By Paul Nicholson
August 21 – US Club Soccer, the 500,000 member organisation that launched its Players First initiative for youth clubs earlier this month, has officially launched its technical partnership with Spain’s LaLiga.
The La Liga partnership will focus on strategic development and resource support for clubs, players and coach development, said US Club Soccer. This will be done via training curriculum, coaching education seminars and elite player training opportunities abroad, including direct involvement with US Club Soccer’s id² Program and Player Development Program.
US Club Soccer will work with member leagues and clubs to hold a series of regional coaching workshops featuring top player development experts from La Liga and its member clubs. The workshops will begin this autumn and be rolled out nationally in 2016.
“Aligning with LaLiga – the best professional league in the world, with arguably the best player development system – provides the expertise needed to give our clubs an important tool in revolutionizing the game in America,” said Kevin Payne, CEO of US Club Soccer.
“LaLiga will play a critical part in advancing technical and tactical proficiency within Players First clubs while assisting our organisation in evolving the youth soccer landscape.”
Players First is US Club Soccer’s initiative to bring a rethink to youth development priorities in the US, focusing on the development of an individual’s potential, helping parents make better choices about where their children should play, and hopefully keeping more players in the game after the age of 13 where the US system sees a 75% drop off in participants.
For more information on Players First, please visit usclubsoccer.org/playersfirst.
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