SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP U.S. Development Academy Roundup - Jan. 21-22

I would only ask, whose purpose does this serve?
As a parent of a "dual citizen," I can tell you that, come February, a significant number of kids are more than ready to take an extended (four-month) break from Academy. And not just the kids at the end of the bench. They reconvene briefly in June, then break out again.
By August, they're reinvigorated by the high school "break" and summer vacation and are ready to go back to the grind.
So, again, whose purpose does this serve?
The kids? Maybe. Maybe not.
The USMNT? I guess you can make the case that, in the long run, Herr Klinsmann will benefit from a more consistent pipeline. (As opposed to Division 2 and 3 in Germany.)
Academy programs such as SCUBDA?
High school soccer?
My sense is that the powers that be in soccer are grasping at straws in the wind, hoping against hope that largely cosmetic changes will yield better USMNTs.
I am not convinced, though I am open-minded to a balanced argument.

I had a crisis in citizenship over the weekend thinking about the Development Academy. I personally think the DA is a fantastic idea. I also am completely against it running 10 months. It would be one thing if these players were in the pipeline to turn pro when they are 18 and enter a 10 month season. They are not; plus DA sells itself as a way to college. I think players of the caliber who play DA could play for college whether they played DA or not. I worry they are going to be burnt out by the time they reach college (I was burned out from club when I got to college, after travelling up one side of North Carolina to another for four springs).

But my crisis came from realizing the USSF, and the DA, by moving to a 10 month season, seem to be actually working AGAINST high school soccer. Sure, there will still be plenty of fantastic players who play high school, but will they be the best? And if they get better will they leave high school and play for the DA? Would high school coaches then only want players who are very good, but not quite so good as to play Academy. A ten month season creates a conflict for coaches who perhaps have trained players since they were little, hoping they might one day play for the high school, only to find that they might have a player who excels (which you want as a coach) who then will not play for you at the high school level. That's a tough place to be because you want the best for the players - but you hate to lose how much you've also invested in the player (I'm just being honest).

So does this mean the USSF is against high school soccer? Does it mean it is against me and all the others like me who pour blood, sweat and tears into their high school program? Whether they mean to or not, I think that is the message. They are asking for my loyalty and my faith; but I'm not sure I can give it, and I don't see why I should.

The problem is resolved by keeping the seasons seperate they way are.

Just one high school coach's thoughts. I'm Todd Robinson and I approve this message.

Great post!!!! Love the last line!!

I grew up in western PA and was a diehard Pirates fan until they blew up the team after the loss to the Braves (darn Sid Bream) and then the strike and all of that. Can't stand baseball now. Prince Fielder? Yikes....

A funny story when the Pirates were getting good again in the mid 80's and starting to challenge the Mets in the NL East. Someone in the media asked Ed Koch (one of my favorite politicians of all time.....along with Ronald Reagan) about Pittsburgh and he infamously replied "Pittsburgh? I don't even know where it is."

I honestly don't think USSF is sitting around cogitating on the best balance between high school and club and Academy. Honestly, I think they have already decided right or wrong on the Academy model. They are ONLY interested in and focussed on how to best improve that model.

And I think that they think.....that if kids that are interested in playing professionally and being a part of the national team pool are going to play organized soccer another 3.5 months, it might just as well be in the structure of the Academy environment.

I don't think they even think.....about high school soccer in terms of whats in the best interests of that game.

I don't think they care about growing the game or anything along those lines. All they care about.....is growing the pool of players capable of playing professionally and internationally. They also care about growing the quality of that larger pool of players.

Thats it. Of course Claudio Reyna I'm sure would love to see more kids playing soccer, longer and at higher quality...at all levels of play. But his task....is on identifying and growing the elite player. Period.

Everyone has self interest. HS coaches do.....clubs do....USSF does. HS coaches want the best players and they want to win. Clubs want the best players and they want to win and they want to make money. USSF and Claudio Reyna...want to start producing players the can play professionally in the top leagues and lift the US in international play.

Should HS coaches take an Academy player or potential Academy players? Heck yeah!! But you understand, just like a Coach K with a Kyrie Irving....that you may only have them for a year. And hopefully in that year or 2....the kid has fun and the coach is able to utilize his talent to the best advantage of the team.

