USSoccer.com has some decent articles about the tournament and results including, "2011-12 Development Academy Finals Week in Focus: U-15/16 D.C. United."
Btw, Collin Martin made the U18 roster for the Milk Cup. (The U18s have no true World Cup. Milk Cup is a fairly high-quality invitational tournament, and usually represents the highest level at which the U18s will play.)
http://bowie.patch.com/articles/bowie-soccer-club-dc-united-enter-affiliate-agreement (warning: the website is a tad rude and may ask you stupid questions in little pop-up-ish things)
Travis Clark @travismclark .@dcunited announces affiliation with Annandale Boys & Girls Club, Bill Hamid's first soccer club. All your soccer clubs are belong to us!
... as it should be! Seriously, that's what DC United should be striving for: that all the local youth clubs feed into the professional club. That way, DCU gets more (and better) kids through a system that costs the club less -- and takes advantage of favorable MLS rules on home-grown players.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_...soccer-academy-la-masia-a-model-for-the-u.s./ This was from "60 Minutes Overtime" basically the leftovers from their recent piece on Barca. Quick shot of DC United youths when they're talking about MLS trying to develop academy programs.
Uggh...bit off topic but I am SOOOO tired of old journalists acting like nobody in this country knows what soccer is. The reporter acted like Messi was some kind of international secret. People in this country know who Messi is. The other point that really bothered me about their coverage of La Masia was that they made it sound like everything was about soccer all the time. It's most decidedly not...the young teams only train 3 times a week, with one game. Not the impression given by 60 Minutes at all.
I disagree on both counts. The Cesc portions of the interview and even parts of Pique interview make that clear. Also, people in this country don't know who Messi is, not in large numbers anyway. People in places like DC know who Messi is. This country is vast. There are plenty of people who barely know Barcelona in that they might know there is such a team, but know nothing about it. The reporter was a novice about soccer and admitted as much very freely. He was probably one of those who didn't know who Messi was until he got the assignment. I don't think he acted like Messi was some kind of secret at all... just showed off his own complete lack of knowledge of soccer.
Also to consider is that 60 Minutes's audience skews old (this particular episode had viewership of 9.5 million, yet only a 1.4 rating in the 18-49 age group; there were programs on that night with about the same number of total viewers, but two or three times the 18-49 viewers). For most of the people who watch that show, this was pretty new stuff.
I've been obsessed with soccer for 15 years now, and my son has been playing since he was 5 (he's 14 now), and my parents/his grandparents still act as if watching soccer is like being forced to watch a foreign film without subtitles. Other than being vaguely aware that it's more popular in other countries than it is here, they don't really know anything about the sport. I don't think they're particularly unusual. Granted they're both in their 70s, but there are more than a few people my age back home who likely feel the same way.
You'd think people wouldn't take to a show that reminds them of the possibility it is the last thing they will do with their life.
http://www.dcunited.com/news/2013/0...-intentions-to-play-at-10-division-i-programs 14 Academy players announce intentions to play at 10 Division I programs Silooy: “We’re confident that each of them will make their mark at their respective university" Carlos Canas – Longwood University Date of birth: March 26, 1995 Hometown: Fairfax, Va. Position: Goalkeeper Tenure at D.C. United: Three years Previous youth clubs: Calverton Revolution Honors/awards: Second Team All-Region; Honorable Mention All-Metro; Three-Time All-District Suliaman Dainkeh – University of Maryland Date of birth: June 1, 1995 Hometown: Reston, Va. Position: Defender Tenure at D.C. United: Three years Previous youth clubs: Reston Knights FC Honors/awards: 2012 NSCAA Youth Boys All-American; 2012 U.S. U-18 Men’s National Team training camp. James Doll – Duke University Date of birth: March 2, 1995 Hometown: Bethesda, Md. Position: Midfielder Tenure at D.C. United: Three years Previous youth clubs: Pachuca FC Honors/awards: U.S. U-14 National Team pool; Region I Maryland ODP. Lars Eckenrode – University of Michigan Date of birth: March 24, 1995 Hometown: Springfield, Va. Position: Defender Tenure at D.C. United: Three years Previous youth clubs: Annandale United FC Honors/awards: Two-time Virginia State champion; Team Player of the Tournament for AEGON Future Cup Rafael Fagundo – Wake