From the (edited) CSUDH press release:

West Torrance High alum and former Cal State Dominguez Hills grad Jaret "JT" Minami died Aug. 2 at Torrance Memorial Hospital at the age of 25, four days after suffering a stroke and slipping into a coma.

A standout player for head coach Joe Flanagan and the Toros, Torrance native JT made 47 starts in 61 games played in his career, capping a four-year stint with 1st-team NSCAA All-Region and 2nd-team All-CCAA honors during his senior season.

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This isn't encouraging. John Maessner, the former D.C. United player who is now the club's director of youth development, is "taking some time off," according to team officials, after incidents with some of the program's under-16 and under-18 players at the USSF Development Academy Summer Showcase in Greensboro, N. Click to continue reading...

The U.S. Youth Soccer championships are finished. See if you can detect a pattern in the list of champions:

Under-14 Boys: NJSA 04 Gunners (NJ)

Under-14 Girls: San Juan Spirits 94 Blue (CA-N)

Under-15 Boys: Baltimore Casa Mia Bays (MD)

Under-15 Girls: Dallas Texans 93 Red (N-TX)

Under-16 Girls: Dallas Texans Red 92 (N-TX)

Under-16 Boys: Dallas Texans 92 Red (N-TX)

Under-17 Girls: Dallas Texans 91 Red (N-TX)

Under-17 Boys: Andromeda 91 (N-TX)

Under-18 Girls: Colorado Rush (CO)

Under-18 Boys: Andromeda 90 (N-TX)

Under-19 Girls: Force Football Club (MI)

Under-19 Boys: Solar SC (N-TX)

Perhaps the North Texas teams had a slightly easier path with so many national powers drawn away to the Development Academy, but this tournament had plenty of talent as well.

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The Bays defeated west coast rivals LAFC in the final match of the 2008 Development Academy tournament in a nail biter that went to overtime before the boys of Baltimore could scrap out the 4-2 victory.

But in a match closer to home for many of my readers, in the battle of two fires, North Atlanta's Concorde Fire took the fifth place spot with a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Fire. Click to continue reading...

Baltimore Bays (U-18) and Carmel United (U-16) are the first Development Academy champions, winning their finals at the Home Depot Center over weekend.

The top MLS-affiliated team was the Columbus Crew's U-18 side, which placed third.

The U-18 final had a bit of controversy, with runner-up LAFC claiming their players were too often carded for fouls on Chris Agorsor, the Gatorade player of the year who shook off a knee sprain to come off the bench in the final.

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Hot young Maryland prospect Chris Agorsor proved again last week why he could be one of the most exciting young prospects in US Soccer, helping his team win the Development Academy U-17/18 championship at the Home Depot Center in southern California. Jaime Cardenas of the LA Times has a great writeup on the tournament here. Click to continue reading...

Galaxy beat writer Scott Wolf gave a few tidbits of today's story in blog posts Friday and here we learn just how happy Coach Ruud Gullit is to punt Abel Xavier. So are we, Ruud, so are we.

A massive crowd is expected in New York for David Beckham, sorry, today's game (3:30 p.m. live on Fox Soccer Channel).

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We received word early this morning that D.C. United Academy player Paul Torres has been named to the U-15/16 Academy Starting XI for his play in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. The midfielder helped United to a 16-8-6 record and second place finish in the Mid-Atlantic Conference at the U-16 level.

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The Baltimore Bays, led by 2008 Gatorade Player of the Year Chris Agorsor, will be facing LAFC in the U-18 championship match after both teams clinched the top spot in their respective groups this afternoon. The inaugural Development Academy championship on the Mooch Myernick Field at The Home Depot Center will be shown live on ESPN2 at 8 p.

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More shots of the LAFC Development Academy game. The Crew youth team was also playing. Sorry, I don't know who any of these players are. If you do, go ahead and post in the comments.






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Last year, I was at a couple of the MLS Cup games for the youth teams. This year, I made a quick stop by the Development Academy Finals. I stopped by to watch LAFC vs CASL. The LA team, obviously, had quite a bit more fans than the Carolina squad. I shot a little video of the PK LAFC got in the second half. Click to continue reading...

I've been thinking back again to the Development Academy conflicting with high school soccer instead of the entrenched youth club system. The sad part about that is - school soccer is where the sport is truly egalitarian. Unlike club soccer, there are no expensive fees that mean a player's parents are either shelling out the dough, or a player is a scholarship ringer on the team. Click to continue reading...

The second edition of SuperLiga begins today with a 5 p.m. game on TeleFutura between CD Guadalajara and D.C. United.

The Houston Dynamo-Atlante game follows at 7 p.m. on the same channel.

The MLS Players Union is apparently not pleased with that alleged $1 million in SuperLiga prize money figure the league throws around.

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As I'm typing, the first Development Academy finals are kicking off in Carson, Calif. This is the much-ballyhooed effort to get the top youth clubs to play in a more structured environment with competitive games. Several MLS clubs have entered their youth squads, and ESPN's networks will broadcast the last games.

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Tied for first place in the Western Conference, the Galaxy and Chivas USA resume hostilities 8 p.m. Thursday on ESPN2 before the Red & White play Sunday in their opening SuperLiga game against last year's winner Pachuca. (That game is live at 7 p.m. on TeleFutura). I'll have a preview of the tournament in Tuesday's column.

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After the inaugural season of the Development Academy,  the following teams have won their Conference and advanced to Finals Week, which will be held from July 12-19 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. The final rounds will be broadcast on ESPNU and ESPN2. See below for details: U-17/18 Age Group Placement Matches Friday, July 18 Match Time TV 7th Place 12:30 [. Click to continue reading...

Concorde Fire's U18 Boy's Academy Team clinched the Southeast Conference of the USSF Development Academy. The lads at Concorde defeated Potomac by a margin of 2-0 to clinch their spot in the 2008 Development Academy Finals Week.

The Academy Finals will be held in Carson, CA at the Home Depot Center from July 12-19 and will be nationally televised on ESPN2 or ESPNU. Click to continue reading...

In two weeks, viewers in the U.S. will be able to tune in to ESPN and watch the future of American soccer. Almost a year after its founding, the US Soccer Development Academy -- consisting of 64 teams from across the country -- will showcase its best eight teams at U-18 and U-16 levels in front of the television cameras for its inaugural national finals. Click to continue reading...

US Soccer's Development Academy was in full swing this weekend with their Winter Showcase. Not too many names of players in there, but take a look and see how your team did.

Here is a lot more information on the entire academy set up. Click to continue reading...

US Soccer has completed the selection process for the first year of the newly created Development Academy. There are sixty four clubs that will compete against each other in an eight month season. The group of sixty four was selected from over one hundred and fifty clubs, showing impressive interest in the fledgling program. One of the "clubs" included in the list is the US Soccer Residency Program in Bradenton, Florida. Click to continue reading...