FC Dallas Academy to host weekend tournament KC, Rapids teams also set to battle against Mexican sides FC Dallas have announced that the club's Academy will host a series of friendlies between three MLS Academy teams and three Mexican Academy teams on Saturday and Sunday at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. The Sporting Kansas City and Colorado Rapids Academies will head to Frisco, and along with the FC Dallas Academy, play against Tigres, Monterrey and Santos teams from the same age group. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/fc-dallas-academy-host-weekend-tournament
MLS Academies Distance Themselves From The Pack The growing rift between MLS and non-MLS Academies is a sign of the times MLS Academies work on a budget between $200,000 and $500,000 annually,” a Development Academy Technical Director remarked recently. “And here I am competing against them with a budget 1/10 that size.” While MLS Academy Directors were not as forthcoming with their budgetary means, the fact remains there is a gaping hole between the two sides. The staggering difference in the assets of the clubs is turning into a battle of David vs. Goliath in the Development Academy. http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/2617...s-academies-distance-themselves-from-the-pack
USSF Development Academy weekend preview Chivas USA, Real Salt Lake teams back in action February 25, 2011 With the final weekend of February upon us, the last window of limited Development Academy action gets under way. Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake are the only two MLS clubs to send their academy sides into action this weekend. The rojiblancos get a chance to play against Cosmos West, an important SoCal Division matchup. On Sunday, RSL’s Arizona-based group travels to California, and takes on the California Development Academy on both age levels. Other SoCal Division action includes a Pateadores-Real So Cal tilt, and Arsenal FC playing California Development Academy. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/ussf-development-academy-weekend-preview-0
Union adopt unique academy model Philly joins forces with local youth clubs to work with big pool This past weekend, the Philadelphia Union’s U-16 and U-18 teams came together and trained for the very first time. It was the next step for the Union’s youth academy model, which adopts a different approach than any other program an MLS club has implemented in its respective market. Instead of creating their own set of academy teams, the Union announced a model that would encompass and enhance the area’s top youth clubs already in existence. They approached several area teams to join forces with, giving technical guidance while also having a larger pool of players to work with. The decision to do that came after months of work of studying how to best implement the team’s youth development program. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/union-adopts-unique-academy-model
Chicago, DCU academies claim championships Fire's U-18s, DC's U-16s claim titles in Charleston Challenge The Chicago Fire and D.C. United academies sides emerged victorious in this weekend’s inaugural Charleston Challenge Academy Cup. Held in conjunction with the pro exhibition tournament, the two-day youth tournament paid dividends for the two teams that made the trip to South Carolina. Sunday featured two all-MLS finals. The Chicago Fire defeated D.C. United 2-1 to capture the U-18 honors, while D.C. United bested Chicago in the U-16 final by a 3-1 score line. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/chicago-dc-academies-claim-championships
Five MLS Academies head into action during this weekend’s USSF Development Academy slate. Columbus, D.C. United and New York will all see action in the Development Academy league for the first time in 2011 after a long winter break. The Crew Academy make a road trip to Michigan for a Saturday doubleheader against Derby County Wolves and two Sunday games against Vardar at both U-16 and U-18 age levels. D.C. United’s academy will also head on the road for four games in two days, traveling to Connecticut to face South Central Premier on Saturday and visiting Oakwood Soccer Club on Sunday. San Jose’s U-16s and U-18s will stay close to home, welcoming Irvine Strikers and Pareadores. New England Revolution also play host, facing two traveling Pennsylvania teams, FC Delco and PA Classics. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/dev-academy-preview-mls-teams-face-full-slate
