Good soccer is expected to be played at the Home Depot Center later this month, and, no, I'm not talking about MLS' Super Clasico between Galaxy and Chivas USA on the 10th. The What? My point exactly.
The inaugural season of the U.S. Soccer Federation's Developmental Academy, a season that created a lot of controversy here in the Southland, will come to an end July 19 with a weeklong finals tournament that will be held at the Home Depot Center and broadcast live on ESPNU and ESPN2 (Full schedule after the jump).
In case you are not familiar with what we are talking about, in one paragraph, or less, the academy is a "super league" of club teams from across the nation that kicked off in October with 64 teams and eight conferences. Games were played in two age groups, Under-15/16 and Under-17/18.
The finals, a six-day tournament made up of the eight conference champions, start on July 12 and end on July 19. The teams are split into two groups of four that will play a round-robin format. Teams from Group A will meet those from Group B on the pitch in placement matches on the 18th and 19th.
The main event is the U-17/18 championship game on Friday, July 18 at 8:30 p.m. that will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Representing Southern California in both age groups is LAFC.
A national tournament? And on TV? Sounds terrific, right? Not everybody is jumping for joy and here's why.
Some of the best players in the Southland decided not to participate in high school sports last season in order to play in the academy. Clubs aggressively recruited the top players and lured away them with promises of bigger exposure to college coaches and national team scouts. It created a lot of controversy.
One coach told Times columnist Eric Sondheimer, "[the academy] took away high school soccer," and then followed that statement by saying, "we're losing the battle right now."
Things are likely to get worse before they get better as academy officials have already announced plans to add more teams for next season, including at least one more in from Los Angeles.
-- Jaime Cardenas
FINALS WEEK GROUPS/SCHEDULE
GROUPS
Group A (U-17/18)
A1: Mid-America Champion
A2: Baltimore Bays (Mid-Atlantic Champion)
A3: Colorado Rush (West Champion)
A4: Westchester FC (Northeast Champion)
Group B (U-17/18)
B1: CASL (Atlantic Champion)
B2: Crew (Great Lakes Champion)
B3: Concorde Fire (Southeast Champion)
B4: LAFC (So Cal Champion)
Group C (U-15/16)
C1: Albertson (Northeast Champion)
C2: LAFC (So Cal Champion)
C3: Carmel United (Great Lakes Champion)
C4: Schulz Academy (Southeast Champion)
Group D (U-15/16)
D1: Chicago Magic (Mid-America Champion)
D2: CASL (Atlantic Champion)
D3: Real Colorado (West Champion)
D4: PDA (Mid-Atlantic Champion)
SCHEDULE
Saturday, July 12
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A1 vs. Baltimore Bays |
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11 a.m. |
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Colorado Rush vs. FC Westchester |
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1 p.m. |
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CASL vs. Crew |
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4 p.m. |
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Concorde Fire vs. LAFC |
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6 p.m. |
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Sunday, July 13<>
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Albertson vs. LAFC |
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11 a.m. |
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Carmel United vs. Schulz Academy |
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1 p.m. |
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Chicago Magic vs. CASL |
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4 p.m. |
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Real Colorado vs. PDA |
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6 p.m. |
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Monday, July 14<>
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A1 vs. Colorado Rush |
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11 a.m. |
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Baltimore Bays vs. FC Westchester |
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1 p.m. |
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CASL vs. Concorde Fire |
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4 p.m. |
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Crew vs. LAFC |
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6 p.m. |
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Tuesday, July 15<>
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Albertson vs. Carmel United |
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11 a.m. |
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LAFC vs. Schulz Academy |
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1 p.m. |
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Chicago Magic vs. Real Colorado |
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4 p.m. |
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CASL vs. PDA |
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6 p.m. |
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Wednesday, July 16<>
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A1 vs. FC Westchester |
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1 p.m. |
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Baltimore Bays vs. Colorado Rush |
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1 p.m. |
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CASL vs. LAFC |
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4 p.m. |
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Crew vs. Concorde Fire |
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4 p.m. |
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Thursday, July 17<>
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Albertson vs. Schulz Academy |
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1 p.m. |
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LAFC vs. Carmel United |
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1 p.m. |
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Chicago Magic vs. PDA |
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4 p.m. |
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CASL vs. Real Colorado |
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4 p.m. |
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U-17/18 Age GroupPlacement MatchesFriday, July 18<>
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TV |
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7th Place |
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12:30 p.m. |
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ESPNU |
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5th Place |
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3 p.m. |
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ESPNU |
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3rd Place |
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5:30 p.m. |
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ESPNU |
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Championship |
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8 p.m. |
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ESPN2 |
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U-15/U-16 Age GroupPlacement MatchesSaturday, July 19 <>
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TV |
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7th Place |
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12:30 p.m. |
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ESPNU |
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5th Place |
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3 p.m. |
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ESPNU |
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3rd Place |
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5:30 p.m. |
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ESPNU |
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Championship |
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8 p.m. |
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ESPNU |
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The suggestion that the academies are killing HS soccer is absurd. If the academies "drain" 1/2 of 1% of all the kids who want to play HS soccer, I would be amazed. In fact, the purpose of HS soccer is NOT to develop the next generation of pros. It is to provide a legitimate adjunct to an educational experience. Assume the coach who complained it right - that the very best players are skipping HS soccer for the academies. So what? Does that mean the rest of the people playing the game don't learn about team work, don't get exercize, don't form bonds of friendship? Some coach is lving out his fanaties and has forgotten why ANY sports are part of a school program to start with.
