The spring showcase in Rockford proved to be a bit of a disappointment. The team came home with a goal differential of 11-1, and a 3-0 record. That might be good in the quest to go to Home Depot in July, but not so much for developing the team through stiff competition.

I also think that players need to be training as much as possible. Its tough though when they are not in a "real" academy setting, such as those offered in Europe. Kids in those programs live and train in the same place, with the same people, day in and day out. While the academy system here is still in its infancy, it would be interesting to see such a system put in place (other than the U17 Residency program) - or at least more environments like it, perhaps not an entire system.

J. Hackworth's comment on some clubs not being allowed because of geography, well guess what J. Hackworth, I don't see a minnesota teams in there...why not ? same goes for New Mexico !

and yes, the pro clubs, Colorado, Fire, Crew, ect..do have an edge in the financial area, they supplement a lot of the costs...regular clubs are gouging the parents.

Do clubs do any type of fundraising or Sponsorship to help offset costs?

I think that the fund raising from clubs is very minimal, but it seems that parents are able to pick up the costs. In a true academy setting though, i would think that it would cost nothing to the players and families, but instead be paid for by the club.

I think that the coaches are knowledgeable enough to know how many training sessions to have. Ideally, they would obviously train as many days a week as possible, and be given days off when necessary (players who played in games over the weekend, injured players etc). In Europe, i know that this is how they do it anyways, training as many days as possible... Training 3 days a week!!! THATS AMETUER!!! To keep up with the other countries in the world, it think our players need to be training AT LEAST as much as they are!!!!!!