How does this sound to you?

[garyd63]

Just found this online and haven't had time to digest it fully. My first reaction is that it does have the virtue of avoiding the hypocrisy that riddles so much of our "amateur" sports world today. But to my mind it still harbors all the problems of current programs. Anyway, it may raise some hackles and voices. (I know, I know, it's only soccer. But who can say it might not become the model for other sports as well.) Anyway, wondering how those on this board read it.
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Full article here

March 3, 2012
High School Players Forced to Choose in Soccer’s New Way
By SAM BORDEN

Professional sports leagues in the United States have long relied on high schools to help cultivate the country’s best athletes. Rosters in Major League Baseball, the N.F.L. and the N.B.A. are filled with former scholastic stars, many of whom hold tightly to their quintessentially American memories of homecoming, letterman jackets and games played under the Friday night lights.

But for the organization charged with producing soccer players who can compete with the world’s best, that system has been deemed inadequate. The United States Soccer Federation announced a new policy recently that will uncouple high school soccer and the training of top youth players, a move that is unique among major team sports in this country and, some believe, is indicative of a trend in the way the United States develops elite athletes.

The shift by the federation applies to its top boys teams around the country, requiring players on those teams — known as Development Academy teams — to participate in a nearly year-round season and, by extension, forcing them and their soccer moms and dads to decide whether they should play for their club or play for their school.

 

[BankShot]

Sounds like a Euro trend & doubt that it'll ever connect in the U.S., where HS "sport" still embodies valued principles indigenous to American character development. Reminds me of a "single track" educational system, which pretty much restricts developmental options later in life. Just think if Myles Walker would've been forced down this path in Texas...

 

[SycfromBirth]

It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. If my memory serves me, the development academies have been around for a while, but, you would only participate in your school off-season (not unlike AAU basketball). The move to have the "academies" running year-round schedules isn't a bad thing for the kids and parents that have their heart in one sport and want to follow it full bore.

I think this will serve as a middle ground to some parents who couldn't afford to send their kids to one of the elite academies, such as the IMG Academy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMG_Academies that have existed for years (most Americans would probably recognize more Tennis players that have come out some of these elite academies (e.g. Andre Agassi, Serena Williams).

The interesting thing to me is that there is a NATIONWIDE push to change the way soccer is taught/learned/played in the United States. The biggest moves started with the semi-recent hiring of the new US Men's National Team Coach.