Academy at Home Depot

ANY soccer school there is good enough for me. My cousin's kid went to soccer school at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. So why not have one here at HDC?

 

u-20 is the one that has been discussed the most... bruce wants an under 20 residency program to be started, however it won't start until after the u-20 championships and women's cup are over

the u-17 program won't be moved... it's at the ideal place for a highschool program... carson is the ideal spot for an u-20 program.... csudh is right there for college age kids to take classes and participate in a residency program

it will happen

 

It's the one Jurgen Klinnsman is setting up.

 

As a side bar, big article in yesterday's Sac Bee about contenders for upcoming NCAA Track & Field Championships. HDT is a prime competitor to snag competition.

 

Actually it WILL be moved...it just can't be yet. USSF has a contract with IMG for a few more years.

Though a possibility has been raised of keeping it and establishing a West Coast U-17 academy.

 

I hadn't heard of this, but this sounds great. I'm NOT advocating more than 3-4 residency camps, but it would be nice if there were a few around the country. The problem lies with how many are too many. In other words, at what point are the players not getting the best coaching or is their training being watered down by practicing with lesser-skilled players?

 

from what i understand... a college isn't a highschool

so i don't see the intelligence in moving it to carson's victoria street

img is set up perfectly for highschool kids in a residency program, while carson is set up perfectly for a college age residency program... and you will see an under 20 program started in carson

 

I have to agree that this makes the most sense.

 

Many colleges now offer remedial (for college) high school classes on campus to prep students who didn't learn certain fundamentals well while in high school.
They also offer prep courses for getting a GED, which might serve some of our clever U-17 well - they might be able to get that and start taking college classes.
It's important to realize how young the curve is for a pro career - if these kids don't get in some college when they're 16 or so, they might never get it because they'll be playing overseas.
Finally, college classes are better structured than high school for someone that has to travel a lot. Less busy work, more papers and exams that can be made up and so forth.

 

Yeah, but we are talking about 15 an 16 year old kids, who all aren't on accelerates academic tracks.

Another advantage of IMG is they are able to mingle with kids from other sports, (girls) who are the same age and dealing with the same issues. IMG has served US soccer well to this point, I don't see the sense in changing it.

 

I agree. There are 3 local high school choices when attending the IMG Academy. There are also residency programs for several sports there -- so although you are being trained and inundated in soccer, you get a chance to mingle with kids from other sports.

If Carson has or will have any of that, great -- then we can establish a U17 West. Personally, I think that 2 is perfect for the U16/U17 age having 30 to 36 at each camp split evenly between the U16's and the U17's. But the educational opportunities have to be established at Carson first.

Once some of the other sports gets going at Carson, then we'll be able to look at expanding the soccer beyond the U20's.

Personally, I think that the U20 residency should be a temporary program. Once MLS has full reserve squads, anyone that is at the U20 age of the caliber to be in a residendy program should be in professional training. Perhaps the reserve squad schedule could have openings such that the U20 squad could train together for a couple weeks each quarter. But the rest of the time, these guys would be training with their MLS team.

 

The Galaxy is working on a Galaxy specific academy as well. Similar to Metro? and the Fire?, I believe.

 

This is where the focus really should be.

 

Well, I'll tell you why it makes sense to move: Because the USSF is paying IMG to use their facility.

This really isn't a matter of will they move it or not move it; it's going to be moved, or a second program will be set up. it just can't for a few years.

You really don't think they don't have high schools in Carson?

 

i really don't think a normal highschool is what these guys need

they travel all over the place, go to school year round, and have spells when they can't be in school with normal students

so it takes something special, like img

img is getting some good pub for what they do with the u-17's... so there could very easily be a better deal created in the future

 

IMG doesn't have a special highschool. They go to Edison HS, which is just the local place. Well, they have Pendleton too, but I don;t think everyone goes there.

