Higher Learning

Paul S. Hendron
Senior Staff Writer
InsideSoccer Magazine

While Canadian soccer remains at a standstill the founding members of the Soccer Academy Alliance Canada (SAAC) have persevered, hoping that their collective methodology will bring domestic player development into the 21st century. 

For Jake Doodmath the opportunity to develop young soccer players is a far more important mission than garnishing trophies or winning titles.  After years of volunteering in all facets for his local community club he succumbed to the frustrations that infiltrates the Canadian club system where at times political infighting, personal agendas and what he describes as  “a stupendous level of soccer ignorance” takes precedent over the actual teaching of soccer skills.
 
It was difficult for Doodmath to leave an organization where he devoted a large part of his adult life but he found it comforting to be able to gravitate to the philosophy adopted by the Soccer Academy Alliance Canada (SAAC).  The Scarborough resident, now one of the Directors of European Experience Soccer and a guest in the SAAC Inter Academy Competition, understands that it will take a great deal of fortitude for his newly formed soccer school to evolve into a full-scale academy. He holds the SAAC model in high regard describing the umbrella organization as being the future for the Canadian game.
 
Collective Vision
Bassam Naim, Gary Miller, Liam Power and Paul Ferguson may be miles apart in personality but they share a common ideology with respect to how talented young Canadian soccer players should develop. The anchor members of SAAC, representing their four respective academies, are much more than soccer entrepreneurs. They have become visionaries trying to introduce a proven system to an underachieving soccer nation. Their ideologies have always been percolating under the surface of Canadian Soccer yet up until recently they have only enjoyed a distant voice. 

“Several groups, including clubs, Toronto FC, the CSA have reviewed the SAAC standards that we have created and agree with the high level that is there,” reported Gary Miller, President of Bryst International, “ We (SAAC members) all have our eye on developing players within the best environment possible,” added the former Director of High Performance for the Ontario Soccer Association.

With the formation of SAAC four years ago the Academy partners, along with their growing number of associate members, now have a strong collective voice that is making ripples across soccer circles. More and more players are migrating to SAAC affiliated academies, with their parents in tow, embracing a mission statement that completely contradicts historical ties to hyper-competitive club soccer. Membership in SAAC affiliated academies has grown from just under 400 players to over 700 registered players scattered across 51 academy and development teams.

The formula that SAAC advertises is simple and without any hint of malice towards the existing Canadian soccer establishment. Their message – ‘players don’t need an over abundance of meaningless games to progress – they need quality training in quality facilities by quality coaches with the end result to participate in meaningful matches’.

For Bassam Naim, Director of ANB Futbol Academy, the cooperative approach is simple. “Once a common vision is in place and that vision is realistic, automatically bureaucracy and personal agendas are reduced to a minimum,” stated Naim whose resume includes first hand experience of how top international academies are run in such places as France, England, Brazil and UAE. “With SAAC there are four futbol professionals/ entrepreneurs with sound coaching, playing and educational backgrounds who share a common vision about accountability, improving the game, player development and coaching education,” he added.

Credentials
The accents may be varied yet the instructions are clearly received by eager recipients. In one corner of the vast training pitch an Englishman directs his pupils on the finer points of ball control while across the field a former Bulgarian professional puts his young keepers through some rigorous drills. The sounds of Belfast echoe from the far side on another field as eight year olds happily dance to coordination exercises.

The coaching experiences and credentials under the SAAC umbrella are as diverse as they are impressive. To look at their coaching resumes is like looking into a microcosm of the global soccer village. There are coaches who originate from Hispanamerica, the Middle East, the UK, the Caribbean, Eastern and Western Europe as well as some home grown coaching stars.

SAAC boasts that 11 coaches carry their UEFA A/B licenses; three have their Canadian / US ‘A’ licenses; seven have their USSF National Youth Licenses; 13 have their Canadian / Provincial Licenses; and eight have their NSCAA National Diplomas.

