Part 1: Making Players Better in the Academy

Article From: www.topdrawersoccer.com
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Part 1 of a 4-Part interview with USSF Development Academy Director John Hackworth

Academy staff are observing training sessions across the nation to determine if clubs are fulfilling their goal.

TopDrawerSoccer.com recently held a conversation with USSF Development Academy Director John Hackworth about the progress of the Academy in making players better. The initiative, begun in August of 2007, has enjoyed success in terms of format and scheduling, with 74 clubs currently involved.

The primary mission of the Academy is to make better players, suitable for competition on the highest world stage and ultimately, to put the U.S. among the pantheon of international soccer.

In our discussion, which will we share through the week, Hackworth discussed the methods by which Academy clubs are being evaluated, how the Federation arrived at standards of player development to be implemented, what the enforcement mechanism is for clubs and coaches who can't follow through, and what the future holds for the program.


TopDrawerSoccer: John, now that the structure for the Academy is largely in place, how can the Academy effect the necessary upgrades on the training grounds of elite club soccer in America?s

John Hackworth: We have a couple of mechanisms in place to do this. This is vital because that is the crux of how we're actually going to get better. We're now evaluating the clubs, giving them a report card – based on criteria both technical and administrative in nature. We focus much more on the technical side but we need the clubs to run smoothly and efficiently. It has to be working well on both sides, technical and administrative.

So we go to clubs and spend time with them in their training environment. It's a huge goal of ours and it really is a massive undertaking. We have four full-time technical scouts who are in charge of two divisions each. We want each of them to spend time with each club, at least one training session. What we do beyond that is use a pool of more than 60 per diem scouts, this is a large network in local areas, and send them to evaluate the training sessions as well. We're trying to develop a picture not based on one game or one training session, but a collection of evaluations that build a little portfolio of what each club is doing. Then it's up to the technical advisers to send whatever message we feel is needed to them. "Here's what we like. Here's what we don't like. Here's what to work on, etc. Those first club evaluations of the season are what we're finishing currently. We're kind of in mid year.

TopDrawerSoccer: So what are the criteria for evaluating?

John Hackworth: We have a scale of 1 to 5 and if you are below 2.0 at the end of the season you are on probation status. That's when you are really in trouble as a club. You can't be on probation twice. We implemented this last year and now we're doing it for new clubs. We want to implement this so there is accountability. It's not as if you are in the Academy so you have carte blanche. We are going to see you and evaluate you and get a good picture of what you're doing.

It's important to know we're not just looking at the Academy-age teams but also at what you're doing with younger age groups, at U12 and below and in the age groups right under the Academy teams.

(For the record – the current technical directors are U15 BNT assistant coach Tony Lepore, eastern states; former DC United and El Salvador striker Raul Diaz-Arce, handling southern states; and former USMNT and NASL player Hugo Perez, western states. The Midwestern position is currently vacant but about to be filled in time for the advent of the season in those states (most play high school in the fall and winter conditions tend to be prohibitive). Hackworth and other staff have been filling in on the Texas side of that setup in the interim)


Top Drawer Soccer: Are the national staff coaches involved with this?

John Hackworth: Yes. The national staff coaches, Rene Miramontes (Region IV), Roberto Lopez (Region II), and Juan Carlo Michia (Region III) are also involved in the scouting, in addition to their many other duties with helping take care of the outlying area of youth soccer, Hispanic outreach and things like that.


Tomorrow: How and what are the standards for player development that the program is implementing?