Brad Friedel Academy

Something is happening today, August 1, 2007, that is very likely to forever change the course of soccer in America.

Nothing exactly like it has ever been done, either in the US or anywhere else in the world. It's a radical concept that's the product of a soccer visionary who was born and raised in the US.

His name is Brad Friedel.

Sometime this morning, the inaugural class of 24 students will check in, get a room key, unpack their X Box 360, meet their roommate and officially become students at the Premier Soccer Academy in Lorain Ohio.

Among the kids enduring the "Welcome to PSA" speeches even as you read this are Romain Gail, a 12 year old forward from Herndon Virginia with a first touch that has been described as "not from this planet", Joseph-Claude Gyau from Silver Springs Maryland, a lightning fast flanker who can get around just about anyone with a first step that comes out of nowhere.
and Ohio's own Wil Trapp, a wildly gifted one-touch center mid who lit up the 2007 Mundialito in Bolivia.

They, along with 14 other American kids and seven from overseas (Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela), are part of a bold experiment in soccer development because, lest you think this is just another ex-jock using his name to run a glorified soccer camp, consider:

Among the major investors in PSA are adidas and Underarmor. And we're not talking a couple bags of free balls here; they're into this for around $12 million which, among other things, has bought them this:



It's the 30,000 square foot main building which contains dormitories, classrooms and the cafeteria, and including a workout facility which a lot of colleges would kill for.

And this is in addition to the 3 1/2 outdoor professional grade fields, one of them synthetic (the half field is exclusively for keeper training) and, oh yes, the full size, FIFA regulation indoor field, complete with locker rooms, trainers facilities and wired meeting rooms where each touch of the ball is instantly available for video review.

"So OK", you're saying, "that's just great. Another fancy-shmansy soccer school for rich kids. What's a year at this place going to set their parents back?"

Well, being the intrepid reporter that I am, I have your answer right here:

Nothing.

Not a dime. Ever. From anyone. Regardless of how rich your Daddy got from trading derivatives and cocoa futures, you can't buy your way in. PSA has, among other items in their $1.5 million staff salary budget, guys who are out there looking for you. Over the last year, players have been identified, brought into "ID camps", brought back to "Elite camp" in June and then, if you make the cut, offered a spot.

Nobody asks if you can pay. Nobody cares.

Eventually they will have around 50 players aged 13-18 and field two teams, a U14 and a U16 which will each play upwards of 40 games a year, many of them overseas.

You guys want "development"? Well Brad's got "development". In the future, there are a number of possibilities, including accepting players sent by professional teams who will pay the cost of attendance and retain the player's rights.

But for now, up there on 20 acres just down the road from Lake Erie, something exciting is going on today.

And don't you just wish you were there?