The IMG Soccer Academy is the United States Soccer Federation's (USSF) full_time residency program for the US Under 17 Men's National Team. Started in 1999, it has become integral in developing the United State's top youth soccer prospects. The residency program gives elite players the opportunity to train in a professional environment as MLS does not have a youth academy or reserve team system currently in place. The academy has grown from an initial 20 players to 30 in 2002 and then to 40 in 2003. The program is now split into a U16 squad and a U17 squad.

The IMG Soccer Academy is part of the IMG Academies located in Bradenton, Florida. A typical day for the student/athelete at Bradenton is classes in the morning followed by atheletic training in the afternoon. Students at the academy take accelerated courses and graduate high school a year early, making the players who do not turn pro immediately some of the most heavily recruited prospects in college soccer.

The academy can trace its roots back to Project 2010 which highlighted ways the USSF could make the men's national team a legitimate threat to win the World Cup by the end of the decade. Two programs that were born from Project 2010 were Generation adidas (previously called Project-40) and the Bradenton academy. The academy was started in January of 1999 with backing of International Marketing Group (IMG) and Nike.

Notable Graduates

1999

• Nelson Akwari
• DaMarcus Beasley
• Kyle Beckerman
• Jordan Cila
• Bobby Convey
• Steve Cronin
• D.J. Countess
• Justin Detter
• Landon Donovan
• Adolfo Gregorio
• Oguchi Onyewu
• Seth Trembly
• Alex Yi

2001

• Craig Capano
• Eddie Johnson
• Justin Mapp
• Chad Marshall
• Mike Magee
• Santino Quaranta
• Jordan Stone

2003

• Freddy Adu
• Eddie Gaven
• Guillermo Gonzalez
• Jonathan Spector
• Danny Szetela

Head Coaches

• John Ellinger (1999-2004)
• John Hackworth (2004-)

List of Classes

• Spring 1999 Class
• Fall 1999 Class
• Spring 2000 Class
• Fall 2000 Class
• Spring 2001 Class
• Fall 2001 Class
• Spring 2002 Class
• Fall 2002 Class
• Spring 2003 Class
• Fall 2003 Class
• Spring 2004 Class
• Fall 2004 Class

External Links

• US Soccer's U-17 page (http://www.ussoccer.com/teams/default.sps?iTeamID=248)
• BigSoccer Forum on U.S. Men's Youth Soccer Teams (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=255)