academy options and should read ECNL vs Girls Academy before assuming the more familiar name is the better local fit. It also means the ECNL Girls clubs are concentrated — all four are Puget Sound clubs.
MLS NEXT is broader than ECNL Boys here too. Nine clubs to seven. In most of our data the ratio runs the other way, because MLS NEXT membership is capped tightly per region and ECNL Boys spreads wider. Washington has an unusually deep MLS NEXT footprint for a state with 25 clubs total, and three of those nine sit outside the Seattle metro entirely.
Ten clubs run a top-tier boys program and a top-tier girls program under one roof. That is 40% of the state, and it is the single most useful fact in this guide for a family with more than one kid. Crossfire Premier, Seattle United, PacNW SC, and Washington Premier FC each hold both ECNL Boys and ECNL Girls. Seattle Celtic, Mt. Rainier Futbol Club, Washington Rush, and Western Washington Surf SC each pair MLS NEXT with Girls Academy. Columbia Premier SC pairs ECNL Boys with Girls Academy. One more — Washington East Surf SC in Spokane — pairs MLS NEXT with Girls Academy but is still in review, so we haven't linked it. If you have a son and a daughter and you are trying to avoid two different Tuesday-night drives, start with that list. Our guide to managing multiple kids in club soccer covers the rest of the logistics.
The Pre-ECNL layer is thin, and that changes what U9–U12 looks like. Only six Washington clubs run a Pre-ECNL program. Compare that to Texas, where 21 of 36 clubs do. In Washington the younger ages are handled by club-run junior academies and by RCL, the state's Regional Club League, rather than by a nationally branded feeder. That is arguably healthier — a 9-year-old is not being asked to commit to a named pipeline — but it does mean the U10 landscape is harder to compare across clubs, because every club's junior program has its own name and its own structure. Read our age-by-age guide before you read anything into a U10 program's branding.
RCL is everywhere on club websites and nowhere in our league data. The Regional Club League is Washington's state-sanctioned competitive league, and six of our club records describe playing in it — including Eastside FC, Seattle United, Northwest United FC, Three Rivers Soccer Club, Sozo FC, and Washington Rush, which runs a Junior RCL program for 7- and 8-year-olds. We don't carry RCL affiliations club by club yet. So if a Washington club's site mentions RCL and our profile doesn't, that is a gap in our data, not a contradiction.
Not one Washington club publishes a season fee. We read the fee text on all 25 records. The only dollar figures anywhere in the Washington corpus are at Snohomish United: a $25 per-child tryout fee for youth premier tryouts and a $40 registration fee for its USL League Two open tryout. That is the entire set. The cost table further down is modeled from our published guides and comparable clubs elsewhere in the database, and it says so.
Leagues Active in Washington
Listed from most competitive to least.
Top-Tier National Leagues
MLS NEXT — Nine Washington clubs hold MLS NEXT membership: Sound FC, Seattle Celtic, Mt. Rainier Futbol Club, Washington Rush, Western Washington Surf SC, and Sozo FC, plus three whose profiles are still in review — Seattle Sounders FC, Washington East Surf SC, and Whatcom Rangers. For how MLS NEXT compares to the alternatives, read MLS NEXT vs ECNL.
ECNL Boys — Seven Washington clubs compete in ECNL Boys: Crossfire Premier, Seattle United, PacNW SC, Washington Premier FC, Snohomish United, Three Rivers Soccer Club, and Columbia Premier SC. Five of the seven are Puget Sound clubs; Three Rivers in Pasco and Columbia Premier in Vancouver are the two outside it.
ECNL Girls — Four Washington clubs compete in ECNL Girls: Crossfire Premier, Seattle United, PacNW SC, and Washington Premier FC. All four are in the Seattle–Tacoma corridor. If you live east of the Cascades and ECNL Girls specifically is what you want, there is no local option.
