and here is Crossfires:
http://www.washingtonpremiersoccer.com/CrossfireAcademy.htmlCrossfire Academy Press Release
(August 21, 2007) Crossfire Premier and Lake Washington Youth Soccer Association (LWYSA) are very proud to formalize and announce its participation as one of 64 clubs across the nation selected to participate in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy (USSDA). In hearing of Crossfire’s selection, U.S. Soccer’s U-17 Men’s National Team Coach John Hackworth was quoted as saying, “We have every expectation that Crossfire Premier’s participation in the Academy will only increase their past successes of developing elite youth players.”
“As a club we are excited about the opportunities this presents to our players and coaches by being a part of a program put in place by the U.S. Soccer Federation designed to improve the development environment for players throughout the country building a strong National Team program said Crossfire Coaching Director Bernie James. This acceptance says a great deal about the accomplishments of the club, many of which have their roots directly with the current Crossfire James 88, 89 and 91 teams as well as Crossfire Flory 90.”
“The inclusion of Crossfire Premier only adds to the encouraging start of this new program,” said U.S. Soccer’s Director of Coaching Education Bob Jenkins. “The key component to the Development Academy is a focus from the clubs on doing what it takes to get their coaches and players focused on long term player development and we felt Crossfire Premier will provide the right training environment to make this happen.”
For those of you interested in greater details at the national level there is more information on the USSDA program available at the following website, Article.
At a local level WSYSA, LWSYA, and Crossfire Premier believe the USSDA program represents a major step for youth development in the United States. Crossfire Premier is excited to have the opportunity to be a part of the inaugural season representing our region and our state. We know in the initial season there will be unique challenges but believe this is a great opportunity for our players.
In response to acceptance and us joining the program Crossfire Premier’s Development Academy coaching staff will be using an application process and open tryouts from age appropriate players. This program is regional program and is open to all players in the greater Seattle area and beyond. We are one of two teams in Washington and three in the Northwest. We would like to point out that Crossfire Premier’s selection is recognition of this club and its players so strong preference will be given to existing players on current Crossfire teams in the U15-18 age groups, though an existing player’s selection is not guaranteed. We are committed to every current Crossfire player having a place in the club for the upcoming season. Open tryouts will be held this Saturday and Sunday. The location and times are still being determined and we should be out with that shortly.
Please take the time to review the Crossfire Premier USSDA program details below.
Sincerely,
The Crossfire Board – Kevin Allison, Tina Aldridge, Alan Bechtel, Sarah Graham, John Gray, Steve Hopp, Brian Klein, Lance McIntosh, Karen Whittier
Crossfire Coaching Directors – Bernie James, Dick McCormick
Crossfire Academy Coaches – Bernie James, Neil Megson, Andy Flory
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The Crossfire Premier Soccer Club is based in Redmond, Washington. Crossfire Premier is the Advanced Development Program (“ADP”) affiliated with the Lake Washington Youth Socer Association (LWYSA), a Non-Profit Organization formed in 1968 and devoted to promoting the game of soccer and serving over 7,500 boys and girls in East King County of Washington State USA. In the 2006 season, the Crossfire Premier Soccer program consists of 47 teams (roughly 700 players), ages U-11 through U-19. We are affiliated with the US Youth Soccer Association (USYSA), which in turn is affiliated with FIFA. (LWYSA), a Non-Profit Organization formed in 1968 and devoted to promoting the game of soccer and serving over 7,500 boys and girls in East King County of Washington State USA. In the 2007 season, the Crossfire Premier Soccer program consists of 57 teams (roughly 700 players), ages U-11 through U-19. We are affiliated with the US Youth Soccer Association (USYSA), which in turn is affiliated with FIFA.
The Crossfire Premier Soccer Club provides professional training and player development to qualified players to assist them in advancing to play at the highest levels of play available in the state. Many of the local high school and college teams are chiefly comprised of players who have demonstrated their ability to improve their skills and tactics through Crossfire Premier. Crossfire Premier coaching has produced players that have risen above the Crossfire Premier levels and onto the National Residency Programs in Florida, the U17 and U20 US National teams, and onto careers in the European leagues.