People cloud this issue. Of course HS soccer is great and of course it has value!! I coached HS for a couple of years and had a blast with the kids. And we did pretty well. But the issue isn't HS or kids who are very good players who want to be balanced kids. This issue....is only about kids who would run thru a wall in order to play professionally or internationally. And....the best way to ID and grow those kids.

I agree that DA (and ECNL on the girls side) has a purpose. It's for the top 1% - 2% of the talent pool. In addition to being talented, the player (and parents) need to be fully committed. When you are this committed, sacrafices need to be made. High school soccer gets sacraficed under this model. So be it. Do these players (and parents) miss out on the "HS experience"? Absolutely, it is a choice that is made. 99% of the talent pool is still out there to fill up high school rosters.

Good point on the "real" purpose of DA. Is it to get a kid ready for the national team or is it to get a kid identified for a D1 college scholarship? If JK and CR really wanted to prepare players for the USMNT, they should advise any player with professional ability to pull up roots at age 16, and continue/enhance their career with a professional club in Europe? Isn't this the most efficient way to prepare players for USMNT duty? Should the DA really be a conduit to college where a potential pro player's career-growth will be stunted?

Very valid point. Personally I'm not ready to send my kid to some lower league in Europe or SOuth America just yet. He is, we parentals....are not.

If my kid played baseball.......there is a model that takes kids straight out of high school. That model doesn't exist, practically, yet for soccer in the US. If it did....thats what he'd be doing.

The funny thing about Academy and college....all of those expectations are stuff that outside people have laid on the Academy program. Clubs. USSF from the getgo....has been to the best of my knowledge, very neutral on next steps for successful Academy players. Our culture in America says that the "next level" is college...and I'm sure we're all guilty of accepting that paradigm. Pretty certain Academy has NEVER taken that path tho.

I think what they are wanting...is that MLS Academies become their Youth teams and funnel the better players into the professional ranks. And given that there are what...18 MLS franchises and 80 odd Academies....my guess is they would want to poach the better players off of the non MLS Academies also.

Just dont' think we're there yet. I think when they start pulling 13-14 year olds into Academy instead of at 15-16...and also 10 month Academy versus 7 month Academy...in a few years you will have players ready to step into MLS reserves instead of being ready to step into ACC or Southern Conference play.

Wouldn't it also be neat if all of the lower level professional soccer teams were affiliated with MLS teams? What if Charleston Battery was affiliated with Red Bullls? Charlotte Eagles with DC United. Etc.

Wouldn't it be nice if a kid with talent that wanted to take a hack at pro soccer instead of college....could step into a pipeline situation....where talent and work ethic and performance.....leads to the next league up? Instead, we have a bunch of independent and unaffiliated teams where playing great on one team...really means little to nothing in terms of moving up.

Part of me has to laugh as we continually try to copy models from other countries and cultures trying to replicate their soccer successes.
I experienced alot of this 30-35 years ago in Prestwick, Scotland and Frankfurt, Germany(10 years total).
I do want to say up front I am not trying to bash D.A. and I respect what I think they are trying to do, but Big Daddy actually just hit the nail on the head with his reference to affiliations.
We are not set up the way the rest of the world is and soccer is not #1 here--his point is valid--close affiliations make all the difference in the world.

I will use Scotland as an example--I lived there longer.
Celtic and Rangers(Glasgow) had pretty extensive Youth Systems(as they called them) as did Hearts and Hibs(Edinburgh). After that, it was a little hit and miss.

Kilmarnock(closest to us in Prestwick) had their own YS and indeed some local boys were identified and played in this program on weekends.

Long story short--this would occasionaly lead to a "Jock Stein" sighting. Jock had heard of a kid in Killy's YS and was there for a peek.

Jock was the manager of Celtic, which had just won The European Cup(Todays Champions League) in 67, the year before the great Man U(Georgie Best, Brian Kidd side) beat Benfica in 68.

Two years later, Jock was Scotland's national manager. You can connect the dots I think. When your ability on the field is exposed to these eyes, you are on the fast track.

I don't think we can replicate that here for alot of the reasons B.D. hits on in his post.

