Development Academy Excites Former New Hampshire DOC

Lepore Talks With SNE About Scouting Position

February 20, 2008

By Nick Williams

As an assistant coach on the United States U-15 national team, Tony Lepore was well aware of the preliminarily stages of the US Development Academy, US Soccer’s youth initiative designed to focus select American clubs on a training-based and less game centered model of play.

But when Lepore, then the Director of Coaching for the New Hampshire Soccer Association and Seacoast United, first got word that the Academy was becoming official, the former Cape Cod Crusader brimmed with excitement.

“The idea that there would be more good games for our top players – not just at Seacoast, but across the country – and hopefully less bad games and hopefully less games all together, I thought was a really good opportunity to clean up the youth calendar, which was getting out of control, and develop a better training-to-game ratio,” Lepore said in a recent interview with Soccer New England. “Players were playing in way too many bad games and training way less than they should, so this chance to provide a better environment was very exciting to me.”

Former Seacoast United DOC and Cape Cod Crusader Tony Lepore talked with SNE about his role as scout with the US Development Academy.(Photo source: Seacoast United)

Lepore’s excitement translated into a job with the organization. He was hired full time as a scout for the Academy, along with former Revolution striker Raul Diaz Arce, on Feb. 1.

“My main task is to identify potential players for the US youth teams, and along with that, just to be a resource for the clubs, get to know their staff, most of which I’ve known from my time with Seacoast and the National Teams,” Lepore said. “I think I have a really good feel for the soccer landscape and how it’s been changing and a feel for what a youth team looks like after doing it for years.”

Lepore serves as a scout for the Development Academy’s Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Conferences, two of the eight divisions that make up the 64-team league. Each conference features eight teams, with each Development Academy scout assigned two conferences (16 clubs). The academy has plans to hire two more scouts to oversee the remaining four conferences.

“I think US Soccer is putting a lot of resources into this,” Lepore said. “It’s a priority to get it done right. They’ve done their research, done their homework. Hiring Dave Sarachan as Scouting Manager and John Hackworth as Director, I think has worked out great.”

Hackworth, Sarachan, U-20 head coach Thomas Rongen and US national team coach Bob Bradley were all in attendance at the Academy’s first-ever Winter Showcase event this past weekend.

The event, played over two days at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas, was attended by more than 150 college coaches and 16 U.S. Soccer Federation scouts.

“We had a representative from every youth national team at the event,” Lepore said. “It gives us a chance to all be together and talk about players together. From the national perspective, everybody is very excited.”

The showcase was the second such event held by the Academy since its inception this summer. The inaugural showcase was held last fall at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Events like these are the backbone of the Academy, which started this summer as a US Soccer Federation project designed to improve the soccer scene in the US from the ground up by finding and exposing the best youth players in the country.

The Academy’s maxim is to improve the United States as a soccer playing nation and is designed "to shift the focus of the young elite player from an overburdened, game emphasis model to a meaningful training and competition model."

“US Soccer knows that if we just pay attention to the U16s and U18s, it will be too late,” Lepore said. “So what happens with the U8s to U14s is crucial in those golden years. Are they playing in the right environment? Are they avoiding results-driven environments? Are they subject to proper teaching and technique?

“If US Soccer continues to do this the right way I think all levels of soccer in the US will benefit greatly.”

But not everyone agrees. The main complaint amongst Academy detractors is that the current model is too specialized, too elite. They say that the cure for soccer in this country should be developing more kids to play in college, not sending them on a fast-track to the national team and the pros.

Lepore, of course, doesn’t see it that way.

“Let’s face it, a very small number of these kids will go on to play pro,” he said. “Hopefully that number will grow. I think there’s plenty of opportunity for all levels. I don’t think this takes away from any opportunities that exist already. Many academy players will go on to play in college. The showcase in Dallas was well-attended by college coaches.”

That Dallas showcase was the first game action for a lot of the teams in Lepore’s Northeast Conference jurisdiction, including four clubs from New England. And while he says it’s too early to gauge any real progress, Lepore remains anxious to get to the ground level and help out.

“As part of the first year, there’s going to be some growing pains,” he said. “These are the first games for the northeast, so it’s too soon to say what the games are gonna look like. But I’m looking forward to getting on the field with being with the players and coaches; then I’ll really be able to assess things.”

For the results of those four New England clubs, click here.

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