PUMA ELITE Super Group at the Disney Junior Soccer Showcase
Soccer News: The Disney Junior Soccer Showcase held November 24-30, 2015 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports at the Walt Disney World Resort featured two PUMA Men’s Brackets; PUMA PRO and PUMA ELITE, creating the PUMA Super Group.
The PUMA Super Group brought together PUMA’s top professional international academies to compete against some of the top talent the United States has to offer. As part of the PUMA ELITE program, PUMA brought in the Arsenal FC and BVB-Borussia Dortmund U14 academy teams to compete in the week long event integrating them with the PUMA ELITE partner clubs from in America.
Throughout the week, the teams were also able to engage in multiple activities on and off the field with the professional clubs to further develop their players and coaches. This included player and coaches clinics, coaching focus groups, private athlete socials and open professional trainings.
Noah Gins, Technical Director of Albion SC said, “It is an amazing benefit for our top level U14 boys to have the opportunity to play against the international academies.”
San Diego based Albion SC Academy team competed in the PUMA ELITE bracket and prepared extensively for the showcase. “We practiced four times a week for months,” said highly respected you soccer coach Paul Holohan, Academy Director for Albion. “We recorded all the games and reviewed the videos as a team. Video is a great tool and allows the players to see what they do on the field. When you show a player what he does on the field, it adds a level of clarity which words can not provide.”
“We also used video to set out a plan – and scouted the competitors games. We video taped the competitors matches and all the players watched the videos together. We carefully analyzed the competitors style of play and discussed strategies.”
So how did Albion SC Academy and international academies, Arsenal FC and BVB-Borussia Dortmund, place in the showcase?
Check out the soccer action recaps:
Albion SC US Development Academy
ALBION SC USSDA (CAS) started off the showcase with a 2-0 shutout against CHARGERS SC CLW 0102 SELECT (FL) followed by a 3-1 win against CINCINNATI UNITED SC GOLD 0102 (OS). A 4-1 win against GSA 02 PREMIER TEAM (GA) crowned them PUMA Elite bracket champions and advanced them to the PUMA PRO bracket to face internationals ARSENAL FC ACADEMY.
The Southern California team was not able to continue their undefeated streak and fell to the internationals . The final score was 2-0 with ARSENAL FC ACADEMY claiming the victory.
“I am very proud of our Albion USSF Academy U14 team. It was a great match and our boys worked very hard. Arsenal has a very similar playing style to ours. They were powerful, quick and fast,” said Holohan. “We were very organized and the team played defensively and skillfully. We played a possession-oriented, attacking style and I am very pleased with the team’s performance. While we may have lost the match, even the other coaches in Florida were impressed with our players’ performance on the field.”
BVB – Borussia Dortmund
BVB BORUSSIA DORTMUND (GER) started off the showcase with a 1-1 tie against ORLANDO CITY U14 DA (FL) followed by a 2-2 tie against BALTIMORE CELTIC DARBY (MD). They then faced fellow international academy ARSENAL FC ACADEMY (GBR) and fell 2-1. BVB then faced INTERNATIONALS U14 ACADEMY (ON) and ended the showcase in third place with a 2-2 tie.
“It was a perfect set-up,” said Peter Wazinski, Manager of the BVB BORUSSIA DORTMUND U-14 team. “We would have liked to stay longer and our youth players felt there were being treated like professionals.”
“Athletically, our players did a good job. The games were always close,” said Wazinski whose team ended up with three draws and one loss to Arsenal. It is important to note that the BVB team’s players were all born in 2002 as the U14 age bracket in Germany is different than the USA or England. Normally, the players who compete in the U14 bracket are born in 2001. Undaunted by the age difference, BVB BORUSSIA DORTMUND’s Wazinski said, “We would be ready to come back again to compete.”
Arsenal FC Academy
ARSENAL FC ACADEMY started off the PUMA PRO showcase with a 6-0 shutout against BALTIMORE CELTIC DARBY (MD) followed by a 1-1 tie against ORLANDO CITY U14 DA (FL). They then faced fellow international academy BVB BORUSSIA DORTMUND (GER) and a 2-1 win sent them to the finals. ARSENAL FC ACADEMY (GBR) faced PUMA ELITE showcase winners, ALBION SC USSDA (CAS) in the final and finished the tournament undefeated with a 2-0 victory and were crowned PUMA showcase champions.
Related Articles: Paul Holohan Joins Albion SC, Albion SC & Arsenal FC – Developing Youth Soccer Players Together
