In August 2007, Western New York’s top soccer clubs, the Rochester Junior Rhinos, Syracuse Football Club and Buffalo United Soccer Club joined together to form the Empire United Soccer Academy.  In the Spring of 2009, Crown City FC from the Cortland/Homer area joined the Academy.  The unification of these clubs, acknowledges their strong working relationship and shared vision of the development of youth soccer.  This combined organization will enable soccer players at all levels to attain their individual goals and maximize their potential.  In fact, the strength of the new club was recognized when Empire USA received one of the sixty-four initial memberships in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy..

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"We are pleased U.S. Soccer and its Board of Directors acknowledge the significance of Women’s Professional Soccer. There is a tremendous amount of potential for growth both for our League and the women’s game on a global scale that could have gone unrealized without a fourth season for WPS."

"We are thankful to all the organizations, players and fans who showed their unwavering support for WPS during this process, and look forward to further strengthening our role as a leader in the women’s game.  We are confident that with the combination of our 2012 campaign and a strong performance from our athletes on the international stage [at the Olympic Games], 2012 will mark another milestone year for women’s soccer."

The division one sanction approved by the Federation allows the league to operate with the current field of five teams in 2012. The approval was contingent upon the League and its Board of Governors accepting and fulfilling, conditions related to the League’s growth and performance in future years.

WPS and its teams continue to establish plans for the upcoming season which will open in April of 2012.  
Looking to build from the swell in attendance in 2011,that included multiple sell-out games and record-setting in-stadium attendance figures, the League’s fourth season will feature a five-month schedule pitting teams from current clubs in Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, New York/New Jersey and Western New York.

In addition to showcasing another season of world class soccer, the League will continue to work toward establishing a collective bargaining agreement with the WPS Players Union and league expansion which are both instrumental to the League’s long-term business plans. 

Up next for WPS will be the League’s annual draft which will be held in January – in conjunction with the annual NSCAA Convention in Kansas City, MO - which brings some of the Nation’s top collegiate talent to the professional ranks.

Empire USA's Syracuse GU18 team will be playing in the National League for the second year, and the Empire USA GU17 Academy team enters the league for the first time. 
 
The National League Boys will continue the 2011-2012 season in February alongside the Weston Cup in Weston, Fla. (Feb. 18-20) and will join the Girls at the Player’s College Showcase in Las Vegas.

Keep up with the National League all season:
National League Home: USYouthSoccer.org/National_League
Schedule and results: Tournaments.USYouthSoccer.org/events/2011-2012-National-League/
Twitter: @nationalleague
Facebook: Facebook.com/usyouthsoccer
You Tube: YouTube.com/usyouth

Now with 14 seasons as the head coach of the Cavaliers under his belt, Gelnovatch has seen his player selection process undergo a major overhaul since the inception of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.

“I think the Academy program is still relatively young, but already I think there are some benefits,” said Gelnovatch, who won his first NCAA College Cup championship in 2009. “The standards that have been set by U.S. Soccer for these clubs are good standards, but the biggest change I have seen is in the identification process.”

With Development Academy scouts in attendance at a majority of regular season games and every game during Showcase events, players are identified and tracked more closely and consistently than in the past.

The coaching staff at Virginia takes advantage of both the Richmond Strikers and the Richmond Kickers proximity to Charlottesville. Not only does Gelnovatch keep a close eye on local talent, but he has a full slate of quality teams coming in from across the country on a weekly basis.

Gelnovatch and his staff are also among nearly 300 college coaches in attendance at every Development Academy Showcase.

“For college programs, those Showcase events make it easier to get into a four-day environment and watch all of the Academy teams,” he said. “To come out to three events a year and see all these players shouldn’t be an issue for any major program.”

Keeping a close eye on the Academy talent, Gelnovatch has definitely seen a change in the type of players coming out of the member clubs.

In 2009, the Cavaliers brought in Will Bates from the Richmond Strikers, D.C. United’s Marcus Douglas, Sean Murnane and Shane Cooke, and BW Gottschee NYC’s Ahkeel Rodney, meaning all but one freshman on the team hailed from an Academy club. On Feb. 3, three more Academy players signed National Letters of Intent to play for Virginia as they attempt to defend their national championship.

The 2007 NCAA Champion Wake Forest will add no fewer than six former Academy players to the Demon Deacons squad for 2010. The 2008 and 2005 NCAA Champion University of Maryland also continues to bring Academy players into its highly-regarded program, building on six first-year Academy alums who helped the Terrapins advance to the tournament quarterfinals in 2009.

“The impact of the level of play in the Academy has been tremendous for our program,” said Sasho Cirovski, head coach at Maryland. “Every time you see a game, it’s highly competitive, good spirited and played a very high level with a great deal of accountability. That’s something you want to see as a college coach, how players deal with that kind of environment and it’s more clear when you watch an Academy game than maybe another youth game that isn’t as meaningful.”

In addition, the structure of the program, which includes training at least three times per week and playing games on the weekend, mirrors that of a college season.

“The regimen of playing other Academy teams and traveling with some consistency has definitely added some structure and development that makes the transition from a youth club to a high-level college soccer team a little bit easier,” said Gelnovatch.

As college programs continue spring training in preparation for the 2010 season, Development Academy players continue to train with their respective clubs, hoping for a taste of the NCAA tournament. The current Academy season will conclude at Finals Weeks at The Home Depot Center in July.

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