Английская Википедия:Girls Academy

Материал из Онлайн справочника
Перейти к навигацииПерейти к поиску

Шаблон:Use mdy dates Шаблон:Infobox football league

Girls Academy (GA) is a soccer league and development platform for female soccer players in the United States. Formed in 2020, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including National Women's Soccer League.

Competition format

Girls Academy features age groups starting at U-13 through U-19.[1] During the regular season, teams play other members from their respective conferences. The league includes ten conferences (Northwest, Pacific Northwest, Frontier, Mid-America, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Mountain West, Southeast, and Southwest).[2] Top teams from each conference will participate in Playoffs, and National Finals for qualifying teams based on playoff performance. Non-playoff teams will also participate in a season-ending showcase.

Different age groups will also have a varying number of national events throughout the year to provide additional talent showcase opportunities in front of college and professional scouts.

Champions League

Two members of each conference are selected for Champions League, a separate competition for the most competitive clubs in Girls Academy.[3] Participants qualify based on final league standings. For the U14 through U19 age groups, the highest-ranked wildcard teams at the National Playoff from each age group are added to the mix for a total of 20 teams per age group.

National events

Girls Academy hosts five national events each season — Winter Showcase, Champions Cup, Spring Showcase, Summer Showcase, and National Playoffs, plus two U13/U14 events: East and West regionals.[4]

History

Citing the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced it was ending the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, leaving top boys and girls clubs to look for a new home.[5] Former Development Academy clubs had a few options, many choosing to move to the Girls Academy,[6][7] founded by a group of leaders from the Development Player League (DPL).[8]

Former University of Washington women's soccer coach Lesle Gallimore served as its founding commissioner of the Girls Academy. She accepted the position in the summer of 2020, after the conclusion of her 26-year tenure as head coach of the women's soccer team at the University of Washington.

In October 2020, Girls Academy announced a strategic relationship with Major League Soccer and a partnership with USYS.[9] According to the press release, Girls Academy will work in coordination with MLS Next, to “deliver a true pyramid for female youth players in the US, with the GA serving as the USYS premier girls platform in conjunction with MLS.” The partnership will focus on establishing academy standards for coaching and player development, improving talent identification partnerships, enhancing coaching education, and creating competitions to showcase players. While GA will maintain full autonomy over its league, they will also benefit from advice from the leaders of MLS and USYS as it aims to become the premier league for elite female soccer players in the United States.

In June 2023, Lesle Gallimore announced her resignation as Girls Academy commissioner to become General Manager of NWSL club OL Reign.[10] Gallimore was succeeded by Patricia Hughes in September 2023.[11]

On February 10, 2024, U.S. Soccer approved Girls Academy as a National Affiliate member.[12][13]

League Champions

National champions

U-13 U-14 U-15 U-16 U-17 U-19
2020-2021[14] Oklahoma Energy FC Cincinnati United Premier NEFC Cincinnati United Premier Nationals Bay Area Surf
2021-2022 Colorado Rush Nationals TSJ FC Virginia Albion SC[15] Oakwood SC Bay Area Surf
2022-2023 Tophat Gold South Shore Select Tophat Gold Lou Fusz Athletic TSJ FC Virginia Sockers FC Chicago
National titles and Champions Cup wins
Team National

Champs

No. of

Wins

Champions Cup No. of

Wins

Total

combined

Cincinnati United Premier 2021 (U14, U16) 2 2022 (U15); 2023 (U13, U15) 3 5
Nationals 2021 (U17); 2022 (U14) 2 2022 (U14); 2023 (U15) 2 4
Tophat Gold 2023 (U13, U15) 2 2023 (U13) 1 3
Bay Area Surf Шаблон:Dagger 2021 (U19); 2022 (U19) 2 2022 (U19) 1 3
South Shore Select 2023 (U14) 1 2022 (U13) 1 2
Albion SC 2022 (U16) 1 2023 (U17) 1 2
Colorado Rush 2022 (U13) 1 2022 (U16) 1 2
NEFC 2021 (U15) 1 None 0 1
Oakwood SC 2022 (U17) 1 None 0 1
Oklahoma Energy FC Шаблон:Dagger 2021 (U13) 1 None 0 1
Sockers FC Chicago 2023 (U19) 1 None 0 1
TSJ FC Virginia 2023 (U16) 1 None 0 1
Florida United None 0 2022 (U17) 1 1
Шаблон:Dagger Former member club

Teams

For the 2023-24 season, Girls Academy included 95 teams.[16]

