New York City FC Academy

New York City FC Academy
Founded 2015
League U.S. Soccer Development Academy

The New York City FC Academy is the youth and development program for Major League Soccer club New York City FC. The program currently consists of only one age group: under-13/14s, competing in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy league. Below this level, the academy also operates a Youth Development League serving age groups under-9, -10 and -11, serving effectively as a feeder system to the bottom of the academy proper.

History

When New York City FC was founded they did not immediately launch an academy, but instead cultivated relationships with local youth academies and kids' clubs, eventually announcing an initial partnership agreement with eight clubs in April 2014.[1] Adding three additional affiliates in January 2015,[2] the first actual step towards building their own youth development program came with the announcement of the New York City FC Youth Development League in early February 2015,[3] announcing that the focus of the NYCFC academy program would start at under-9 level, several years below the scope of any other MLS club academy, and observing that the creation of an entire youth league of their own was further than any other club had ever taken their development program.[3]

Riding on the back of this announcement, barely a week later the club announced the formal creation of their academy proper, though they announced that the academy would be built in stages, from the bottom up.[4] With the launch of the academy they announced the creation of an under-13/14 level team which would be populated partly from the ranks of the youths picked from their youth affiliates and partly from other players recruited from further afield.[4] No further teams were announced, though it was indicated that further teams at higher age groups would be added in the future as the academy system developed.[4]

Under-13/14

The under-13/14 team will begin playing in the 2015-16 season of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.[4]

Season U.S. Soccer Development Academy
GP W D L GF GA Pts Pos
2015-16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 N/A

Youth Development League

The New York City FC Youth Development League covers age categories under-9, under-10 and under-11 and is participated in by the youth affiliates of NYCFC.

Focusing on the development of skills in young players, the Youth Development League will encourage players to put a positive attitude before achieving victory on the field. On each game day, every affiliate will bring a pool of players who will be arbitrarily assigned to one of two teams within their youth club, thus dissuading coaches from picking a strongest team to the detriment of some children. At the under-9 level, games will be played with fewer players than at the under-10 and under-11 levels.

Affiliates

Club Location Since
Beachside CT Soccer Club Connecticut Norwalk, Connecticut 2015
Blau-Weiss Gottschee New York Queens, New York City 2014
Downtown United Soccer Club New York Manhattan, New York City 2014
Long Island Rough Riders Soccer Club New York Nassau County, New York 2015
Manhattan Soccer Club New York Manhattan, New York City 2014
Metropolitan Oval New York Queens, New York City 2014
New York Soccer Club New York Westchester County, New York
Connecticut Greenwich, Connecticut		 2014
South Bronx United New York Bronx, New York City 2014
Staten Island United New York Staten Island, New York City 2014
TSF Academy New Jersey Lincoln Park, New Jersey 2015
World Class FC New York Orangeburg, New York 2014

References

  1. ↑ "New York City FC to Provide Local Youth with World-Class Training and Resources, Appoints Paul Jeffries to Lead Club’s Community Outreach Efforts". April 17, 2014. Archived from the original on July 28, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  2. ↑ "New York City FC announce three new Youth Affiliate Clubs". January 20, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "New York City FC announce ground-breaking Youth Development League". February 9, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "New York City FC launching Youth Academy". February 17, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2015.