Tuesday, April 1 LONDON, ENGLAND – United Soccer Leagues Super Y-League ODP system, which began an inventive initiative this season involving West Ham United of the English Premier League, saw its top 12 players officially begin training yesterday at the storied West Ham Academy in London, England.
The 12 players (10 field players and two goalkeepers) and three USL representatives that includes: USL’s Senior Director of Youth Development, Jeff McRaney, Super Y-League ODP Technical Director, John Hannan (Washington Crossfire) and USL West Ham Academy Tour Manager, Brandon Morris – touched down in London’s Gatwick Airport at approximately 7:30AM GST.
“Saturday was a bit of a blur for all of us,” said Morris. “We landed, had lunch and kind of caught our breath. At that point we had been up for two full days.
On Sunday we woke up, had breakfast and went to West Ham’s Academy matches. They played three games, all at the same time in the U10, U12 and U14 division. The size of some of the kids was very impressive. They looked like they could have easily been U17 players. The overall ball control the West Ham Academy players possessed was amazing. For that age group, it was above and beyond what you would expect to see in the United States.
That evening we went to an English Premier League match between Newcastle and Tottenham. Our players seemed really excited for the match, which Newcastle won 4-1. Our seats were in the upper deck, but they were in the second row and there is not a bad seat in that place. A few of our guys were Newcastle fans. I don’t think a lot of people in our section liked the fact that they were cheering for the visitors. They were pretty annoyed, actually.
If I had to compare the atmosphere of the match to something in the US, I would say it was like an NFL grudge-match with very hardcore fans. People were out in the streets hours before the game even started. They were singing their songs and wearing their jerseys.
This morning we had our first training session. We showed up and West Ham provided all the players with new gear to train in. After a short warm-up, the players worked on a few drills focused on awareness when receiving the ball. The exercises were led by West Ham Academy Coach Paul Hilton. The kids were joined by two West Ham Academy players who had performed the drills before and were familiar with Hilton.
The players broke into a 6-v-6 scrimmage following the drills. They were joined there by the two keepers (Cody Mizell of the Atlanta Silverbacks & Cody Cropper of Bangu Tsunami) who were training with the West Ham Academy Goalkeeper Coach throughout the practice.
The atmosphere [of our first practice] was very laid back and the coach provided our guys with a basic idea of what they expected out of them this week. Our players seemed to fit right into the scrimmage. The West Ham Academy players stood out in the fact that they were very tall for their age, but as far as the level of play was concerned, our players were on the same level [as the West Ham Academy players].
During lunch, West Ham Academy Coach Paul Heffer introduced us to the “West Ham Way.” The basic idea of the classroom session was to get the players to ask whatever questions they had regarding West Ham. For the most part the players wanted to know their playing opportunities within the club. John [Hannan] asked a few questions about the style of coaching and the specific details of the “West Ham Way.”
The most important part of the trip this far is that the training this morning went so well. We took the players sightseeing in London once or twice already, but they did not seem too interested in the fact that they were in a historic city – they are here to play soccer."
USL’s West Ham Academy Invitees Justin Maheu (Ottawa Fury), Alan Narvaez (Juventus Sport Club), Cody M izell (Atlanta Silverbacks), Renato Pezzulo (Parsippany SC), Glenroy Chapman (South Jersey Barons), Ryan Lehman (Atlanta Fire United), Aaron Liang (Santa Cruz County Breakers), Cody Cropper (Bangu Tsunami), Sekani Sinclair (Schulz Academy), Giovanni Freitas (Sunrise SC), Fabian Bastiads (Sunrise SC) and Antonio Schneider (Chicago Magic).
About the West Ham United Youth Academy The West Ham United youth academy is recognized one of the most successful youth soccer programs in the world having developed such talents as Joe Cole (Chelsea), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United) and Michael Carrick (Manchester United) among others. Jonathan Spector, a former USL Super Y-League and USL Premier Development League, and current U.S. National Team member regularly starts as a defender for the club. Three West Ham players were on the England Under-21 team that reached the semi-finals of the 2007 UEFA Under-21 championship this summer. West Ham Academy Director Tony Carr has been central to the success of the academy since 1973 and will lead the implementation of his system with USL.
