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Post by Brinker on Nov 14, 2019 14:27:42 GMT -5
I did not see a new USL2 pro team coming. Legit big news and congratulations to them.
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Post by ultimatedad on Nov 14, 2019 14:43:00 GMT -5
This is huge. Other clubs must be scrambling for relevence.
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Post by ultimatedad on Nov 14, 2019 14:43:41 GMT -5
Or as they say at UFA revelance.
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Post by atv on Nov 14, 2019 14:43:58 GMT -5
Awesome. I wish it was GSA. I’m officially jealous.
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Post by reading1soccer on Nov 14, 2019 14:44:40 GMT -5
What is the benefit to having a pre pro team? What does it do for the girls?
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Post by 06gparent on Nov 14, 2019 14:50:00 GMT -5
What is the benefit to having a pre pro team? What does it do for the girls? Looks like this is only for the boys side. |
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2316
Jr. Academy
Posts: 66 
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Post by 2316 on Nov 14, 2019 14:51:13 GMT -5
Just a guess here but would this allow SSA to participate their youth team(s) in the USL Academy? Supposedly this allows a player pathway for both males and females, according to the USL Academy website. This could be an interesting development for SSA players.
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Post by reading1soccer on Nov 14, 2019 14:52:31 GMT -5
What is the benefit to having a pre pro team? What does it do for the girls? Looks like this is only for the boys side. Is the boys side at SSA deep enough or strong enough? |
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Post by Brinker on Nov 14, 2019 15:10:02 GMT -5
Just a guess here but would this allow SSA to participate their youth team(s) in the USL Academy? Supposedly this allows a player pathway for both males and females, according to the USL Academy website. This could be an interesting development for SSA players. Maybe this means SSA is staying out of the hunt for more USSDA status, which is more linked to MLS academy support, and going the route of USL academy competition outside of DA? Either way, it gives high level boys in the Atlanta area another option besides DA/ECNL and a chance to go pro at the USL level. Now if AU would just start a girls pro team! |
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Post by atv on Nov 14, 2019 15:40:21 GMT -5
Very nice write up. To me, this seems like the way it should be done.
TAMPA, Fla. (Nov. 14, 2019) – The United Soccer League (USL) announced today that Southern Soccer Academy will join USL League Two for the 2020 season. The new team will sit at the top of SSA’s youth development model, and will play its home matches at North Paulding High School in Dallas, Georgia next season before moving to Marathon Park in Marietta for the 2021 campaign.
“Southern Soccer Academy is recognized as an excellent youth soccer organization in Georgia and nationwide,” said Joel Nash, Vice President of USL League Two. “We’re thrilled to see their enthusiasm for implementing a League Two team, and look forward to supporting them in developing the area’s elite young talent.”
With its League Two side nicknamed “The Kings,” Southern Soccer Academy as a whole offers more than 18 programs for boys and girls age 3 to 19. The club includes more than 8,000 players in 16 locations around Georgia, making it one of the largest youth soccer organizations in the United States.
In joining League Two, SSA will offer a proven pathway to professional soccer for its players, both those at the elite collegiate level and the top academy-age players from the region. On top of the valuable experience of playing in the nation’s most competitive pre-professional environment, League Two also provides growth opportunities for its coaches, executives and communities.
“We are excited to join USL League Two and begin competing in the country’s top pre-professional men’s league,” said Simon Davey, Executive Director of Southern Soccer Academy. “The addition of a League Two team to our youth development model means we now have a complete player development pathway, and it allows us to provide our members with the very best programs and competition as they strive to reach the ranks of professional soccer.”
Learn more by following @ssaelitesoccer on Twitter and @southernsocceracademy on Instagram, or visit the club’s website ssaelite.com for the latest updates.
About USL League Two
A part of United Soccer Leagues, LLC, which also operates the USL Championship, USL League One, Super Y League and the new USL Academy, USL League Two is the top pre-professional soccer league in North America, offering a summer platform for aspiring professionals across the United States and Canada. League Two is the defined and proven pathway for players to progress to the ranks of professional soccer, while its clubs become fixtures in the communities where they operate.
More than 70 percent of all MLS SuperDraft selections since 2010 have League Two experience, including 66 alumni chosen in 2018 and 61 in 2019. Werder Bremen’s Josh Sargent, Newcastle United’s DeAndre Yedlin, and Atlanta United’s Brad Guzan are among the many U.S. National Team players to have competed in USL League Two before making their professional debuts.
