SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Club Soccer & ODP BridgeFA/ US Soccer Academy Information

When all is said and done for most I believe our buddy Hurst hits the nail on the head with his statement "Kids play sports because they find it fun. Eliminate the fun and soon you eliminate the kid."

I'm all for my kid getting the best possible training but all the while keeping a watchful eye to the burnout factor.

if anyone wants a pretty good detail about the play for this academy go to south charlotte's web site and check out their home page.

Link to the South Charlotte website:

http://www.southcharlottesoccer.com/

You might be curious how other programs are implementing the USSDA (answers to cost/fees, schedule, clubs combining resources....Wow how novel!)

Crossfire Premier (Washington State)
http://www.crossfiresoccer.org/USSDA/index_E.html
http://www.washingtonpremiersoccer.com/CrossfireKlein.html

FC Delco (Pennsylvania)
http://www.fcdelco91.org/docs/2007-2008%20FC%20DELCO%20Program.pdf

South Charlotte Soccer Association (North Carolina)
http://www.southcharlottesoccer.com/

St. Louis Soccer Club & Scott Gallagher (Missouri)
http://sgscmember.teammania.net/announcement-info.do?view=3&grpId=922&announcementId=6715

Interesting keeper192...thank you for the legwork

crossfire website - completely different than bridge...must be the only state with HS in spring in the division.

Participation Expectations
Players on the USSDA teams are not allowed to participate in the WSYSA league, State Cup or ODP. In addition Crossfire Premier has made the decision to not allow players to participate on their high school teams as a result of conflict with the USSDA season. There will be other teams in the league for which high school play is allowed, one of those could be Washington Premier.

The decision to not allow players to participate in high school soccer is not an easy one but is in response to the timing of the WIAA high school season which is March through May for most school and is a period of time which corresponds to the last third of the USSDA season. This conflict is a fairly unique problem to Washington as the overwhelming majority of teams in the country either have the season in the fall, so they can start the USSDA season after high school and play it in their entirety, or in the winter, where they can play the first half of the USSDA season, take a break at mid year and then play the second half of the season. The US Soccer Federation strongly believed allowing a break during the March-May period was inconsistent with the spirit of the league and strongly encouraged us not to allow high school participation during this time and while Washington Premier FC is going to take a break and allow players to participate in high school soccer we decided to follow the U.S. Soccer recommendation. Crossfire Premier has also agreed to work with WSYSA to talk to WIAA about moving the boys’ soccer season to a time of year that might accommodate USSDA and other WSYSA programs such as State Cup, but we do not expect any resolution to this problem in the short term.

I'll refer to my two previous posts for this one:
Cost seams to be what a lot of the chatter is saying is the prohibitive factor wrt USSDA. Washington's Crossfire is charging it's players $2,500 for the season (all inclusive and their travel is farther than BFA's). I estimated that ODP + Select at $1,600 and when you add in tournaments to get a similar number of games and your up to the 2.5K cost of USSDA. A decent sponsorship drive will reduce the costs further and an initiative like the USSDA is sure to draw sponsors. Not to mention that the quality of the games is across the board higher with USSDA. Just a thought on the topic.

Futbol(soccer) Don't get me wrong, I'm not selling this thing I'm just posting the information from their site.

Bridge FA has decided to participate in this league...Ok then. Are there options for the ones who do not want to participate? Yes, I think so. It looks like Bridge FA and most of the other Academy clubs are holding supplemental try-outs for both Academy & challenge spots.

For the ones wishing to participate in the Academy, let them spend their hard earned cash, fly everywhere, do their extra practices, play the other Academy teams, and we should all wish them the best of luck.

I’m going to quote a favorite author here and say “whoa, “Your brains are bouncing like bbs on a six-lane highway.”

Consider this, those of you who’ve been bitten by the “Academy” bug… it’s NOT Academy soccer that’s the end goal is it? If you’re putting your Johnny soccer player in the program, is it because he wants to play professional soccer and/or get a college scholarship? If it’s the latter, you don’t need the Academy. Plenty of those who have gone before received scholarships without Academy play assistance. Remember, those scholarship players were also academically well-positioned, That’s the point of going to college. That’s why soccer doesn’t yet have the disproportion of dumb jock idiots other professional sports have spawned. Besides, Colleges no longer offer total sports scholarships because they are after all, institutions of learning, not “sports academies.” Something I hope you don’t lose sight of.

Then consider the MLS lure the Academy proponents are dangling. What exactly does that league offer? With the exception of foreign “stars”—Beckham and Adu come to mind and Adu did play some Academy soccer, hey–isn’t he playing for PORTUGAL NOW???—not much. From a spectator standpoint, MLS might as well be dubbed Mediocre League Soccer. Salaries offered by MLS are reportedly ridiculously low compared to other US professional sports and MLS owns your contract, not the individual team. So it seems no matter where you get traded during your average career, there’s not much chance for better money within that league, unless you’re a superstar.

Again, IF pro soccer is what your Johnny is aiming for as a career, it’s arguable that Europe is the place to play better professional soccer and get far better money. If he’s not going to play professional soccer, why the heck are you paying for Academy play… the prestige? Remember it all goes away if all he does is end up in MLS as is currently is.

So fans of the Academy, what’s the end result? The DOCs will get paid more, they’ll have the prestige, yet soccer Johnny’s family will just be paying outrageous prices and doing crazy travel for the same outcome regardless of promises. These kids are high-schoolers for heaven’s sake! You still may have to pay for college. Get real here.

And yes, Academy soccer will transform club soccer into a sport for those who can better afford it, but will only give spectators a of future MLS games with cookie-cutter talent who came from one source… I, for one, will not be paying to watch those games.

Get past this Academy hype. If your 16-18 yr.old soccer Johnny was that good, he’d already have been asked to play in Bradenton. The future of Academy soccer (a marginally good idea) lies with the young ‘uns, not with the 16 to 18 yr-old kids being told to join now. I hope that the classic, challenge and premier leagues aren’t permanently decimated by this latest rage. If you’re a soccer parent you should pledge to all interested kids to make the sport available no matter what their status or income level. That’s what has made soccer the “better sport” thus far.

Get your kid’s foot on a ball and meet at the pitch. Play soccer! Just make sure everyone’s invited... .

Ok Socajumbi, Since I was the last poster, I guess it is my brains bouncing like BB's. Since I find it challenging to match wits with this logic, let me break it down in my Cave Man style.

1) Playing Y or Rec. ball and getting to play up to Classic because of all the hype of "Classic" .......Good, but naturally more money due to some travel.

2) Playing Classic ball and getting to play up to Challenge, because of all the hype of "Challenge".....Good, but naturally more money due to even more travel.

3) Playing Challenge ball and getting to play up to Region Premier, because of all the hype of "Premier"......Good. but naturally more money due to, still, even more travel.

4) Playing Region Premier and getting to play up to an Academy League, because of all they hype of "The Academy".......Bad Too much money, too much travel

Some kids rejoice in their accomplishments in going from 1, to 2, 2 to 3,and so on. Is it conceivable that some kids actually find it "FUN" to play very at this top level?

Each level up, you play stronger and more experienced teams and your level of coaching increases. This point nobody can argue.

And to your point about making soccer available to all kids regardless of their situations, it is alive and well, see 1).

redcard,

Good points.....but for some parents & players (even talented kids), it just becomes practical to stop at level 3 or level 4. Resources (time & money) just become too strained.


jumbi,

Very good analysis. You are correct, there are now avenues to get a talented to Europe (or South America) at ages 16 - 18. That's where the reward (money) is for kids who want to play at the professional level. The MLS salary barely pays the bills.