In a move designed to improve the development environment for male youth soccer players throughout the country, the U.S. Soccer Federation has taken the initiative in formalizing a nationwide development academy slated to begin play in September, 2007. Created to provide players with the best possible opportunity to develop, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy is being initiated after a comprehensive review of player development systems in the United States and around the world.

In its inaugural season, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy will feature 64 elite youth soccer clubs from around the country. Only two of those clubs are based in the state of Washington, and Washington Premier F.C. is one of them.

Each Development Academy club will not only serve as a home for the nation’s top players, but also as a destination point within their community for shared learning and experience. One of the major advantages of the program will see players receiving integrated oversight from both youth club coaches and U.S. Soccer coaches, while training in their home environment. In turn, the Development Academy will provide an improved scouting environment for college, professional and U.S. National Team coaches.

According to U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati, the Development Academy aims to shift the focus of our young elite players from an ‘overburdened, game emphasis’ model to a ‘meaningful training and competition’ model that will ultimately lead to more success and will allow players to develop to their full potential. To begin that process, U.S. Soccer is using the Development Academy to create a wide-reaching movement within the grassroots soccer environment that will educate parents, coaches and players on the value of expanding national player development directly to the clubs. Using the current U.S. Under-17 Residency Program as a model, the youth clubs chosen to be part of the Development Academy will increase the amount of time spent on meaningful training while also increasing the quality of their matches.

With an emphasis on creating a superior everyday training environment, teams in the Development Academy will have a clean slate for a calendar and will be required to train a minimum of three times a week, eliminating the growing trend of clubs playing an excessive quantity of games in lieu of consistent training patterns. To maintain an emphasis on training, Development Academy teams compete against other teams in the program and do not play in any other leagues, tournaments or State Cup competitions, and players are only allowed to compete on their designated Academy team (with exceptions for high school soccer and national team duty).

The Development Academy has been divided into eight conferences comprised of eight teams based on geographic proximity. Academy teams will play 30 matches across a complete season with the winner of each conference participating in the annual Academy Finals at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The Academy clubs will be comprised of Under-16 and Under-18 age groups, with a minimum of 18 players on a roster, plus up to 10 Developmental Roster players from within the selected clubs.

Academy clubs were chosen by U.S. Soccer’s coaches from more than 150 applications based on number of criteria, including a club’s history of elite youth player development and past success in elite competitions. During its first year, the Academy will feature 63 clubs, representing 24 states and the District of Columbia, plus the U.S. National Team from U.S. Soccer’s Residency Program, playing at the Under-15/16 and Under-17/18 age levels.

The Academy will also serve as a better coaching development platform, with each participating club receiving two invitations to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Best Practices seminars. The development platform for U.S. Soccer referees will also be enhanced in the program, with U.S. Soccer assigning referees to all Academy matches.