Girls Academy — Ten Washington clubs compete in Girls Academy: Columbia Premier SC, Mt. Rainier Futbol Club, Seattle Celtic, Seattle Reign Academy, Washington Rush, and Western Washington Surf SC, plus four still in review — Liverpool FC IA Washington, Spokane Shadow, Washington East Surf SC, and Washington East Surf Soccer Club. Spokane is the one Eastern Washington market with top-tier girls access. Girls Academy vs DPL covers the tier below.
The Washington Middle: ECNL RL and Pre-ECNL
ECNL RL Boys and ECNL RL Girls — Eleven clubs, 11 on the boys' side and 8 on the girls'. This is the largest single tier in the state and where most Washington travel families will actually live. Regional conferences keep most league play in the Northwest, with national events for teams that qualify. Cost and travel sit well below the national tier. Our ECNL RL vs EDP vs NECSL comparison explains what that tier demands.
Pre-ECNL Boys and Pre-ECNL Girls — Six clubs, 6 boys and 5 girls. The U9–U12 feeder, and thin by comparison to other states. All six are also ECNL RL clubs, so this tier is essentially "the ECNL RL clubs that also run a formal younger program."
Regional and Tier-2 Leagues
NPL (National Premier Leagues) — Five Washington clubs hold an NPL place: Central Washington Sounders, Crossfire Premier, Eastside FC, and Washington Premier FC, plus XF Academy, whose profile is in review.
National Academy League — One Washington club, Seattle Sounders FC, whose profile is also in review.
State and regional leagues — Below all of the above, Washington Youth Soccer sanctions RCL and the regional play where the bulk of Washington travel soccer actually happens. Several clubs also reference NPSL, WPL, N1L, and the Cascadia Premier League on the adult and pre-professional side. None of those affiliations are in our league data yet. For the full landscape, see Compare All Youth Soccer Leagues and the youth soccer glossary.
Two leagues you will not find here: EDP and NECSL, which dominate the Northeast, have no Washington presence in our data at all. If you have moved from New Jersey or New England, the tier names will be unfamiliar. ECNL RL is roughly where EDP or NECSL sat in your old state.
The Three Regions
Puget Sound and the I-5 Corridor
Fourteen clubs with a recorded city, from Mount Vernon in the north to Tacoma in the south. This is where the depth is.
Key characteristics:
- Every ECNL Girls place in the state is here, and five of the seven ECNL Boys places
- Real cross-club choice: a family on the Eastside can reach four or five competitive clubs inside 30 minutes
- The constraint is traffic, not distance. Issaquah to Everett is 35 miles and can take 75 minutes at 5:30 PM on a Tuesday. Map the actual drive before you commit.
Seattle United (Seattle) — ECNL Boys, ECNL Girls, ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls, Pre-ECNL Boys, Pre-ECNL Girls. Six confirmed places and a full ladder from U8 to U19 on both sides. The club runs three geographic regions — Shoreline, Northwest, and South — each with its own director and coaching staff, which is the practical answer to Seattle's traffic problem. Junior Academy covers U8–U9, and a financial aid program is published. If you want one club that can hold two kids at two different levels, this is the shape to look for.
Crossfire Premier (Redmond) — ECNL Boys, ECNL Girls, National Premier Leagues, ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls, Pre-ECNL Boys, Pre-ECNL Girls. Seven confirmed places, the most of any club in the state, spanning all three ECNL levels on both the boys' and girls' sides. Program detail on our record is thin — the league data is solid, the rest needs a call.
PacNW SC (Redmond) — ECNL Boys, ECNL Girls, ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls, Pre-ECNL Boys, Pre-ECNL Girls. The same full-ladder structure as Crossfire, in the same city. Two clubs with identical league profiles eight minutes apart is a genuinely useful situation for a parent: the leagues are a wash, so compare the coach, the training sites, and the drive.
Eastside FC (Issaquah) — National Premier Leagues. Founded in 1970 as part of the Eastside Youth Soccer Association, a 501(c)(3), and one of the largest clubs in the state: 100+ teams, 50+ licensed staff, three training locations. Its own record cites 500+ college commitments since 1998 and 56 players recruited to MLS academies since 2015. Note the gap between that description and our league data — the club's site describes ECNL and RCL play, and the only affiliation confirmed in club_leagues is NPL. Ask which league each age group actually plays in for 2026–27. Financial aid and scholarships are available, and tryout contacts are split by age: Troy Letherman for boys U13–U19, Tim Reynolds for girls U13–U19, and Xinho Prestes for U12 and younger.
