This quarantine has left me with too much free time. With all of the chatter over the past few days regarding what US soccer will do with the Development Academy, I decided to write the letter that I think they should be writing. Here you go:
Dear Everyone,
The United States Soccer Federation is dedicated more than ever to the development of soccer across this great country. Our players from the senior national teams down to the youth level are at the core of everything that we do. We are constantly striving to help with development of soccer in this country and are proud of the work we have done. But there is much more to do.
We have made a strategic decision to give our member clubs the responsibility for development of youth players. We are so proud of how everyone has been so willing to follow our direction over the past few years. We feel that the last 12 years have shown a massive improvement in the level of players that grow up playing in the United States.
We also realize that some mistakes have been made along the way. With our country now facing a health crisis that we could have never predicted, we feel that now is the time to make some corrections.
Sincerely,
The Soccer Dudes Locked in a House in Chicago
Dear Everyone,
The United States Soccer Federation is dedicated more than ever to the development of soccer across this great country. Our players from the senior national teams down to the youth level are at the core of everything that we do. We are constantly striving to help with development of soccer in this country and are proud of the work we have done. But there is much more to do.
We have made a strategic decision to give our member clubs the responsibility for development of youth players. We are so proud of how everyone has been so willing to follow our direction over the past few years. We feel that the last 12 years have shown a massive improvement in the level of players that grow up playing in the United States.
We also realize that some mistakes have been made along the way. With our country now facing a health crisis that we could have never predicted, we feel that now is the time to make some corrections.
- United States Development Academy- We have seen 1,000s of players find the right pathway for their development under this program. We have invested millions of dollars to show clubs what we feel is the right way to improve players. 4 days a week of training. The ending of multiple games being played in a day under tournament formats. Youth National Team representation. These are just a few ways that we have directed our USSSA member clubs to improve. Now that they have been shown the proper way, we feel it is in everyone’s best interest that the US Soccer Federation focuses on our Youth National Teams and not as much at the Club level. We will be using money that was budgeted for the USSDA to help fund a better scouting network. This includes inner city, unsanctioned leagues and high school play. If you are a top player – We will find you- Regardless of what league you play in.
- Effective immediately, the US Soccer Development Academy will be shutting down. We will provide some assistance for Clubs that will be burdened by this immediate closure. An application will be on our website tomorrow.
- With regard to other leagues - There is a league and team out there for everyone. We encourage you to do your due diligence when selecting the right program for your player.
- Travel - With COVID 19 impacting all of us, we are encouraging all clubs, teams and players to reduce travel for at least the next 12 months. For many leagues, you should not be traveling more than 90 minutes (the length of a full game) for any soccer activities. If you can’t find a competitive game within 90 minutes, you should play up an age group. If you still can’t find a competitive game, then your team needs to break up and let other teams have top players to make everyone more competitive.
- Age Groups- This was a really bad idea. We have had many changes in leadership over the years. We initially installed this change so that we could better compete on the international level with other youth teams. Our Youth National Teams will still follow the birth-year format for international competitions. All domestic leagues and domestic tournaments will go back to the “school year” age groupings. This is effective IMMEDIATELY. For the next year, we will allow each team to have up to 3 players that are 6 months older than the oldest birthdate allowed by each age grouping. We highly encourage teams to try to find a way to move everyone to the appropriate age group for the upcoming Fall season.
- High School Soccer – The USSF will be working closely with the NHSAA to help grow the sport of soccer at all levels. We feel that high school soccer has a place in the development of many players, and we will encourage players to make the right decisions for their soccer needs. We will be working with NHSAA on coaching certifications and referee improvements. We feel that high school soccer in the US should be as important and as popular as football.
- Pay to Play – We continue to look at sponsorship opportunities that will help fund the costs to play soccer. The 2 biggest costs of soccer in the US are paid coaches and field access.
- Coaching
- Licensing - Coaches are the lifeblood of our great sport in the United States. We need to certify more coaches across the country to work with our youth. Today we are announcing a collaboration between US Soccer, United Soccer Coaches, AYSO and Soccer Starts at Home. We will allow for cross certifications between these organizations at the grass roots level (Up to the current “D” license). We will publish the content for our highest levels (A and B license) for free for anyone interested in learning. We will still require an in-person class environment to receive an A or B license, but the content will be available to anyone who wants to follow our coaching pathway.
- Paid Coaches - We encourage our member clubs to find creative ways to help pay your coaches. Sponsorships and legitimate fundraisers are encouraged.
- With the reduction of travel costs, we expect the reimbursement for travel expenses to be reduced.
- Fields -We are forming a committee to work with municipalities across the country to find cost effective ways to ensure the best playing surfaces and access for all US Soccer members.
- Uniforms- US Soccer thinks you should not pay more than $100 per player for a full uniform set.
- Coaching
- Tournaments – We feel that excessive tournaments are causing our players unnecessary costs and there is a greater potential for injury when playing many games over the course of a summer. All players registered with US Soccer will only be allowed to play in 14 sanctioned games from June 1st until September 1st. Teams will be permitted to travel (150 miles or greater) to 1 tournament per calendar year. We will be instituting an electronic player card system to track this. It will be piloted this summer across California.
- Promotion and Relegation – We know that this is a hot topic. At this time, we encourage each member league to consider the feasibility of merit based placement within their divisions. If done properly, there should not be any 10-0 blowouts during any league game. At the professional level, we continue to have dialogue on the economic feasibility of promotion and relegation between our leagues.
Sincerely,
The Soccer Dudes Locked in a House in Chicago
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