The teams will be grouped into zones and would play home and away matches amongst them, eventually the top two zonal teams would qualify into the final round.
Interested clubs and academies, who are not in Hero I-League and the 2nd Division League, can take part in these youth leagues by getting themselves certified under the AIFF Academy Certification Program.
Academy Certification Program was launched last year to streamlinethe process of Youth Development throughout the Country through a certification model. There are certain parameters on basis of which the assessment are conducted and the academies are handed with a certificate and a Star (*) rating on a scale of one (1) to five (5).