Before the details, a note this is the broadest group I've seen enter the program in my 9 years of watching and covering the program. With players from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Nevada, Coach Brewer appears to have spread his web further than ever. I hope its the final step in getting them to the MVC Championship, and NCAA Tourney, following the teams stumble in the MVC Tourney the past two years.

Some of the top girls soccer players in the Midwest will be playing in Madison this weekend.

An Elite Clubs National League Elite Player Development Program, featuring 45 players from FC Milwaukee, Minnesota Thunder Academy, Sockers FC-Chicago and St. Louis Scott Gallagher, will be held indoors at the McClain Facility on the University of Wisconsin campus.

Some of the top girls soccer players in the Midwest will be playing in Madison this weekend.

An Elite Clubs National League Elite Player Development Program, featuring 45 players from FC Milwaukee, Minnesota Thunder Academy, Sockers FC-Chicago and St. Louis Scott Gallagher, will be held indoors at the McClain Facility on the University of Wisconsin campus.

FC Milwaukee opens the 2011-12 season in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy this weekend with a pair of matches in St. Louis.

The Nationals' Under-17/18 and Under-15/16 teams will play their counterparts from St. Louis Scott Gallagher-Metro on Saturday and St. Louis Scott Gallagher-Missouri on Sunday in their lone league games of the fall.

We talked to Development Academy Technical Advisor Tim Regan as he gears up for the 2011-12 Development Academy season during a recent swing through the Chicago office. Regan is the Technical Advisor for the Frontier Division as well as a few teams in the Great Lakes Division (BTW he watches about 50 games during the year, not including Playoffs and Finals Week!

Eclipse Select Communications
CHICAGO -- The Eclipse Select Soccer Club's U-15 to U-18 Girls teams posted a weekend sweep against St. Louis Scott Gallagher (SLSG) on Saturday in Elite Clubs National League action on Saturday in Maryland Heights, Mo.
Eclipse Select U-17 improved to a perfect 4-0-0 with a 4-0 victory over SLSG.

Devon Newport (Glendale/SSC) With The Ball

Devon Newport (SLU/Glendale 2009/Springfield SC) along with Jordan Hoffman of the Missouri State Bears are playing for a U23 national title on Sunday. The Scott Gallagher squad, coached by CBC/Columbia College grad Matt Mueller, face the Carolina Railhawks in the 2011 USASA National Cup Finals in Bowling Green, Kentucky on Sunday morning.

Eight teams qualified for the 2011 Finals Week in Milwaukee after winning their respective group over three days of play at the U-15/16 Playoffs.
Group 1
Seattle Sounders was in charge of the group and with a dominating 4-1 win over D.C. United, they advanced with the full nine points.

Springfield SC 94/95 Boys at Region 2 Tournament by Duane Moses

The Springfield SC 94/95 Boys will play against the Cincinnati Crew Jr's at 10am today in the U16 Boys semifinals.

There are several other teams from Missouri who have reached the semifinals as well including the U13 Boys Sporting KC Jr's, U18 Girls Scott Gallagher (Cline & Hatz), U16 Girls JB Marine Wipke, U18 Girls KCFC Intensity (Groom, Clark and other Liberty Jay's), U15 Girls KCFC Futura Academy and in the U17 Boys, Scott Gallagher will face Lou Fusz Popovic ensuring one Missouri team will reach the Finals.

The U-15/16 age group wrap up their Development Academy Playoff games today, sending the top team from each of the eight groups to Milwaukee, Wis., for Finals Week. Below are the possible advancement scenarios for the eight groups:
Group 1
Seattle Sounders FC advances with win OR draw
- With Seattle Sounders loss, the winner of Empire United and Soccer Academy moves to tie breaker scenarios to determine who advances
Group 2
Dallas Texas advances with win
- If Dallas Texans lose, Concorde Fire will advance with win OR draw
- If Dallas Texans lose, Albertson SC advances with win
- If Dallas Texans draws and Albertson SC wins, the group would move to tiebreaker scenarios
- If Dallas Texans draws and Concorde Fire wins, Concorde Fire advances
Group 3
L.

The final day of group stage and everyone is still in a position to advance. The photos are from the win on Sunday, including the PK goal by Josh McCutcheon, and are provided by Duane Moses who's son Dallas (Catholic) is a midfielder for SSC. The boys kick off at 8am this morning needing a tie to advance.

FC Green Bay by Green Bay Press Gazette

Here are updates from today's group stages. Teams are playing their second of three games and I offer thoughts on their opportunity to advance.

U18 Girls St. Louis Scott Gallagher 1
Cleveland FC (OH North) 0
A late first half goal by Jessica Kelley gave Emily Cline, Shelby Hatz and their teammates their first win of the group stage.

Springfield SC 94/95 at Region 2 Championships by JT Adams

Springfield SC - 2
Waukesha Pumas (WI) 0
A pair of goals in the first half held up for the win in their first Regional game. Goals were scored by Jakob Neidig (Ozark) from Dallas Moses (Catholic) free kick and by Evan Craig (Catholic) from Mitch Moncada's (Catholic) assist.

Last week when we checked in on the Sounders Academy both teams had effectively clinched their divisions with a game left to play. And Seattle won both of those final games (by a combined 6-1) to head into the postseason with positive momentum. The Sounders were one of only three clubs to win their division in both age groups, along with DC United and Empire United.

Play at the President's Cup begins today in South Bend, IN. Southwest Missouri is represented this year by a pair of teams. The U14 Girls features Missouri Elite FC while Cobra's 96 (Webb City) are playing in U15 Boys after winning the six team group in the State playoffs last month. There are no schedules posted on the website but I'll update as I find more info.

