Penn Fusion Academy rejoins Girls ECNL

Penn Fusion Academy will be returning to the Elite Clubs National League on the girls side for the 2020-2021 season, the league announced last week.

“For the past ten years at Penn Fusion, we have focused on collegiate player placement and providing a high level competition for our players,” said Director Tino Mueller. “As an original member of the ECNL, we are delighted to be back and finally have our boys and girls programs aligned in the same platform. We are truly thankful for this opportunity and look forward to being back on the field for the 2020-21 season.”

Penn Fusion has fielded teams in the Boys ECNL since 2017, the first year of the boys competition. The club was part of the inaugural season of the Girls Development Academy in 2017-18, but was left without a league when U.S. Soccer announced earlier this month that it would be shutting down both the girls and boys development academy.

Penn Fusion’s return to the ECNL Girls league was announced along with the additions of Maryland club Pipeline and New Jersey club PDA South.

“We are excited to welcome Penn Fusion back to the ECNL Girls, and to add Pipeline and PDA South to the league,” ECNL Girls Commissioner Jen Winnagle said in a news release. “These clubs will help to improve our competition structure, reduce travel for conference games, and will unify all of the top girls programs in the region in the league.”

Since being founded in 2009, Penn Fusion has placed 255 female players in collegiate programs and 17 players have been called into US Youth National Teams.