The Houston Dynamo Academy continues to expand its efforts to deliver elite youth soccer coaching and development to players and families throughout the Northeast and Northwest areas of Houston through the creation of the new Catalyst Program in partnership with Dynamo/Dash Youth Soccer Club, the two organizations announced today.

Through the partnership, the Dynamo Academy and Dynamo/Dash Youth will team up to open three new Foundation Phase – Catalyst Program campuses on the north side of Houston, expanding on to the Dynamo Academy’s main training facility at Houston Sports Park and the new Dynamo Academy West facility at Dalecrest Field. Each Foundation campus will help to greatly reduce travel time and expense for families while providing the capacity for motivated young players to experience an elite and professional player pathway of the Houston Dynamo

“Houston’s large geographic size and population requires us to provide logistical solutions for families of young, motivated players. In the model of other top professional academies around the world, geographic training and development centers will help greatly reduce travel time and expense for our families,” said Dynamo Academy Director Paul Holocher. “It would provide a capacity for motivated and talented players to experience an elite and professional player pathway through a team of coaching staff with a proven development curriculum and programming. We couldn’t be more excited for the program.”

Coaches for the Catalyst campuses will all be members of the Dynamo Academy and Dynamo/Dash Youth Academy staffs. The three new Catalyst campuses will be located at Concordia Lutheran High School in Tomball, Bear Branch Soccer Complex in The Woodlands, and Holy Trinity Episcopal School and XCEL Soccer Academy in Humble.

The Foundation Phase, which includes players ages 10-12, is an important “golden age” of learning and the largest developmental phase in youth soccer. Players at each Catalyst campus, including Houston Sports Park and Dynamo Academy West, will train three to four times per week with weekend matches throughout the year in the Texas Pre-Academy U12 League.

On a monthly basis, in addition to normal geographic campus training, special ‘combined sessions’ and ‘friendly matches’ will be held at the Houston Sports Park campus. These specially designed training sessions will bring players together from each Foundation Phase campus to train and develop collectively with the full coaching staff.

The Dynamo Academy and Dynamo/Dash Youth will host a series of Talent ID events throughout May and June, which will provide talented young players ages 10-12 with the opportunity to try out for the program. Player evaluations and placements will occur with the purpose of identifying motivated and talented young players across the ages from U10 - U12 in the North Houston geographic region.

“The development of the Catalyst Program is fundamental to our mission at the Houston Dynamo / Dash Youth Soccer Club. We believe in creating a true pathway from the grassroots to the professional game. This program will provide players from all over Houston an unparalleled level of opportunities,” said Dynamo/Dash Youth Academy Director Dave Dengerink. “The Catalyst Program clearly demonstrates the level of collaboration between our Development Academy programs for the betterment of the game in Houston. Last week, both academies had two players – Cesar Cordova (Humble, TX) and Hans Leza (Houston, TX) – represent our country and city with the U-15 United States Youth National Team. This program will be the first step for the next generation!”

The creation of the Catalyst Program the latest example of the widespread impact that the partnership between the Dynamo and Dash organization and Dynamo/Dash Youth. Created in 2017 through the merger of two youth soccer clubs under the Dynamo and Dash name, Dynamo/Dash Youth includes more than 6,000 players of all skill levels throughout the Houston area.

“We are extremely proud of the relationship that we’ve built with the Dynamo/Dash Youth club – and are both committed to working together to grow the game in our community,” said Dynamo and Dash President of Business Operations John Walker. “The Catalyst Program is one of many initiatives we’ve partnered on – and we look forward to collaborating with DDY on many other initiatives in the coming years.”