Emily Cline, Glendale Falcons (2011)

The Post-Dispatch has the story from Wednesday's U18 Girls Final at the Missouri State Cup:

Cline came off the SLSG Green Academy bench to score the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over SLSG Navy in the Under-18 women's championship game Wednesday night at the Scott Gallagher Complex.

Springfield SC 95/96 vs Lou Fusz Poupard, Quarterfinals

U14 Boys Semifinals 1:30 pm, SLYSA #11
Springfield SC
Tony Glavin Celtic
SSC faces the #8 ranked team in the State but also a team that lost to Lou Fusz Kargacin in group play, the same team SSC defeated 2-0 on Wednesday.

It's really coming down to the wire as the field is almost set for the 2011 Development Academy Playoffs with one more match day left to be played!

Congratulations to the 15 teams in the Under-17/18 age group and the 19 teams from the Under-15/16 age group that have clinched a Playoff berth:

Under-17/18
Players Development Academy (Liberty Division)
Seacoast United (Northeast Division)
Empire United (Northeast Division)
Arsenal FC (SoCal Division)
St.

Cooper, Springfield SC 96/97

UPDATE All games Tuesday canceled due to rain and field conditions. Moved to same time Wednesday,

A pair of finals in U17 Girls and U19 Boys that each feature individual Springfield players (Molly Brewer and Skyler Russell) while Springfield SC has four teams (14, 15, 17, 18) in the Quarterfinals and one in a semifinal (16).

Minnesota's four USSF Development Academy teams conclude there inagural season this weekend and both the Minnesota Thunder Academy (MTA) and Shattuck-St.Mary's (SSM) do so with a pair of home games.

The MTA teams will play their games on Saturday and Sunday at the Dakota County Technical College Stadium Field.

Emily Cline, Glendale Falcons (2011) at 2009 Semifinal vs IWA

The Class 3 playoffs will open Friday at 5:00 pm with a St Louis semifinal between Incarnate Word and Ursuline Academy. The Glendale Falcons will then take on the defending State Champion Liberty Jays at 7:00 pm. It should be a pretty good weekend with three of the teams ranked in the ESPN Rise Powerade Fab 50 including #10 Liberty, #43 Incarnate Word and #47 Ursuline.

A friend of P2010 forwarded us an article a while back a Q&A with his former youth coach, which you can (and should) read here.

You may not know Tom Howe I didn't before I read that article but you really should. For many years he coached at the famed St.

Springfield SC (red) vs Scott Gallagher, MRL 2008

As the High School season comes to a close, so is the Club season. There are effectively three levels of competition now in the US with the highest level being the US Soccer Development Academies such as the JR Sporting KC program in KC.

The announcement of the spring Gatorade Boys' Soccer Players of the Year earlier this week rounds the state awards out with all 50 states plus Washington D.C. now decided. 26 of those honorees are current members of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, which has clubs in 26 states (plus the District of Columbia).

AJ Cochran (St Louis/CBC - 7) against #18 (Metro) U17/18's

The two Scott Gallagher programs, Metro (based in Collinsville) and Missouri (the original club in St Louis) faced off in the first of two derby games between the two US Development Academy teams on Sunday.

In the U17/18 game, Metro won by a narrow 1-0 margin to move into a 2nd place tie with Sporting KC.

I get annoyed with all of the Fan Boys that Manchester United and Chelsea have attracted the past few years, so I'm rooting for a Spanish side to win the Champions League this season. Despite that, I am reminded by how the youngsters were attracted to one of these sides when a 20-something starts reminiscing about the 'old days' of the late 90′s.

U-15/16 Performer of the Week: Andrew Epstein – Goalkeeper, Colorado Rapids
Epstein played in both of the Colorado Rapids two games last weekend, giving up just one goal and helping the team to a 1-0-1 record. Epstein, born in 1996 and one of the youngest Rapids players, was in goal for a 2-1 win against St.

I get annoyed with all of the Fan Boys that Manchester United and Chelsea have attracted the past few years, so I'm rooting for a Spanish side to win the Champions League this season. Despite that, I am reminded by how the youngsters were attracted to one of these sides when a 20-something starts reminiscing about the 'old days' of the late 90′s.

While it was a busy weekend across the Development Academy, there were a number of former players involved in Major League Soccer games this weekend, highlighted by a hat trick from St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri alumnu Will Bruin. Here are just a few former Development Academy players making an impact this weekend.

Carl Rose, Don Ebert - St Louis Steamers (2004)

With the 10 Development Academy programs in Southern California now committed to a 10 month calendar, effectively canceling the High School season for their members, how long do you think before the programs here in Missouri (Sporting KC, Scott Gallagher St Louis and Scott Gallagher Metro) will have to match the model to stay competitive?

Former Missouri State Head Coach Tommy Howe was interviewed by Soccer America for their Youth Insider series. Check it out!

Tom Howe helped found St. Louis' Scott Gallagher SC in 1976 and coached future stars such as Tim Ream, Brad Davis and Pat Noonan. One of his alums, Cal coach Kevin Grimes, calls Howe "a legend, one of the best youth coaches ever.

Defender Alec "A.J." Cochran, a University of Wisconsin recruit, was called in to a U.S. Under-18 national team training camp that starts Saturday in Phoenix.

Cochran, a native of Ballwin, Mo., attends St. Louis Christian Brothers College High School and plays with St. Louis Scott Gallagher's team in the U.

As first reported on the Inside Minnesota soccer website, AC St Louis is no longer in business. The remaining employees were let go this week according to the story. The story also offers information on the AB Soccer Complex:

Cooper is believed to still be looking for a buyer of A-B Park, which was given to him by Anheuser-Busch in 2009 to help Cooper's bid to bring an MLS team to St.