NEW YORK – MLS NEXT announced Thursday the addition of five youth soccer clubs prior to its 2021-2022 season.

The five clubs, Hoover-Vestavia Soccer (HVS), Lou Fusz Athletic, Texas United, Tormenta FC and Wake Futbol Club, join MLS NEXT through the early admissions phase of the application process.

These five clubs join a roster of expansion clubs including St. Louis City Academy, Albion SC Las Vegas and Las Vegas Sports Academy, who were announced last August, but will first take the pitch during the 2021-2022 season. MLS NEXT is home to 118 clubs, 521 teams and more than 11,000 players.

Regular Admission will be revealed in May and Waitlist Admission in July. MLS NEXT staff will continue to review applications in advance of the upcoming fall season while adhering to a strict set of prerequisites. Clubs will be evaluated based on the implementation of a defined soccer philosophy, quality of coaching staff, record of top player production, and professionalism of daily environment. Also of vital importance is the club’s ability to provide low or no-cost options for players to participate on MLS NEXT teams, creating opportunities for a more inclusive player pool.

The platform features competition across six age groups: Under-13, U-14, U-15, U-16, U-17 and U-19.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.