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Dear players and parents:
Welcome to D.C. United's Academy and Youth Development program. We are very proud to be a leader in Youth Development for this country and take our responsibility as the most successful soccer club in U.S. History very seriously. We have many programs in our Academy including our U.S. Soccer Development Academy U-16 and U-18 Youth teams, U-20 Super-20 League team, U-15 Academy Developmental Training Program, Summer Academy Camps and Clinics and our Winter Academy Camps and Clinics. All of our programs are appropriately designed for the level and age of the participants. We are off to a wonderful start as we have begun play in the newly formed U.S. Soccer Development Academy. This new system was formed by U.S. Soccer and is designed to improve the development process for players throughout the country. We are very excited about our program and the future of youth development in this country. U.S. Soccer, MLS and D.C. United have made a serious commitment to youth development with the new MLS Youth Development initiative created in 2007 and with the newly formed U.S. Soccer Development Academy. We have now created an opportunity for young soccer players to have the ability to develop as a player through their MLS youth club team and eventually, after meeting certain requirements, have the ability to sign a professional contract with that club, through the Home Grown Player System, without having to go through the SuperDraft. This is a big step forward in youth development for this country and D.C. United is very proud to be leading this important initiative. Our U-16 and U-18 Academy teams are the focus of the Academy as we are developing the areas best players to become the future of D.C. United. We are providing those players with the most professional environment possible, maximizing our resources as the most successful soccer club in U.S. history and helping them to reach their full potential as soccer players with the ultimate goal of signing them to a professional contract where they will contribute to the success of the first team. These teams will train three times per week and compete year-round with the 2008 U.S. Soccer Development Academy season running from February 17th, 2008 at the Academy Winter Showcase, Pizza Hut Park - Frisco, Texas and culminating with the Academy Finals to be held at the Home Depot Center - Carson, California on July 19th, 2008. We will be continually be identifying the areas best players and will look to supplement our rosters for next years Academy season through a tryout process that will begin in August, 2008. Players born on or after January 1, 1992 will be eligible for the 2009 U-16 Academy team. Players born on or after January 1, 1990 will be eligible for the 2009 U-18 Academy team. Our U-15 Academy Developmental Training Program has been formed and will take the place of our Super-Y League teams at the younger age groups in order to identify and evaluate the areas top younger players who will be eligible for our upcoming U-16 Academy team. We will hold tryouts each spring and accept the top 30 players into the program. These players will be put in the same professional environment as our Academy teams, train twice a week with 5 Saturday intra-squad matches and have the opportunity to be integrated with our current U-16 Academy players. The program will run from June 11th - August 9th, 2008. Players in this program will be given priority when selections are made for our upcoming U-16 Academy team. Players born on or after January 1, 1992 will be eligible for this program. Our U-20 team will be made up of the areas top players born on or after January 1, 1988. This team will compete in the Super-20 League against other top programs in the region and if they qualify, will participate in the North American Finals. We will hold tryouts each spring with the game schedule running from June 7th through July 20th, 2008. The North American Finals will run from July 30th through August 3rd, 2008. This team allows our older players who graduate from our U-18 Academy team to stay connected with our program. Our Summer and Winter Academy Camps and Clinics are very important for developing relationships in the community, identifying talented players who have the potential play for our youth teams and providing a challenging environment to all levels of players by demanding good training habits and encouraging participants to develop to their full potential while providing a fun and rewarding experience. We continue to build strong relationships in the community with local soccer clubs and have created an Academy Affiliate Program. This Program was designed to develop stronger relationships between D.C. United and our Academy Affiliate Clubs by working together to identify and develop the areas most talented players. Our intention is to work to ensure that this relationship will be mutually beneficial for our Affiliate Club and for the D.C. United Academy. We will be sharing resources, providing learning opportunities and recognizing our Academy Affiliate Clubs as official feeder systems for D.C. United. This truly is a very special time for our areas top young players with aspirations of playing at the highest level. I look forward to using my experiences as a professional player and our resources as the most successful soccer club in the country to create an environment that will help all of our players reach their full potential. Sincerely,  D.C. United Director of Youth Development
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