FRISCO, Texas (Sept. 12, 2018) — The 2018-19 US Youth Soccer National League Desert Conference season is set to kick off on Friday night in Salt Lake City with 60 12U-14U Boys and Girls teams competing at the Salt Lake Regional Athletic Complex.

This year's Desert Conference will see 144 teams from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and Utah competing for a spot at the 2019 US Youth Soccer Far West Regionals in Boise, Idaho. Additionally, teams participating in the 13U-18U age groups have the opportunity to qualify for the 2019-20 season of the US Youth Soccer National League.

Teams that competed in the last year's Desert Conference (previously known as Desert Premier League) performed well at the 2018 US Youth Soccer Far West Regional Championships in Hawaii. Twenty-nine teams advanced to the quarterfinals and four teams earned Far West Regional Championships.

Teams that advanced to the 2018 US Youth Soccer National Championships included: Tuzos Academy 02 (16U Boys), USA 02 Premier (16U Girls), Downtown LVSC 00 Academy (18U Boys) and Utah FC 99 Black (19U Girls). Downtown LVSC 00 Academy and Utah FC advanced to the title match and as National finalists.

One Desert Conference team — LVSA 03 Silver —  managed to go all the way and claimed the 2018 US Youth Soccer National Championship. The Nevada side steamrolled through the competition to win the 15U Boys age group earlier this summer in Frisco, Texas.

This opening weekend marks the first of three Desert Conference events for the 12U-14U teams. The second conference event will be held in Phoenix from November 16-18 and the final event will be held in Las Vegas from March 1-3. The 15U-19U teams will join the 12U-14U teams at the conference events in Phoenix and Las Vegas.