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Post by atlfutboldad on Nov 14, 2019 15:41:25 GMT -5
Well, everyone except MOBA (who also already has a USL League Two team). Does having that team do much for MOBA? Seriously asking, have no idea. I'm sure its fun to go watch a game there if you're local. Did most of you know that MOBA has a USL League Two team already? I don't see this having much impact for SSA (aside from some bragging rights), but its good for the ATL soccer community. USL League Two salaries have to generally be less than small college scholarships (according to some anecdotal evidence, roughly under 30K a year on the high end/$2K-4K a month...and that's for the first division, League Two is the 3rd division). But once you sign that pro contract, your college playing days are over. IMO you're in much better shape playing DA/ECNL and getting a college scholarship. But that's not for everyone.
But if the League Two is simply a tuition-covered opportunity for U19 players to play against more full-grown adults, that might be a good development step.
www.quora.com/What-is-the-salary-like-for-USL-players |
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Post by footyfan on Nov 14, 2019 15:44:32 GMT -5
That does nothing for them in regards to the other clubs in the area, all the kids who would play in it would be college age. "More than 70 percent of all MLS SuperDraft selections since 2010 have League Two experience, including 66 alumni chosen in 2018 and 61 in 2019. Werder Bremen’s Josh Sargent, Newcastle United’s DeAndre Yedlin, and Atlanta United’s Brad Guzan are among the many U.S. National Team players to have competed in USL League Two before making their professional debuts." Read more: gasoccerforum.com/thread/4440/ssa-announcement?page=3#ixzz65HqblQy7 |
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Post by Soccerhouse on Nov 14, 2019 15:52:04 GMT -5
Well given their "relationship" with Concorde for boys DA, their pyramid is kind of wacked. Sending your "top" players to another club is a strange strategy that doesn't necessarily align with a pyramid structure.
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Post by atlfutboldad on Nov 14, 2019 15:52:31 GMT -5
That does nothing for them in regards to the other clubs in the area, all the kids who would play in it would be college age. "More than 70 percent of all MLS SuperDraft selections since 2010 have League Two experience, including 66 alumni chosen in 2018 and 61 in 2019. Werder Bremen’s Josh Sargent, Newcastle United’s DeAndre Yedlin, and Atlanta United’s Brad Guzan are among the many U.S. National Team players to have competed in USL League Two before making their professional debuts." Read more: gasoccerforum.com/thread/4440/ssa-announcement?page=3#ixzz65HqblQy7Right, but thats 70 percent of MLS SuperDraft selections, which is what percentage of the USL players from those given years? Like 10%? Possibly less? 667 players over 10 years, 70% of which is 467, 46 per year on average. If you're a superstar, take the money, be on the pathway. If not, and you can get college $ while you get bigger/faster/better...I think that's the smarter path. |
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Post by slickdaddy96 on Nov 14, 2019 15:59:10 GMT -5
The one thing I got out of this is that we the SSA customer are going to be forking over higher fees next season to "pay" for this Marathon stadium even though supposedly they got Millions in the coffers. The rec and academy/select people will be paying for this upgrade at Marathon.
It's all great they are getting it, but to 99% of their customers they are just going to see their fees increase and no benefit.
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Post by atv on Nov 14, 2019 16:02:32 GMT -5
How many USL teams are in the state? Here is the professional breakdown. Atl United MLS Atl United 2 USL Championship Tormenta USL League 1 Tormenta, MOBA and SSA USL League 2 I updated it because Tormenta has two teams but that’s all that’s listed. www.uslleaguetwo.com/league-teams |
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Post by TheMadOx on Nov 14, 2019 16:23:07 GMT -5
That puts them one up on all but AU. You still have MOBA and Georgia Revolution...I think even LSA has some sort of semi pro team... |
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Post by soccernoleuk on Nov 14, 2019 16:54:29 GMT -5
The press release says they will play 1 season at North Paulding High School before moving to Marathon park. I guess that means they are building a small stadium at Marathon? Pretty cool! So, the big news here is that Marathon Park will indeed be getting bathrooms. |
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Post by atv on Nov 14, 2019 17:02:53 GMT -5
The press release says they will play 1 season at North Paulding High School before moving to Marathon park. I guess that means they are building a small stadium at Marathon? Pretty cool! So, the big news here is that Marathon Park will indeed be getting bathrooms. Lol .. yeah probably biggest impact |
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Post by Upper90 on Nov 14, 2019 17:47:44 GMT -5
So, the big news here is that Marathon Park will indeed be getting bathrooms. Lol .. yeah probably biggest impact My thoughts exactly! So let’s consider this a win for the 99%. 😉 |
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Post by slickdaddy96 on Nov 14, 2019 18:01:29 GMT -5
Wait they are not done yet....
