Minnesota United announced their youth academy plans over the weekend, and have gone for the more patient approach of starting with the younger age groups.

Minnesota United announced the launch of a youth academy over the weekend, including an official partnership with Minnesota Youth Soccer Association. Minnesota United will be joining U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy in the fall, which is an elite youth soccer league that features MLS academy teams, as well as other top club teams from across North America.

They will initially join with U-13 and U-14 teams, before adding U-15, U-17, and U-19 age groups. This move means that it may take several years before Minnesota has their first Homegrown player, but Sporting Director Manny Lagos thinks that it is the right decision.

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Lagos stated, “It’s a unique move on our part to build our academy from the ground up with the U-13 and U-14 teams, rather than from the top down with the oldest teams first. Only one other MLS club has implemented it’s academy in this manner, but after a careful review of our market we believed this approach would suit us best.”

Minnesota named Tim Carter as their Academy Director back in September. Minnesota United’s academy is now the third in the state, joining Minnesota Thunder Academy, and the residential program at Shattuck-Saint Mary’s, where Carter previously worked.

In the press release Carter noted, “Our goal is to develop players to be their best. Obviously, we want to see players reach the first team and represent our community in MLS, but equally important to us is helping young people grow and become citizen-athletes who represent us at any level of competition with outstanding class and integrity”.

It will be interesting to see if Minnesota United’s approach of starting at younger age groups and working their way up will pay off.