The idea has always been to develop better players, the question, however, has been how.

Now, U.S. Soccer has just kicked off a new program.

“With the objective to expand and improve the Men’s Youth National Team player pool, U.S. Soccer will launch a new Youth National Teams Under-14 Talent Identification Program this month. This new scouting model will function as a collaboration between the U.S. Soccer Talent Identification department (TID) and the Youth National Teams Program.”

The goal is to create a larger funnel in which to identify top talent in regions and create a scouting pool for the U-15 to U-20 YNTs.

These camps are opportunities for talented players to excel and hopefully will “inspire high-potential players while accelerating their development in an engaging and challenging environment,” according to the U.S. Soccer press release.

A similar YNT U-14 TID Program will be implemented for female players next season.

“With this Youth National Teams and Talent Identification program, we will be able to identify a higher number of talented players at an important moment in their development,” said U.S. Soccer Youth Technical Director Tab Ramos. “This will help us to create an even more competitive Youth National Teams environment, which will deliver more competitive Men’s National Team players for years to come.”

“The new program helps us cast a wider scouting net for national identification but also allows us to evaluate players with an eye towards the future, identifying the ones to keep monitoring in their own environment as we move into the U-15 cycle and beyond,” said Ramos.

Source: U.S. Soccer release