Washington Premier FC (recorded as Seattle; based in Puyallup) — ECNL Boys, ECNL Girls, National Premier Leagues, ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls, Pre-ECNL Boys, Pre-ECNL Girls. Seven confirmed places, tying Crossfire for the deepest league profile in the state. A 501(c)(3) formed from the merger of FC Royals and FC United, with roots to 1971. It owns its complex: 8 grass fields on 25 acres plus 3 lighted turf fields in Puyallup. A club that owns its fields is worth noticing — it usually means fewer surprise venue changes and less field congestion at training. The 2026–27 tryout schedule, open training sessions, and results are published on the club site.
Washington Rush (Everett) — MLS NEXT, Girls Academy. The regional club for the North County Youth Soccer Association and part of the national Rush network. Programs run from Mighty Mites at age 4 through U18, with Junior RCL for 7- and 8-year-olds, Select, Premier, and the two top-tier programs above them. There is a college advisory program and the Andrew T. Serafini Scholarship fund. Fee structures are published separately for Jr RCL, Premier, Girls Academy/MLS NEXT, and Select — separate fee pages are a good sign, but no amounts were retrievable, so ask for all four.
Snohomish United (Snohomish) — ECNL Boys, ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls. A 501(c)(3) out of Stocker Fields with the widest vertical range of any club in our Washington data: recreational youth soccer, TOPSoccer for players with disabilities, premier and ECNL teams, and USL League Two and USL W pre-professional sides. Training runs across eight sites in Snohomish and Monroe. This is also the only Washington club that publishes any dollar figure at all — $25 per child to pre-register for youth premier tryouts. Tryouts run two to three days, players are given a number for anonymous evaluation, and the club calls if your kid is selected and emails if not. That process detail is more than most clubs publish and it is worth knowing going in.
Seattle Celtic (Seattle) — Girls Academy, MLS NEXT. Headquartered on Eastlake Ave E with training at Magnuson Park. Core and supplemental programs, camps, and a college recruitment program. A team fees page exists on the club site but carried no figures we could read.
Seattle Reign Academy (Tacoma) — Girls Academy. A girls-only club led by Executive Director Amy Griffin, a 1991 FIFA Women's World Cup winner with a USSF A license and a former associate head coach at the University of Washington, and Director of Coaching Nicci Wright, also USSF A. The staff includes current and former professional players; the club describes connections to the NWSL side including first-team training invitations. There is a Pre-Academy program beneath the Girls Academy teams and an ID session route in. If you specifically want a girls-only environment rather than a girls program inside a large mixed club, this and the Girls Academy clubs are where to start.
Mt. Rainier Futbol Club (Mount Rainier) — Girls Academy, MLS NEXT. Top-tier on both sides. Program detail on our record is limited, and the recorded city should be verified with the club.
Northwest United FC (Mount Vernon) — ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls. The Skagit Valley club, about 60 miles north of Seattle, with a ladder from a Micro program through Academy and ECNL RL teams, plus NPSL on the adult side. Director of Soccer Kristian Powell and Director of Coaching Alex Vazquez lead a staff of six named coaches. If you are north of Everett, this is the club that saves you the drive.
Sound FC (city not recorded; the club's own record places it in Woodinville) — MLS NEXT. The premier program of the nonprofit Northshore Youth Soccer Association. Its record describes joining MLS NEXT 2 in the Pacific division and announcing a girls entry into Girls Academy Aspire — neither of which is confirmed in our league data yet, so treat both as club statements rather than verified places. Premier soccer, a goalkeeping academy, and free college recruitment preparation are the published programs.
Two more Puget Sound clubs are in our data with profiles still in review: Liverpool FC IA Washington in Issaquah (Girls Academy) and XF Academy in Redmond (NPL).
