As the most gifted U-20 American soccer players from across the country arrived at Concordia University in Irvine, Ca. for the U.S.F.C.'s inaugural International Youth Soccer Showcase, there was an air of unprecedented opportunity: these players were about to play with some of the best talent of their age and learn from some of the best and brightest coaches and technical directors Europe has to offer.

"Growing up as a soccer player in America," U.S.F.C. technical director Don Ebert said, "there were never any chances for us to be seen.  But now, with the creation of the U.S.F.C., that's not true anymore."

The Showcase was the first time ever that coaches and technical directors from some of the top clubs in Europe were given the chance to see this much U.S. youth soccer talent playing together on one pitch.

Founded to create a system that plugged the holes other U.S. soccer training programs created, the U.S.F.C.'s was built around getting the premier American players (known as SuperElites™) into the European youth leagues to help them achieve the next level of play while they're still learning.

"There has never been an objective, systematic selection process for young, talented American soccer players," Ebert said, "and there is no way of identifying the handful of SuperElite™ players who have the best chance of becoming tomorrow's superstars.  That's what the U.S.F.C. is here for.  To identify those players and get them into the league with the most challenging competition, so we can get them to reach their maximum potential."

The players understood not only the rarity of an event like this, but also the chance they had been given.  Most players, like 17-year-old Mario Ledezma and 16-year-old Jose Gomez, both of the Irvine Strikers Club, were the great benefactors of the U.S.F.C.'s Showcase, and all understood that.

"This is a great opportunity here for anyone who wants to go on to play soccer at the highest level [Europe]," Gomez said.

"With the coaches from all over the world watching me play," Ledezma said, "it makes me want to play my best." Active Image:


The SuperElites™, ranging in age from 14 to 19, were treated to European practices and drills and various clinics from the coaches and technical directors who traveled more than 8,000 miles for this event.  They learned what the coaches want from American players and, in turn, showed the European representatives what they were capable of.

"Your speed is as good as Holland's; the talent is there," PSV Eindhoven coach Ernest Faber said to the SuperElites™ after a brief practice.  Faber came out not only to see the players, but to speak to them.

"But you have to understand that soccer is a way of life," Faber continued.  "You have to understand that, if you want to reach the level of European players, you have to make it a way of life."

These comments were not criticism designed to bring down the players, but rather to show them what the next step is in their hopefully long and fruitful careers.

"If I learn from what these coaches were talking about," Gomez said, "I can step up my game to the next level.  I think I can learn from my mistakes from this experience and make myself a better player."