Can someone please explain this to me. Is just an MLS thing or do other DA clubs participate? DS's (MLS) club is just starting with this program this fall. Thanks!
For the past several years many of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy clubs have played in Pre-Academy Leagues fashioned after the USSDA league. The first league formed was the Northeast Pre-Academy League, followed shortly thereafter by the Southeast Pre-Academy League and Texas Pre-Academy League. These three leagues are comprised solely of U.S. Soccer Development Academy clubs to extend the principles and technical framework of USSDA in younger age groups. They field U14 teams. Northeast Pre-Academy League, for instance, also fields divisions for U11, U12, U13 and U15, in addition to the U14 age group.
Thanks. I couldn't find much about it online. So the U14 pre-academy teams play in the same divisons, by that I mean the sames clubs as the DA teams in their region, obviously different age group?
It's not exactly the same divisions. For instance, the Texas clubs all have a combined PA league (Texas Pre Academy League or TEPAL), however the new DA divisions have us sharing a division with Sporting KC, and the Colorado clubs. In Texas the PA league is U13, U14, U15. A few of the clubs have added U11-12 teams that will compete as well, but not all clubs agreed to those levels of play.
I don't know. I don't know if they even have them. It is not mandated, and not all DA clubs have PA teams as far as I understand. The PA leagues are also run independently through US Club Soccer by most of the clubs who are playing it. Meaning that it is not administered the same or under the same rules as the DA. For instance, here in Texas PA players can still play high school, DA can not.
Thanks. I guess we will have to wait until the club lets us know! We were told they will start the program in September. There are only three DA clubs in CO, so I assume there will be more than that in the league and they must come from somewhere.
If you are in Colorado, I perused the sites of the DA clubs in Colorado and it doesn't look like they are playing PA, or at least that they have not in the past from what I can tell.
You are correct, they haven't been, but we were told at a parents meeting that they will be starting U14 PA this season, but no details were given out, except they will be adding a training session. (It wasn't the topic of the meeting, but was briefly mentioned.)
Another question if you can stand it! What is the difference between the PA leagues and the NPL? A new Mountain Developmental League has fairly recently been announced which includes both DA and non-DA clubs in the region. DS's club is not part of it -- they adhere to a very strict practice to games ratio and this would have been an additional league to the CYS schedule, so too many games in the club's opinion, so I guess it can't be the same thing.
NPL is what most areas are setting up their Pre-Academy teams as a part of. For instance, here in Texas we have the Texas Pre Academy League (TEPAL) which plays as a part of the NPL. http://npltexas.demosphere.com/schedules/index_E.html
Thank you for answering all my questions. I am confused because the CO teams in the Mountain Development League are still very much part of the CYS (Colorado Youth Soccer Association) and play in either their Super League or Premier 1 League, so with the MDL they will be playing at least an additional 10 games a year. How does that jive with the increased training to games ratio that the US Club states as one of the benefits of the new NPL? I am sure the Texas PA teams don't play in two leagues.
Your welcome, it's no problem answering questions. Let me differentiate between the clubs and the teams. Ok, the DA clubs in Texas still compete in the traditional USYS leagues here locally, however the Pre Academy teams that are formed exclusively play a 24 game schedule over a 10 month period that mirrors the actual DA season. So, say when the Texans SC U16 and U18 DA goes to play FC Dallas U16 and U18 DA, so will our U13-U15 PA teams. Now, in years past it was just a U13-U15 PA team league. There was talk of adding U11-U12 this year, but only a few of the clubs chose to do so; in that case, the U11-U12 PA teams are playing only 10 games over the 10 month period, and so those teams will also play in the standard local USYS affiliated leagues.
The thing with the CO clubs in the MDL is the first teams are playing in two leagues, the CYS league and the MDL. The rest of the club's teams are just playing in the CYS leagues.
Well, this article goes a long way to explain what is happening. http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club...with-u13-14-next-season_aid25566?desktop=true Academy to begin with U13/14 Next Season Article Written by ESNN Published: September 3, 2012 The move has been talked about for so long, when the announcement from U.S. Soccer came on Friday, it was almost anticlimactic. The decision to expand the Development Academy competition to a third age group, U13/14 beginning next season, has been debated almost since the USSF’s comprehensive youth development initiative began 5 years ago. The primary argument has always been that for all the good aspects of the DA, to begin with players already 15 or even 16 years old was too late to have the optimal effect on an individual player’s development. Tony LeporeThe main argument against was the increased travel demands on players in the Academy, but as expected, the announcement included information that the younger age group would feature a more regionalized format. Some key points about this expansion: The roster of club participants will not be identical to those in the older groups of the Academy. “We might lose from the league structure in that new age group,” USSF Academy Director of Scouting Tony Lepore said. “Those will still be Academy clubs and the training standards we have will still apply, but the competitive schedule won’t apply. There are a number of geographic areas where the travel schedule, even though it is less than what the older age groups do, won’t really be the right fit. We can look at other ways to keep those clubs involved at that age group. We won’t give them a league schedule but we might keep them in our showcases for example. These clubs will be applying our major philosophies toward player development.” The announcement mentioned that the regional Junior Academy rosters might also include teams from outside the current Academy setup. Lepore said the key factors in choosing new clubs would include their geographic location (meaning they would fill in gaps existing Academy clubs would otherwise face in trying to set up a regional league), the opportunity to further spread the DA philosophy of player development throughout the club soccer landscape, and the chance to cast a wider scouting net from national team player identification. “For all the right reasons, the DA is a really strong brand,” Lepore said. “Some clubs might not feel ready for it even if they do the right things. The USSF Technical Advisors know our markets so we already know of clubs that could fit in with our philosophy. It may be tricky for some to commit to U14 only because being in this doesn’t mean they are committing to U16 and U18 as well. It’s similar to how we look at expansion with the full Academy, which is very carefully. We know what it takes and what our standards are. While we want development over winning, we don’t want to dilute the competition because meaningful matches are an important part of developing players.” The U14 division will also be on a 10-month schedule. “The players will be under the same guidelines as far being developed by one club. They will only be permitted to compete in approved events outside of the league schedule,” he said. “There will also be a longer break period for this age group, and we will implement a futsal program, which we think is valuable for their development.” While details are not final, Lepore said he doesn’t think there will be a national championship played at this age group, due to its regional emphasis. Asked what the most tangible benefits will be for the 13 and 14-year old players participating, Lepore immediately discussed training standards and high-level games. “There will be a big increase for them in a top environment,” he said. “A lot of the same philosophies we apply will now be spread to younger ages. They’ll be in games where they will be held accountable for their technical execution and decision-making. This is an important age group where they need the calendar cleaned up and to have their focus shifted to development and not results. The big benefit is increased training hours and more meaningful games in terms of their technical development. We’re moving to a 4-to-1 training/match ratio. The integrity of that is going to be huge, so we have to work closely with the clubs to create the right schedule.”