GREENSBORO, N.C. - The U.S. Soccer Development Academy Summer Showcase came to a close Monday with another thrilling day of action as several teams - including the Crew Soccer Academy Under-18s - booked their place in the Finals Week to be held July 12-19 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Heading into the final day of competition in Greensboro, N.C., there were still nine spots up for grabs in the U-15/16 and U-17/18 divisions, and by day's end only one position remained.
CSA became the first MLS Academy squad to qualify for the finals when its U-18s snatched a 2-1 win over the New York Red Bulls behind goals from Derek Siebert and Mike Green and a six-save effort from keeper Matt Lampson. The squad will enter Finals Week with a record of 21-5-4. The CSA U-16s went 3-0 in Summer Showcase play to finish their season with a record of 19-4-7.
PDA were the first winners on the day, capturing the U-15/16 Mid Atlantic Conference crown with a 3-2 win against Richmond Strikers. That win started an avalanche of qualifiers, as LAFC became the first Development Academy club to claim titles in both age divisions, their younger side defeating AFC Lightning 5-0 to collect the So Cal Conference championship. Later on, CASL of North Carolina became the second club to do the double as their younger squad handed Potomac a comprehensive 3-0 defeat. The U-17/18 Colorado Rush secured their spot before taking the field, since Real Colorado was eliminated after falling 2-1 to Schulz Academy. Real Colorado got revenge against Schulz Academy in the younger division, rising to the occasion with a 3-1 triumph in the must-win match for the Colorado side.
In the day's tightest race, the U-15/16 Chicago Magic did the business with a 2-2 draw against Chivas USA, moving ahead of the Chicago Sockers in the standings based on a better head-to-head record. The U-15/16 Carmel United turned some heads in the Great Lakes Conference, downing fellow finalists Albertson Soccer Club by a slim 1-0 margin to earn a trip to Los Angeles.
The U-17/18 Mid America Conference remains the only open contest, since both the Magic and the Chicago Fire have a game remaining. As it stands, the Chicago Sockers sit atop the table with 50 points, while the Fire are one behind on 49 points and the Magic holding 47 points.
As the final day of the 2008 Summer Showcase wrapped up in Greensboro, N.C., after 186 games played, U.S. Soccer's Development Academy took an opportunity to review the past year's success and identify the expectations and hopes for the second Academy season. Looking back on the past nine successful months, Development Academy Technical Director John Hackworth looks forward to building on that success in the coming years.
"Here we are at the end of our inaugural season and it has been an overwhelming success," said Hackworth. "That's not to say that we have everything just the way we want it or it's a perfect program at this point, but it has exceeded our expectations. We're very excited about the future and we have made some changes and learned some valuable lessons in this first year. We feel like we're going to have an improved program to offer the elite players in this country as we move forward."
Player Development
With 62 clubs from across the nation in the Academy program, more than 400 Under-15/16 and Under-17/18 coaches have been leading the 3,000 athletes through the season's victories and defeats. For U-17/18 Cal Odyssey coach Chad McCarty - a former Crew and Tampa Bay Mutiny defender - the year has brought competition and growth for his club team.
"For our club, we've seen a dramatic change in the whole climate, really, because the focus is on developing the players rather than just game in and game out going after the results," said McCarty. "I think our players - especially for our club - they're getting better every day. This environment is the reason why. I think if U.S. Soccer hadn't gotten involved, if they didn't lay out the framework and the model, then I think we wouldn't have progressed."
Looking to the upcoming Academy season, McCarty and Cal Odyssey expect an even higher level of competition and play from the 124 teams.
"We're happy with the program and looking forward to next year, and I'm interested to see the schedule," said McCarty. "I think everyone's going to raise their level of play. I think the program's got great notoriety and I think the best players are going to be attracted to the Academy because you've created a platform for people to be seen and for development. It's going to continue to improve across the board, from the referees to the fields to the players to the coaches."
Scouting
Full-time U.S. Soccer scouts and per diem scouts from across the nation have worked to develop a routine process for scouting all Academy teams. The routine allows each team and individual player the opportunity to be seen and evaluated.
Director of Scouting Dave Sarachan has led a group of four full-time Academy scouts, and numerous scouts at various levels of the national team, to build a network of local scouts in various Academy regions in the U.S.
"In my role as the Director of Scouting, my primary objective when I first took the position was to build a network of people throughout the country that we feel comfortable with and that have a good eye for talent," said Sarachan. "That network has grown to about 40 scouts, and I think through the process we've seen a lot of soccer games in both age groups - both 16s and 18s - and I think this showcase being the last one is sort of a good culmination of a lot of work over the year."
With 12 new Academy teams joining the ranks in the coming new season, Sarachan and the Academy scouts will look to build further on their current networks.