Eastern Washington
Six clubs across Spokane, the Tri-Cities, the Yakima Valley, and Wenatchee. Spread across roughly 200 miles of highway.
Key characteristics:
- Spokane is the only Eastern Washington market with top-tier access on the girls' side
- One club — Three Rivers Soccer Club — carries an ECNL Boys place, and it is the only one east of the Cascades
- Pass closures are a real scheduling variable. Ask about them.
Three Rivers Soccer Club (Pasco) — ECNL Boys, ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls. The Tri-Cities club and the most complete ladder in Eastern Washington: recreational for U5–U10, junior academy U8–U10, pre-academy U10–U12, and ECNL and ECNL RL for U13–U19, plus summer clinics and winter futsal. Director of Soccer Operations Jason Quintero is a former NCAA Division I coach with NSCAA Premier and Director of Coaching diplomas; Director of Coaching Jordan Hacker holds a US Soccer C license; RCL Director Ray Evans is a former professional player and England U21 captain. For a family in Kennewick, Pasco, or Richland, this is the local answer and the nearest alternative is a long way off.
Sozo FC (Yakima) — MLS NEXT. About 350 players across competitive and academy programs, and the club describes itself as the most affordable in central Washington. Its record lists RCL play alongside MLS NEXT, though only MLS NEXT is confirmed in our league data. Coaching credentials are published per coach — a mix of USSF C, D, and Grassroots licenses with stated years of experience, which is more transparency than most clubs offer. A Sozo Scholarship application is available. Goalkeeper training, a summer Europe camp, and two club-hosted tournaments round it out.
Central Washington Sounders (Selah) — ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls, National Premier Leagues, Pre-ECNL Boys, Pre-ECNL Girls. Five confirmed places, and one of only six Washington clubs running Pre-ECNL on both sides. Selah is 10 minutes from Yakima, so a Yakima Valley family realistically has two options rather than one. 2026 tryouts have been announced without published dates.
Wenatchee FA (Wenatchee) — ECNL RL Boys. Competitive and recreational programs, a Futbol4Life community initiative, the Apple Cup tournament, college recruiting support, and a published financial aid program. Tryout information and an FAQ are available in both English and Spanish, which matters in this valley and is worth naming.
Two Spokane clubs are in our data with profiles still in review: Spokane Shadow (ECNL RL Boys, Girls Academy) and Washington East Surf SC (Girls Academy, MLS NEXT). Together they are the reason Spokane has top-tier access on both sides, and both records need work before we can link them.
Southwest Washington
Columbia Premier SC (Vancouver) — ECNL Boys, Girls Academy, ECNL RL Boys, Pre-ECNL Boys. The only club in our data in Southwest Washington, and the only one that pairs ECNL Boys with Girls Academy. Worth knowing: Vancouver sits across the Columbia River from Portland, so a family here is realistically comparing Columbia Premier against Oregon clubs 20 minutes south, not against Seattle clubs 165 miles north. The girls' side here is Girls Academy only — there is no ECNL Girls or ECNL RL Girls place confirmed at this club.
Top-Tier Clubs at a Glance
These 20 clubs hold membership in at least one of the four top national leagues — MLS NEXT, ECNL Boys, ECNL Girls, or Girls Academy. Every league place listed here is confirmed in ClubScout's database. The seven rows without a profile link are clubs whose records are still in review.
