Lepore Holds Academy Symposium

Former New Hampshire DOC Holds Court at USA-Mexico Game

February 23, 2009

CHICAGO – U.S. Development Academy Director of Scouting Tony Lepore conducted his second Academy Symposium of the year on Feb. 11 during the USA-Mexico match.

Lepore, the former Seacoast United and New Hampshire Soccer Associate DOC, assigns National Team scouts to watch over half of the Academy games played each weekend and organizes the scout feedback on Academy players, coaches and teams.

Former Seacoast United DOC and Cape Cod Crusader Tony Lepore continues his work with the US Development Academy.(Photo source: Seacoast United)

From these observations, Lepore provided specific themes for Academy coaches to observe during a Men’s National Team game that can help them improve their Academy environments.

These symposiums have been held in conjunction with MNT games across the country since last year and have given Academy coaches a unique perspective on MNT coaching strategies, tactics and game-related decisions.

“It’s a great chance to take messages from Bob Bradley and the rest of his staff and pass them directly to the Academy coaches,” Lepore said. “Everything from what the coaches are paying attention to in training to what kind of environment they’re trying to create in the team is right there. We talk about what we can do in our model to help prepare players for national teams and what we can do to address weaknesses now that we have a better model to do so.”

After the final whistle, the Academy coaches participated in a question and answer period with U.S. assistant coach Mike Sorber, who gave his thoughts about the coaching staff’s preparation for the match and the team’s execution of the game plan.

Andrew Arthurs, assistant coach for the Columbus Crew, appreciated the opportunity to compare the national team’s best practices to the Columbus Crew’s senior team.

“We already share with our players that we try to mirror things that our senior team are doing so they can see the connection and realize that the basic concepts and priorities are very similar,” said Arthurs. “There are obviously differences between what we do on a daily basis and what the Men’s National Team does. But there are also a lot of similarities in terms of defining roles within their system, determining line ups, preparing the team with priorities for the match, and keeping the messages simple. It was great to see that the thought process is similar to what we go through to prepare our youth teams.”

The next Development Academy Coaching Symposium is scheduled to take place around the U.S. Men’s World Cup qualifier against Honduras on June 6 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

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