What We're Reading
Arsenal eyes U.S. academy
- Daily Express, Thursday, December 16, 2010 2:05 AM
English club Arsenal is examining the possibility of opening a large-scale training center in the United States.
“The club is convinced that America is a vast and largely
untapped potential resource," says an Arsenal source. "Football is huge in America and there should be more American youngsters getting through to the highest level – and the belief is they
would be if they had the chance. Right now, the best athletes are taken by the other main sports in the U.S., whereas this would be the start of trying to turn them into the Premier League footballers
of tomorrow.”
The project is the brain-child of Arsenal's billionaire director, Stan Kroenke. He is also the owner of the Colorado Rapids and
built the Dick's Sporting Goods Park soccer stadium and field complex. Arsenal is looking at an East Coast location for its academy but could opt for the Rapids' complex in Commerce City, Colo.
Our take: It will sure be interesting to see what Kroenke's fellow MLS owners think of the idea of Arsenal starting its own academy.
Anything that provides alternatives to the existing US Soccer/college coaching structure is a major benefit to the development of skilled US players. Bless you Stan Kroenke and good luck!! How about locating that development center a little more centrally --- like Chicago or St. Louis????
Kroenke is a visionary...our sustem has too many roadblocks...recognizing pro-talent potential and developing it is something that the Arsenal Academy has experience in.