U.S. Soccer announced a sweeping series of initiatives and programming changes on Monday, a push intended to help “develop world-class players and coaches” by innovating new approaches to “three core areas” of player identification, training and development and competition.
Spearheaded by US national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who also took up the title of technical director when he signed a lucrative new contract last year, the initiatives represent a significant rethink in several areas – and even include addressing the length and structure of the college game, a long-running problem area in the wider player development process.
“U.S. Soccer is collaborating with the NCAA to make changes to the college soccer model that will benefit the health and wellness of the athletes by extending the season over a longer period of time,” the federation explained in a press release.
New youth national teams on both the male and female sides will also be added in the form of U-16 and U-19 squads – which will be overseen by full-time head coaches – running the federation's total to eight teams from U-14 to U-23 level.
U.S. Soccer will standardize small-sided games and field sizes for youth players, in order to create “the proper environment on and off the field for players to develop,” and even-birth-year and odd-birth-year players will be split into separate programming tracks, expanding the number of players involved and “allowing for a more consistent approach toward development.”
Coaching education will also be a major focus of the new push, with U.S. Soccer introducing two new coaching courses and a "Pro License" certification, and partnering with Sporting Kansas City on the National Coaching Education Center, a central facility for licensing courses.
Klinsmann called the changes “a huge step forward” in helping US players reach their maximum potential.
Seeking “to benchmark itself against other soccer powers,” the federation will also commission an as-yet-undetermined outside group to lead an independent assessment of its youth national teams and Development Academy system.
Starting in the 2016-17 season, it will also add an Under-12 division to the DA's existing U-13/14, U-15/16 and U-17/18 age groups, and will increase funding for the DA's scholarship program in order to open up the nation's premier youth competition to players from humbler economic backgrounds.
"It's fundamental to the growth of the sport in our country that we examine and improve the different areas of development for our players and coaches," said federation president Sunil Gulati in a statement. "We are better situated than ever with the resources to do that. With ambitious programming for our National Teams, new investments in education and technology, and a continued effort to align our technical practices with the best in the world, we are positioning ourselves to take another important step forward."
