Nashville SC Academy schedule for 2021-22 season announced

Nashville SC’s senior team trains at Currey Ingram Academy.
Tim Sullivan/Club and Country

At long last, Nashville SC’s academy will take to the field for a full season in 2021-22. With the announcement of MLS Next schedules today, we know NSC’s slate at the U13, U14, U15, and U17 levels. Behold:

Date	Home	Away	Age
09/18/21	Nashville SC	Inter Miami CF	U15
09/18/21	Nashville SC	Inter Miami CF	U17
09/25/21	Nashville SC	Wake FC	U13
09/25/21	Nashville SC	Wake FC	U14
09/25/21	Nashville SC	Wake FC	U15
09/25/21	Nashville SC	Wake FC	U17
10/02/21	Nashville SC	Queen City Mutiny	U13
10/02/21	Nashville SC	Queen City Mutiny	U14
10/03/21	New York City FC	Nashville SC	U15
10/03/21	New York City FC	Nashville SC	U17
10/09/21	Hoover-Vestavia Soccer	Nashville SC	U13
10/09/21	Hoover-Vestavia Soccer	Nashville SC	U14
10/09/21	Hoover-Vestavia Soccer	Nashville SC	U15
10/09/21	Hoover-Vestavia Soccer	Nashville SC	U17
10/16/21	DC United	Nashville SC	U15
10/16/21	DC United	Nashville SC	U17
10/23/21	Nashville SC	Lanier Soccer Academy	U13
10/23/21	Nashville SC	Lanier Soccer Academy	U14
10/23/21	Philadelphia Union	Nashville SC	U15
10/23/21	Philadelphia Union	Nashville SC	U17
10/31/21	Orlando City SC	Nashville SC	U17
10/31/21	Orlando City SC	Nashville SC	U15
11/06/21	Southern Soccer Academy	Nashville SC	U13
11/06/21	Southern Soccer Academy	Nashville SC	U14
11/06/21	Southern Soccer Academy	Nashville SC	U15
11/06/21	Southern Soccer Academy	Nashville SC	U17
11/07/21	KSA	Nashville SC	U13
11/07/21	KSA	Nashville SC	U14
11/07/21	KSA	Nashville SC	U15
11/07/21	KSA	Nashville SC	U17
11/13/21	Nashville SC	CF Montréal	U15
11/13/21	Nashville SC	CF Montréal	U17
11/20/21	Nashville SC	Charlotte FC	U14
11/20/21	Nashville SC	Charlotte FC	U15
11/20/21	Nashville SC	Charlotte FC	U17
12/11/21	Atlanta United FC	Nashville SC	U13
12/11/21	Atlanta United FC	Nashville SC	U14
12/11/21	Atlanta United FC	Nashville SC	U15
12/11/21	Atlanta United FC	Nashville SC	U17
02/05/22	Inter Miami CF	Nashville SC	U17
02/05/22	Inter Miami CF	Nashville SC	U15
02/19/22	Nashville SC	Atlanta United FC	U15
02/19/22	Nashville SC	Atlanta United FC	U17
02/26/22	Wake FC	Nashville SC	U13
02/26/22	Wake FC	Nashville SC	U14
02/26/22	Nashville SC	Charlotte FC	U15
02/26/22	Nashville SC	Charlotte FC	U17
02/27/22	Queen City Mutiny	Nashville SC	U13
02/27/22	Queen City Mutiny	Nashville SC	U14
03/05/22	Nashville SC	Tormenta FC Academy	U13
03/05/22	Nashville SC	Tormenta FC Academy	U14
03/05/22	Nashville SC	Tormenta FC Academy	U15
03/05/22	Nashville SC	Tormenta FC Academy	U17
03/12/22	Inter Atlanta FC	Nashville SC	U13
03/12/22	Inter Atlanta FC	Nashville SC	U14
03/13/22	Lanier Soccer Academy	Nashville SC	U13
03/13/22	Lanier Soccer Academy	Nashville SC	U14
03/19/22	Nashville SC	Hoover-Vestavia Soccer	U13
03/19/22	Nashville SC	Hoover-Vestavia Soccer	U14
03/19/22	Nashville SC	New York Red Bulls	U15
03/19/22	Nashville SC	New York Red Bulls	U17
03/26/22	Nashville SC	Inter Atlanta FC	U13
03/26/22	Nashville SC	Inter Atlanta FC	U14
03/26/22	Toronto FC Academy	Nashville SC	U15
03/26/22	Toronto FC Academy	Nashville SC	U17
04/02/22	Nashville SC	Southern Soccer Academy	U13
04/02/22	Nashville SC	Southern Soccer Academy	U14
04/02/22	Nashville SC	Orlando City SC	U15
04/02/22	Nashville SC	Orlando City SC	U17
04/09/22	Nashville SC	AFC Lightning	U13
04/09/22	Nashville SC	AFC Lightning	U14
04/16/22	Nashville SC	KSA	U13
04/16/22	Nashville SC	KSA	U14
04/23/22	Nashville SC	Atlanta United FC	U13
04/23/22	Nashville SC	Atlanta United FC	U14
04/30/22	New England Revolution	Nashville SC	U15
04/30/22	New England Revolution	Nashville SC	U17
05/07/22	Tormenta FC Academy	Nashville SC	U13
05/07/22	Tormenta FC Academy	Nashville SC	U14
05/08/22	AFC Lightning	Nashville SC	U13
05/08/22	AFC Lightning	Nashville SC	U14
05/21/22	Charlotte FC	Nashville SC	U14
05/21/22	Charlotte FC	Nashville SC	U15
05/21/22	Charlotte FC	Nashville SC	U17
05/22/22	Atlanta United FC	Nashville SC	U15
05/22/22	Atlanta United FC	Nashville SC	U17

