US Soccer Frequently Asked Questions?

  Development Academy  
  Development Academy Frequently Asked Questions

How does a club become a Development Academy?
Clubs interested in being considered for the U.S. Soccer’s National Team Development Academy Program must submit their Academy Application to U.S. Soccer no later than March 1st, 2010 to be considered for admission into the 2010-11 Academy season. Clubs can download the application here.

The Academy Technical Committee will review applications on a rolling basis and will make all decisions for the 2010-11 season by April 1, 2010.

What criteria will U.S. Soccer Coaches use to evaluate club applications? 
Applications will be evaluated using the following measures:

  • National Team Coach Analysis
  • History of Elite Youth Player Development
  • History of Success in Elite Competitions
  • Geography
  • Impact on existing Academy members 

Is there a club registration fee to become an Academy Club?
No. There are no team or club fees associated with becoming a U.S. Soccer Development Academy. However, players and coaches must be registered with U.S. Soccer. The registration fees are $2 per player and $25 per coach.

Does an Academy Club have to field a team in the U-18 and U-16 division to participate in the Academy?
Yes. Clubs must field a team in both Academy age groups.

How many players can be included on an Academy Team Roster? 
Academy Teams are required to provide a minimum of 18 full-time players on their Academy Team Roster. There is no maximum limit on the number of players on the Team Roster as long as each player starts a minimum of 25% of the Academy team’s matches.

Can Academy Teams include younger players on their roster? 
Yes. Academy teams are encouraged to place players at their appropriate ability level. For example, the U-17/18 Academy Team should include a balanced mixture of 17 year olds, 16 year olds and a few exceptional 15 year olds. 

How long is the season? 
The Academy Season will begin in fall and end in July with the Academy Finals Week. Teams will break from the Academy Season during their local high school season and periods of inactivity due to weather.

What is the format for Academy Competitions? 
Academy Competitions consist of Academy conference matches, Academy Showcases, Academy Playoffs and the Academy Finals. A team is expected to play between 30-38 matches per year between the four competitions.

U.S. Soccer will assign Academy Clubs to a geographically-based divisions and conferences. The Academy Teams will play each team in their division home and away and will play a selection of their non-division conference opponents. Teams do not play more than one game per day and no more than three days in a row.

All Academy teams are required to attend the two Academy Showcases, which will feature three games against non-conference opponents. Information on Academy Showcases can be found here.

The leading teams in each division will be selected to play in the Academy Playoffs at the end of June. The top teams from the Playoffs will be invited to participate in the Academy Finals Week held in mid-July at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. U.S. Soccer will pay each team’s travel and board expenses for the Academy Finals Week event. 

What are the Academy Playoffs and how does my team qualify?
The Development Academy 2008-09 season includes a new postseason process introduced at the Academy Annual General Meeting in July 2008. Click here for an explanation of the new process.

Will the playing calendar be the same for all conferences?
No. Each conference calendar will vary depending on climate and local high school calendars.

How much will an Academy Team be required to travel?
Academy teams will play 15-20 away matches in a given season, some of which will require overnight travel. Exact travel distances will vary between teams depending on their geographic proximity to their conference opponents and Academy Events.

Who pays for travel expenses?
Development Academy Clubs are responsible for all team travel expenses. U.S. Soccer will cover all travel expenses to the Academy Finals Week for Academy teams that qualify for the event.

Who will select fields for Academy Competitions?
The home club will make facility arrangements for their Academy Conference matches. U.S. Soccer will make facility arrangements for Academy Showcases, Academy Playoffs and the Academy Finals.

Academy Clubs are expected to secure the best possible playing environment for their Academy matches.

Can Academy Teams participate in non-Academy Competitions?
Yes. Academy Teams are only permitted to participate in Academy Competitions (Conference Matches, Showcases and Finals) and non-Academy events approved by the Academy Technical Committee held during the following windows:

  • Winter Windows: Christmas/New Year’s Week
  • Spring Window: Easter Week
  • Summer Window: End of Season (July) to September 1

Academy teams are not permitted to participate in competitions such as State Cup, Super Y-League and U.S. Club Soccer.

Can Academy Matches be played in concert with a Club’s non-Academy Tournament?
Academy games can be scheduled at Academy and non-Academy tournaments, but the games must not count toward the tournament standings.

