The 2012-13 U.S. Soccer Development Academy season kicks off this weekend with 40 matches on the
docket on Saturday and Sunday. The sixth season features 80 teams playing among seven divisions and
three conferences, as well as the first across-the-board implementation of the 10-month season
format, which puts a greater emphasis on the Academy philosophy of increased training, while
competing in fewer but more meaningful matches.
In what is news to fans, but not necessarily to the teams and clubs active in the United States
Soccer Development Academy system, US Soccer announced today that they adding the U13/14 age group
to the competition for the 2013-14. United States National Team Coach Jurgen Klinsmann said in the
announcement;
"I am very excited to see this important next step in the process of developing young players in
this country.
The Global Finals of Nike's The Chance concluded over the weekend, and midfielder Brian Iloski
was named as one of the 16 players to join this final team.
Iloski plays for the San Diego Surf of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. He and Bryan Windsor
of the Colorado Rapids were two of four U.
During the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Playoffs in late June, I had the pleasure of sitting
down with PA Classics head coach and former Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Steve Klein.
U.S. Soccer Development Academy released the end-of-year awards for the 2011-2012 and a few member
of the D.C. United Academy system received recongition for a great season.
Development Academy Announces 2011-12 End of Year Awards
East Conference U-17/18:Goalkeeper: Alex Bono, Empire United
Defender: Dakota Edwards, Albertson SC
Defender: Malcolm Harris, Baltimore Bays Chelsea
Defender: Quincy Thomas, PA Classics Defender: Patrick Foss, D.
Nick Jones, who has verbally committed to play for the University of Wisconsin
in 2013, and his St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri side came up just short in their quest to win a
national championship.
Scott Gallagher dropped a 1-0 decision to the New York Red Bulls in the U.
American fans hoping to catch Luka Modric during Tottenham's preseason tour are going to miss
out.
The Croatian playmaker, who has said he wants to join Real Madrid, failed to report to the team
for training Friday and did not join it for its flight Saturday to Los Angeles. The 26-year-old
with four years left on his Spurs contract will likely be fined two weeks' pay.
Via US Soccer Development Academy Finals Week Championship Matches to be Streamed Live on
ussoccer.com The 2012 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Finals Week championship matches on July 22
and 23 in Houston will be streamed live on ussoccer.com, giving fans the opportunity to view the
most elite youth soccer games in the United States at the club level.
Finals Week, as U.S. Soccer so cutely calls it, is well underway in Houston as the best Under-16
and -18 squads in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy system face off. Eight squads divided into
two groups of four play round-robin style with the winners of each group contesting the national
title they've played the last 10 months for.
By Charles Boehm - WASHINGTON, DC (July 18, 2012) US Soccer Players -- Have the schedule-makers
lost their minds? That's more or less the tone of the reaction to today's midday Major League
Soccer kickoffs in Los Angeles (Chivas USA - Portland) and Harrison, NJ (New York - Chicago), as
well as the US Soccer Development Academy's selection of Frisco, TX and Houston for its summertime
postseason events.
Dallas Moses (pictured) is leaving Springfield to play for Jeremy Alumbaugh again on the St
Louis Scott Gallagher Metro Academy team. For the uninitiated, in February the U.S. Soccer
Development Academy announced it is moving to a 10-month season starting with the 2012-13
season.
Dallas will likely attend Collinsville High School but will not be eligible to play for their
soccer team as High School Associations do not allow players to participate in a Club sport
simultaneously.
Showcasing the progress in the development of a strong relationship between the U.S. Soccer
Development Academy and the U.S. Youth National Teams, five Academy players earned a spot on the
U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team that traveled to Northern Ireland on Monday in preparation for
the Milk Cup, where the U.
Exactly two years ago on July 16, 2010, the Chicago Fire U16s won the U.S. Soccer Development
Academy U15/16 Championship. In doing so, the Fire became the first academy team from a MLS club to
capture a USSDA championship. The Fire U16s of this year were not favored to follow in the
footsteps of the U16s of 2010 but they have made it to finals week.
The center referee for tonight's big Eastern Conference matchup between Houston Dynamo and D.C.
United was none other than Jasen Anno, a former referee in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.
Anno has been officiating games in MLS since 2008, and in this ussoccer.com profile he described
his career path and how he chose to become a referee.
Two gleaming trophies, one each for the U-15/16 and U-17/18 U.S. Soccer Development Academy
champions, sit in clear view for all the players to see as they check into lodging prior to the
2011-12 Development Academy Finals Week in Houston.
One of the first things players see as they arrive at Finals Week are these two immaculate
trophies
Teams have been arriving throughout the weekend and are quickly experiencing the professional
environment that has been established as they prepare for the first set of matches to kick off
Monday (U-17/18) and Tuesday (U-15/16) at Houston Amateur Sports Park.
The exodus from the Philadelphia Union's front office and technical staff has continued, despite
former head coach Peter Nowak leaving almost two weeks ago.
Diego Gutierrez, a former teammate of Nowak's with the Chicago Fire, and Alecko Eskandarian, a
former player under Nowak during the early 2000s at D.