| Club | City | Leagues | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Premier SC | Vancouver | ECNL Boys, Girls Academy, ECNL RL Boys, Pre-ECNL Boys | View profile |
| Crossfire Premier | Redmond | ECNL Boys, ECNL Girls, National Premier Leagues, ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls, Pre-ECNL Boys, Pre-ECNL Girls | View profile |
| Liverpool FC IA Washington | Issaquah | Girls Academy | In review |
| Mt. Rainier Futbol Club | Mount Rainier | Girls Academy, MLS NEXT | View profile |
| PacNW SC | Redmond | ECNL Boys, ECNL Girls, ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls, Pre-ECNL Boys, Pre-ECNL Girls | View profile |
| Seattle Celtic | Seattle | Girls Academy, MLS NEXT | View profile |
| Seattle Reign Academy | Tacoma | Girls Academy | View profile |
| Seattle Sounders FC | Seattle | MLS NEXT, National Academy League | In review |
| Seattle United | Seattle | ECNL Boys, ECNL Girls, ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls, Pre-ECNL Boys, Pre-ECNL Girls | View profile |
| Snohomish United | Snohomish | ECNL Boys, ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls | View profile |
| Sound FC | Not recorded | MLS NEXT | View profile |
| Sozo FC | Yakima | MLS NEXT | View profile |
| Spokane Shadow | Spokane | ECNL RL Boys, Girls Academy | In review |
| Three Rivers Soccer Club | Pasco | ECNL Boys, ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls | View profile |
| Washington East Surf SC | Spokane | Girls Academy, MLS NEXT | In review |
| Washington East Surf Soccer Club | Not recorded | Girls Academy | In review |
| Washington Premier FC | Seattle | ECNL Boys, ECNL Girls, National Premier Leagues, ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls, Pre-ECNL Boys, Pre-ECNL Girls | View profile |
| Washington Rush | Everett | Girls Academy, MLS NEXT | View profile |
| Western Washington Surf SC | Not recorded | Girls Academy, MLS NEXT | View profile |
| Whatcom Rangers | Not recorded | MLS NEXT | In review |
What to expect at this level: regional and national showcases, travel beyond the Northwest, and year-round programs. Modeled annual cost runs $3,000 to $6,500+ before tournament fees, kit, and family travel. See our tryout preparation guide.
ECNL RL, Pre-ECNL, and NPL Clubs
These five clubs compete below the top national tier. In Washington that is not a consolation bracket — ECNL RL is the largest tier in the state and for most families it is the right level.
| Club | City | Leagues | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Washington Sounders | Selah | ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls, National Premier Leagues, Pre-ECNL Boys, Pre-ECNL Girls | View profile |
| Eastside FC | Issaquah | National Premier Leagues | View profile |
| Northwest United FC | Mount Vernon | ECNL RL Boys, ECNL RL Girls | View profile |
| Wenatchee FA | Wenatchee | ECNL RL Boys | View profile |
| XF Academy | Redmond | National Premier Leagues | In review |
What This Means If You're Searching for a Club
If you're in Seattle or on the Eastside: you have the most choice in the state and the hardest narrowing job. Crossfire Premier and PacNW SC are both in Redmond with identical confirmed league profiles, and Seattle United runs three regional branches across the city. Start with the drive at 5:30 PM on a Tuesday, then compare coaches. Our guide to choosing a club is built for exactly this.
If you're in Tacoma, Puyallup, or the South Sound: Washington Premier FC owns its complex in Puyallup and holds seven confirmed league places, and Seattle Reign Academy is the Tacoma girls-only option. Those are two very different clubs serving the same geography, which makes the choice unusually clean.
If you're north of Everett: Washington Rush, Snohomish United, and Northwest United FC cover Everett, Snohomish/Monroe, and the Skagit Valley respectively. Each has a genuine bottom rung, which matters if you have a younger sibling coming behind.
If you're east of the Cascades: your local club is your club. Three Rivers Soccer Club in the Tri-Cities, Sozo FC and Central Washington Sounders in the Yakima Valley, Wenatchee FA in Wenatchee, and two Spokane clubs still in review. Before you dismiss the local option in favor of a Seattle club, price the drive honestly — four round trips a week over a mountain pass is not a plan that survives a Washington February.
If you have a daughter: Washington is a Girls Academy state. Ten clubs hold a Girls Academy place against four in ECNL Girls, and the ECNL Girls clubs are all in the Seattle–Tacoma corridor. Seattle Reign Academy is the only women-led, girls-only club in our Washington data. Read ECNL vs Girls Academy and our girls club soccer guide before you let the league name decide it. The coach matters more.