MLS academies to face world's best in Dallas Cup 180 teams (70 international, six from MLS) to partake in showcase The 32nd annual Dallas Cup, North America’s top youth tournament, gets underway this weekend as 70 youth soccer teams from overseas line up against the best youth teams the US has to offer. Among those playing are academy teams some of the biggest clubs in the world, including Arsenal, Corinthians and Barcelona. It’s that list of international teams that has the tournament’s executive director Gordon Jago excited about this year’s iteration. “The number of international teams coming this year has been very, very positive for us,” he told MLSsoccer in a phone interview. “It shows that we are respected around the world.” Plenty of future stars could be on display, if the past is anything to go by. Previous participants include Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez, Landon Donovan, Oguchi Onyewu and Michael Owen. In all, a total of 180 teams will play in this year’s Dallas Cup from ages 13-19. To go with the 70 teams from abroad, 30 are from the Dallas area, and the remaining 80 squads come from across the United States. Six MLS teams are sending youth squads – FC Dallas, D.C. United, Vancouver, Houston and Real Salt Lake will have U-16 and U-18 sides there, while the Chicago Fire are represented by Fire Juniors U-16 and U-17 teams from Naperville, Illinois. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/mls-academies-face-worlds-best-dallas-cup
TFC unveil massive investment in youth program Near-$20 million facility part of club's grand plan to evolve link: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/tfc-unveil-massive-investment-youth-program TORONTO – In the midst of all the facts, figures and multimedia presentations, it was a simple smile from Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment COO Tom Anselmi that really told the story as Toronto FC on Monday unveiled plans for a near-$20 million training facility for the TFC Academy. With video of academy graduate Oscar Cordon being interviewed being shown on the big screen, Anselmi turned to look at the 18-year-old who had made his MLS debut just last week. The pride on Anselmi’s face was clear. It was one thing to talk about the potential of the academy, quite another to see it sitting across a room wearing TFC red. “Today is a good day,” Anselmi said. “It’s a great day for our club, but more importantly it’s a great day for soccer in Canada.” Pointing to the five TFC players that have already graduated to the senior team, Anselmi suggested that the investment today would lead to more Cordons in the future. “Toronto FC and the Canadian national teams represent the top of our aspirational pyramid not only in Toronto, but across the country,” he said. “We now have a homegrown solution for the future Jimmy Brennans and Julian de Guzmans to hone their craft and become professionals.” The facility will be located at Downsview Park, located 10.7 miles north of BMO Field on the site of a former Canadian military base. It will feature three full sized grass pitches, along with a covered FieldTurf facility, goalkeeper training pitch, office space and several multi-use pitches. It will be part of a massive redevelopment of the site, which will see it turned into a hub of elite sports development. video: http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2011/04/laying-down-roots
Dallas Cup Roundup: FCD, Whitecaps top giants Top, Dallas take down Barcelona; Vancouver over Corinthians North America’s most prestigious youth tournament kicked off Sunday in the Dallas area, and with it came some early success for MLS academies facing tough challenges. FC Dallas and Vancouver both got their respective campaigns off on the right foot. Other MLS academies in action on Sunday Super Group Tigres UANL 3, Real Salt Lake 1 Cortiba 2, Houston Dynamo 0 U-19 Davis Legacy 2, D.C. United 1 U-17 FC Dallas Academy 6, Barrio Mexico 1 Santa Clara Sporting 4, Chicago Fire Juniors 1 U-16 Chicago Fire Juniors 3, TAP Barcelona/FC Barca 2 Real Salt Lake 4, FB Correcaminos 1 http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/dallas-cup-roundup-fcd-whitecaps-top-giants
