FAQ

Anyone interested in playing for one our member Academy clubs will need to contact the club directly regarding the player selection process. The Academy firmly believes that the traditional open tryout is a highly flawed and ineffective model for player identification and evaluation. The expectation is that Academy clubs move to using a more systematic scouting model to identify and recruit new talents and invite these players to trial for an extended period with the current player pool. Clubs may not charge a registration fee for tryouts, which includes fees for equipment, apparel or etc.

The program currently utilizes five (5) age groups for competition, 3 single age groups and 2 mixed age groups: U-12, U-13, U-14, U-15/16 and U-17/18 age groups. Clubs competing in the U-15/16 and U-17/18 age groups must field teams at both age levels.

U.S. Soccer Technical Staff encourages players to "play up" when appropriate. For example, the U-17/18 team should include a balanced mixture of 17-year-olds, 16-year-olds and a few exceptional 15-year-olds.

Each roster shall be published on the official U.S. Soccer Development Academy registration website, and shall be considered the official roster of the Academy club. There is a minimum of 32 full-time (FT) players per Academy club combined in the U-15/16 and U-17/18 age group and 16 full-time players each in both the U-13 & U-14 age groups. There is a maximum of 20 full-time players at both the U-13 & U-14 age groups and 46 full-time players combined between the U-15/16 and U-17/18 age groups. At the U-12 age group, there may be between 24-26 full-time players. There is no limit to the number of rostered players that do not have United States citizenship.

Full-time Academy players are only permitted to participate on their Academy team, and National Team duty.

The Boys’ Development Academy program does not participate in high school programming.

The Girls’ Development Academy program was designed by Academy and U.S. Soccer technical staff, and offers the best development model for long-term, elite female player development. The Academy firmly believes that the best situation for the development of a Girls player is to be in their everyday Academy club environment. However, clubs and players are able to make individual decisions for what is best for girls who have already started their high school careers in 2016 or earlier. Players born in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 can – with club approval – leave the Academy mid-season to play high school soccer, but must fully leave the Academy environment during the high school season. Players cannot play in both the Academy and high school simultaneously. This policy will be reviewed in future seasons.

Academy competitions provide ideal opportunities for coaches to scout players in their natural environment. Over half of all Academy matches are observed by a member of the National Team scouting network. During the 2015-16 Development Academy season, for example, over 1,849 games were scouted by our expansive network of technical staff and scouts

Yes. Clubs must field a team in both Academy age groups.

No. Each conference calendar will vary depending on climate

The home club will make facility arrangements for their Academy Conference matches. U.S. Soccer will make facility arrangements for Academy Showcases, Academy Playoffs and the Academy Championships. Academy Clubs are expected to secure the best possible playing environment for their Academy matches.