Posted by: Charles Adamek | July 03, 2008 at 08:22 AM
This article shows a patent lack of understanding of how soccer has worked in this country for...well...forever.
The best of the best players have ALWAYS forgone HS soccer because they simply don't play enough games against good enough competition. All the best players have always played club soccer instead.
In Chicago that is especially the case. There was an article on Ned Grabavoy a few days ago that talked about how strange it was he actually played for his HS team.
Honestly, for the good of the national team HS soccer can go away for all I car. In fact, I wish NCAA soccer would fade away as well. It's a horrible system that teaches kids NOTHING about the game. It is only there to make more money for the schools. Not every kid is cut out for college and forcing them into that system was ludicrous.
If all the MLS clubs who had kids in the academy provided a college stipend for kids who fizzled out that that wanted to then pursue higher education; that would be the ideal situation.
As it stands now the sooner HS and NCAA soccer dies totally, the better the national team and MLS will be. (and the more money those kids will have a chance to make money playing a game they love. )
Posted by: papa bear | July 04, 2008 at 02:13 AM
Papa Bear,
Who is the captain of the USMNT? A player who did not play soccer in High School? It's defender Carlos Bocanegra, who was All-CIF in soccer and football and also participated in track and field while attending Alta Loma High. (We can argue later that Donovan, not Boca, deserves to be the captain, but let's stick to the topic for now.)
Thank you, Charles and Papa Bear, for the comments. You guys basically come from the same place—you disagree with the HS coaches— but go about your business in different ways. Charles is thoughtful and analytical with his comment while PB plays to perfection the role of annoying, can’t-stand-his-sport-being-criticized, thinks-he-knows-it-all U.S. soccer fan. (The only one who is lacking understanding here is you, Papa Bear.)
I left out my opinion on the academy to see what type of comments this post would get, but I'll give you my two cents on the academy now.
I think the academy is a great idea, but the USSF needs to work with CIF in order to make it better.
The union of high school and sports is one of the many unique things about this country. There's no other country that combines sports and educations like the U.S. -- take it from a person who attended school outside of the U.S.
Also, the USSF needs California HS soccer a lot more than California HS soccer needs the academy. Check the lineup for the WC qualifier between the U.S. and Barbados that was played last month at the Home Depot Center.
Nine players-- NINE out of 21-- were from California.
Who needs who here?
It would be interesting if the USSF were to ignore the suggestions and complaints from high school coaches in California. Some of the scare tactics some clubs are using are simply despicable.
But is HS soccer going to die because of the academy? No. Not at all. The headline to this blog is a sarcastic remark making fun of how some HS coaches have overreacted.
Thank you again for your comments— especially you, Papa Bear— and I hope that you will come back to the blog this week and next because we will have plenty of coverage from the academy finals. We have a story coming out soon about the academy in which we talked to college coaches, HS coaches, academy officials, a coach from a team in the academy and a player from one of the teams in the academy.
We'll also provide a list of the Top 5 players to better help you follow the games.
In regards to the list, you can be safe to assume that No. 1 on our list will be Gatorade National Player of the Year winner Chris Agorsor, who’s a forward on the U-17/18 Baltimore Bays’ team that kicks off the academy finals on Saturday at 11 a.m. against the Chicago Magic and also played for Owing Mills McDonough High School in Maryland. Agorsor has offers to play professionally in Europe.
-- Jaime
Posted by: Jaime Cardenas | July 08, 2008 at 03:42 PM