The competition platform is comprised of regional conferences and tiered levels of national competition to allow the best match-ups across the league. The ECNL also hosts National Events across the country to give member clubs the opportunity to compete against non-conference teams.  

ECNL Coaching Development Initiative (CDI) consists of educational seminars put on by various staff, each scheduled around an existing ECNL National Event. Ongoing education is a key part of being a professional, and is an expectation of being a member of the top girls developmental league in the country. Every club in attendance at each of these events should attend the CDI if at all possible. Multiple coaches from each ECNL club are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The ECNL is committed to improving the level of coaching in the United States, and providing new resources for coaching education. Continuing education is an integral part of ongoing professional development. All ECNL Member Club coaches are invited to attend.

Identifying players with the potential to play with the US Soccer Youth National Teams, and to provide additional exposure and opportunity to top players across the ECNL. The ECNL Player ID Program identifies the top players in the ECNL and then provides opportunities for these players to be seen and trained by U.S. Soccer National Team staff. The ECNL Player ID Program was created under 4 key principles:

1. Players should be scouted and evaluated in their regular environment.
2. There should be no additional cost to players for scouting and identification.
3. To insure accurate evaluations, multiple people should evaluate players over multiple events.
4. To insure accurate evaluations, the coaches that train and develop the identified players should be consulted as the best source of information regarding overall ability, mentality, and current form.

By scouting players in their regular team environment, while they are competing against the best players in the country, the ECNL Player ID Program increases opportunities for identified players at no additional cost to the players. The program also does not add congestion to the player calendar by requiring multiple levels of “try-outs” and other competitions to identify players.

ECNL scouts are assigned to observe and analyze ECNL games at each ECNL National Showcase Event. A standardized evaluation program has been established by the ECNL for these scouts whereby identified players will be evaluated on a variety of technical, tactical, physical, and psychological characteristics based upon their performances. ECNL scouts include coaches from member clubs of the ECNL, independent coaches, coaches with experience with US Soccer Youth National Teams, and coaches from top Division I, II, and III colleges