Here’s the MLS release on the announcement:

NEW YORK CITY (August 20, 2021) – The MLS NEXT regular season kicks off on Aug. 21 and features nearly 600 teams competing in over 9,000 matches over a ten-month calendar. Top players from the country’s leading 134 clubs, including all 29 MLS Academies, will field teams in up to six age groups: U13, U14, U15, U16, U17, and U19.

The 2021-22 season will allow the top prospects in the U.S. and Canada to compete in a ten-month regular season and a chance to become MLS NEXT Champions by winning the MLS NEXT Cup Playoffs in July 2022. New to the second edition of the competition, the 2021-22 MLS NEXT campaign will feature two national events, a winter event and a qualifying event for the annual MLS NEXT Cup Playoffs.  

Throughout the season, the competition format aims to balance a diversity of opponents and an efficient travel schedule, minimizing flights and hotel stays for the majority of participants, especially at the U13 and U14 age groups. Additionally, the competition will continue to operate under the MLS NEXT Return to Play protocols, ensuring teams are competing in a manner consistent with local, state, and federal health recommendations. 

“We are excited to launch our second year of competition, providing the most meaningful competition for the top players in the U.S. and Canada,” said MLS’s Technical Director of Youth Development, Fred Lipka. “When we launched MLS NEXT, we intended to provide the most competitive matches for the best players in North America and our second season brings us closer to this goal.” 

The top 32 teams from the regular season will compete to be crowned MLS NEXT champion in the four oldest age groups (U15, U16, U17, U19) next July at the MLS NEXT Cup Playoffs.  The two youngest ages (U13 & U14) will join the older teams not participating in the Playoffs at the MLS NEXT Cup Showcase held at the same venue. 

Sixteen of the 32 teams will qualify for MLS NEXT Cup Playoffs based on their standings in their League table. League matches will be played on a regional basis from August to June, featuring eight regional divisions, plus new MLS divisions at the U15 and U17 ages.   

The other sixteen teams will qualify for MLS NEXT Cup Playoffs based on their performance at the qualifying event held in May. The qualifying event will feature the top 64 teams in each age group competing in 16 groups of 4 teams with the winner of each group advancing to MLS NEXT Cup Playoffs. Participants in the qualifying event will qualify and be seeded based on their performance in local matches from August to March.

The industry leading partnership between adidas and Major League Soccer continues to drive the evolution of player development. adidas provides the official match ball for all MLS NEXT matches and works with MLS to advance the game in North America by creating an atmosphere that supports the next generation of rising stars on the professional pathway.

Major League Soccer release

Qualifying for the playoffs will be a priority for the U15 and U17 levels, though the fact that NSC is a newcomer to the youth scene (A U12 team competed in November 2019, and the club did not compete externally during the coronavirus-affected 2020-21 season) may make that a difficult ask.

Nonetheless, today brings us one step closer to eventually seeing that first true Homegrown player developed inside the Nashville Academy who goes on to sign with the senior team.