I guess people don't give a s#*t about what's posted at BOTN. Lots of kids showed up at FCW's TO last night, including kids from top premier clubs within a 50 miles radius. Looks like people are willing to overlook the flaws in order to play Academy & pre-A

There are flaws everywhere but at the end of the day it comes down to which flaws can you live with and which flaws do you or your child need to stay away from and can't deal with. I will say that even with the flaws of Academy soccer, it is the easiest way to be seen by college coaches. With limited budgets, a college coach's first stop is the academy showcases. I'm not saying that is the only place to be seen but it's an almost sure way to be seen.

are you saying Met Oval & South Central are good places to be seen?

FCW records were horrible across the board.

Yes, both are good places to be seen in my opinion.

I'd have to agree with you if you're talking about U16 & 18 Academy. Disagree, if your statement includes pre-A

Why the distinction between academy and pre-academy? Does it make a difference in your analysis that academy will be starting at U14 in the coming year or two? As far as I know, here are the academy clubs in our area:

FC Westchester, Gottschee (Cosmos), Met Oval and Albertson.

No college coach is coming to a pre-academy game but all the u-16 and 18 teams go to the showcase and there are more coaches there than you can ever dream of. and, yes, i do think if you play for fcw or met oval, you have a fair shot at being looked at by the national coach. every team submits names of their top players to be looked at for ID2 and if you are at the top of the heap at met oval, you will be selected. however, you may fall in the middle of the pack at albertson and not have the same opportunity. other than at market training and at id2 camp, there is no other time that these younger kids are getting a look. the coaches are too focused on the older kids that have developed. you have no way of telling where a 12-14 year old will be in two or three years.

The same argument can be made about 16/18 y.o. Fred Adu comes to mind. When I said I agree if you're talking about U16/U18 Academy, I meant they'll get looked at by College coaches. Unless if you have a NT caliber kid, pre-A showcases to no one except players families. Yeah, maybe Tony Lepore will be there but, again, if your son is not NT material, he can't help you.

Regarding U14 Academy, it's past time the USSDA establish the program. U16 & 18 is fine for college purposes but if you're truly looking at developing the next Donovan, you better start a lot earlier than U16

There are flaws everywhere but at the end of the day it comes down to which flaws can you live with and which flaws do you or your child need to stay away from and can't deal with. I will say that even with the flaws of Academy soccer, it is the easiest way to be seen by college coaches. With limited budgets, a college coach's first stop is the academy showcases. I'm not saying that is the only place to be seen but it's an almost sure way to be seen. [/quote]

Best post on the subject right here ^^.