Can Academy Teams schedule ‘friendly’ matches during the Academy Season?
Academy Teams can schedule ‘friendly’ matches during the Academy season to provide players with heightened development experiences. The matches must not be part of an organized competition, i.e. tournament, league or camp, as defined in the non-participation regulations.

Can Academy players participate on non-Academy Teams during the Academy Season?
Full-time Academy players are only permitted to participate on their Academy team, high school team and national team

Who will assign referees to Academy Matches?
U.S. Soccer will assign officials to all Academy Matches.

Who will pay referee costs for Academy Matches?
U.S. Soccer will cover all of the Referee fees for Academy matches.

How will participating in the Academy affect my son’s opportunity to be seen by elite coaches?
Academy competitions provide ideal opportunities for coaches to scout players in their natural environment. Over half of all Academy matches are observed by a member of the national team scouting network. Over 100 different players from Academy clubs were called into Youth National Teams in 2008. College and professional coaches have also utilized the Academy program as a scouting platform. After the first season of the Academy, over 800 Academy graduates moved on to play college soccer.

Additional Questions
Please email any additional questions to academy@ussoccer.org.


Quote Sheet: U.S. Soccer Development Academy
 
 
CHICAGO (June 4, 2007) – Below are select quotes from coaches and executives commenting on U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy Program, scheduled to being in the fall of 2007.

Sunil Gulati – U.S. Soccer President
“After completing an extensive review and discussion across the country, we feel that it is the right time for U.S. Soccer to lead a change in the sport at the youth level. We need to shift the focus of our young elite players from an ‘overburdened, game emphasis’ model to a ‘meaningful training and competition’ model. This will ultimately lead to more success and will allow players to develop to their full potential.”

Bob Bradley – U.S. Men’s National Team Head Coach
"I'm very excited about the establishment of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Program. It is very important for U.S. Soccer to work with our top clubs to ensure that our best young players are constantly being challenged in an environment that best promotes player development. With a tremendous amount of reach, this program will help focus training sessions and matches on the areas that are critical to elevating our young players' ability to compete at the elite levels of the sport."

John Hackworth – Development Academy Director, Men's National Team Assistant Coach
"It's a concept that youth soccer in this country desperately needs and our goal is to truly shift the focus towards increasing player development. I think it will create a day-to-day training environment that will allow players the opportunity to develop to the best of their ability. Right now we have only 40 players in that type of environment (at the U-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla.), but this Academy will allow us to put thousands of elite players in a similar environment, which will help us raise the entire level across the nation."

Thomas Rongen – U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Head Coach
“Providing players with a better situation to develop at these crucial ages will be greatly beneficial to all of the national teams, from the U-20s to the U-23s and eventually the full team. The more players we can expose to the high-level of training and competition that will be provided in the Development Academy, the better for the entire development of the sport in the United States.”

Bob Jenkins – U.S. Soccer Director of Coaching Education & Youth Development
"The Academy is a comprehensive approach to help develop some of the top players across the nation, but it is also designed to be a working model for the grassroots level. All the clubs involved will be moving in the same direction giving us a similar approach to player development, and then these clubs will act almost like satellites out in the country helping to spread the message out to the clubs around them."

Jim Barlow – U.S. Under-15 Boys’ National Team Head Coach
"It was never more clear to me that things in our youth soccer structure needed to change than at our first U-15 camp last summer when about half of the players, on the very first day of National Team camp, told their coaches that they were tired of soccer. Too many games, too many leagues, too many tournaments and camps, too much structured soccer had already taken its toll on this group of talented young players. I applaud U.S. Soccer for taking some bold steps to change directions and to make its top priority the players."

Manny Schellscheidt – U.S. Under-14 Boys’ Development Program
“At this level, we shouldn’t be so concerned about the results, but rather the players’ performance. We want kids to love the game, enjoy getting better and get more comfortable with the game. We should be putting our emphasis on players’ development not on trying to create the most winning team. It’s all about the basics that we so often skip in favor of the quick result. Playing well is the key, and, eventually, if you know how to play the results will come.”

