DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can a team really be considered an academy if they don’t have a youth program? Poaching players in the DMV is development?

You're spot on. By the time they get to DC at 11, 12, 13 they're fully developed professionals under performance based contracts
Development starts at 5 and ends at 10

Of course they aren't and of course development doesn't stop at 10. But they have been playing the sport longer outside of DCU than they will play it in DCU. Which in turn gives DCU a very limited window to work with the player. Couple that with a weak academy philosophy and system and you have a recipe for development stagnation which is a huge problem that DCU has. Players aren't getting better at a rate that is faster than their peers in better systems.

Want development, come on down to Richmond your nearest option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can a team really be considered an academy if they don’t have a youth program? Poaching players in the DMV is development?

You're spot on. By the time they get to DC at 11, 12, 13 they're fully developed professionals under performance based contracts
Development starts at 5 and ends at 10

Of course they aren't and of course development doesn't stop at 10. But they have been playing the sport longer outside of DCU than they will play it in DCU. Which in turn gives DCU a very limited window to work with the player. Couple that with a weak academy philosophy and system and you have a recipe for development stagnation which is a huge problem that DCU has. Players aren't getting better at a rate that is faster than their peers in better systems.

Want development, come on down to Richmond your nearest option.

Which club?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can a team really be considered an academy if they don’t have a youth program? Poaching players in the DMV is development?

You're spot on. By the time they get to DC at 11, 12, 13 they're fully developed professionals under performance based contracts
Development starts at 5 and ends at 10

Of course they aren't and of course development doesn't stop at 10. But they have been playing the sport longer outside of DCU than they will play it in DCU. Which in turn gives DCU a very limited window to work with the player. Couple that with a weak academy philosophy and system and you have a recipe for development stagnation which is a huge problem that DCU has. Players aren't getting better at a rate that is faster than their peers in better systems.

Want development, come on down to Richmond your nearest option.

Which club?

Richmond striker

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can a team really be considered an academy if they don’t have a youth program? Poaching players in the DMV is development?

You're spot on. By the time they get to DC at 11, 12, 13 they're fully developed professionals under performance based contracts
Development starts at 5 and ends at 10

Of course they aren't and of course development doesn't stop at 10. But they have been playing the sport longer outside of DCU than they will play it in DCU. Which in turn gives DCU a very limited window to work with the player. Couple that with a weak academy philosophy and system and you have a recipe for development stagnation which is a huge problem that DCU has. Players aren't getting better at a rate that is faster than their peers in better systems.

Want development, come on down to Richmond your nearest option.

Which club?

Did not realize there's MLS academy in Richmond


Richmond striker

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can a team really be considered an academy if they don’t have a youth program? Poaching players in the DMV is development?

You're spot on. By the time they get to DC at 11, 12, 13 they're fully developed professionals under performance based contracts
Development starts at 5 and ends at 10

Of course they aren't and of course development doesn't stop at 10. But they have been playing the sport longer outside of DCU than they will play it in DCU. Which in turn gives DCU a very limited window to work with the player. Couple that with a weak academy philosophy and system and you have a recipe for development stagnation which is a huge problem that DCU has. Players aren't getting better at a rate that is faster than their peers in better systems.

Want development, come on down to Richmond your nearest option.

Which club?

Did not realize there's MLS academy in Richmond


Richmond striker

There isn't. Richmond Strikers is a non profit club just like many others in our area. Although, having seen Strikers teams play, they do have some good teams and also they seem to have a decent development philosophy that you can see in the way they play.

[Anonymous]

There isn't. Richmond Strikers is a non profit club just like many others in our area. Although, having seen Strikers teams play, they do have some good teams and also they seem to have a decent development philosophy that you can see in the way they play.

The Richmond Strikers have the Inter academy for U9-12. The Inter academy team came over from Italy for The Jefferson Cup last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There isn't. Richmond Strikers is a non profit club just like many others in our area. Although, having seen Strikers teams play, they do have some good teams and also they seem to have a decent development philosophy that you can see in the way they play.

The Richmond Strikers have the Inter academy for U9-12. The Inter academy team came over from Italy for The Jefferson Cup last year.

Cool. And what international experiences is DCU offering to its players??? NONE

[Anonymous]

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-and-french-football-federation-announce-2024-elite-formation-coaching-license-recipients

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/mls-and-french-football-federation-announce-2024-elite-formation-coaching-license-recipients

Too bad the one person/coach on here that was at DCU is now gone.

[Anonymous]

Gets back to the point made earlier that coaching at DCU is not the strongest.

[Anonymous]

And the staff/coach turnover there is extremely high. Leads to inconsistencies in the teams, poor organizational structures/communication and lack of cohesion amongst the coaching staff. People who are employed by the academy leave quickly for a reason (or many reasons). Some who have left were just not qualified or experienced enough to handle teams at this level others have left because DCU is just not a good organization to work in overall, especially the Academy. Probably a bit better on the first team side of the business where the money is getting spent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And the staff/coach turnover there is extremely high. Leads to inconsistencies in the teams, poor organizational structures/communication and lack of cohesion amongst the coaching staff. People who are employed by the academy leave quickly for a reason (or many reasons). Some who have left were just not qualified or experienced enough to handle teams at this level others have left because DCU is just not a good organization to work in overall, especially the Academy. Probably a bit better on the first team side of the business where the money is getting spent.

Just noticed new faces on staff page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the staff/coach turnover there is extremely high. Leads to inconsistencies in the teams, poor organizational structures/communication and lack of cohesion amongst the coaching staff. People who are employed by the academy leave quickly for a reason (or many reasons). Some who have left were just not qualified or experienced enough to handle teams at this level others have left because DCU is just not a good organization to work in overall, especially the Academy. Probably a bit better on the first team side of the business where the money is getting spent.

Just noticed new faces on staff page

Yup. And to put this in perspective, there are 12 people listed on the academy staff at DCU. Philly union lists 32. Red bulls 22. Dallas 28. Most of the better academies have more than double the staff that DCU does. And, out of the 12 people listed at DCU, 8 of them are completely new to the academy THIS YEAR. That type of turnover is a major red flag on many fronts. Either they suck at recruiting people/can't pay them or when good people do enter, they leave fast. Or both of those things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And the staff/coach turnover there is extremely high. Leads to inconsistencies in the teams, poor organizational structures/communication and lack of cohesion amongst the coaching staff. People who are employed by the academy leave quickly for a reason (or many reasons). Some who have left were just not qualified or experienced enough to handle teams at this level others have left because DCU is just not a good organization to work in overall, especially the Academy. Probably a bit better on the first team side of the business where the money is getting spent.

Seems you have an unhealthy obsession my friend

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And the staff/coach turnover there is extremely high. Leads to inconsistencies in the teams, poor organizational structures/communication and lack of cohesion amongst the coaching staff. People who are employed by the academy leave quickly for a reason (or many reasons). Some who have left were just not qualified or experienced enough to handle teams at this level others have left because DCU is just not a good organization to work in overall, especially the Academy. Probably a bit better on the first team side of the business where the money is getting spent.

Just noticed new faces on staff page

Yup. And to put this in perspective, there are 12 people listed on the academy staff at DCU. Philly union lists 32. Red bulls 22. Dallas 28. Most of the better academies have more than double the staff that DCU does. And, out of the 12 people listed at DCU, 8 of them are completely new to the academy THIS YEAR. That type of turnover is a major red flag on many fronts. Either they suck at recruiting people/can't pay them or when good people do enter, they leave fast. Or both of those things.

for contrast and comparison, what's staff turnover ratio at other MLS academies?