U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy Finalized...

US Soccer has completed the selection process for the first year of the newly created Development Academy. There are sixty four clubs that will compete against each other in an eight month season. The group of sixty four was selected from over one hundred and fifty clubs, showing impressive interest in the fledgling program. One of the "clubs" included in the list is the US Soccer Residency Program in Bradenton, Florida.

The program will kick off this fall in Chicago with the first matches coming in October. Two age groups are being run; U-15/16 & U-17/18. Each team must have a minimum of 20 players. The sixty four teams will be broken into eight regional conferences as listed below:

Northeast Conference

* Albertson SC
* B/W Gottschee
* FC Greater Boston Bolts
* FC Westchester
* Met Oval
* Oakwood SC
* Seacoast United
* South Central Premier

Mid-Atlantic Conference

* Baltimore Bays Soccer Club
* DC United
* FC DELCO
* Match Fit Academy FC
* New York Red Bulls
* PA Classics
* PDA
* Potomac Soccer

Atlantic Conference

* Bridge FA
* CASL
* Greensboro Youth SC
* North Meck SC
* Richmond Kickers SC
* Richmond Strikers
* South Charlotte SA
* VA Rush SC

Southeast Conference

* AFC Lightning Soccer Club
* Atlanta Fire United SA
* Birmingham United SA
* Clearwater Chargers SC
* Concorde Fire SC
* IMG Soccer Academy
* Kendall Soccer Coalition
* Schulz Academy

Great Lakes Conference

* Carmel United Soccer Club
* CASA
* Columbus Crew
* Empire United SA
* Internationals SC
* Michigan Wolves
* Ohio Elite SA
* Vardar

Mid-America Conference

* Chicago Fire Soccer PDA
* Chicago Magic Soccer Club
* FC Milwaukee
* Metro United Soccer Club
* Scott Gallagher
* Sockers FC Chicago
* Solar SC
* U.S. National Team (U-15/16 & U-17)

SoCal Conference

* Arsenal SC
* Chivas USA
* Irvine Strikers
* L.A. Galaxy
* Nomads SC
* Pateadores SC
* Real So Cal
* San Diego Surf

West Conference

* Colorado Rapids
* Colorado Rush
* Crossfire Premier SC
* De Anza Force SC
* FC Portland SA
* Mustang FC
* Real Colorado
* Washington Premier FC


Each club will play 30 games over the 8 months system. Based on the number of teams and minimum roster size, this is an opportunity for over 2,000 players to get some great soccer games in every year. 30 games over 8 months, that sounds like a professional calendar, doesn't it? The winner of each conference will play in the Academy Finals at The Home Depot Center in Carson, CA, MLS playoffs anyone?

To be honest this is the first time I've been excited about this program since it was announced. Previously all of the information given about the new US Soccer program was vague and I couldn't grasp what it was going to do. Now I see all of these conferences and the level of the clubs involved and it is truly awesome. Imagine, there are professional MLS and USL clubs putting teams in competition with traditional American pay to play clubs. Furthermore, these top clubs are going to be playing each other on a regular schedule instead of once a year in a tournament setting. Can you imagine the travel budgets these clubs are going to incur? Maybe they are taking some of the tournaments out of their schedules to help shift the burden.

Here are the professional clubs reaching down into the youth ranks:
MLS
- DC United
- New York Red Bulls
- Chicago Fire
- Columbus Crew
- Chivas USA
- L.A. Galaxy
- Colorado Rapids

USL
- Richmond Kickers SC

Based on the inclusion above teams it seems like the US is finally developing an integrated, vertical soccer club system as seen around the rest of the world. I wonder which of the youth clubs will venture into the professional realm in the future.