Conference Member Name (Location)
Frontier BVB International Academy NTX (Carrolton, TX)
Frontier HTX Soccer (Houston, TX)
Frontier Lonestar SC Red (Austin, TX)
Frontier Lonestar SC Black (Austin, TX)
Frontier Lou Fusz Athletic (St. Louis, MO)
Frontier Louisiana TDP Elite (Baton Rouge, LA)
Frontier Renegades Soccer Club (Richardson, TX)
Frontier RISE Soccer Club (Houston, TX)
Frontier San Antonio City SC (San Antonio, TX)
Frontier St. Louis Development Academy (St. Louis, MO)
Mid-America Chicago FC United (Glenview, IL)
Mid-America Cincinnati United Premier (Cincinnati, OH)
Mid-America Indy Premier United (Noblesville, IN)
Mid-America Lexington Sporting Club (Lexington, KY)
Mid-America Michigan Jaguars FC (Novi, MI)
Mid-America Nationals Blue (Detroit, MI)
Mid-America Nationals Gray (Detroit, MI)
Mid-America Sockers FC (Chicago, IL)
Midwest Central Illinois United (Rantoul, IL)
Midwest Galaxy SC (Naperville, IL)
Midwest Kansas Rush Soccer Club (Olathe, KS)
Midwest Salvo SC (Rosemount, MN)
Midwest SC Wave (Brookfield, WI)
Midwest Sporting Nebraska FC (Omaha, NE)
Midwest Tonka Fusion Elite (Plymouth, MN)
Midwest VSA Rush (Waukee, IA)
Mid-Atlantic Baltimore Armour (Baltimore, MD)
Mid-Atlantic Baltimore Celtic (Baltimore, MD)
Mid-Atlantic Beadling SC (Bridgeville, PA)
Mid-Atlantic Century United FC (Pittsburgh, PA)
Mid-Atlantic Keystone FC (Mechanicsburg, PA)
Mid-Atlantic Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals (Philadelphia, PA)
Mid-Atlantic PA Classics (Manheim, PA)
Mid-Atlantic Real Jersey FC (Medford, NJ)
Mid-Atlantic SJEB FC (Pitman, NJ)
Mid-Atlantic Skyline Elite SC (Charlottesville, VA)
Mid-Atlantic Sporting AC (Wilmington, DE)
Mid-Atlantic TSJ FC Virginia (Leesburg, VA)
Mountain West Albion SC Las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV)
Mountain West Broomfield Soccer Club (Broomfield, CO)
Mountain West Colorado Rush (Littleton, CO)
Mountain West Las Vegas Sports Academy (Las Vegas, NV)
Mountain West New Mexico Soccer Academy (Albuquerque, NM)
Mountain West Rio Rapids SC (Albuquerque, NM)
Mountain West Utah Celtic FC (Highland, UT)
Mountain West Wasatch SC (Kaysville, UT)
Northeast Cedar Stars Academy – Monmouth (Trinton Falls, NJ)
Northeast Cedar Stars Academy – Bergen (Teaneck, NJ)
Northeast Long Island SC (Glen Cove, NY)
Northeast NEFC (Mendon, MA)
Northeast New York Soccer Club (Purchase, NY)
Northeast Oakwood SC (Glastonbury, CT)
Northeast Rochester NYFC Youth (West Henrietta, NY)
Northeast Seacoast United (Epping, NH)
Northeast South Shore Select (Hingham, MA)
Northeast STA (Morris Plains, NJ)
Northeast Syracuse Development Academy (Solvay, NY)
Northwest Almaden FC (San Jose, CA)
Northwest Clovis Crossfire (Clovis, CA)
Northwest Lamorinda SC (Orinda, CA)
Northwest Los Gatos United (Los Gatos, CA)
Northwest Sacramento United (Sacramento, CA)
Northwest San Francisco Elite Academy (San Francisco, CA)
Northwest Santa Clara Sporting (Santa Clara, CA)
Northwest Silicon Valley SA (Palo Alto, CA)
Northwest West Coast Soccer Club (Tracy, CA)
Pacific Northwest Bridge City SA (Portland, OR)
Pacific Northwest Capital FC (Salem, OR)
Pacific Northwest Columbia Premier SC (Vancouver, WA)
Pacific Northwest Eugene Metro Fútbol Club (Eugene, OR)
Pacific Northwest Liverpool FC IA Washington (Issaquah, WA)
Pacific Northwest OL Reign Academy (Tacoma, WA)
Pacific Northwest Spokane Sounders (Spokane, WA)
Pacific Northwest Washington Rush (Everett, WA)
Pacific Northwest Washington East Surf SC (Spokane, WA)
Southeast AFC Lightning (Fayetteville, GA)
Southeast Florida United (Miramar, FL)
Southeast IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL)
Southeast PBG Predators (Palm Beach Gardens, FL)
Southeast South Carolina Surf (Mt. Pleasant, SC)
Southeast Southern Soccer Academy (Marietta, GA)
Southeast Tophat Gold (Marietta, GA)
Southeast Tophat Navy (Marietta, GA)
Southeast United Soccer Alliance (Fleming Island, FL)
Southeast Wake FC (Holly Springs, NC)
Southeast West Florida Flames (Apollo Beach, FL)
Southwest Albion SC San Diego (San Diego, CA)
Southwest City SC (Carlsbad, CA)
Southwest FC Tucson (Tucson, AZ)
Southwest FRAM Soccer Club (Torrance, CA)
Southwest LA Surf SC (Pasadena, CA)
Southwest Murrieta Soccer Academy (Temecula, CA)
Southwest SC del Sol (Phoenix, AZ)
Southwest SDSC Surf (San Diego, CA)
Southwest West Coast FC (Irvine, CA)

College athletics

For the 2022-23 season, nearly 600 Girls Academy committed to play college soccer. 62.8% committed to Division I, 19.6% Division II, 13.4% Division III, and 2.6% NAIA.[17] This was an increase over the 2021-22 season, which had 551 commitments.[18]

Sponsorship

The following organizations are a partial list of officials sponsors of Girls Academy:

  • Adidas - official brand partner
  • Soccer.com - official retail partner
  • Gatorade - official sport beverage
  • Hudl - official video analysis partner
  • Veo - official video camera provider

Notable players

As of June 2023

Player GA Club Pro Club Notes
Chloe Ricketts Michigan Jaguars Washington Spirit On March 2, 2023, Ricketts signed a three-year deal (with an option for a fourth year) with the team at the age of 15 years and 283 days. The contract made her the youngest ever NWSL signee at the time, breaking the record set by Olivia Moultrie in 2021 (15 years and 286 days).[19]

References

Шаблон:Reflist