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Crossfire Premier Club Office @ 425-821-1741 or at our website Crossfire
Crossfire Premier USSDA Program Details
(August 21, 2007)
Objective
The focus of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) and Crossfire Premier’s USSDA program is on player development and providing players with the best possible opportunity to develop to the highest level they are capable of achieving.
Player Selection
Crossfire Premier’s Development Academy coaching staff will be holding open tryouts from age appropriate players. This program is a regional program and is open to all players in the greater Seattle area and beyond. We are one of two teams in Washington and three in the Northwest. Still Crossfire Premier’s selection is recognition of this club and its players so strong preference will be given to existing players on existing Crossfire teams in the U15-18 age groups, though an existing player’s selection is not guaranteed. Open tryouts will be held on Sunday, August 26th from 6pm to 8pm on field #4 at the Starfire Sports Complex and Tuesday, August 28th from 8pm to 10pm on field #4 at the Starfire Sports Complex. (date/time change)
Age Groups and Roster Size
Two teams are being formed, a U-17/18 team (Calendar Birth-year 1989 and 1990) and a U-15/16 (Calendar Birth-year 1991 or younger). The minimum roster size is 20 players and Crossfire will start off with a roster of 20 players for both age groups. For players not selected for the USSDA rosters there will be ongoing opportunities to be a trial player for up to six games during the USSDA season. In addition up to four players may be added to the roster during the season as long as it is before April 1.
Participation Expectations
Players on the USSDA teams are not allowed to participate in the WSYSA league, State Cup or ODP. In addition Crossfire Premier has made the decision to not allow players to participate on their high school teams as a result of conflict with the USSDA season. There will be other teams in the league for which high school play is allowed, one of those could be Washington Premier.
The decision to not allow players to participate in high school soccer is not an easy one but is in response to the timing of the WIAA high school season which is March through May for most school and is a period of time which corresponds to the last third of the USSDA season. This conflict is a fairly unique problem to Washington as the overwhelming majority of teams in the country either have the season in the fall, so they can start the USSDA season after high school and play it in their entirety, or in the winter, where they can play the first half of the USSDA season, take a break at mid year and then play the second half of the season. The US Soccer Federation strongly believed allowing a break during the March-May period was inconsistent with the spirit of the league and strongly encouraged us not to allow high school participation during this time and we agreed. We do recognized that the other program in the state will likely take a break in the Spring which would allow their players to participate in high school. Crossfire has also agreed to work with WSYSA to talk to WIAA about moving the boys soccer season to a time of year that might accommodate USSDA and other WSYSA programs such as State Cup, but we do not expect any resolution to this problem in the short term.
Practice Format
There is a minimum requirement of three training sessions and one rest day per week for players selected.
Competition Format and Season
The USSDA is divided into eight conferences with each team playing 30 matches during an eight-month season. Each conference is comprised of eight teams and along with playing each team in our conference twice we will have 8 games against opponents from outside their conference as part of our season. USSDA play will start the first weekend in October with a 3-day Showcase Event over the Columbus Day weekend (October 6th – 8th) at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA. Season games should then start the next week in October. Right now USSDA plans to schedule four Showcase events over three-day holiday/summer weekends. The season is scheduled to end with the National Finals in July of 2008.
Crossfire Premier is in the West Conference with the Colorado Rapids (Co), Colorado Rush(Co), De Anza Force SC (NorCal), FC Portland SA (Or), Mustang FC (NorCal), Real Colorado (Co), and Washington Premier FC (Wa). Crossfire Premier’s outside conference opponents will be from the SoCal Conference and they are Arsenal SC, Chivas USA, Irvine Strikers, L.A. Galaxy, Nomads SC, Pateadores SC, Real So Cal, and San Diego Surf.
For a complete list of the Development Academy’s 64 participants representing 24 states and the District of Columbia see more information on the USSDA program at the, U.S. Soccer Development Academy
Schedule
Attached is a tentative schedule. Schedule As you can see we will have a home and away game with each team in our conference and we will play one game against each team in the SoCal Conference, four at home and four away. We plan to play two games in a weekend, especially when traveling. As mentioned above there will be four Showcase events that involve three games over three days. Two of those events are likely to be on the west coast, one of which we expect to be in the northwest, possibly Seattle. When we travel for league play we will try to leave after the school day on Friday and return at a reasonable time on Sunday nights. For the Showcase events travel will depend largely on where they are and on which long weekend.
