Academy Helps Vermont Player Come Full Circle

Shattuck-St. Mary's Helps Develop Top Youth Players

May 29, 2009

By Nick Williams

Teddy Vallee always wanted to play for Vermont. Ever since he was little kid watching the games of his hometown college team, Vallee knew he wanted to suit up in yellow and green.

Now Vallee is coming home to his native Vermont to play for the Catamounts this fall. A two-year member of the Region I ODP team and also part of his home state�s ODP program, Vallee fulfilled his dream.

But according to Vallee, he couldn�t have achieved his goal without some help. That help came in the form of the guidance, training and coaching he received at Shattuck-St. Mary�s School in Faribault, Minn., which Vallee has attended for the past three years.

Teddy Vallee always wanted to play for UVM. (Source: SSM Academy)

�The first year I was [at the school], I wasn�t on the regional team,� he said. �I was a candidate, but I never made it. My second year here, I made the team. It was a great jump for me. I feel like I gained lot more confidence after coming here. I�ve definitely improved as a player.�

Vallee�s story is like many of the students� at Shattuck-St. Mary�s. The Shelburne, Vt., native was a young, up-and-coming player looking to raise his game. Confident that he could play at the next level, he wanted to concentrate on soccer and train seriously while also receiving a good education.

He heard of SSM, the 400-student, grade 6-12 school community, and its Soccer Academy, which is designed to foster and cultivate highly competitive to elite-level soccer players, and immediately thought it was a place he wanted to go.

�At the time, I looking for a good environment to play in and to train with some of the good players from all around the country,� Vallee recalled. �I realized that [SSM] had a great soccer program and also real good academics. I talked to my parents, we came to visit, and it was a fit.�

It was SSM�s rigorous schedule and serious environment that helped turn Vallee into one top players for the school�s U-18 boys� team. The academy is set up so boys and girls train and compete on a daily basis during the school year, which runs from September through May. Students stay on site, in college-style dormitories and attend classes like any other student during the day.

After classes, players receive technical, tactical and physical training from a staff of experienced professional coaches, headed by Tim Carter, the former Director of Youth Development for US Soccer. Players have access to an abundance of facilities, including three outdoor fields and one indoor field, as well as state-of-the-art weight rooms and trainers. The playing season features tournament play, friendly games and exhibitions throughout the nine or 10 months players are there.

�Each day you train with some of the best kids from around the country,� Vallee said. �It definitely stepped my game up a notch.�

Ethan Harlow checked out SSM on Vallee's recommendation.(Source: SSM Academy)

Vallee liked the program so much he recommended it to a friend, Ethan Harlow, an Essex Junction, Vt., native. Harlow was looking for a way to gain exposure to college coaches. Still, just a junior, Harlow believes that his time at the academy has given him both the exposure and ability to play at a Division I college program.

�I�m playing with a lot better players and better teams,� Harlow said. �Having coaches that have played at the highest level really helped me improve on and off the field. I�ve become a little more disciplined in all areas.

�The coaches set goals for each one of us and they do as much as they can to help us reach those goals. Every practice is a new day to learn something. The players all push each other. The relationship between players has been a little more striking to me than anything � I�ve never had players push me this hard before.�

It�s a sentiment echoed by many of those who attend the SSM Soccer Academy: the competition level raises everyone�s game.

�Everybody here is serious about getting better,� said Chelsea Cline, a Des Moines, Iowa native who just finished her senior year. �When I came here I was a good player, but I think training every day and getting the touch I needed as helped so much. I�m more comfortable than I was, definitely.�

Chelsea Cline will go to UCLA next year. (Source: SSM Academy)

Cline has used the time at the school to help stay in shape (�There�s no offseason,� she says.) for her summers with the W-League�s Minnesota Lightning. A member of the 2008 W-League All-League team, Cline will play at UCLA next fall. Being at Shattuck-St. Mary�s, Cline believes, has prepared her for life at college.

�I wasn�t used to not having my parents there to help me organize my time,� she said. You have to do more work on your off time for school. I think I adjusted pretty well with that.�

But, Cline insisted, she never got homesick.

�Here you�re so busy all the time, you don�t really have a chance to think about home and all that,� she said.

�The first two weeks I kind of missed the kids back home,� admitted Harlow, the Vermont native and Vallee�s friend. �It�s a sacrifice you have to make and I was willing to make it.�

According to Akil Howard, a senior and New York native who will attend the University of Buffalo next year, it�s that sacrifice they all share that helps bring everyone together.

�We all sacrifice being away from home to be here and to get better at a sport that we all want to play,� Howard said. �I got to do a lot more training than I would have gotten back home. I can keep up with the coursework and soccer at the same time -- they kind of conditioned us for it.�

Akil Howard will head to the University of Buffalo in the fall. (Source: SSM Academy)

Plus, according to Vallee, the classes are �actually interesting. There�s a lot of different stuff you can take,� Vallee said.

With standard offerings to AP classes, Shattuck-St. Mary�s provides the coursework to give students a solid academic foundation for college. The classes are small, about 10-15 students, and the homework is rigorous. But you can always get plenty of help.

�All the teachers here do whatever they can to help you succeed,� Harlow said. �They�ll meet with you after class or school if you need to.�

But back to Vallee. Besides a short adjustment period � �at first it was a little difficult� � he had nothing but good times at SSM. He adjusted to the schoolwork and training and became a better player. He became close with his teammates, who he spent almost every day with for nine months. So much so that he called Shattuck-St. Mary�s his second home.

Now he gets to go back to his first home, Vermont, and play for his hometown Catamounts. A feat he credits to hard work, of course, but also to his time at the SSM Soccer Academy.

�I can�t speak highly enough about the program,� he said. �It was definitely a good choice for me. I wouldn�t have it any other way to be honest.�

If you'd like more information on the Shattuck-St. Mary's Soccer Academy, visit their website at http://www.s-sm.org.

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