I really don't have any clue what you are talking about. I really don't think where a kid goes to high school matters a whit to these guys. Big school/small school is irrelevant if the kid can play.
I know for a fact that Academy coaches go to non Academy games to look at prospective players. I know for a fact that interested players are always welcome to contact Academy coaches and come participate in training sessions. There is a lot more to the selection process than a 1 or 2 day tryout process.
Not sure about your IEP proposal either. My son gets a formal review at the end of every year and he gets several informal reviews during the course of the year. Not sure the Academy coaches really care about about what someone's u11 or u13 coach thought about them. Or their high school coach for that matter. They see what they see.
This isn't directed at you Soccer16.....just a general comment. I'm really amazed when I read some of the comments on this thread at the total lack of understanding of what Academy is and what its not.
Some of it is the readers and contributors to this forum having a primarily HS bent to their experiences. Another part of it is that the club that has historically been the most successful at the highest level in the state (CESA), doesn't participate in Academy.
I would say this.......anyone with a kid who is 14-15 years old or older who is a pretty good player, if you are within an hour of an Academy program, you owe it to yourself to make arrangements to train several times in a row with one of the teams. Compare that training.....to what you get elsewhere. I have YET to meet a kid who didn't step off an Academy training field at the end of a session that didn't say Wow. And that comment includes kids who play region 3.
The top kids at CESA or DISA or MESA....can play anywhere. The difference in Academy is the depth and breadth of talent on the field and that competitive aspect is what fires the intensity of the training sessions. Don't believe it? Think its someone drinking the koolaid? Then take your kid and go check it out for yourself.
And if your a coach....high school or other wise...pretty certain you would be welcome to go observe a session or 2.
