The closing of Brad Friedel’s Premier Soccer Academies was a huge blow to soccer in Northeast Ohio, one of the top markets in North America. There has been no comparable product to develop soccer until now.
The SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio is everything that PSA was and more. And they have enormous resources to guarantee stability and longevity for all of their sports programs, including a full-fledged residential soccer academy. They are not a short-term project that will fade away, but rather a long-term vision for soccer and sports in this country.
The problem with the term “academy” is that everyone uses it whether they are truly an academy or not. Cleveland, Akron, and Canton may claim to have such programs, but no one can match what SPIRE has planned for their academy. Only IMG in Bradenton, Florida can even compete with what is happening in Geneva and they may even be surpassed in a year or two.
In the fall of 2012 post-graduate students will enter the residential soccer academy for the first time. In the fall of 2013 the program will expand to high school athletes. The academy is designed to improve the individual, taking care of all aspects of the athlete’s life from academics, training, nutrition, and psychology.
According to Head Coach Marco Koolman, formerly with Boston College and Franklin Pierce, it is the “development of the total player.” The Dutch may have cornered the market on total football, but SPIRE has it covered when you talk about the total player.
Providing a professional environment is critical when talking about player development. This environment can certainly be called professional, but also intense and rigorous. Students will train at least twice a day along with a demanding in-house academic program. That’s right players will live, breathe, and learn soccer and take care of their education at the same time, living and working at Olympic-grade facilities on the SPIRE campus.
Innovative? Yes. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely yes. It is an investment in a player and a person with the end goal being increased scholarship opportunities for college and a shot to play at the next level. Will this academy produce top college prospects? Future professional players? Yes and yes.
The soccer academy is just the tip of the iceberg for SPIRE, which offers programs in almost every sport imaginable. They already are home to premier youth and adult indoor leagues that draw from teams all over the Midwest. Geneva’s location is convenient for almost everyone, being in the middle of a soccer-rich region.
SPIRE’s plan is bold, but one that the beautiful game has needed for a long time. The academy system has been the heart of soccer in Europe, paying huge dividends over the years. Programs like SPIRE’s academy will give American players a chance, making us competitive in the global game, even pushing us closer to a World Cup victory.
ISN is committed to showing the promise and potential of SPIRE and its impact on the beautiful game here in the Midwest and across the country. A series of feature articles are planned, starting in March. For further information about the SPIRE Institute, please visit http://www.spireinstitute.org.
SPIRE will have high school athletes living and training year-round starting fall 2012. There was so much interest from the camp, league, club, event and tournament activities – they are opening the campus to high school boarding athletes this year!