Development" is, and almost always has been, implicit in the many youth soccer programs offered both in this country and overseas, by professional and other associations alike. Anytime you introduce youngsters to the game and educate them in the skills and strategies necessary to play to a better standard, you are essentially helping to develop players.
     But this whole aspect of coaching really seems to have exploded in the last few years. "Centers of Excellence," "Soccer Academies," and "Developmental Programs" have been started up all over. The Alliance, for example, has the Iowa City Sockers Programs for recreational players - boys and girls ages 6 through 12 - which have proved very popular.
     On a recent trip to England, I was very impressed by the significant increase in the commitment of professional clubs, to providing year round coaching to the country's young hopefuls. The big-time Premier League clubs are investing millions of dollars in their "Academies" taking players in as young as 8 years old and attempting to nurture the next Michael Owen or David Beckham. At the same time, many of the less wealthy clubs lower down the ladder have thriving "Centers of Excellence." These offer weekly coaching sessions and inter-club games for players selected from local youth teams.
     Once selected to attend either an academy or a center of excellence, players may continue to play for their school teams but can no longer have any club affiliations. You can imagine the problems with such a scheme in this country. But in England, the profile of the game and the rewards for those who make it to the top are such that players and parents are only too happy to have the opportunity to be involved with a professional club.
     A college friend of mine oversees one of two centers of excellence for Brighton and Hove Albion, a current 3rd division club who graced England's top division little over a decade ago. I spent some time with him and got to see Brighton's U13, U15 and U16 groups in action against the same age youth teams from another 3rd division outfit - Barnet. What was so striking in seeing these players and the way they played in relation to our local players, was the very physical nature of the game, their non-stop communication and their comfort levels in the air, i.e. their abilities to head the ball with power and to win head balls when under pressure. I didn't see anything skill-wise however, that was over and beyond where our kids are at.
     Various US national youth teams have tended to do very well against international competition, and stories of regional, state and top level club teams being successful overseas are not uncommon. This, no doubt, is due to the strength of the developmental component of youth soccer in the US. The focus of this development may be a little different here than in England, but when the 1986 Boys ODP team head to the UK in the summer, we will have a great opportunity to see just how the two compare first hand.
 

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