Youth soccer clubs in Texas
Texas is the biggest youth soccer state in the South, and it runs on two separate state associations.
Club soccer in Texas
North Texas Soccer covers the Dallas-Fort Worth area and the north, while South Texas Youth Soccer handles Houston, Austin, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley. That split matters when you go looking for a club, because a team in Frisco and a team in Katy may never see each other outside a showcase.
The top tier here is deep. Three MLS academies are in the mix: FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo and Austin FC all run MLS NEXT programs for boys. Beyond them, a handful of independent clubs have landed in MLS NEXT too, including the Dallas Hornets, the Houston Rangers and Capital City SC in Austin. On the ECNL side, Solar, the Dallas Texans and Sting sit in the Dallas area, Albion Hurricanes and HTX Soccer represent Houston, and Austin has FC Westlake. Girls Academy has a foothold as well, with HTX Soccer, Capital City SC and San Antonio City SC all in the league.
One thing to know early: ECNL Regional League is where a lot of strong Texas teams actually play, and the gap between a good regional team and a national one is smaller than the labels suggest. Lonestar SC in Austin is a good example. Its girls teams played in the Regional League for years before the club was picked for ECNL Girls starting in fall 2026.
San Antonio is the thinnest of the four big metros for national-level options, but it isn't empty. San Antonio FC runs a boys ECNL academy, and San Antonio City SC fields Girls Academy teams.
Because age groups now follow the birth-year calendar, a player born in 2013 is the same age group everywhere, which makes comparing tryout offers easier. Most of the clubs below also run recreational or lower competitive teams, so a kid doesn't have to start at the top. Plan on driving, though. Texas clubs often spread practices across several fields, and a 45 minute trip to training is normal in Houston and Dallas.
Popular clubs in Texas
These are the clubs Texas families ask about most. League badges show what we could confirm for the 2025-26 season, so check each club's own site for current teams, tryout dates and fees.
FC Dallas Youth
The youth arm of the MLS club, based in Frisco. The academy fields boys teams in MLS NEXT, and four of its teams reached the 2025 MLS NEXT Cup playoffs. Girls play in an ECNL program, and the club lists teams from 7U up to 19U. FC Dallas has a long record of signing homegrown players to the first team, so the pathway is real. It also offers a college pathway page and runs skills and camp programs through separate sites.
Solar Soccer Club
Solar is one of the long-standing independent clubs in the Dallas area and has both boys and girls in ECNL and ECNL Regional League. Below those teams it runs competitive squads for birth years 2007 to 2015 and a Juniors program for kids born 2017 to 2020. Girls also have a Female Development League option. Solar was among the Texas clubs that fully aligned with the ECNL on the boys side for 2023-24, which says a lot about its standing.
Dallas Texans Soccer Club
The Texans bill themselves as a 30 year program in North Texas, and the name is one of the best known in Dallas youth soccer. They field boys and girls teams in ECNL and the Regional League for North Texas, plus a broader competitive platform below that. There is also a Fort Worth division, which helps families on the west side of the metroplex avoid the long haul to Dallas. Tryout pages for the 2026-27 season are posted on the site.
Dallas Hornets
An independent club that joined MLS NEXT for the 2023-24 season, one of two Texas additions that year. The boys side plays MLS NEXT and the Texas Academy League, with a Boys Classic League team below that, and the girls play in the Development Player League. It also runs a youth academy aimed at younger kids. Executive director Brent Erwin and academy director Cody Worden, a former Real Salt Lake staffer, lead the program.
Sting Soccer Club (North Texas)
Sting started in 1973 as a girls club and is often described as one of the oldest in the country. The boys program began in 2009 under another name and was later rebranded as Sting. The club now has divisions in North Texas, East Texas, West Texas, Corpus Christi and Nebraska, and its North Texas division grew when it took over the BVB North Texas clubs. Teams play in ECNL and the Regional League, and results from its Dallas events show up often.
Houston Dynamo Academy
The Dynamo academy is the MLS pathway for Houston. The site lists teams at U14, U15, U16 and U18 and links to the MLS NEXT Homegrown Division schedule. Games are tied to the Dynamo facilities, with Shell Energy Stadium named on the site. Because it is a club academy, players are selected by invitation after tryouts and scouting, so most families will see it as a top goal rather than a starting point. Houston has several other strong options if it isn't the right fit.
HTX Soccer
HTX is the biggest youth soccer organization in Houston, with more than 8,500 players from age 3 to 19 at ten locations. Girls elite teams play in the Girls Academy, and its GA2 North team was promoted to the Girls Academy Frontier Conference for 2026-27. Boys elite teams play ECNL. The pyramid also includes ECNL Regional League, recreational play with an adaptive program, and a youth academy for ages 7 to 10. The club says it has focused on development since 2005.
Houston Rangers SC
A young club that was launched in 2022 by former MLS player and Houston native Josh Gardner. It earned a place in MLS NEXT for 2023-24 and works out of Katy and West Houston. The boys program plays MLS NEXT for birth years 2006 to 2012 and the Texas Academy League for 2006 to 2014. The club pairs older players with younger ones through a mentorship program and offers financial help to families who need it. A girls program page exists on the site.
