Personally I have a neutral attitude about the academy program. It’s the latest attempt to get the US up to speed in soccer, much like attempts to do the same with education. I’d like to see it work and the US have better players. I worry, however, that by U-14 the damage is already done, and by U-16 certainly so; that is, lack of technical skills and using them at the right times. That’s where the US lags, in my opinion. I’d argue American players know the game just as well as anyone else, thanks in part to “FIFA” video games and a high ratio of matches kids play with their clubs. I can’t help but wonder if we need to focus the developmental part on younger kids. This sentiment was echoed by Tony Dicicco recently: http://www.examiner.com/soccer-in-nation...cer-development
There is an interesting editorial by Jay Martin in the latest issue of The Soccer Journal, the publication of the NSCAA, in which he outlines the “good, bad and ugly” of the academy program. I tried to find a link to it but couldn’t. Maybe someone else can.
High school soccer isn’t going away, and most high school coaches who supposedly aren’t developing players are the same ones who suddenly know what they are doing while they train clubs. It’s too bad the approach of USSF has been ambivalent about working with schools in the first place. Most kids go to elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. Kids could be identified earlier and tracked by PE departments working with clubs maybe. I don’t know – I’m just free associating here so know that before one of the know-it-alls jumps all over me. Just trying to figure a way to expose ALL kids to soccer earlier, cheaper, and with something more driven by development than profit motive. Wouldn’t a high school coach be interested in identifying all the potential players in their district and having a hand in their development? I know I would. Just as most want their kids playing as often and at the highest levels as possible.
Good point on the economic cost of academy too. There’s an interesting chapter regarding poverty and soccer in England in Soccernomics (http://www.amazon.com/Soccernomics-Australia-Turkey---Iraq--Are-Destined/dp/1568584253/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306460056&sr=1-1) that analyzed the occupations of England’s national team players and how there appears to be a correlation between poor parents and winning versus middle class and losing.
Again, not being critical, although I will throw it out there that I’m not sure I could afford for my daughter to play academy, and I know my parents wouldn’t have been able to back in the day – though I would have loved the chance to play it. Most of the kids I know who are or have played Academy are from fairly well-to-to families.