With its first season nearing completion, the USSF Development Academy has already become fairly well-etched into the elite youth soccer landscape of this country. Geographic coverage is more complete with the addition of Texas into the fold. College recruiters are clearly treating the Academy events as a focal point for scouting talent, and most coaches have told us the training schedule and competition are improvements from the past.

One common area of criticism however is travel and cost. Elite youth soccer was never cheap before, but the travel demands of the league, combined with current economic conditions, are making the burden on many families considerable. With sensitivities about the sport being mainly for the rich in this country already present, the powers that be will in the Federation and with the clubs will need to address these issues as they move ahead (see our Editorial coming later this week).

Following are the comments from parents about their impressions on the program thus far.

Vickie Riley, Bridge FA U16s

Our players are getting emails from college coaches all over country so I know it creates opportunities to be seen that they otherwise wouldn't have had.

You have to work hard to try and bring costs down. We went to California in October and we had a sponsor for our flight, so the cost there was not too significant. Since then we traveled quite a bit and still are traveling. My worry is that it is cost-prohibitive. I don't want players to not be able to participate because of costs. We're doing everything we can on our end to try and keep the cost down.

 
You almost have to have sponsorship. Some of the teams are supported by MLS clubs. We don't have that luxury, so we need to find corporate sponsorship as much as possible.

This all happened so quickly so we didn't really have enough time to adequately pursue sponsorship. I've told our director I would put together a prospectus. I believe someone out there will offer us help, we just have to find them

(On sponsor motivation) I would assume that most corporations have a certain amount of funds they allocate for nonprofits. I look at it as, ‘There's so much in the world these boys could be into, if we push them toward a truly excellent spots program instead of those things, that should be incentive enough. Their helping can keep a lot of kids in a positive atmosphere.

We've gotten a break with the new conference alignment for next year. We wont' have to fly to any league games.

David Raynr, Real So Cal U18s

For the kids that were playing on teams who were not very high profile and exposed, it's been fantastic for the level of exposure and soccer quality they've received.That has been the most positive aspect, the level of soccer and refereeing has been consistently above average.

Our particular team is in a unique position. We're very exposed and were doing well in the other system (3-time national champions) and playing a lot. For our team, the Academy has been a transition. We played nonstop literally for a year and a half. From our players' perspective, we weren't quite ready for it. Between nationals, CSL Premier then no break  and a 30-game season, plus playing the  Dallas Cup, it was a lot.

For Evan (Raynr, his son) and a couple of others, the thing about it that is different is that after you are out of the running to win, there's not as much left to play for. They are 18 year old seniors, going to college and they don't have a lot of reason to spend money to travel. If they know they're not going to win the league and they don't need to be seen, why would they want to go to North Carolina (for the June showcase).

The #1 issue is cost. I know Real So Cal is trying to do something to help but there's only so much the club can do. If this was something you could do based on a sponsorship, a lot of people would feel very privileged, but as it is it can be tough. So you have the kids whose parents have money show up at the Showcases and those who don't, don't. So we might not always be seeing the best teams and players because of money.

Stephanie Deal, Concorde Fire U18s

For our U18 Concorde Fire team personally, the cost has been less than it was. We went to regionals and at U16, nationals. I don't know how much traveling most teams do, but with all the events we go to, we've found the Academy to be less expensive.

For scheduling, instead of being able to pick up the phone and reschedule like before, now you have to go through the Academy so that can be a hassle. On the other hand, we've been able to travel with the U16 team at our club and that has helped us share costs, which is good. It makes something like renting a bus more feasible.

(On the interest level of the U18s) It's probably been about the same for us. They have maintained interest. What has made it a little harder is that they put so much at the end of the summer season. A couple of kids needed to get jobs to help pay for college, so it's been a little juggling act. Our coach has been extremely understanding about 1-2 kids who couldn't' make this event or that, due to graduation or whatever.

(On a year-round schedule that excludes high school) In Georgia, that's probably not going to happen. We're in the football bible belt, and the chance to play in front of the high school crowd, the kids are not ready to give that up. We were in the national finals 2 years ago and played in front of 60 people. They can go to their high school games and play in front of 1,500.

Brian Klein, Crossfire Premier

The biggest financial burdens are on west coast teams. The most significant issues deal with cost and planning. A lot of these issues can be addressed by us, but structurally we have to look at some things more forcefully.

I've spoken to people with east coast teams and their entire travel budget is about $50,000 per team. For us in Seattle, every time I put our teams in the air for a season game – which I did 6 times this year – it costs between $20,000 and $30,000.

(When you add the Greensboro Showcase and the other 2 showcases), you are looking at a travel budget of roughly $250,000 per year. The club is put in a position where we either charge the players $6,500 or $7,000 each, and that doesn't include coaching fees, practice field fees or uniforms. That makes it a very expensive sport for the players, roughly $10,000 per player (the old system cost about half of that per player). That puts the club in a very challenging position in order to keep up with the spirit of the league.

What we have chosen to do at Crossfire is cap our players' costs at $2,500 a year – next year it will be more – and then trying to raise money without taxing the other players in club (through an annual fund, sponsors, camps, tournaments, other fundraisers and Friday night Academy training for developmental players).

(Positives?) Until the Spring, the competition was better than it's been. The practices have been better. We're very positive on the league and the playing experiences players have had, but there are unique issues for west coast team that make it prohibitively more expensive. For the league to reach goals it has set, it will continue to look for better solutions.

Judy Caughran, Colorado Rush U18s

As a manager I started early on with a comparison of the Academy teams to the other club teams. IT was right around equal in expenses per child, but what hurt that was we did not get the summer showcase here as we had been told. That added a $700 minimum expense to our costs, and that location (Greensboro) is horrible for us because we can't get a direct flight there, the same as with other western clubs. We're in 2^nd place in the standings, one point back, and we have 11 players committed to the event.

Next year we want to go with a flat fee where everybody will know they get 2 regular travel events and 2 showcases. It will give more players a chance to play at these events. They also need to do something about these single-game trips where you fly just to play one match.

We lost quality players and I know Real Colorado did too, because the players joined the (MLS) Rapids. It's unfair that we've trained and developed these players, and now because of the Academy, the pro teams are just paying for these kids expenses or charging them a minimum fee to travel.

As a parent, it's been a wonderful experience for my son (Isaac, going to Charlotte). I know it has allowed more coaches to see our players, whether they were committed or not. Also, these are top quality games. We had the Red Bull league last year which was good, but other than that we would never get this kind of competition. It's been hard to travel, but we've managed it.

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