FC Edmonton Academy Ready for 2016 EDSA Season

May 2, 2016 - North American Soccer League (NASL) - FC Edmonton News Release







FC Edmonton Academy in Action

(FC Edmonton) FC Edmonton Academy in Action(FC Edmonton)

FC Edmonton's Academy kicks off their Edmonton District Soccer Association (EDSA) Premier Divison season, May 2 at ESA South 1 against Juventus. 2016 marks the Academy's third season in the Divison, which sees the program's young talent competing against older and more physical players on a weekly basis.

"With the number of 16-year-olds in our program and with the schedule that, for the most part has them playing one game per-week, I believe that this is the perfect environment to test their training," FC Edmonton Academy technical director Jeff Paulus explained. "There are some very good teams in Men's Premier and the challenge for our young players is to continue to move the ball, move off the ball, and avoid the physical 1v1 battles that will cause us problems."

Academy players are put to the test in each match, dealing with scenarios that have only been simulated in training leading up to the Premier League season.

"The tempo and level of the Premier Division allows us to put each of our players into games with various tactical considerations," Paulus added. "These include maintaining a lead, coming back from a goal down, or defending a point when being outplayed. It is important that our players learn to play under pressure and the often more physical and athletic players we are up against require our players to rely less on their own physical abilities and more on the technical and tactical requirements that we work on daily in training."

Last season, the Academy went 9-0-9 in a season that also featured an abundance of young players. The success of the Academy program, however, is truly measured in future years as Academy graduates make their way into First Team, NCAA and CIS environments.

"With a very young squad, I would expect our team to be once very competitive and to be battling for a place in the top half of the table," Paulus concluded. "It is actually vital to our programs stability to ensure that we are always out of the relegation zone. While we never have a win at all cost mentality when coaching, we do want to see a very high level of compete in our players."

FC Edmonton Academy began in January 2012 and now in its fifth year, continues to be a fully funded program by FC Edmonton owners Tom and Dave Fath. One of the goals of the Academy is to provide an opportunity for the elite player to focus solely on their individual growth within the playing philosophy of FC Edmonton.

For more information on the Academy and FC Edmonton, please visit www.fcedmonton.com.

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