Sasho Cirovski –
Head Men's Soccer Coach, University of Maryland; Chair, NSCAA Division I Coaches
"For the good of the game, this is a welcome and long overdue concept. Youth soccer has become obsessed with winning and learning through games at the expense of development of fundamental techniques. The emphasis on training, combined with a periodization schedule that will allow players to train and play games mentally and physically at 100 percent, is exciting. It has become increasingly frustrating for all of my colleagues to watch ‘tired’ players, knowing that they are being paced in practices so that they can survive in the games. College coaches will be able to evaluate players in a consistent high quality competitive environment. In the long run, I believe that this will make our recruiting less costly and more efficient. This is something that all of us in college soccer welcome with open arms."
Quote Sheet: U.S. Soccer Development Academy
Quote Sheet: U.S. Soccer Development Academy  
 
CHICAGO (June 4, 2007) – Below are select quotes from coaches and executives commenting on U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy Program, scheduled to being in the fall of 2007.

Sunil Gulati – U.S. Soccer President
“After completing an extensive review and discussion across the country, we feel that it is the right time for U.S. Soccer to lead a change in the sport at the youth level. We need to shift the focus of our young elite players from an ‘overburdened, game emphasis’ model to a ‘meaningful training and competition’ model. This will ultimately lead to more success and will allow players to develop to their full potential.”

Bob Bradley – U.S. Men’s National Team Head Coach
"I'm very excited about the establishment of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Program. It is very important for U.S. Soccer to work with our top clubs to ensure that our best young players are constantly being challenged in an environment that best promotes player development. With a tremendous amount of reach, this program will help focus training sessions and matches on the areas that are critical to elevating our young players' ability to compete at the elite levels of the sport."

John Hackworth – Development Academy Director, Men's National Team Assistant Coach
"It's a concept that youth soccer in this country desperately needs and our goal is to truly shift the focus towards increasing player development. I think it will create a day-to-day training environment that will allow players the opportunity to develop to the best of their ability. Right now we have only 40 players in that type of environment (at the U-17 Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla.), but this Academy will allow us to put thousands of elite players in a similar environment, which will help us raise the entire level across the nation."

Thomas Rongen – U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team Head Coach
“Providing players with a better situation to develop at these crucial ages will be greatly beneficial to all of the national teams, from the U-20s to the U-23s and eventually the full team. The more players we can expose to the high-level of training and competition that will be provided in the Development Academy, the better for the entire development of the sport in the United States.”

Bob Jenkins – U.S. Soccer Director of Coaching Education & Youth Development
"The Academy is a comprehensive approach to help develop some of the top players across the nation, but it is also designed to be a working model for the grassroots level. All the clubs involved will be moving in the same direction giving us a similar approach to player development, and then these clubs will act almost like satellites out in the country helping to spread the message out to the clubs around them."

Jim Barlow – U.S. Under-15 Boys’ National Team Head Coach
"It was never more clear to me that things in our youth soccer structure needed to change than at our first U-15 camp last summer when about half of the players, on the very first day of National Team camp, told their coaches that they were tired of soccer. Too many games, too many leagues, too many tournaments and camps, too much structured soccer had already taken its toll on this group of talented young players. I applaud U.S. Soccer for taking some bold steps to change directions and to make its top priority the players."

Manny Schellscheidt – U.S. Under-14 Boys’ Development Program
“At this level, we shouldn’t be so concerned about the results, but rather the players’ performance. We want kids to love the game, enjoy getting better and get more comfortable with the game. We should be putting our emphasis on players’ development not on trying to create the most winning team. It’s all about the basics that we so often skip in favor of the quick result. Playing well is the key, and, eventually, if you know how to play the results will come.”

Sasho Cirovski –
Head Men's Soccer Coach, University of Maryland; Chair, NSCAA Division I Coaches
"For the good of the game, this is a welcome and long overdue concept. Youth soccer has become obsessed with winning and learning through games at the expense of development of fundamental techniques. The emphasis on training, combined with a periodization schedule that will allow players to train and play games mentally and physically at 100 percent, is exciting. It has become increasingly frustrating for all of my colleagues to watch ‘tired’ players, knowing that they are being paced in practices so that they can survive in the games. College coaches will be able to evaluate players in a consistent high quality competitive environment. In the long run, I believe that this will make our recruiting less costly and more efficient. This is something that all of us in college soccer welcome with open arms."
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