CHICAGO (Nov. 8, 2007) – The 2007 Nike Friendlies will take place from Dec. 6-9 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., with 54 teams competing across the Under-15/16 and Under-17/18 age groups. The 2007 edition of the annual event will focus on the development of players, coaches and referees at the international level, and will feature four U.S. Youth National Teams, Under-17 teams from Brazil, Russia and Turkey and CONCACAF Coaching and Referee Symposiums.
The U.S. Under-17 and Under-15 Mens’ National Teams will each be divided into two squads that will represent U.S. Soccer. The U-17 teams will be divided in to the U-17 ’91 MNT and the U-17 ’92 MNT, while the U-15 team will be made primarily of players born in 1993, and will play as the U-15 Blue and U-15 White teams.
The U.S. Under-17 ‘92s will compete against youth national teams from Brazil, Russia and Turkey in an international bracket, while the U-17 ‘91s and the U-15 Boys’ National Team will compete against elite club teams.
As part of the Nike Friendlies extended weekend, U.S. Soccer will host CONCACAF Coaching and Referee Symposiums. The Coaching Symposium will be held Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday afternoon and will feature sessions led by U.S. Men’s National Team assistant coach and Development Academy Director John Hackworth, U.S. Under-18 MNT Head Coach and Director of Education & Youth Development Bob Jenkins, Under-20 MNT head coach Thomas Rongen and U-15 Boys’ National Team head coach Jim Barlow.
The CONCACAF Referee Academy is a chance for 30 national and international-level referees from the U.S. and Caribbean nations to be evaluated while learning what it takes to advance and work at the game’s highest levels. The referees in attendance will officiate matches throughout the weekend.
In conjunction, there will also be an Assessor Academy in which five mentors on hand will work directly with five National Assessor candidates. The U.S. Soccer Referee Department staff will be on hand to train and evaluate the referees and national assessors. A select number of referees attending the academy may be chosen to work the MLS Combine and individual officials may be invited to join U.S. Soccer’s referee pool for the professional level.
In addition to a full complement of national staff coaches, scouts from top European clubs, including Barcelona, Arsenal, Manchester United, Celtic and PSV Eindhoven will be on hand, along with college coaches from across the country.
Playing alongside the international bracket, 46 teams from U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy will round out an 81-game schedule. Clubs representing 17 states and all eight Academy conferences will be a part of the elite player development opportunity. Concurrent with past Nike Friendly events, the matches played during the weekend will not count toward the Development Academy standings.
Created to provide players with the best possible opportunity to develop, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy was initiated after a comprehensive review of player development systems in the United States and around the world. The Nike Friendlies will provide Academy teams with the opportunity to experience international refereeing and to play in an international atmosphere.
With a total of 54 teams scheduled to participate in 81 matches, the competition has improved every year since 19 teams competed in the inaugural Nike Friendlies in 2001. The event has become highly anticipated by clubs and college coaches because of the emphasis on quality soccer and the top-level competition.
U.S. Soccer’s Nike Friendlies is an annual competition in which the best youth soccer clubs around the United States are invited to play high-level games that stress quality soccer and player development over wins and losses. Tournament standings are not kept during the competition, in which each U-15/16 team plays three 80-minute games, while U-17/18 teams play three 90-minute games over the four days. A full list of teams and complete schedule is available now at ussoccer.com.
During the tournament, ussoccer.com will provide comprehensive coverage of the event including mini-match reports from every game played, photos and video. U.S. Soccer’s all_access video team, as well as Studio 90, the web show made popular during the 2006 World Cup, will be on site providing features and highlights.
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