This weekend, Saturday and Sunday, September 2 and 3, will see our BU13, BU14 and all girl’s Academy teams kick off the 2017/18 U.S. Development Academy season at the Army Navy Academy in downtown Carlsbad. It is an exciting time for the club as the inclusion of seven of our age groups in the USSSDA program will place our competing teams and players at the highest level of youth soccer in America. Our GU14, GU15, GU16/17 and GU18/19 teams will hope to perform well in what will be the Girls’ Development Academy inaugural year, while our BU13 & BU14 teams will hope to expand on their very positive combined BU12 Academy effort last season. Our 2006 boys will also join the Academy under the BU12 program and are hoping to build on the success of last year’s BU12 team.
LAGSD Director of Girls, Carl Higham, commented, “The anticipation is nearly over. This Sunday will be the first games in our Girls DA season and we are all really buzzing to get on the field and do our thing. This last month our girls Academy teams have all been preparing meticulously on the practice field. The girls have been working hard to be game ready for, what is now, the best league in the country, with the best players and competition in the country. Being able to play our home games at the Army Navy Academy complex in Carlsbad Village will provide a great facility and atmosphere for our supporting soccer community.”
Director of Boys, Glenn Malone, commented, “As our 2004 and 2005 boys enter their second year in the U.S. Development Academy I am excited that our boys Academy program has been offered the opportunity to expand this professional and structured environment to three age groups with the addition of our 2006 boys. This will allow more players the chance to get top class training, and serve as a motivation to all our boys who have the aspiration to play and compete at the highest level.”
LAGSD Technical Director, Steve Cowell, commented, “Being a part of the US Soccer DA allows us to take a more structured, long term approach to improving our players over a 10 month season, with the right training to game ratios. The extra time with the players on the training field allows us to focus more on the person as well as the player.”
Cowell continued, “The additional resources the program provides, including individual development plans (IDP’s), and video learning / analysis are key components to helping our players reach new heights over the course of the year.”
LAGSD Director of Soccer Operations, Michael Duggan, commented, “Being awarded all four age groups for the newly created girls USSDA program was validation for all the hard work that has been put in over recent years. As a club, we are very proud to be included with some of the finest programs throughout the country and this inclusion raises our club to the highest level of girls youth soccer. We are also very proud of our boys program who have been awarded the U13 & U14 age groups, in addition to the U12 age group we started our Academy journey with last year. I have no doubt all the hard work put in by the coaches, players and families of our U12 program last season has strongly influenced our new age group allocations, on both the girls and boys side, so big props to them!”
Duggan continued, “With all home games being live streamed it is a fantastic time to highlight our program and players. We welcome all of our LA Galaxy San Diego family to come and support our opening weekend this Saturday and Sunday at the Army Navy Academy, Carlsbad.”
For a full (asides from our BU12 Academy team) home game and live stream schedule please visit: tv.lagalaxysd.com
For more information on our Academy program please visit: http://da.lagalaxysd.com