Forest University Date of birth: February 5, 1995 Hometown: Herndon, Va. Position: Defender Tenure at D.C. United: Three years Previous youth clubs: Herndon Real Juniors Honors/awards: 2011 Virginia Independent School Athletic Association D1 All-State Soccer First Team; 2011 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Second Team; 2011 ESPN High School Greater D.C. Starting XI. Patrick Foss – University of Virginia Date of birth: October 2, 1994 Hometown: South Riding, Va. Position: Defender Tenure at D.C. United: Three years Previous youth clubs: Herndon Real Juniors Honors/awards: 2012 USSDA U-18 Eastern Conference Starting XI; 2010-11 U.S. U-17 Residency; AEGON Future Cup Golden Boot; Four-year Virginia ODP player. Benjamin Ferrell – Longwood University Date of birth: October 9, 1994 Hometown: Fairfax Station, Va. Position: Defender Tenure at D.C. United: One year Previous youth clubs: Annandale Boys and Girls Club Honors/awards: First Team All-Concorde District; Second Team All-Northern Region Ian Harkes – Wake Forest University Date of birth: March 30, 1995 Hometown: Fairfax, Va. Position: Midfielder Tenure at D.C. United: One year Previous youth clubs: Herndon Real Juniors; Great Fall Strikers; Braddock Road Strikers Honors/awards: 2012 NSCAA High School All-American; 2011 and 2012 All-Metro First Team; 2011 D.C. Gatorade Player of the Year. Braden Horton – University of Pittsburgh Date of birth: March 28, 1995 Hometown: Springfield, Va. Position: Goalkeeper Tenure at D.C. United: One year Previous youth clubs: McLean Academy; SYC Fusion; Reston Knights FC; Annandale Boys and Girls Club Honors/awards: 2011-12 All-Patriot-District First Team, 2011-12 Northern Region Second Team, All-Metro; Maryland ODP; ESPN RISE Class of 2013 Players to Watch. Christian Kershaw – Loyola University Maryland Date of birth: January 22, 1995 Hometown: Severna Park, Md. Position: Defender/Midfielder Tenure at D.C. United: Three years Previous youth clubs: Baltimore Bays Honors/awards: Two-time USYSA Maryland State Champion; 2011 High School State Champion (DeMatha High School). Kennedy O’Shea – Coastal Carolina University Date of birth: March 31, 1995 Hometown: South Riding, Va. Position: Forward Tenure at D.C. United: Five years Previous youth clubs: Reston Knights FC; Herndon Real Juniors Honors/awards: U.S. U-14 National Team pool; Washington Catholic Athletic Conference All-Conference Second Team; Second Team All-State (Virginia); MVP of Paul VI Virginia State Championship. Michael Sauers – University of Maryland Date of birth: May 19, 1995 Hometown: Glen Arm, Md. Position: Midfielder Tenure at D.C. United: Two years Previous youth clubs: Baltimore Bays; Bethesda Soccer Club; Crystal Palace Soccer Club Honors/awards: 2012 NSCAA High School All-American; 2012 All-State, 2012 All-Region; 2012 All-Metro, 2012 All-MIAA honors; 2011 Second Team All-State; 2011 All-Metro; 2011 All-MIAA. David Warburton – Loyola University Maryland Date of birth: September 16, 1994 Hometown: Westminster, Md. Position: Defender Tenure at D.C. United: Two years Previous youth clubs: FC Frederick; C.C. United Honors/awards: 2011 ASL All-Event Team, Maryland ODP Abdi Yusuf – University of Central Florida Date of birth: January 29, 1995 Hometown: Herndon, Va. Position: Defender/Midfielder Tenure at D.C. United: Three years Previous youth clubs: Reston Knights FC; Herndon Real Juniors Honors/awards: U-14 U.S. National Team pool; Region I ODP Virginia State Champion; State Cup (2009, 2010). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ That is seriously a big deal. I'm not sure if I am looking into this too much or not, but 14 kids going into Div I schools at once seems like a pretty large group. Congratulations to those guys as they start the next step in their lives both on and off the field.
We only have Homegrown rights for those who have been in the program 3 or mre years, correct? I seem to be seeing the name Longwood University a lot lately, wonder why. It makes me giggle. Not as much as Morehead State, but some.
If that's so, that gives DC rights to 9/14. That's pretty ********in good. The rest of the kids are still a great example of what "DCU Academy can do for you!" Kids seeing a bunch of DC Academy kids end up at div 1 schools is probably great for the recruitment game.
From what I know about Longwood, they play a pretty attractive style of soccer; at least among youth players in NOVA who want to play college ball, the line on Longwood is that they really try to play soccer rather than recruiting a bunch of athletes to chase long balls. Also, they seem to be an ambitious program--Longwood coaching staff are all over the place at clinics, camps, showcase tourneys, etc.
Hadn't heard of it & thought it was another school that had completely changed its name. Found out it was just another one of the .5 million VA schools.