If you just moved here: the tiers map, the names don't. ECNL RL is roughly where EDP or NECSL sat in your old state. RCL is the state league beneath that and it is real, even though our data doesn't carry it yet. Washington high school soccer runs in spring for boys and fall for girls, which is a different calendar conflict than you may be used to — see Can My Kid Play Club AND High School Soccer? and ask each club directly, because no Washington club in our directory publishes a policy on it.
What Club Soccer in Washington Actually Costs
Zero of 25 Washington clubs publish a season fee. The table below is modeled from our published cost guides and comparable clubs elsewhere in the database — it is not scraped from Washington club sites, and you should treat it as a planning range, not a quote.
| Level | Estimated Annual Range | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Junior academy / Jr RCL (U7–U10) | $600–$1,500 | Modeled |
| Pre-ECNL / select (U9–U12) | $1,200–$2,500 | Modeled |
| RCL / premier | $1,500–$3,000 | Modeled |
| ECNL RL | $2,500–$4,500 | Modeled |
| National Premier Leagues | $2,500–$4,500 | Modeled |
| Girls Academy | $3,000–$6,000 | Modeled |
| ECNL Boys / ECNL Girls | $3,500–$6,000 | Modeled |
| MLS NEXT | $3,500–$6,500+ | Modeled |
Add uniform kit ($150–$400 in year one), tournament fees ($500–$1,500), and family travel ($300–$1,500+, and more if your club plays a Northwest conference that reaches into Oregon and Idaho). Plan for the high end your first year.
Three things we did verify, and they are worth knowing:
- Snohomish United charges $25 per child to pre-register for youth premier tryouts. Walk-up registration is available with a parent or guardian present. It is the only published youth fee figure in the state, and it is a tryout fee, not a season fee.
- Financial aid is published at more Washington clubs than usual — Eastside FC, Seattle United, Snohomish United, Wenatchee FA, Sozo FC, and Washington Rush all name an aid or scholarship program. Most clubs won't mention aid unless you ask. Ask.
- Washington Rush publishes four separate fee structures — Jr RCL, Premier, Girls Academy/MLS NEXT, and Select. When a club separates fees by program, get the one for your kid's specific program in writing, not the headline number.
On uniforms: most clubs run a two-year kit cycle. Ask whether 2026–27 is year one or year two before you order — in year one, buy what fits now rather than sizing up, and in year two you can replace single pieces your kid has outgrown.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does Washington have more Girls Academy clubs than ECNL Girls clubs?
Ten to four, and it is a real feature of this state rather than a quirk of our data. Girls Academy has built the deeper Northwest footprint, and several Washington clubs pair it with a top-tier boys league to cover both sides of the family. Practically, your local girls option here is more likely to be a Girls Academy club. The four ECNL Girls clubs — Crossfire Premier, Seattle United, PacNW SC, and Washington Premier FC — are concentrated in one corridor. ECNL vs Girls Academy has the comparison.
Which Washington club is best for a boys player?
There isn't one answer, and geography narrows it fast. In Seattle and on the Eastside, Crossfire Premier, PacNW SC, and Seattle United hold ECNL Boys places. Seattle Celtic and Sound FC are the MLS NEXT options in the same area. South Sound: Washington Premier FC. North: Washington Rush and Snohomish United. East of the mountains: Three Rivers Soccer Club and Sozo FC. Southwest: Columbia Premier SC. Start with the drive, then the coach.
When do Washington clubs hold tryouts?
Later winter through June, and it varies more by club than in most states. Snohomish United ran boys U17 and U19 tryouts in late February and lists a USL League Two open tryout session for April 19, 2026. Washington Premier FC publishes a 2026–27 tryout schedule with open training sessions. Eastside FC splits tryout contacts by age group. Three Rivers Soccer Club, Sozo FC, Central Washington Sounders, Wenatchee FA, and Washington Rush all run published tryout processes without dates we could read. Windows are short. Check each club's site rather than assuming a statewide date.
How much does club soccer cost in Washington?
