Dev Academy

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http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/videos/...s-2402417.html


"Brazil's best football players come from the favelas and in turn football provides them with a way out of difficult surroundings. "

The video is excellent. It explains what gives these poor kids the motivation to become great. poverty can be the ultimate motivator. Unfortunately for many their dreams are squashed when they one day realize that they are not going to make it. The silver lining is this large pool of players practice two or three times a day and it's their dream of making it as a soccer player from day 1- from this large talent pool, the odds are good of finding the next ronaldinho. Now look at Metro Boston..how many soccer players practice even once a day?

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http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/videos/...s-2402417.html


"Brazil's best football players come from the favelas and in turn football provides them with a way out of difficult surroundings. "

Here it's somewhat different - in the US getting an education and hard work is seen as a way out of poverty. The American dream and all that. Certainly not for all, but more common than not. Few parents would entrust their child's education to a soccer team. With our pay-to-play system shutting out most disadvantaged kids of course college will be the focus for most, not a pro career. Even if they can go pro, MLS or slugging it out initially at a low level in Europe, salaries are pitiful. If you were talking NBA/NFL/Baseball salaries we might have a different scenario.

We are not the rest of the world so why do we keep trying to copy it? when need to find what can work within the confines of our soccer culture, resources, geography etc.

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Here it's somewhat different - in the US getting an education and hard work is seen as a way out of poverty. The American dream and all that. Certainly not for all, but more common than not. Few parents would entrust their child's education to a soccer team. With our pay-to-play system shutting out most disadvantaged kids of course college will be the focus for most, not a pro career. Even if they can go pro, MLS or slugging it out initially at a low level in Europe, salaries are pitiful. If you were talking NBA/NFL/Baseball salaries we might have a different scenario.

We are not the rest of the world so why do we keep trying to copy it? when need to find what can work within the confines of our soccer culture, resources, geography etc.

exactly. just pointing out reasons why countries like Brazil and Argentina spit out more world class players per unit population than the US. The challenges the US faces are insurmountable I feel. Just getting rid of pay to play is not going to do it.

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I don't disagree with you, but what about iceland. Population of 250,000 approx. No grinding poverty to escape. Yet they held their own at the Euros.

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I don't disagree with you, but what about iceland. Population of 250,000 approx. No grinding poverty to escape. Yet they held their own at the Euros.

geography- small country. they used that to their benefit to train all the talent together from day 1

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Take a look at the FIFA rankings vs the populations - plenty of other smallish countries (and often times not exactly wealthy) in the top 25. People bit** and moan that for all the money spent on soccer and our huge population we should be doing better. But if you're spending money on mostly cr*p training, guess what you get? Cr*p results.

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I don't disagree with you, but what about iceland. Population of 250,000 approx. No grinding poverty to escape. Yet they held their own at the Euros.

The Iceland FA built turf fields by every school and 11 indoor facilities. That would be like the population of Cambridge or Newton having 3-4 indoor facilities built by USSF that can be used for much less than renting a private indoor field. You have to have started your UEFA B to coach U8, and must have completed it to coach U10+. Imagine being able to take your kid to practice with a decent coach and not have to drive(walk) further than your nearest school, then imagine that it is the same for every kid in your area. Since the fields are funded by the FA, parents pay less and what they do pay goes into paying coaches. No poor souls get stuck with volunteer parent coaches such as myself. Their average kids get the same quality of training as their talented kids. It is not something that we can replicate on any scale with our size, competing interests, and the funds available for USSF or any other soccer organization in the US.

[Unregistered]

The Iceland FA built turf fields by every school and 11 indoor facilities. That would be like the population of Cambridge or Newton having 3-4 indoor facilities built by USSF that can be used for much less than renting a private indoor field. You have to have started your UEFA B to coach U8, and must have completed it to coach U10+. Imagine being able to take your kid to practice with a decent coach and not have to drive(walk) further than your nearest school, then imagine that it is the same for every kid in your area. Since the fields are funded by the FA, parents pay less and what they do pay goes into paying coaches. No poor souls get stuck with volunteer parent coaches such as myself. Their average kids get the same quality of training as their talented kids. It is not something that we can replicate on any scale with our size, competing interests, and the funds available for USSF or any other soccer organization in the US.

Quality training over quantity number of players. US does less even for the so-called elite level.

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Quality training over quantity number of players. US does less even for the so-called elite level.

US does provide a lot of opportunities for training and games at the elite level. Geography does not help getting the best of the best together for training and games. Couple of problems that I have with US Soccer/Academy:

1) training and games do not encourage creativity
2) widespread nepotism and back scratching which leads to inadequate player and coach selection

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http://www.soccerwire.com/news/clubs...ugural-season/

Last 22 GDA clubs announced.

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scores?

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They will be posted on USSF site or here by a parent with a kid on the team.

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Bolts 16s 0 NYCFc 2

Both goals scored in first half. NYCFC brought in their subs entire 2nd half

Dissapointing game of 2000s vs 01s/O2s. NY had mostly 01s and 02s ( four 00s) but had most of the possession.

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Any other scores? How did the younger teams do?

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Any other scores? How did the younger teams do?

Scores are posted already