US Develops Its Own Youth Soccer Model

By RONALD BLUM

NEW YORK (AP) - When the U.S. national team takes the field these days, many of its players have a common background: They stayed at the under-17 team's residency program in Bradenton, Fla.

Defender OguchiOnyewu; midfielders DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey and Michael Bradley; andforwards Landon Donovan and Eddie Johnson all are alumni.

"A lot of what we try to do is create more of a soccer culture for our elite players, and that's not easy because if you're in England or Brazil, every day you're seeing it, hearing it, living it around the clock," said U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati. "Our young players aren't in that environment, and we're not going to be able to replicate that environment. And frankly, in someways, we shouldn't want that environment."

The USSF and Major League Soccer have instituted several programs designed to lift the nation's soccer level:

Since 1999,about 40 players at any given time are in Bradenton residency program, with the goal of making the U.S. roster for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup.

Generation Adidas, begun as Nike Project 40 in 1997, allows elite players to give up college soccer to sign with MLS, which will pay for college later.

MLS started reserve teams in 2006.

Each MLS member was required to have an under-15 and under-17 team beginning last year.

The U.S. Soccer Development Academy began last year in which 122 clubs with 2,440 players and244 coaches participate in 1,800 matches in their regions.

"The average 16-year old who is a gifted soccer player isn't doing in England what's called the sixth form. They're leaving school at 16," Gulati said. "Atop level player is maybe thinking about playing professional soccer. He's also thinking about Duke, UVA and UConn. And so, it's a different set of choices." van Gazidis,deputy commissioner of MLS, said top European clubs are scouting more and more American players.

"U.S.players now are seen as top-class footballers around the world, and what that means is people are more interested in all age groups," he said. "If that weren't happening, you would worry about it. The fact that it is happening poses its own set of issues."

FIFA, soccer's governing body, instituted a rule that generally prevents players under 18 from signing with clubs outside their native countries. Freddy Adu, a naturalized American citizen who was born in Ghana, signed with MLS when he was 14. After struggling in the league, he was transferred last summer to Portugal's Benfica.

Before that rule, Germany's Bayer Leverkusen signed Donovan in 1999, when he was just 16.

"It's not an absolute protection though in truth. I think it's a worthy objective. But there are ways teams if they so chose go around it," Gazidis said. "I don't think there's widespread abuse, though. I think in general actually teams are living with the FIFA mandate, and I think it's been a positive influence on the game because it has reduced some of the more extreme circumstances of child exploitation."

Gazidis said the goals of U.S. programs must change.

"I think what we're learning is the emphasis with youth development in the United States is very much of winning trophies, winning games, from a very young age,"he said. "That's an issue because when you look at professional elite player development programs elsewhere in the world, the emphasis, particularly in Argentina and Brazil, is on technical development rather than wins and losses, and changing that mind-set is going to be a long-term challenge."