There will be some Wisconsin connections in the Under-15/16 Division of the U.S. Soccer
Development Academy Finals Week from July 16 to 23 in Houston.
The Chicago Fire won all three of their matches at this week's Development Academy Playoffs in
Frisco, Texas, to win Group 4 – the winners of each four-team group claimed spots in the
Under-15/16 finals.
FC Dallas opened play in the U17/18 group of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy with a 3-0 win
over McLean Youth Soccer. The FCD 17s continue play Tuesday night at 8 p.m. against Real Salt Lake
AZ on Field 11. FCD 15s open play at 4 p.m. against New York Red Bulls on Field 7. Both games are
on the fields at FC Dallas Stadium Complex.
The U.S. Soccer Development Academy program consists of 77 clubs from around the United States
and the Vancouver Whitecaps. Of these 78 clubs, 32 each make the playoffs in the U-18 and U-16
division. The Chicago Fire's Academy has a short but proud history that includes a championship in
the U-16s during the 2009-2010 campaign.
The FC Milwaukee teams didn't qualify for this year's U.S Soccer Development Academy playoffs,
but there are at least three state natives and five players who are slated to play college soccer
in Wisconsin set to play in the matches that start next Monday in Frisco, Texas.
Both the Under-17/18 and Under-15/16 competitions include eight four-team groups, with each of
the group winners earning berths in the Development Academy Finals Week from July 16 to 23 in
Houston.
FC Milwaukee's U.S. Soccer Development Academy boys teams close out their challenging 2012
seasons this weekend in Michigan.
The Nationals' Under-17/18 side is 4-12-5 overall and tied for sixth in the Great Lakes Division
of the Central Conference with a 3-6-5 record heading into Saturday's match against Crew Soccer
Academy Wolves in Livonia and Vardar SC Freiburg in Detroit.
The fourth round of the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup kicks off Tuesday night, and many eyes
will be on the remaining USASA team in the field, Cal FC. The club faces an incredibly tall task
against three-time defending champion Seattle Sounders FC at 7 p.m. PT at the Starfire Sports
Complex in Tukwila, Wash.
University of Denver men's soccer added two players to its 2012 roster, signing Ryan Dodson and
Anees Abdulgasem, head coach Bobby Muuss announced.
Dodson played his freshman season at North Carolina, where he helped the Tar Heels win the 2011
NCAA National Championship. Prior to his time at North Carolina, Dodson was a member of the U.
Goalkeeper Bill Hamid saved four shots to lead D.C. United to a 2-0 win last
weekend.
This past weekend was all about previously injured U.S. Soccer Development Academy alumni making
their returns to the lineup in Major League Soccer play.
U.S. Soccer Development Academy alum Will Bruin (St. Louis Scott Gallagher Missouri) continues
to impress, even though his Houston Dynamo team is in the midst of a four-game winless stretch.
Bruin tallied both Dynamo goals during Houston's 3-2 loss to D.C. United on Saturday at RFK
Stadium.
There still is ample time for the majority of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy field to
secure a spot in this year's Academy Playoffs. But as the weeks trudge on, there are teams stamping
their postseason ticket.
Four teams over the past two weekends have secured a playoff position.
Development Academy product Victor Pineda (right) led the U.S. U-20s past the University of
Washington on Sunday.
Check out the game highlights from the U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team's 1-0 victory against
the University of Washington on Sunday at the NIKE campus in Beaverton, Ore.
Former U.S. Soccer Development Academy player Andrew Wenger (PA Classics) scored his first
professional goal as the expansion Montreal Impact defeated Toronto FC 2-1 on Saturday for the
organization's first Major League Soccer victory. Wenger gave Montreal a 2-0 lead in the 81st
minute, and the Impact would need that late goal as Toronto rallied to cut the Impact lead to one
in the 88th minute.
Two of the newest MLS franchises are extending the league's presence in the U.S. Soccer
Development Academy.
U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday that the Portland Timbers and Montreal Impact have been approved
to have teams entered into the Development Academy, giving MLSÂ 17 teams in the 80-team academy
system.
The New England Revolution U-16s earned national recognition this week, breaking into ESPN's
Under-15/16 2011-12 US Soccer Development Academy Power Rankings. The Revs make their debut in this
year's rankings as ninth in the country.
The U-16s are currently 6-2-0 – excluding their recent 6th place finish in the 2012 Future
Champions Guateng tournament in South Africa – and sit at first place in the Northeast
Division.
St. Lucia, a tropical island in the Eastern Caribbean, is an absolutely breathtaking, scenic
place with incredibly friendly people. The country has a small population of about 160,000 people,
and every single person I passed by whether in the FIFA Women's Com-Unity Seminar itself, or on my
way out to dinner greeted me with a smile and a warm welcome.
If David Beckham never made another goal in MLS, it wouldn't matter. He has surpassed expectations.
His mission is accomplished.
While it would be horrible and a hard pill to swallow if Beckham was to get hurt and not be able to
play again or play to his same abilities(knock on wood), his contribution to boost the MLS profile
and pro Soccer in the U.