Albion Hurricanes FC
Albion Hurricanes, also called AHFC, has operated in the Houston area for more than 25 years and serves boys and girls from 6 to 19. It has locations in central Houston, Cypress, Katy, the New Territory area and Beaumont. Elite teams play ECNL and ECNL Regional League, and there is a recreational program called JH Rec. It also runs an Under-8 to Under-10 academy and a goalkeeper program, which many larger clubs skip.
Lonestar Soccer Club
Lonestar was founded in 2004 and reached its 20th anniversary in 2024. It is one of the two largest homegrown clubs in the Austin area, with recreational teams from U4 up to U19 and tiers called Jr Academy, Select, National and College Prep above that. Girls teams entered the ECNL Regional League in 2024-25 and the club was picked for ECNL Girls beginning in fall 2026. Lonestar also has a San Antonio program through a partnership with a local club.
Austin FC Academy
The academy of Austin's MLS club plays in MLS NEXT, and the site lists U15, U16 and U18 teams along with a Center of Excellence and homestay housing for players from outside the area. It sits at the top of the Central Texas pyramid. Capital City SC, Lonestar and FC Westlake all feed in local talent, and some Capital City players have moved up to the academy. Teams play opponents from across Texas, including AC River in San Antonio.
FC Westlake
FC Westlake runs ECNL and ECNL Regional League teams for both boys and girls from U13 to U19, plus Pre-ECNL groups at U9 to U12. It has programs in central, north, east and south Austin and a recreational and junior academy base underneath the competitive teams, along with a college pathway. In 2020 it announced a girls partnership with Lonestar SC, a move that combined the two largest homegrown clubs in the region.
Capital City SC
Capital City SC grew from a semi-professional indoor team started in 2018 and had roughly 800 to 900 youth players by 2023. MLS NEXT accepted it that year for all six age groups, and its girls teams play in Girls Academy. It won a US Youth Soccer National League Frontier Conference title and runs an annual college combine that draws about 25 programs. Several players have gone on to the Austin FC academy and to SMU.
San Antonio FC Academy
The youth pathway of the USL Championship club in San Antonio. Its boys teams joined the ECNL Texas Conference for 2023-24, and the program has competed at events such as the Dallas Cup and the Man City Cup. Several alumni have reached professional soccer, and six players debuted in USL Championship matches. The club's site lists a Ricos SAFC Pro Academy and a Youth Stars Soccer Network for younger players.
San Antonio City SC
San Antonio City SC is one of the few Texas clubs with a Girls Academy team, and it also plays boys in the ECNL Regional League. A club directory lists Girls Academy Aspire teams, UPSL and WPSL Division II squads, and recreational, Micro Academy, Jr. Academy and Select tracks for younger players. It is based on the east side of San Antonio and gives families in the city a Girls Academy option without driving to Austin or Houston.
From Texas clubs to college soccer
For a lot of Texas families, club soccer is also the road to playing in college. These pages cover the next step, from ID camps close to home to emailing college coaches.
College ID camps in Texas
Every college soccer program in Texas, with a link to its official camp page.
See the camps ›Recruiting guideHow college recruiting works
Timelines, divisions, scholarships, coach emails and showcases, explained for players and parents.
Read the guide ›RecruitlyEmail college coaches from your own inbox
Find programs by division and conference, reach every coach, and see who opens your email and watches your film.
Meet Recruitly ›Choosing a club in Texas
Start with the drive. In Houston and Dallas, many clubs run practice sites in different suburbs, so ask which field your age group trains on before you fall for a logo. Next, check the league for your child's birth year, because a club can be MLS NEXT at 2010 and Regional League at 2014. Tryouts usually run in spring for the following season, with a second round in late summer, and the big clubs fill up fast.
State Cup play is split between the North Texas and South Texas associations, so a Houston team and a Dallas team rarely meet there. Summer heat pushes training to evenings, and some indoor winter play is common in the north. If your child is under 12, a strong recreational or academy program with good coaching often beats chasing a national badge.
Our guide to choosing a club has the questions worth asking at a tryout, and the costs page explains what a season in Texas might add up to.
Texas club soccer FAQ
Why does Texas have two youth soccer state associations?
US Youth Soccer splits Texas into North Texas State Soccer Association and South Texas Youth Soccer Association. NTX Soccer covers Dallas-Fort Worth and the north, and STX Soccer covers Houston, Austin, San Antonio and the Valley. Each runs its own State Cup, so teams from different halves of the state usually meet only at showcases.
Which Texas clubs play in MLS NEXT?
FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo and Austin FC run MLS academies. Independent Texas clubs in MLS NEXT include the Dallas Hornets, Houston Rangers and Capital City SC in Austin. MLS NEXT is a boys league, so girls usually look at ECNL or Girls Academy clubs instead.
Where can Texas girls play Girls Academy?
Girls Academy clubs in Texas include HTX Soccer in Houston, Capital City SC in Austin and San Antonio City SC. HTX moved its GA2 North team up to the Frontier Conference for 2026-27. Girls in Dallas mostly choose ECNL clubs like Solar, Sting or the Dallas Texans.