Backscreen17,
Because for 90% of the kids who play Academy.....HS soccer represents a significant drop in level of training and play. And this isn't just coming from Academy coaches....
when my son played ODP it was common to hear feedback from the ODP coaches, most of whom were college coaches, that they noticed at training sessions the high school "effect".
High level club coaches (non Academy) for years have talked about the potential benefits of a 2 season club versus one.
To me, Academy isn't the point. One of the posters mentioned Nick Finotti and Lou Pantuosco. Either of those guys coaching their club teams for 2 seasons versus one, the kids would benefit enormously from a soccer perspective.
I have empathy for a kid at Wando....where I hear they have 9-10 Academy kids on the team, a number of other kids from a very good Mount Pleasant program, and an excellent coach. Same with an Irmo....and a handful of other schools. I have empathy for that kid who loves HS soccer and also playing Academy. They really do have the best of both worlds. But for most Academy kids.......the reality is an enormous gap between the two levels of play. My son played for a Charlotte Academy....and even the Charlotte parents, most of whose kids played for pretty good HS programs, talked about the qualitative differences.
USSF is doing this with the belief that taking an Academy player who spends 30% of his soccer time playing HS, which for 90% of the kids playing represents a pretty big drop in training quality. If you can jack up the level of play in that 30% window......you can probably derive some benefit.
Its logical and I agree with it. Its not for everyone and thats fine. But I believe that the kids who its targeted at......will benefit. Particulalry over time. By the time an Academy player is a junior in HS....they would have added 9 months of Academy training to his develoment. I believe that to be a good thing that will yield clear benefits.
Last edited by Big Daddy; 04/21/12 12:56 PM.
