|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,521
hat-trick
|
hat-trick
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,521 |
Should make for interesting tryouts this May..Who comes out and who stays the course..
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 293
corner kick
|
|
corner kick
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 293 |
Quote:
South Carolina United FC didn't create the elite boys soccer landscape that currently exists in America, US Soccer did. The Federation determined that we needed to change the way we train and compete in order to develop the best possible National Teams. The philosophy inherent in those changes is player-centric, not team-centric. Naturally, team play is important to individual development, but the emphasis is on developing and identifying excellent players, not teams.
There is a Federation requirement that teams train at least three days per week, with a strong preference for four. The competition is designed to be strong - every game weekend. They have certainly accomplished that. While the strength of various clubs tends to fluctuate a bit from year to year, the quality and competitive balance is remarkable. You just don't see blowout games in the Development Academy. (Of course there is the odd exception, but it proves the rule by being such an anomoly). The officiating seems to me to be much closer in quality to what you see in college games than RIIIPL.
Half of the regular season games are attended by scouts for the National Team, many of whom are college coaches. It has been the exception to play regular season games without at least a handfull of college coaches in attendance. The two Showcase events are attended by 200-300 college coaches, in addition to many National Team scouts. My experience with USYSA events is that attendance by college coaches is rapidly declining, most noticeably at Regionals. This impression is confirmed by many conversations with college coaches. They all tell me that they are almost exclusively focusing on Development Academy games and events because of the concentration of talent and limitations on travel budgets.
I don't dispute the assertion that quality players can be identified in programs other than the Development Academy. That it is less likely, and becoming more so every year, is not seriously arguable anymore. The U-15 and U-17 National Teams are very heavily weighted towards kids from the Development Academy and that trend will continue.
At the outset of the Development Academy I did not understand why US Soccer would create a program that directly competed with ODP. I still don't understand it fully. What quickly became clear was that US Soccer is fully committed to the Development Academy and that the college coaches are fully and completely on board. The horse has left the barn and it isn't going back.
Now, a few final points specific to issues that have been raised in this thread...
We are really only talking about the the best 50 or so players in the four player age years involved. There are fine players who can achieve their soccer goals without playing in the Development Academy. However, there is no comparison between the competition, training, exposure and environment offered by the Development Academy and any alternative to it.
It really doesn't matter whether CESA applied or not and I am not at liberty to answer that question. Ask them. What matters is that every coach and DOC who is primarily concerned about the development of his players should encourage the best of them to try out for a Development Academy team (be it in Columbia, Atlanta or Charlotte). That goes for CESA, CUFC, DISA, Discoveries, and so on, even if it means weakening other teams in the Club. Their obligation is to the best interests of the kids, not their personal won-loss record. One would hope that a coach would take sufficient pride in having developed a player to the point that he us ready to play at the highest level that he would be happy to send him off to the next level.
Finally, inter-club rivalries and juvenile parochial interests should take a backseat to the interests of the kids.
I think just like with ODP it is the best 50 players that decide to be involved in Academy. There are players in South Carolina that choose to NOT participate for whatever reason and agree that players can be identified outside of
Academy. Also, in most instances these kids are staying in state(look at both Academy and CESA college commitments)to attend college and these college coaches are easily accesible. These coaches are still very much involved in ODP. While I have heard from college coaches that they are spending more time at Academy events, I can't imagine they would cut off their nose to spite their faces and not attend other events(Disney Showcase, Regionals, etc).
I too am so discouraged by the rivalries. There are soo many players that need to be developed. What happens to the classic or challenge level player that just needs additional training and coaching? It sounds like everyone is only interested in the upper echelon of players.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,521
hat-trick
|
|
hat-trick
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,521 |
ODP has lost alot of it's punch..The strongest players are not always trying out..At least on the girls side..
I think the academy was formed to address the issue that the best was not taking part in ODP and wanted to offer an alternative..
|
|
|
|
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,429
hat-trick
|
|
hat-trick
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,429 |
Very good post Happy Daddy.
I share your opinion that Academy is the best option for boys at the highest level. My son has had a great experience this year and Academy has met and exceeded our expectations.
My comments weren't meant to be pro-CESA or anti-SCU in regards to Academy. I have tremendous respect for both organizations.
It is simply with this respect for CESA that my comments were based.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 654
goal
|
|
goal
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 654 |
CHT, you said "I think the academy was formed..."
There is no need to make any assumptions on why the Academy was formed. It's all spelled out in detail on their website...seriously.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,521
hat-trick
|
|
hat-trick
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,521 |
Breathe in..breathe out..Relax
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 678
goal
|
|
goal
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 678 |
Simple question,
SCUFC has 29 players rostered on the U-15/16 Academy team, how do they split playing time with so many players during matches. Seems to me lots of players sit on the bench and watch.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 91
throw in
|
|
throw in
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 91 |
Think of how many will be sitting after all those exceptional CESA players join the academy.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 678
goal
|
|
goal
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 678 |
Seriously:
How do they split playing time, do they have a travel team and a practice squad.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 240
Corner Kick
|
|
Corner Kick
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 240 |
Quote:
Think of how many will be sitting after all those exceptional CESA players join the academy.
All this is starting to remind me of the star-bellied sneetches from Dr. Seuss. So the Greenville kids will come to Columbia to play for SCUFC and the displaced Columbia or Charleston kids will go to Greenville to play for CESA.
|
|
|
|
|
|
