|
|
En Route: Dissecting The Success Of The Red Bull New York Academy
A look at the Big Apple's soccer factory.
May 25, 2010 5:37:00 PM
By J.R. Eskilson
The Red Bull New York academy has gone from bare-bones to a youth soccer powerhouse in the short period of three years.
Even though the academy has been around since 2003, it was three years ago when they officially joined forces with the Major League Soccer team and became a no-fee-club that things began to take off. Since then, the academy has had two players sign professional deals with their Major League Soccer team, another player was drafted by the Columbus Crew in the SuperDraft earlier this year, and 20 players have appeared with various United States youth national teams this season.
How did they get there?
One of the main reasons has been the man in charge of the big picture for the academy, Bob Montgomery. Montgomery took over the position as Director of Youth Development in September 2007.
In the past, he has spent time inside the national team and currently serves as an assistant coach for the U-14 team.
"That time with the national teams gave me experience with training the best players," he told Goal.com in a phone interview last week.
Montgomery has used this wealth of knowledge to instill his ethos of developing successful players.
"Our philosophy is to develop thinking players," he said. "We want our teams to play hard and players to be able to move forward [to the next level]. Training sessions create problems and players find solutions rather than coaching feeding them things."
He emphasized the fact that RBNY want to create intelligent players on the field.
"Soccer is a constantly changing game with a constantly changing environment," Montgomery said. "All of those things are different from one play to the next. No two situations are ever alike.
"You can't tell a player to do this or that. You need a thinking player on the field. This is the big challenge and big focus of the academy besides technical and physical aspects of the game. We are really looking into training players with good habits."
Montgomery also served as head coach of the Adelphi University in New York for 29 seasons. He attributed his college coaching experience to the scouting network he has developed over the years.
"[Scouting] comes through with my college background. I networked with peers and coaches' with college you rely on youth players to build teams. I still maintain those relationships, and coaches still recommend players to me. These relationships have been developed over a number of years."
He also added that Red Bull academy has set up Regional Development Schools. These work as a stepping stone for younger players trying to reach the full academy, finding young talent that could supplement the New York roster in future years.
So far, Montgomery and his impressive staff of coaches have done a great job finding players with ambitions of playing professional soccer. The results are in the players that his academy is producing and people are taking notice. Early this year, Development Academy Director of Scouting, Tony LePore, gave special mention to the guys in NY for the players they are producing in an interview with Goal.com.
With the success Montgomery and New York are experiencing, it may just be a matter of time before other MLS academies begin to replicate the NY model and sign a successful college coach to run their youth teams.
The movement towards college coaches pays benefits in numerous ways: experience developing players, coaching networks established, and scouting expertise. Some of these things are not replicated in other avenues of youth soccer in the United States. The parallels between college soccer and youth academies are more alike than most believe, Montgomery is just the perfect original example on how to utilize it.
Quick Hits:
Even though the academy has been around since 2003, it was three years ago when they officially joined forces with the Major League Soccer team and became a no-fee-club that things began to take off. Since then, the academy has had two players sign professional deals with their Major League Soccer team, another player was drafted by the Columbus Crew in the SuperDraft earlier this year, and 20 players have appeared with various United States youth national teams this season.
How did they get there?
One of the main reasons has been the man in charge of the big picture for the academy, Bob Montgomery. Montgomery took over the position as Director of Youth Development in September 2007.
In the past, he has spent time inside the national team and currently serves as an assistant coach for the U-14 team.
"That time with the national teams gave me experience with training the best players," he told Goal.com in a phone interview last week.
Montgomery has used this wealth of knowledge to instill his ethos of developing successful players.
"Our philosophy is to develop thinking players," he said. "We want our teams to play hard and players to be able to move forward [to the next level]. Training sessions create problems and players find solutions rather than coaching feeding them things."
He emphasized the fact that RBNY want to create intelligent players on the field.
"Soccer is a constantly changing game with a constantly changing environment," Montgomery said. "All of those things are different from one play to the next. No two situations are ever alike.
"You can't tell a player to do this or that. You need a thinking player on the field. This is the big challenge and big focus of the academy besides technical and physical aspects of the game. We are really looking into training players with good habits."
Montgomery also served as head coach of the Adelphi University in New York for 29 seasons. He attributed his college coaching experience to the scouting network he has developed over the years.
"[Scouting] comes through with my college background. I networked with peers and coaches' with college you rely on youth players to build teams. I still maintain those relationships, and coaches still recommend players to me. These relationships have been developed over a number of years."
He also added that Red Bull academy has set up Regional Development Schools. These work as a stepping stone for younger players trying to reach the full academy, finding young talent that could supplement the New York roster in future years.
So far, Montgomery and his impressive staff of coaches have done a great job finding players with ambitions of playing professional soccer. The results are in the players that his academy is producing and people are taking notice. Early this year, Development Academy Director of Scouting, Tony LePore, gave special mention to the guys in NY for the players they are producing in an interview with Goal.com.
With the success Montgomery and New York are experiencing, it may just be a matter of time before other MLS academies begin to replicate the NY model and sign a successful college coach to run their youth teams.
The movement towards college coaches pays benefits in numerous ways: experience developing players, coaching networks established, and scouting expertise. Some of these things are not replicated in other avenues of youth soccer in the United States. The parallels between college soccer and youth academies are more alike than most believe, Montgomery is just the perfect original example on how to utilize it.
Quick Hits:
- The U.S. U-20 team finished the Cor Groenewegan tournament 2-2-2. Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich), and Chad Barson (University of Akron) each had one goal on the trip.
- The U.S. U-18 squad begins the Lisbon International on the 27th of this month with a game against Norway.
- Soony Saad won the Gatorade High School Player of the Year last week. He is committed to go to University of Michigan in the fall.
- The U.S. Development Academy Spring Showcase takes place in Florida over Memorial Day weekend. For those not in the area, USsoccer.com is streaming a handful of games on their website.
Inside Goal.Com
-
RIGG: Anelka struggling against the current in Shanghai
Nicolas Anelka went against the grain when he moved to Shanghai. Now he's finding that coaching and gelling tactically is like swimming against the tide.
-
ROGERS: Bradley should command a bidding war among Serie A teams
Chievo is currently shopping the American midfielder and several Italian clubs have shown interest.
-
ISOLA: Neymar-led Brazil should be considered the 2014 WC favorite
Neymar was brilliant as Brazil easily handled the United States with early World Cup preparations officially underway.
-
LATHAM: Mexico using summer friendlies to build depth
With World Cup qualifying to begin in June, Mexico is using three U.S.-hosted friendlies to build squad depth.
-
McCARTHY: Harrisburg springs its wildest Open Cup upset to date
The City Islanders fought back from three goals down with nine minutes to play and won the game on penalty kicks in a stunning game on a wild night for the U.S. Open Cup.