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Post by soccerdad456 on Nov 14, 2019 18:17:56 GMT -5
Girls in the picture this time. Girls announcement of some sort?
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Post by atv on Nov 14, 2019 18:23:55 GMT -5
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Post by footyfan on Nov 14, 2019 19:51:56 GMT -5
All USL Academy clubs are not fully funded. Tormenta is piloting full funding with a few of their teams though. If SSA fully funds theirs that would be huge. Funny that people will talk endlessly about their low quality regional leagues like SCCL but seem to not be able to relate to the value created by a club joining the USL leagues. Stunning. |
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Post by Soccerhouse on Nov 14, 2019 20:19:04 GMT -5
Somewhere on here we posted a clubs operating budget for a club at a similar level. I don’t recall if Was USL 2 though.
Will youth players fees and expenses increase to help support this initiative?
Is this league a mix of college players and semi pro players or all full professionals?
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Post by flamengo100 on Nov 14, 2019 21:43:00 GMT -5
Dalton Red Wolves is another USL League 2 team in Georgia. I just heard of their youth teams this year when some of the coaches/players left CFA Dalton (not sure why).
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Post by 4theloveofsoccer on Nov 14, 2019 22:40:28 GMT -5
Any announcement with an actual announcement is good to hear, unlike the failed UFA event/announcement LOL!
Good for SSA and better for us parents with the hopes of upgraded facilities at Marathon Park specifically the restrooms and parking.
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Post by slickdaddy96 on Nov 15, 2019 7:24:17 GMT -5
All USL Academy clubs are not fully funded. Tormenta is piloting full funding with a few of their teams though. If SSA fully funds theirs that would be huge. Funny that people will talk endlessly about their low quality regional leagues like SCCL but seem to not be able to relate to the value created by a club joining the USL leagues. Stunning. No because not all of us have kids that are going to go pro or even get a college scholarship. It shouldn't be stunning. My stat while guessing "99%" isn't probably that far off. The majority of their customers will care less about this or get irritated when their fees go up to pay for this new stadium. They will never reap the benefit of this USL team. My bigger irritation with SSA is that they have taken our money for year and years and the rec money as well, and many times their bank account is pretty padded and have promised this big Marathon facility (which wouldn't help me really either since I am in a branch location)for years and have never done it, and they refuse to give much money for little things like corner flags and new goals when old ones tear up at most of their branch locations. They just take our money and pay their directors or put it all into the central location only (which I don't even know if that is true since I am not a customer that visits most of those fields on a regular basis.) They got plenty of money to build this stadium, they don't need to be upping our fees again. The level of training and amount of training days in the branch locations are a joke. Other clubs train 3x or even 4x a week, while most teams in branch locations for SSA get 2x training days only in academy/select teams, no specialized skills/goalie type training on a 3rd day and it has always been that way, or if they do a skills/goalie session it starts like halfway through a season, gets cancelled often, etc.... I hear the SSA central location gets a lot more training days and choices but not the branch locations, because SSA doesn't really care about them because they know there isn't much choice in those areas for people to go to as an alternative, so they got the majority of their customers regardless of them being disgruntle like me. Some of these branch locations would be better off splitting back off and being their own local organizations again or merging with another club closer to them. |
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Post by atv on Nov 15, 2019 7:36:31 GMT -5
Some good points. I’ve heard similar SSA reviews. I have never understood the merger of clubs that aren’t geographically in close proximity. How does that benefit players?
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Post by soccerdad76 on Nov 15, 2019 7:40:17 GMT -5
“USL League Two is the top pre-professional soccer league in North America, offering a summer platform for aspiring professionals across the United States and Canada.”
So pre-professional Super-Y? For those playing this would be more for any exposure to professional teams (most likely USL) than $$$. Pre-professional implies to me that it will not be paid, but maybe not cost anything, either... perhaps like a summer internship.
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