Scattered throughout the SAAC coaching ranks are several educators by profession who know a thing or two about teaching.

Perfect Pitch
Outside the stately Crescent School the hustle and bustle of rush hour traffic engulfs the motorways that surrounds this affluent Uptown Toronto neighborhood. Inside the grounds of this prestigious private school there is a calmness that contradicts the hectic ambience from outside its borders. A large sports field covered by perfectly laid synthetic grass dominates the school’s grounds. As endless cars dash home for dinner several vans pull up to the sports fields to unload soccer balls and a wide assortment of soccer apparatus. In less than 30 minutes the sports fields are converted into a professional looking soccer-training site that could mimic anything found in Europe or Latin America. The Power Soccer School of Excellence is up and running with a second Power site also buzzing a few minutes away at the Upper Canada College Campus. “ The school is impressed with our commitment to youth”, offered Liam Power who is confident that his marriage to both Private schools is long term.

Several kilometers north of Toronto in King City the images are repeated with ANB Futbol Academy dominating the landscape at the prestigious Country Day School. Multiple soccer pitches, including an artificial turf field stretch across the school’s vast property. There is a feeling of permanency that soccer belongs at the school. ANB and SAAC are firmly entrenched at the Country Day School as the Academy has secured a very healthy 12- year agreement with considerable expansion on the horizon. Light standards for the main field lie in waiting to be erected while building materials for a domed facility are piled up ready for construction once the finer details of a building permit are secured. On weekends the Private School is home to the SAAC Inter-Academy Competition and to the casual eye it appears that something splendid is unfolding on the edge of the Oak Ridges Moraine.

Gary Miller subscribes to the theory that given Canada’s extreme climate the best training should take place on uniform artificial pitches. Therefore the Bryst Academy has retained Downsview Park and the bubble of Wild Water Kingdom in Brampton as its home bases.

With all SAAC members believing that first- rate facilities are significant to any successful soccer venture both Paul Ferguson and partner Bruno Giannotti have raised the bar. An abandoned school covered in graffiti, sandwiched between endless acres of farmland atop Hamilton Mountain, may not catch every one’s attention but for the founders of Dribble, Pass , Shoot Soccer Academy (DPS Soccer) it has become their potential slice of soccer heaven. The two visionaries were able to link up with the Malayalee Association of Hamilton, owners of the property, and they worked out a healthy partnership that sees the Academy inhabit not only the grounds but also significant classroom and office space inside the building. In four short months Ferguson and Giannotti have converted an abandoned educational institution into a very workable soccer epicenter for the Hamilton /Wentworth region. Fields have been meticulously manicured and classrooms have been converted into study areas for Academy students to not only learn some soccer theory but also to prepare for their scholastic futures. There are even plans to build an adjoining indoor facility as well as expand the outdoor fields. Participants in the Academy travel from as far as Cambridge to be part of the DPS Soccer experience.  

Young Guns
It is the mission of all Academies under SAAC to incorporate younger players into the structure of any player development model.

“We run programs for 4 and 5 year olds at our camp and school. We identify the stronger, more skillful 6-7 year olds, “ offered Liam Power.

Bryst started a grassroots-training program last year called Kix 4 Kidz where 5-10 year olds learn the basics of the game with the hope that some youngsters will eventually graduate to the academy ranks while others will enjoy the sport in a non- threatening environment.

On weekends the north fields of the Country Day School fill with youngsters plying their trade in a competitive yet non-imposing environment of small-sided games. Smiles and encouragement appear to be the priorities over game scores or meaningless standings. Younger players seem to be thriving in such an environment where a pat on the back has replaced the verbal backlash of over competitive parents and coaches. Players appear calm on the ball, able to focus on their developing skill set while coaches seem to take an analytical approach to viewing their young charges.

Economics
Critics of soccer academies suggest that a fee for service delivery is not the best strategy for developing soccer players in Canada. SAAC., however, believes that their work and noticeable results transcends well beyond the bottom line of ledger sheets.