U.S. Soccer Supports Development of Player "Intangibles"

TopDrawerSoccer.com's 2013 Top 100

25. Dakotah Millard (Hopkins) SC United Battery FC
67. Eli Dent (Charleston), SC United Battery FC

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/players-to-watch/players-to-watch-top-100/men/2013#results

Interview by Mike Woitalla

The Richmond Kickers have announced they will be covering the costs of players on their U.S. Soccer Development Academy teams. We spoke with Leigh Cowlishaw, the Central Virginia club's Director of Soccer, about the impact he expects from the move – and the Academy’s new 10-month season, which keeps its players out of high school ball.

SOCCER AMERICA: Other than the Major League Soccer programs in the 78-club U.S. Development Academy, only a handful of clubs don’t charge their players. How are the Richmond Kickers able to pull it off?

LEIGH COWLISHAW: It’s a mix of sponsorships and motivated donors who wanted to see this happen.

SA: So it’s not a case of the club’s other players’ fees subsidizing the Academy teams?

LEIGH COWLISHAW: It is not. This is very much a self-sufficient program, so no funds from any of our other programs are directed toward this initiative. That was very important to our club. We did not want to see that. That would be against what we believe in.

SA: What impact do you expect from making your Academy teams cost-free?

LEIGH COWLISHAW: One would hope there’s an incentive now for players to join the club. It’s certainly a driving force and a reward of a significant dollar value for players who are able to be part of the Academy team.

Four-year play in the Academy -- you’re probably looking at a $20,000 scholarship.

SA: How important is solving the pay-to-play state of American soccer to the nation producing more great players? One can argue that although the USA is producing more “good” players than ever, its rate of producing truly exceptional players hasn’t increased substantially over the decades …

LEIGH COWLISHAW: We continue to average down because of all the programs, because of all the leagues, because of all the organizations, because of all the clubs that continue to promote that they offer a high level of soccer development. So the player pool is so spread out. The market is totally scattered and fragmented.

I would much prefer to get to the stage where the best players in a region are all together. And that’s one of the reasons we wanted to this [cost-free].

We know that if we pool the players of Academy-level together from a 50-, 60-mile radius, you’ve got a totally different training environment, a totally different playing environment, and you’ve got players competing week-in and week-out just to get in the starting lineup.

We’ve had this explosion of club development and player development, but the actual environment of a player having to fight to be on a certain level team just doesn’t exist.

SA: The big news in youth soccer is that the U.S. Academy league is moving to a 10-month season. What’s a specific benefit for your club’s players?

LEIGH COWLISHAW: The 10-month season will allow our players to develop even more because now we’ll have the ability to train those players with the professional team -- as clubs around the world can. It will be common moving forward for a 16-year-old kid, who has the ability and temperament, to train with our pro team now and then.

[Editor’s Note: The Richmond Kickers, who have 8,000 youth players under their umbrella, also field a USL PRO team of which Cowlishaw serves as head coach.]

SA: What’s been the reaction of your club’s Academy players on the prospect of opting out of high school ball?

LEIGH COWLISHAW: We polled our players and 70 percent were all-in to do Academy play right now. And that’s the existing player pool.

To say every kid wants to play high school soccer would be wrong.

But we also recognize there are some fantastic coaches and great teams in high school soccer and high school soccer is not going to go anywhere. High school soccer will continue forever. …

We also recognize this is going to be a generational thing. Not everyone is going to buy into it. Juniors and seniors who have grown up with high school may see it as the No. 1 priority. We believe, as U.S. Soccer believes, that over the years the best players are going to see a different path and gravitate to the Academy program.

SA: What about the argument that Academy players will miss out on the joy of representing their school community, and playing in front of crowds?

LEIGH COWLISHAW: I like that point because you want to replicate that environment where there’s a lot of noise and atmosphere. That helps player development. I totally agree that’s one of the big benefits of high school ball. It’s certainly harder to replicate that at the Academy level, but that may change over the years as the culture changes.

The one thing that I will say: In our area, our high school soccer fields are the size of football fields and it’s very difficult to play the type of soccer U.S. Soccer is demanding. It’s not conducive to attractive, possession-style soccer.