THE IMPACT UNVEILS THE COACHES AND STAFF OF ITS ACADEMY PRESS RELEASE: April 18, 2011 MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact unveiled on Monday the coaches as well as the members of the technical staff of its Academy teams. Wilfried Nancy was named head coach of the U18 team, Jason DiTullio was named head coach of the U16 team, Eduardo Sebrango was selected as the responsible of the secondary 2 players, assistant coach of the U16 team and coach of the Academy forwards, Antoine Guldner was chosen to lead the Secondary 1 players and will also be responsible for the mental preparation of the players, Owen Braun was named the goalkeeper coach for the Academy, Jean-Yves Grenouillat was named the Academy’s head scout and Yannick Girard was chosen the Academy physical trainer. “We are proud to unveil a qualified coaching staff, who brings a wealth of experience as well as the ability to teach, skills we were looking for in developing our youth players,“ said director of player development Philippe Eullaffroy. “We have put in place today a structure that is going to help us achieve our goals of developing local players to become professionals with the Impact in MLS.” http://www.montrealimpact.com/News/News.aspx?language=EN&ArticleID=1599&Focus=0
Dallas Cup Day 2 - FC Dallas closing on moving on FCD U-18s nearing semifinals; 'Caps drop 2-0 decision to Tigres North America’s most prestigious youth tournament kicked off Sunday in the Dallas area, and with it came some early success for MLS academies facing tough challenges. FC Dallas and Vancouver both got their respective campaigns off on the right foot. Other MLS academies in action Super Group Eintracht Frankfurt 3, Houston Dynamo 0 Corinthians 4, Real Salt Lake 1 U-19 D.C. United 2, Knowsley Youth 1 U-17 FC Dallas 3, Jacksonville Fury 1 U-16 Houston Dynamo 2, Santa Clara Sporting 1 FC Premier 4, D.C. United 1 Real Salt Lake 4, Solar SC Red 1 Estudiantes Tecos 2, Chicago Fire Juniors 0 http://www.fcdallas.com/news/2011/04/dallas-cup-day-2-fc-dallas-closing-moving
DC United academy team ready for Ajax tourney Well-traveled squad faces third trip abroad inside of a year WASHINGTON – As D.C. United prepare to battle archrivals New York in league play this week, one of their youth teams will head abroad to represent MLS and US Soccer. DC’s academy leaves Wednesday for Amsterdam and this weekend’s AEGON Future Cup 2011, a U-17 tournament hosted by famed Dutch club Ajax. The tournament runs Saturday through Monday. After making two international trips in 2010 to mixed results, DC youth coach Roberto da Silva is looking to improve on this latest trip outside the United States. “This is our third trip and we want to do better than our previous two,” he said. “We don’t care if we win, but we play to win every game.” United’s U-17s traveled to South Africa last year and most recently played in Brazil in December. As a result, da Silva estimated that roughly half the team going to the Netherlands already has experience playing abroad. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/dc-united-academy-team-ready-ajax-tourney
Dallas Cup Day 4: FCD advance, RSL end on high Home Growns Top, Levya put Dallas U-18s thru; Arsenal also go on Two MLS sides entered the day with an outside chance to advance in the Super Group, while a handful of other teams at lower age levels looked to secure passage into the quarterfinals. FC Dallas U-18s advance in Super Group The fate of FC Dallas’ U-18s in the Super Group – needing a win or tie against Japan’s U-18 team to advance – was in their hands. And while FCD turned in an uneven performance, goals from Home Grown players Bryan Leyva and Jonathan Top were enough for a 2-1 win to make the Super Group semifinals. Just seven minutes in, Top won and converted a penalty that also saw the Japanese ‘keeper get sent off. However, despite being up a man, Dallas couldn’t double their lead and conceded a penalty that Japan converted to tie the game. Though a tie would have been good enough, Leyva added a second in the game’s 62nd minute, and FCD held on for the win to finish first in Bracket B. Real Salt Lake win battle of MLS academies Entering Wednesday’s action, the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency had an outside shot to advance to the Super Group semifinals. Winless Real Salt Lake, however, were already eliminated, having lost their first two Bracket C matches. But RSL’s Ricardo Velasco scored two goals, and that was enough to make the difference, as they ended their Dallas Cup Super Group campaign on a high note with a 2-0 win over the ‘Caps. Vancouver coach Richard Grootscholten was happy with the improved effort despite coming up short. “We had a small chance to win the group with a big win today, so we set out to try and press Salt Lake high up the pitch," Grootscholten told whitecapsfc.com. "Though we didn’t have many chances, I thought we were better today than we were against Tigres. Our players need to learn to be smarter and more clever when playing in these type of games. This will be a learning experience for our younger players, especially." http://www.fcdallas.com/news/2011/04/dallas-cup-day-4-fcd-advance-rsl-end-high