For Liam Power it is a simple equation. “This is a chickens and eggs scenario. One drives the other. To run real quality development programs costs money, good facilities need to be booked, quality equipment should on hand, medical back up is necessary and professional coaches are needed,” explained Power of the fiscal realities in Canada facing good player development.

Gary Miller makes no bones about the business aspect of operating an Academy. “ We must be a business to survive and move forward. If we do not make a profit, we cannot train in top level facilities or have top coaches,” explained Miller who holds Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Souchaux FC, Cruzeiro FC and AC Roma as being top run academies internationally. “In being a business we have created a developmental vehicle for young players to develop, improve their game and move on to a higher level of play.”

Bassam Naim placed the criticism of soccer academies into perspective. “ Academies, professional clubs, soccer schools, summer community clubs are all what you call a business. Without funding, none of the mentioned organizations can exist to that matter,” he explained.

While the four primary academies under SAAC rely on tuition as their primary revenue stream they are also diligently working on strategies to subsidize players.

The ANB Academy has an internal sponsorship program. “All players at ANB cost the academy $5650 per year on an equation of 180 full-time players. The U-8 program is subsidized for 60%, the U-10s are subsidized for 50% and the U-12s and older are subsidized for 40%, stated Naim who believes his biggest daily operational task is to secure monies to cover the balance. ANB has been providing both partial and in some cases full support for a few of its participating families.

Bryst International has two methods available to families to secure funds for their children. Personal sponsors subsidize many of the Bryst players – something facilitated by the Academy but arranged by each player. Bryst and SAAC are in the final stages of establishing a foundation that will be available to families in need of financial support. Supporters and donors to the foundation would be eligible to receive tax benefits.

The Power Soccer Academy has been offering 16 families some form of financial assistance with a few players fully subsidized. Liam Power reported that: “ we never allow finances to be a barrier for a talented player joining the academy.”

It is the dream of all Academy operators to some day have the professional clubs compensate the Academies for developing future stars. A recent visit by English Premiership team Sunderland to Power Soccer has whet Liam Power’s appetite for club to academy compensation. “ The idea for me with compensation is to then be able to put money back into the Academy towards reducing and eventually eliminating player fees,” he explained.

At present there is no working relationship between Toronto FC and SAAC Gary Miller is hopeful that some dialogue will parlay into a logical working relationship once Canada’s only MLS franchise sees the positive residuals in SAAC’s methodology.

Power does not hide behind the fact that soccer in North America is somewhat of a middle class sport but he admitted that academies, like Power Soccer, needs to reach players from all socio-economic levels. “ We could sign 350 players that are not talented enough, families with money but kids without the necessary talent. We do not want this, there is no point,” he stated.

Recognition
The United States Soccer Federation has embraced the significance of the Academy system in the United States by bringing together over 70 organizations under the banner of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. Members of SAAC and other academies across Canada are somewhat dumbfounded as to why our national federation is dragging its heals to officially recognize them as part of the Canadian soccer family. 

FIFA, the governing body of soccer internationally, recently issued a directive in the hope of protecting all minors from mistreatment. In Circular 1190 FIFA wants all players attending academies that are not linked to a club registered with their respective national federations.

The Canadian Soccer Association is reviewing the ramifications of Circular 1190 and did not offer a comment to Inside SOCCER before the time of publishing.

Four players represent a cross section of many Academy participants and their proclamation is a common song throughout the SAAC family. Fifteen- year-olds Boris, Jordy, Devon and Sydney firmly believe their affiliation to DPS Soccer has been a blessing. The two girls aspire to some day play collegiate soccer while the boys are looking to play professionally. During a much deserved water break to relieve some intensive fitness testing the four youngsters, all with previous ties to club soccer, proudly announced that: “ we needed more challenges, we needed more soccer and we are getting it at the Academy”.

How can one argue with four teenagers who are thriving from some higher learning?