Wow! I hadn't seen this. Looks like Texas and the Northwest academies are following South Cal's lead.
From the article:--
In the Northwest, some clubs had already experimented with a longer season, but with every club now on board, the schedule can be more defined and consistent. What has never been in question, according to Crossfire Premier Director of Coaching Bernie James, is that this model will benefit the elite players in the Development Academy program.
“It’s pretty simple really,” said Bernie James. “If you practice and play with better players, you are going to be challenged more and, in turn, you’ll get better. Losing such a big piece of our time together, three to four months really, to the high school season was difficult in keeping continuity for the players and for our team. If you’re talking about the top kids in the area, which the Academy teams are now, playing with other teams and competitions just doesn’t work as well for them from a player development standpoint.” ... As other parts of the country explore ways to raise the player development bar even higher, almost half of the 78 current Academy teams are looking into longer seasons and other options that optimize the environment for the players.