Nobody publishes it, which is the honest answer. Plan on roughly $1,500–$3,000 for RCL and premier play, $2,500–$4,500 for ECNL RL, and $3,000–$6,500+ for the national tier, plus kit, tournaments, and travel. Those are modeled figures. Ask every club three questions: what is the full-season total, what is not included, and is fundraising mandatory.
Is my kid going to spend every weekend driving over a mountain pass?
Probably not, but ask. ECNL RL conferences in the Northwest keep most league play regional, and clubs east of the Cascades generally play each other and into Idaho and Oregon rather than crossing to Seattle every week. The pass question matters most for clubs whose conference straddles the range, and for winter tournament travel. Any club east of the mountains has a practiced answer for what happens when I-90 closes. Ask for it before you sign.
Does a coach's license tell me the club is good?
Not by itself. Several Washington clubs publish real credentials — USSF A licenses at Seattle Reign Academy, a former NCAA Division I coach and a former England U21 captain on staff at Three Rivers Soccer Club, a per-coach license listing at Sozo FC. That is a useful signal and no more. A C-licensed coach who connects with 12-year-olds and runs an organized session beats a higher-licensed coach who can't. Go watch a training session, ask whether your kid can join one or two on a trial basis, and count how long the kids stand in line. See how to evaluate a coach and our coaching licenses explainer.
What Our Washington Data Doesn't Tell You Yet
We'd rather name the gaps than write around them:
- Seven of 25 records are still in review, so they have no live profile: Liverpool FC IA Washington, Seattle Sounders FC, Spokane Shadow, Washington East Surf SC, Washington East Surf Soccer Club, Whatcom Rangers, and XF Academy. Their league data is confirmed; the profiles aren't published yet. That includes both Spokane clubs, which is why Eastern Washington looks thinner here than it is.
- "Washington East Surf SC" and "Washington East Surf Soccer Club" are probably the same club. One is recorded in Spokane with a Girls Academy and MLS NEXT place; the other has no city and a Girls Academy place only. We have not merged them, and until we do, treat the Spokane record as the fuller one.
- Four clubs have no city recorded — Sound FC, Western Washington Surf SC, Whatcom Rangers, and Washington East Surf Soccer Club. Sound FC's own record places it in Woodinville, and we've said so where we used it. The others we are not going to guess at.
- Some clubs describe leagues our data doesn't carry. Eastside FC is the clearest case: its own site describes ECNL and RCL play, and the only affiliation confirmed in our league data is NPL. Sozo FC and Sound FC are similar. We only publish what
club_leaguesconfirms, so ask the club which league each age group actually plays in for 2026–27. - No RCL affiliations are recorded for Washington. The Regional Club League sanctions a large share of real Washington travel soccer, and none of it is in our league data yet. Neither are NPSL, WPL, N1L, or the Cascadia Premier League, which several clubs run on the adult and pre-professional side.
- Spokane Shadow's website was inaccessible when we crawled it, so nothing beyond its league places could be verified.
- Mt. Rainier Futbol Club's recorded city reads "Mount Rainier." That needs verifying with the club before you plan a drive around it.
If you run one of these clubs, claiming your profile is the fastest way to fix it.
Next Steps
Washington has 25 clubs in ClubScout's data and 18 with live profiles — search by zip code to find clubs near you, filter by league and age group, and compare profiles side by side.
Related guides:
- How to Choose a Youth Soccer Club
- What Is ECNL?
- What Is MLS NEXT?
- What Is Girls Academy?
- ECNL RL vs EDP vs NECSL: The Tier-2 Comparison
- MLS NEXT vs ECNL: What Parents Need to Know
- ECNL vs Girls Academy: Which Path Is Right for Your Daughter?
- Girls Club Soccer: A Parent's Complete Guide
- How Much Does Travel Soccer Cost?
- Club Soccer Age-by-Age Guide: U8 Through U18
- Managing Club Soccer With Multiple Kids
- Can My Kid Play Club AND High School Soccer?
- Club Soccer in Texas: A Parent's Complete Guide