"We've had a lot of discussions on many different levels in terms of scouting," Sarachan said. "It's a great platform to begin next year where we have a base of scouts already, and people have one year experience under their belt. At the same time the goal is to also get out and bring on new scouts and younger coaches that we feel have the talent to grow and develop as well."
The format of the Showcases, where there are literally thousands of players in one place, also provides a perfect opportunity for college and professional scouts to see the top youth players in the United States.
Feeding the Under-17 and Under-20 National Teams
Along with the 62 clubs in the Academy, coming from regional and state youth leagues across the nation, the Under-17 National Team also plays a large part in the program.
U.S. Under-17 MNT head coach Wilmer Cabrera has taken advantage of the talent and skills from the various 62 clubs, inviting new athletes to join the group in Bradenton, Fla. - including Victor Pineda from the Under-15/16 Chicago Fire Soccer PDA (Bridgeview, Ill.) and Soony Saad from the Under-15/16 Vardar (Rochester Hills, Mich.). Overall, 97 players from Academy clubs participated in camps and games for the U-17, U-18 and U-20 Men's National Teams this year alone.
Under-20 National Team head coach Thomas Rongen has pulled talent from the Academy teams for mini-camps and international trips, and while here in Greensboro he continued to scout players in a highly competitive environment.
"I've gone to some club games, as well, where I've identified some players that we've brought on some of our trips," said Rongen. "I really think it'll pay dividends somewhere down the road, and I think it's been a very helpful addition to us, in terms of identifying players in a natural setting with the club teams against good competition on good fields with good referees."
Taylor Kemp from the Under-17/18 Real Colorado (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Chris Agorsor from the Under-17/18 Baltimore Bays SC (Baltimore, Md.) were invited to the Under-20 National Team camp in England, competing against such teams as Manchester United.
With the second Academy season approaching, Rongen hopes to continually scout and identify players for the National Team pool, collaborating with U.S. Soccer scouts.
"We've got such a great scouting network now set up by the John Hackworth and Dave Sarachan that it's easy for me now to reach out to some of our scouts in particular areas," Rongen said. "It's an ongoing process of looking at players and bringing them in and then continuing to follow up, which now becomes a lot easier with the Academy, because in the past a lot of those players would fade a little into obscurity."
Referees
Over the course of four days at the Summer Showcase, 118 referees have been present to officiate 186 matches. In addition to receiving feedback from referee assessors, they had the opportunity to be mentored by two of U.S. Soccer's Full-Time referees , Ricardo Salazar and Terry Vaughn. U.S. Soccer's Director of Referee Development Paul Tamberino has been overseeing the training of referees in the Academy program and the identification of 12 referees who will be invited to the Finals Week.
"Their hard work and performance at the individual showcases have been identified by U.S. Soccer staff," said Tamberino. "We're bringing them into the finals, not as a reward, but to give them further mentoring and training to get them ready for the next level where they want to go."
Beginning with the first showcase at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., referees have been evaluated and identified for development and growth within the Academy program. Approximately 8-12 referees have been identified at the Showcases in Carson, Frisco, and Rockford. Two referees from each showcase were then invited to Greensboro, with another 12 were heading to Finals Week at The Home Depot Center.
With the first year of Academy referee development in the books, Tamberino hopes to further build on the year's success by developing a database of referees for the next season's Academy matches.
"Moving forward to 2009, I don't know how many showcases we're going to have, but what I envision outside of the showcases and talking again with our staff is that I would like to develop a core of referees in each individual academy location," Tamberino said. "That way we can monitor them, coach them more individually, and the best comparison is to treat them just as the players. An Academy team has a core of 18-22 players and we want to do the same things with the referees."
Building for Next Year
A number of resources were added during the inaugural Academy season, including a partnership with Nike and SPARQ that provides a valuable training component for every player in the Development Academy. SPARQ tested every single player in the Academy and provided them with an individually program designed to provide meaningful training by addressing personalized areas of weakness and focus on areas of strength.
ProZone was also provided to all the Academy club coaches, supplying them with detailed statistical game video analysis to help them closely monitor and evaluate team and player performances.
As the number of initiatives continues to grow, the number of clubs and players provided the opportunity to benefit from the Academy will also increase in the second year of the Development Academy. Three Major League Soccer teams and a total of eight programs from Texas, which will be represented for the first time in the Academy, will bring the Academy field to 74 clubs. The U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team will also return for the second year.
FC Dallas, the Los Angeles Galaxy and the New England Revolution were added to the Academy, bringing the number of MLS teams to nine overall. The other nine new clubs come from Texas and California, including FC Dallas (Frisco, Texas), Andromeda SC (Plano, Texas), the Dallas Texans (Dallas, Texas), Solar SC (Dallas, Texas), Texas Soccer Club (Spring, Texas), Texas RUSH - AHFC (Houston, Texas), Santa Cruz County Breakers (Santa Cruz, Calif.) and Danville Mustangs (Danville, Calif.).
