Soccer fails to score, again

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This weekend the U.S. Soccer Federation held a first-of-its-kind tournament. The tournament is supposed to serves as a kickoff to the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.

The academy seems like a great idea. For a long time, the USSF has, for the most part, only used their academy in Bradenton, Fla. It’s a great academy -- it gave us the great Freddy Adu, I’m being, somewhat, sarcastic, OK -- but it limits the amount of players it can accept. It’s also hard to tell how a 14-year-old is going to mature.

So, the academy was created. Some of the best clubs from all over the country will play against one another and the coaches will always be in communication with coaches at the USSF. This, in essence, will allow the USSF to keep up with players that are in the Bradenton Academy or the Olympic Development Program.

But there is a problem.

The rules and dates of the academy conflict with the California schedule. CIF has a rule that clearly says players can’t participate with club teams during that sports’ season. In an effort to curb conflict most clubs changed their schedules so that players wouldn’t have to be forced to decide between club and school.

Well, that’s what the academy has done. It has forced players to decide between club and school, and many high school coaches are not happy-- especially in Orange County, where soccer clubs are big business.

The Orange County Register’s Steve Fryer wrote about the problem the academy has been posing. If you are a soccer fanatic, like I am, you have to read this article. If you appreciate the purity of prep sports, you have to read the article as well.

The USSF is trying to expand their network beyond the Bradenton Academy, it’s trying to widen its range of potential prospects, but they are going about it the wrong way.

Yes, fewer players will slip through the cracks, but at what cost?

Soccer is a different sport. It’s not like football and basketball where playing on your high school team will help you in terms of getting recruited, playing professionally or playing in the World Cup. Players know it and will choose the club teams when forced to chose.

The USSF, if it really wants the academy to work out, needs to do a better job of scheduling.

- Jaime Cardenas