SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP USSF Academy for Girls?

Will this ever happen? Timing?

Do not have any proof but have heard 2010..

the girls side in sc cant compete. i think players would go to a club that started it like they do a region team but i dont think they would be competitive in all age groups on the girls side.

too few players on the girls side to support both r3pl and ussf academy. one would have to give for the other to be successful.

not enough talent.not to say girls in sc are not good players but it is hard enough as we can see to even support 2 teams at each age in region play and be descent as a state.dont have the numbers or that level of talent to pull from.

Logic would tell you that it will happen. A lot of the elite clubs are playing something called "Red Bull", which appears to be the precursor to a girls Academy.

My guess is at some point in the near future however USSF will want to assert control, just as they did with the boys.

Whether this is next year, or the year after, or the year after, I don't know. But my guess is within the next 2-3 years.

Red Bull isn't a SC initiative, nor is R3PL play. At some point USSF will want to roll out a national plan to better develop girls at the highest level of play.

Whether or not SC has a "franchise", I wouldn't know. But I wouldn't think the girls are behind the boys are they?

In other words, I would think SC could support a girls Academy program. And while CESA is the logical place...
I would argue that Columbia makes more sense if you're wanting to pool kids from around the state.

would it be like region play where the majority of the sc teams on the girls side pull up the rear or close to it in league play.what would that benefit be other than a ego boost for a club or team.

One of the claims in the merger of the Charotte Soccer Club and SCSA is the precusor of the girl's acadmey at the new Charlotte Soccer Academy. The combined club would have both the USSF boys and new girls academy- one projection was 2010, but as early as 2009. The Red Bull league gives them a quick start on the 30 or so teams that might be the begining of the academy, with a bunch of others added

One of the things that I'd say differentiated Academy from R3PL play....is that its player focused, not team focused.

By that I mean.....how does a kid play R3PL? The team that they're on has to earn their way there. The team....has to win state, or whatever. Different states have different criteria. In SC....State Cup winner and Finalist get the 2 R3 slots.

So a great player who plays on the 3rd or 4th best team...is shut out of playing at the highest level. R3 rewards teams, not players.

Academy is mercenary. Kids tryout and the top 18 or 20 or whatever...are selected. Lets leave politics out of it for now. Politics exist for rostering under the current Club/R3 scenario too.

In Academy, the best kids in an area play. In R3, the best teams play. To me there is a philosophical distinction.

Now, practically......probably 80% of the best players are on the best team already. Thats why they're the best team. And in an area like Greenville or Charleston, CESA and Bridge already provides that. Not sure.....that Academy has brought that many new kids into Bridge, or that it would for CESA.

To me, Columbia is the place for Academy in SC. Its the only place in the state.....where 80-90% of the soccer players would be within 90 minutes or so of each other.

If the purpose is to pool the best players and then train them relentlessly.....not sure it works in our state dealing on the periphery.