TAMPA, Fla. – USL President Jake Edwards welcomed the U.S. Soccer Federation’s decision to grant the league provisional Division 2 sanctioning last Friday in an extensive interview with the United States of Soccer’s Jason Davis on SiriusXM FC on Tuesday afternoon.

“We feel very good about the board’s decision,” Edwards told Davis. “We submitted the strongest application they’ve ever received for sanctioning for a league at the Division 2 level. We felt very good about the work that we’ve gone through over the last 12 months and that our clubs have gone through over the last 12-to-18 months with the application we’ve put in.

“We have full belief that the federation’s decision is a real validation of all of the work that has gone on in the USL over the last few years in terms of where we’ve come from and the strategic plan of where we’re going and the various initiatives that we’re working on.”

As part of the extensive application, Edwards said the league also provided a roadmap to address any items identified by the federation as it works toward removing the provisional tag from the league’s sanctioning.

“We’re the first league to ever [submit a clear plan] with timelines and deliverables. The clubs have put all of that together, so for now we must execute on that,” said Edwards.

“We are 100 percent focused on our league and what we have to do to move [it] forward over the next few years,” Edwards said. “That’s all we’ve done over the last few years, focus on building a sustainable, quality league with great clubs and strong local ownership groups. [Division 2 sanctioning] is a validation of everything that we’ve done to date, and we have to keep focusing on what we’re doing to ensure the long-term and continued success of the USL.”