Year 1 of US Development Academy Comes to a Close

Why was this weekend so big for American soccer? It had nothing to do with next week's MLS All-Star Game, or anything else going on at the MLS. It had nothing to do with the fast-approaching Olympic Games. And it certainly had nothing to do with SuperLiga, the exhibition/tournament with nothing at stake except an inconclusive amount of prize money.

The big event of this past weekend was the finals of the inaugural year of the US Soccer Development Academy. Last summer, the United States Soccer Federation decided to create the Development Academy to try and change the face of youth soccer in this country, which for years consisted of independent "club teams" competing in as many leagues and holiday tournaments as possible.

Over in England (and other footballing nations), the norm is the "youth academy" - players to an academy run by a professional club as early as 8 years old. The young player gets to benefit from the professional clubs resources and coaching, and the club has first dibs on the kids when they’re ready for the big time. While they make headlines for the players they transfer in from other clubs, Liverpool and Manchester United always have a handful of homegrown players on the roster. They invest a great deal in training and coaching talented players from a very young age because they reap the benefits when a player has been trained in Man U football from Day 1.

I’m a huge fan of American soccer, but even I’ll admit that our version of the beautiful game is less beautiful than the version played in England, Spain, Brazil, etc. And the biggest reason for that is that our players are less technically sound – we’re athletic, but even at the NCAA level you’ll see a lot of “tunnel vision” and not a lot of passing around the field. USSF decided that this is because of the results-oriented scheduling of the country’s top “club soccer” teams. Until this year, those teams were playing in tournaments every holiday weekend on top of their usual schedules, and the kids often played for both a club team and a high school team – meaning year-round games. With this many games, practices were minimal. Maybe American sporting culture doesn’t think very highly of practice, but when competing at that top level, the big difference is made at the training facility. Not a game, not a game… not a game. We talkin’ ‘bout practice.

Until this year, there were very few options with that kind of training focus. USSF would pick out 20 players a year for the Olympic Residency program at the IMG Soccer Academy in Bradenton, FL. Then Brad Friedel started his Premier Soccer Academies in Ohio (with the hilariously pompous mailing address 2101 Brad Friedel's Avenue of Future Stars). Then MLS started to get into the act, with Chivas USA and Red Bull New York starting up Academy teams.

The US Soccer Development Academy invited the elite club teams from around the country to buy into the sort of system and regimen laid out by the IMG Academy. Approximately 30 games a year, minimum three days of practice and one day of rest every week. No extra tournaments – just the regularly-scheduled games and tournaments with the other Academy teams. Critics are bemoaning the death of high school soccer, but the level of play on the field this past weekend showed what a focus on practice can do. The Baltimore Bays took down the surprise-finalists LAFC 4-2 in extra time in Friday’s U-17/18 Final, and Baltimore’s Chris Agorsor is being called the next great American striker. Check out highlights of the various teams on USSoccer's YouTube Page.

Congratulations are in order for all the teams who participated, and let’s look forward to big things out of Agorsor and all his teammates. I look forward to the Development Academy continuing into the future – I think it can only be positive for MLS. Even the NCAA should benefit, as many of these well-trained players may still look for a college education. Besides, college athletics will always continue to play a prominent role in our national sporting landscape… won’t they?