Newly Appointed Director of U.S. Development Academy
Soccer News: In its continual effort to structure the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, Albion SC have created programming that has expanded to the Under-12 age group starting in the Fall of 2016 and have the 12, 13 and 14 year old age groups separately.
This will simply enhance and thus improve the overall development environment at an earlier development stage and getting started at a younger age with the U12s is very much a step in the right direction. It simply facilitates the Academy clubs to have a more consistent, step-by-step pathway for players to start their progression of development.
Current U.S. Soccer Development Academy head coach Paul Holohan will oversee the 02, 03 and 04 teams and help administrate and interact with the U.S. Soccer Federation.
“This now provides the younger age groups another option to go about their development,” said Holohan. “The players will train more often, while also playing fewer – games. This change will mean the competition landscape will change in these ages as several clubs will compete inside this platform.”
In his role as Director of the Academy, Holohan will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operation of the Academy, including implementing the coaching and training curriculums. He will also be in charge of continuing to develop players for future team, college and professional placement, and supporting the club’s relationships within the US soccer community. Holohan will report to Executive Director Noah Gins.
Holohan is a very passionate man who clearly loves coaching soccer and has dedicated himself to developing elite youth soccer players on and off the field. Holohan believes the majority of his players want to excel on the field and continue to play collegiate soccer. “I am always happy to call a college coach for a good player – the way I see it, college is where most of these players are going to go and we want to help them achieve their dreams of success,” said Holohan. “All the coaches at Albion SC work together as a team to help the players be their best, and I believe this is the right way to do things.”
“We are making big strides to enhance Albion SC every year at each and every level and layer of the program,” said Gins. “We have added Paul Holohan to oversee the U.S. Soccer Development Academy program with great detail and management. Paul will handle helping with the Technical aspects of these teams as well as administrate for the program. We look forward to seeing great results with the streamlined approach and the details by which we will manage these teams.”
While the USSF Development Academy does not keep official standing of the U14 age group, Holohan is very proud of his players performance and their dedication to the game of soccer.
