SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP SCUFC remains only Development Academy option in South Carolina

US Soccer Federation has announced the addition of two clubs for the 2010-11 season.

http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Development...011-Season.aspx

South Carolina United FC has had an excellent year in the pitch. The U-16's are in first place in the South Conference and have qualified for the playoffs. The U-18's are third place in the South Conference and are still in the hunt for a playoff spot.

We have placed one player (Joe Amon) in the US Soccer Residency Program in Bradenton, Fl. Three players have been invited to National Team Camps. Four players were chosen for Select games at the Winter Showcase in Phoenix.

The training, coaching, competition and exposure in the Decelopment Academy is unsurpassed in elite youth soccer.

To learn more about South Carolina Untied FC go to www.southcarolinaunitedfc.com
 
2010-11 Tryouts will be posted online shortly.

2010 Tryout Dates:
April 25th – Charleston (location  & times TBD)
May 1, 2 –Columbia (location & times TBD
 

will there be a boys u14 academy? and if yes, will the u14 boys still have a option to play on club team?

As I understand it, plans for incorporating another year or two of ages into the Devolpment Academy are still under consideration, but it won't be done for the 10-11 seasonal year. I expect that there will continue to be some training and games for the younger ages as was done last year. They will continue to be free to play with their club of choice.

So does anyone know why CESA isn't joining the Academy? For sure not really effecting their 92's....who are very well established. But below that....

Top level of play is clearly Academy. For CESA not to join means either they see it as too expensive, short lived, or the status quo is just as good. Is there another reason?

Just don't understand. I think they are making a big tactical mistake. There are parts of the country where Academy hasn't taken hold for some reason. But the SE isn't one of them. Not sure where CESA plans on getting top level competition without some serious traveling.

Clubs don't "join" the Development Academy. They apply for admission and are evaluated on the basis of the criteria mentioned in the article linked above. The scuttlebutt was that CESA was going to apply this year. Whether they did or not, I can't say. If they did, they weren't accepted. If they didn't, I wouldn't know why.

As Happy mentioned, 2 clubs were added this year to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. What he didn’t mention, is that more than 200 clubs across the country applied to join.

Big, I’m not sure if they actually applied or not, either, but word has it they promised a good number of parents that if they would just be patient, cesa would be in the Academy in no time.

The sad part is not only the ones who were “assured” they would have an opportunity to play on an Academy team at cesa in 2010 (and thus wasted a year they could have been playing Academy), but also the ones whom I’m sure will be told the same thing this coming season.

I just wonder how long they’re willing to wait…

Big Daddy,
I believe that CESA has applied twice, including this year, and has not been admitted. As you can see from the link in the first post, US Soccer admitted 1% of this year's applicants. There is a lot more to getting an Academy spot than winning state cups. I'm sure that many of the other clubs that were unsuccesful applicants are big dogs in their states too.
Whatever the reason is that CESA hasn't gotten in, the fact is that South Carolina has one Development Academy club and that's where the top players need to be playing.

Come on Big, I think you’re giving cesa way too much credit. You honestly think that if cesa wants something, that’s all it takes, and they’ll get it? You think US Soccer is just sitting around waiting and hoping for cesa to apply to the Academy - and then once they do, it’s a done deal? Right…

Not sure why you bring up Atlanta again…it was discussed several months ago…

But, if it’s that important…according to US Census Estimates (for 2008):

4,479,800 (South Carolina)
9,222,414 (North Carolina)
9,685,744 (Georgia)
24,326,974 (Texas)

One website I found showed the following (2006) population for the Atlanta area:

3,813,700 (what they called the 10-county Atlanta region)

4,917,717 (what they called the 28-county Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area - notice this is larger than the entire state of SC)

According to the same website, "in the past six years, the [Atlanta] metro area has added more than 142,000 people annually." (that's more than the population of Columbia) So, that’s some information on populations…

Big, you seem to know more about the Academy than most people on here, but I don’t think you did your homework on this one.

I've got to agree with Belli. If I was looking to admit 2 applicants out of 200...South Carolina would be on the lower end of the list, CESA or no CESA. Population-wise, the likelihood of being able to field of more than one Development club in such a small state is much lower than in a larger, more populous state. They probably look at the application and think that there's promise there, eventually, but are looking elsewhere for now. Greenville/CESA kids have Development teams in Columbia and Charlotte if they want to play at that level.

I would honestly be surprised if CESA gets accepted within the next two or three years without SC teams suddenly bursting onto the national scene to prove that we could field more than one USDA club and be competitive. SC just isn't a very enticing sell at this point and, again, there are USDA options in Charlotte and Columbia already.