A Big Weekend in Southern Ohio Youth Soccer

This past weekend was a big one in Southern Ohio youth Soccer. The Ohio South Youth Soccer State Cup Championships took place. Congratulations to all the winners!

It was also a big weekend for the US Soccer Development Academy teams in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Ohio Elite Soccer Academy's U16 and U18 teams played the Solar SC and the Dallas Texans Development Academy Teams. I continue to be impressed with the high quality of play, the pace and ultimately the level of competition that the US Soccer Development Academy provides for the young men who have an opportunity to participate.

With the State Cup Champions being decided, the season closes down for most of the local youth soccer teams. The Development Academy Teams have a big Memorial Day weekend coming up, the Spring Showcase in Sarasota, Florida. I went to the Winter Showcase this past December in Lancaster, California and was very impressed with the event. The Spring Showcase promises to be bigger. More US National Staff present than any previous event, more college coaches, and every Academy Team in the country will be participating. National youth team friendlies will also be taking place. I will be traveling down with a couple of other folks to watch the matches and root on the Ohio Elite Soccer Academy teams who will be playing three matches over the four day event.

Tryouts for the local clubs in Southern Ohio are also upon us. It is always an interesting time of the year as rumors to begin to fly around the soccer community. The most interesting thing to me is that most of these rumors are proven to be inaccurate, and are usually perpetuated by individuals with motives beyond the individual development of the players themselves.

My point? Players and parents should look for the clubs/teams that give the players the best chance to develop to be the best soccer players they can be. Also look for club/teams who have a track record of getting their players recruited and signed to the next level (College, etc.). Clubs and coaches should encourage their players to tryout for teams that will provide them opportunities to push themselves, get out of their comfort zone and play the best competition, even if it means losing some players to other clubs/teams. (No one would deny their players a call-up to National or Regional pools, would they?)

My shameless plug: Tryout for the US Soccer Development Team in your area if you are of age. (U16: calendar year 1993 or younger, U18: calendar year 1991 or younger) In Southern Ohio there are two clubs to look to, The Ohio Elite Soccer Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio, or the Columbus Crew in Columbus, Ohio. Based on the investment US Soccer has made in the program, the amount of clubs who apply each year to join (this year 250 applied to join, and 6 new clubs were added to bring the total to 79 in the program) and the staff support (this year National staff coaches have been present at at least 10 Ohio Elite matches) the opportunity to play in the US Soccer Development Academy is the best way to develop as a player and prepare for a soccer career beyond the youth ranks.

Signing off.......Jiresell