SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP Bridge FA success in Academy

Nice article in SoccerAmerica.com.

ACADEMY PROFILE: Bridge FA U-15/16
Friday, Oct 31, 2008 9:00 AM ET
BRIDGE FUTBOL ALLIANCE HAS OPENED up a five-point lead in the U.S. Soccer Academy's Atlantic Division U-15/16 age group.

BFA won its fifth game in six starts with a 3-2 win over AFC Lightning on Sunday.

Wesley Eads scored his second goal of the game with one minute to play earn the win for BFA, which had blown a 2-0 lead at halftime. Nestor Jaramillo and Eads had scored in the first half.

BFA's only loss was 2-0 to Southeast Division leader Schulz Academy.

The BFA U-15/16s are coached by former South Carolina star Clark Brisson.

Bridge FA draws most of its players from across South Carolina's Lowcountry (Charleston area) and some from other parts of the state and across the border in Savannah, Ga.

In its first year in the Development Academy, the U-15/16 team finished with a 21-5-4 record and pulled off a surprising 3-1 victory over the U.S. national team at the spring showcase event in Greensboro, N.C.

Congratulations to the BFA team. It's great to see such success from SC at the '92 level.

SC ODP '92 is Qualified for Region III Championship in New Orleans - Jan. '09
CESA '92 Premier Region III East Champion '08
BFA Leading Atlantic Division.

Keep it up!

Don't forget about the Columbia United U-17 Elite team that won the Premier League Region III title back to back as well.

UTD4Life,

There are one or two '92 players on that team. Great job to each of them, their teammates and Coach Strickland for their repeat.

Five, to be exact!

How did this Bridge team do in the Premier League at u14 and u15?

Bridge U15 was not in Premier League, CESA and CU.

Import, I asked how THIS Bridge team (the one that the article is about) did in the Premier League when they were u14 and u15?

Where I'm incorrect, I'm sure someone will clarify.

This "team" that you are asking about is a pool of players from the Bridge 92 and Bridge 93 age groups, with possibly some 94's in there also. There is a large part of this pool that is the Bridge 93 "team", which there is no SCYS team for presently, including the 2 players cited in the article. The Bridge 93's played up in the challenge league one year, qualified for RIIIPL and I believe were in contention, finishing in the top half. If I recall correctly that was when they were U14. I'm not certain if they qualified for PL for U15, which would have been this year, which is the CESA and CUFC teams. To my knowledge the bulk of this team only played RIIIPL that one year.

This year U16 CESA & Bridge have the two R3PL teams. This is not the Bridge academy team. The team is comprised of at least 8 players from the team that made it to the state finals of the State Cup last December. Last year CESA and CUFC represented the U15 R3PL. The year prior U14 CESA and Bridge were the teams in R3PL. Region play didn't start until that U14 age group.

Although, the 93 Bridge players did play up in the challange league last year they did not compete in the State Cup at the end of the year. This is due to SCSYA's rules concerning State Cup play. You can only compete in one age group when it comes to State Cup. They had to make a decision which was to stay with their true age group. Also, the U15 State Cup is held in December and the U14 State Cup is held in June. At roughly the same time Bridge decided to participate in the Academy program.

So...just making sure I understand correctly...

Bridge 92 Team (Current U16 team), played RIIIPL as U14, did not qualify for RIIIPL as U15, but earned it back as U16. At least 8 players from that team, (possibly including some players that may or may not be listed as developmental players with the Bridge Academy team) are playing in RIIIPL and are therefore participating in the State Cup this month.

Bridge 93 Team (Currently the bulk of the U15/U16 Academy "team"), as U13's earned a RIIIPL spot, which would be played in the spring. In the fall of the U14 year, they played U15 SCSCL, but did not participate in the state cup that December. In the Spring of U14 year, they played RIIIPL, and SCSCL to qualify for the State Cup in the Spring. Did not win state cup, I don't know if they qualified for RIIIPL for the U15 season, but went to Regionals last summer as a PL rep. Some of these players also participated in ODP and were selected for the Region Team over Thanksgiving.

The Bridge Academy "Team" is comprised of the former Bridge 93 team (which no longer is playing in SCYS, and not listed on the web page), and the remaining players from the Bridge 92 team, that aren't part of the at least 8 officially rostered only with SCYS.

So, finally back to Locdog's question, some of the players have 2 seasons RIIIPL experience, and some of the players have 1 season of RIIIPL experience, but the rostered (not including developmental players) academy team does not have any RIIIPL experience as a team.

Not trying to be nitpicky (and none of this is really important, anyway, but since it was brought up, I figured I'd give my 1.5 cents worth) but I wouldn't necessarily say that "the bulk of the U15/U16 Academy "team"" is from the Bridge '93 team. Of course, our definitions may just be different. Also, approximately one-third of that Academy team roster falls into neither category.