You don't think an academic program could be set up tailored to HS kids at a University? There are a couple things holding up the movement of the program at present (pending approval of dormitories at HDC, funding, IMG contract) but academic options are not one of them.

 

i'm just not buying that the ussf has a higher priority to move the u-17's and not to keep guys like corey ashe out of college soccer

the u-17's are set up and perfectly fine where they are at... the problem is now to keep our slightly older players in a higher level of training

and the ussf can do it much, much, much faster than mls can do it... hell, they could work together in the long run and short term... but the ussf has to do this first... it's a huge priority

 

Wait, what does Corey Ashe have to do with moving the academy?

The USSF has said they'll move it when the contract with IMG expires. This isn't me expressing my preference or opinion, I couldn't care less.

 

because the entire purpose of the thread is talk of an academy or residency program at victoria street... not where the u-17's might or might not go when there contract is up (and i find it hard to believe they would leave)

the u-20's would/will wind up in carson before any other youth residency program

 

One question I have is what players would be in the U-20 residency program? It seems like a lot of the potential players are already playing in the MLS if it existed now for example.

Obviously things could change in the future.

 

While JM0 makes some good points, I think Hala is correct here. While there are no "certain" plans for almost anything related to USMYT residency programs, the two primary options for the U-17's being considered presently are moving them to HDC or creating a second one at HDC. Either way, it is likely that some variation of U-17 or U-16 will end up at HDC.

JM0 is probably correct about the U-20's though. The difference is that the U-20's wouldn't spend very much time in residency. While it would be nice to have them all attend the same college, that's just not going to happen. The U-20 camp would not be for MLS starter caliber players, but rather for the next tier of talent, and then only for some short stints and possibly the summer months.

But the key is that everything is written in mud. Statements made are a good indicator of current thought, but nothing is written in stone. Hala's economics argument (if the US is paying, it wants to compensate AEG/CSDH for their investment into US soccer) is correct.

I may be wrong, but I believe the Edison High School correctly referenced by Hala is called "Edison Learning Center" or somesuch. Sorry to nitpick, but I just wanted to underscore that it may not be a traditional high school, but rather one that has more choices and flexibility.

Excellent ideas, excellent discussion. Anyone reading this thread and enjoying it should really check out the US Juniors forum. It's loaded with excellent discussions like this one. It can be found here:

https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=255

-Digital

 

Do not know if this adds anything to the discussion, but the following is taken from the Home Depot Center web site:

QUOTE:

The U.S. Soccer Federation operates 11 National Teams, an Under-14 Developmental Program, Coaching Licensing Schools and Referee Training courses, all of which will use The Home Depot Center as a national training facility and headquarters.

In addition to the natural grass stadium, the National Training Center at Cal State University, Dominguez Hills will feature five training fields, a practice area and a central building to house office space, locker rooms, a weight training room, physical therapy training rooms and player lounges. The NTC complex will also include a residential component, which will allow teams to stay at the facility.

END QUOTE

Please note the part that say, "all of which will use."

We'll see.

 

i think that the U-20 residency program would be a great idea. As Jim mentioned having the thing on a college campus is perfect. My biggest concern always is what happens to our U-17s after they graduate the program? TO me the answer is maybe having them graduating into that program, even if it only serves as a sort of reserve team for MLSers who aren't geteting time, or kids who don't want to go the college route.

Ideally, I wouldn't mind seeing a training academy U-20 team residency to serve as sort of an overall reserve team for young MLSers.

However, it would also be good to keep the quality of young MLSers improving. I think that a lot of people who've complained about a quality of play because of so many youngins might like this idea. Much as you see in Major League Baseball, you might see teams passing on drafting a very young kid until he was out of the u-20 residency.

Overall, this is just a good idea. With the results that the U-17 program has shown this isnothing but a good idea, especially for those players who may develop at a later age.

 

Then why, for ************s sake, are they in college?

Another glowing endorsement for the American education system.