Wow I like this article. Click on link below
Development academies: the saga continues
by Ahmet Guvener, June 1st, 2017 9:59PM
After my last article, some of the readers correctly stated that I did not include the U-12, U-13 and U-14 categories in the analysis. I knew I did not and I did it on a purpose. I wanted to see the distribution of the full pledged (U-12 through U-18) and U-15/16 and U-17/18 academies in the country.
U.S. Soccer recently included the U-12 category in the Development Academy (DA) system as well as breaking the U13-14 category into U-13 and U-14. It also started the girls DA. All these moves were in the correct direction.
Especially breaking the U-13/14 into two categories created the chance for both age groups to compete. In the past, the U-13/14 category would be dominated by U-14 players and only the very talented U-13 players were able to compete. For boys, there might be a substantial physical difference between a 12 year old and a 13 year old since they are transitioning from childhood into puberty. Hopefully, in the years to come, the U-15/16 category will also be broken down into U-15 and U-16.
I will talk about the boys DAs in the USA only.
There are a total of 146 DAs across 25 states and District of Colombia. These 146 DAs do not necessarily represent 146 unique clubs, since some clubs have affiliated DAs in the same state as well as in different states. For example, Chicago Fire has four DAs, three in Illinois and one in Indiana.
If you look at all the DAs, you will see four categories with a few exceptions in each category:
https://www.socceramerica.com/article/73615/development-academies-the-saga-continues.html