USSDA season play will take a break between mid December and March. During this time we will also take a break from travel and schedule local games for the older teams against local college DII and DIII schools, the Sounders, selected British Columbia teams, the WSYSA ODP team and other local semi-pro men’s teams. For the younger team scrimmages will be scheduled against U16/U17 teams in State Cup, and the older WSYSA ODP team. Many of these games will take place on week nights in order to give players weekends free.
We do not plan to schedule games or other Crossfire Premier USSDA program events during Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July or Nike Friendlies. These times will be left free and while there may be a strong desire from the team or affected players to do an event during these periods of time, any event will not be a USSDA event. USSDA players will be allowed to be guest players during these “off” periods and participation would be the choice of the individual player and at their cost.
We plan on playing our Saturday night home games in a “stadium” setting and create an event atmosphere around them that will be attractive to the greater soccer community. We are excited about some of the ideas that have been presented and look forward to sharing them with you soon.
Coaching Staff
Bernie James will be the Head of Crossfire’s USSDA program for the 2007-08 season. Neil Megson will be Assistant Coach for the older age group and Andy Flory will be Assistant Coach for the younger age group. The three will also be involved in all roster decisions. The three will work closely together and be expected to train the respective teams together. Alan Hinton will act as Technical Advisor.
Neil is one of the best known names in Pacific Northwest soccer, having been a member of the U.S. Men’s National Team (1998), played and coached for the Seattle Sounders Men’s professional soccer team. He was named A-League coach of the year in 2000. Neil has been involved with successful youth soccer programs for many years in the Puget Sound and holds an A coaching license. He has coached 5 state champions, numerous tournaments champions, WA State ODP teams, Western Regional ODP teams and the Super Y-League National Select Team. Neil joined Crossfire last year from West Sound FC, where he had been Director of Coaching. Neil is also Assistant Coach of the Crossfire Women's Sounders.
Andy Flory is one of the most popular coaches in the Crossfire program. He was born in England where he played professionally. He holds a PFA Prelim Badge (UEFA "B" equivalent). Andy has coached three WA State Championship teams and last year lead his team to the Far West Regional Finals. He has also coached in the WA State ODP program. Last year Andy worked with Bernie in the initial Red Bull NL17 League.
Alan Hinton is considered the dean of coaches in the Northwest. His storied career took him to the highest level in England and was highlighted by his participation with the English National Team. He was a championship coach in the NASL and A-League. Alan was also the original coaching directors for Crossfire. The Alan Hinton Annual Fund was named in his honor.
A native of Seattle Bernie James has been the most successful Coaching Director in the history of Crossfire. Under his leadership Crossfire won an unprecedented seven state championships in 2007. He has led his teams to 13 State Championships, five SYL Championships, two Regional Championships, one Surf Cup Championship and one US Nike Manchester United Cup Champions. Bernie holds a USSF “A” license. Professionally he has coached the Seattle Sounders, played actively for 24 years including 5 championship seasons, been a member of the US Olympic team and been a member of the US National Team. As a youth player he was a member of LWYSA, which is the parent organization for Crossfire.
Costs
The costs per player for the 2007-08 season, October 2007 to July 2008, will be $2500. This amount will need to be paid in full by December 31, 2007. This fee will cover the costs of USSDA program events, including coach(es), team(s), and player costs associated to league and Showcase events including food, transportation, hotel, and airfare when an overnight stay is required. This fee does not cover any activities or events the team or player decides to do during free periods or are not considered Crossfire Premier USSDA program events.
Existing Crossfire Premier players selected for this program will need to continue to pay their existing team/coach fees through September at which point in time their existing player contract will be replaced with the Crossfire Premier USSDA program contract. The USSDA contract will run from October through July and the fee will be $2500.
Follow Up
We will continue to keep you abreast of all information concerning the USSDA as we receive it. There will be a meeting for all the participating clubs in Chicago on August 23 where more details will be discussed. After roster selections are made there will be team meetings to go over all points of the program.
There will be a follow up to this in the next day or two. This is the standard release from Crossfire, but does detail most of the things involved in their approach to the Academy.
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