Dallas Cup, Day 6: Tigres rout FCD in semis Mexican side face Eintracht in Super Group final; MLS U-16s fall With the bracket stages of Dallas Cup in the rearview mirror, Friday offered a schedule of knockout soccer as the semifinals of the Super Group and quarterfinals of other age groups took place. Only a handful of MLS academies remained, each vying for a spot in the next round. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/dallas-cup-day-6-tigres-rout-fcd-semis
Fire Academy mining new areas for young talent Fire Juniors leave their footprint on Midwest, Southeast regions In a country as large and expansive as the United States, there are countless areas not touched by Major League Soccer. But through their youth development initiatives and a unique approach to locating talented young soccer players, the Chicago Fire have managed to extend their reach to unfamiliar territory. What started as a Player Development League team started back in 2001, the team’s current setup has grown into a nationwide entity. The Fire’s academy model includes the standard Academy close to home, but also embraces a number of club affiliates all over the country – including the southeast corner of the country http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/fire-academy-mining-new-areas-young-talent
MLS clubs eye Development Academy playoff Race is on for league's academies, who seek postseason berths May 2, 2011 As April becomes May, MLS youth academies across the country have one goal in mind: a spot in the USSF Development Academy League playoffs, with the top eight teams then qualifying for Finals week to be held in July at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The top 32 teams from 10 geographic divisions in each age group (U-15/U-16 and U-17/U-18) qualify for the playoffs. MLS academies at both age groups are in the middle of the final thrust to grab one of those spots. Here’s how it breaks down by conference: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/mls-clubs-eye-development-academy-playoffs Buoyed by the ability to play a handful of full-time professionals, the FC Dallas U-18s are one of the top academy teams in the nation. Jonathan Top, Victor Ulloa and Bryan Leyva have all seen time in the Texas Division, as FCD currently trail Lonestar SC. Meanwhile, the Houston Dynamo U-18s sit second from bottom. The two sides are reversed at the U-16 level, with Houston only a point back from a playoff spot, while FC Dallas two points behind the Dynamo in a race for playoff soccer.
Ajax visit serves as reminder for DC youth academy Storied Dutch masters wrote the book on youth development WASHINGTON — When Ajax take the field Sunday against D.C. United, players developed in the world-famous Ajax Youth Training Center will be on display. But the newly crowned Dutch champions won’t be the only side with academy-developed players representing the first team — United boast a few rising stars of their own. Bill Hamid, Ethan White, Conor Shanosky and Andy Najar will get the chance to strut their stuff against a team that basically wrote the book on academy structure. Hamid paid tribute to the role the DC Academy played in his development. “It was definitely a big tool in me becoming a pro and having the little bit of success I’ve had,” he told MLSsoccer.com. “All these academy teams are modeled after European-style club academy systems. When they have training every day of the week, they are focusing on your weak points. It’s the exact same stuff Ajax works on in their academy.” The youth movement has taken off in DC in particular, where academy products Najar and White have joined Hamid in the starting lineup and already contributed this season. Najar’s story is well known, having been located in the high school system after moving to the United States as a teenager. White, meanwhile, signed a contract after two years at the University of Maryland. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/05/20/ajax-visit-serves-reminder-dc-youth-academy
Whitecaps FC Residency Team Meet our youngest 'Caps The Whitecaps FC's residency program has spawned many great players including current 'Caps Russell Teibert and Philippe Davies. Meet them and some young residency team members hoping to crack the men's first team http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Z9nenMh12No
DC Academy sides win U-16, U-18 division crowns Mid-Atlantic Division titles go to revamped U-16s, proven U-18 side http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2011/06/13/dc-academy-sides-win-u-16-u-18-division-crowns
