E95: Youth Soccer Discussion: Iowa Soccer League vs. Club Development League featuring Craig Winger, Director of Competition for the Iowa Soccer Association

Perhaps the final piece to the puzzle in understanding this specific Youth Soccer Discussion is the competition/league structure itself. Craig Winger is the Iowa Soccer Association's Director of Competition and he's here to educate us. Craig is a native Iowan and growing up in the '80s playing at a community club in Dubuque, he's seen the evolution of Iowa soccer that hearkens back to the early days of State Cup in Muscatine. Receiving the ISL/IPSL torch from Iowa Soccer Legend, Ted Bzdega, Craig has overseen an unparalleled transition in Iowa soccer's history.   This past summer of 2020, in the relatively new pandemic era, a contingent of youth soccer clubs in Iowa proposed a new league with the Iowa Soccer Association called the Club Development League (CDL). Here are the stories: Episode 85 of the podcast tried to provide a neutral overview of the differences between the CDL and the previously all-encompassing Iowa Soccer League (ISL). Episode 89 went in depth into the history of how this situation came about, and provided a good perspective from the leader of an ISL club. Episode 90 reviewed the standards of the different leagues and provided some solutions to potentially keep the ISL and CDL together under the ISA umbrella. Episode 91 was a wide-ranging conversation that provided a perspective that few have on the ISL, CDL and player development in the state of Iowa. We welcome the godfather himself, Iowa Soccer Association's Executive Director, Dan Cataldi to hear about the process to this point and hopefully, a way forward.

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