IMG Soccer Academy

The IMG Soccer Academy is the United States Soccer Federation's (USSF) full-time residency program for the US Under 17 Men's National Team. Started in 1999, it has become integral in developing the United State's top youth soccer prospects. The residency program gives elite players the opportunity to train in a professional environment as MLS does not currently have a youth academy system in place (although it should be noted that DC United, Chicago Fire, and New York Red Bull have created youth academies since Bradenton's inception). The Bradenton Academy has grown from an initial 20 players to 30 in 2002 and then to 40 in 2003. The program is now split into a U16 squad and a U17 squad.

The IMG Soccer Academy is part of the IMG Academies located in Bradenton, Florida. A typical day for the student/athlete at Bradenton is classes in the morning followed by athletic training in the afternoon. Students at the academy take accelerated courses and graduate high school a year early, making the players who do not turn pro immediately some of the most heavily recruited prospects in college soccer.

The academy can trace its roots back to Project 2010 which highlighted ways the USSF could make the men's national team a legitimate threat to win the World Cup by the end of the decade. Two programs that were born from Project 2010 were Generation adidas (previously called "Project-40") and the Bradenton academy. The academy was started in January 1999 with backing of International Management Group (IMG) and Nike.

Notable graduates

1999

*Nelson Akwari
*DaMarcus Beasley
*Kyle Beckerman
*Jordan Cila
*Bobby Convey
*Steve Cronin
*D.J. Countess
*Justin Detter
*Landon Donovan
*Adolfo Gregorio
*Oguchi Onyewu
*Seth Trembly
*Alex Yi

2001

*Craig Capano
*Eddie Johnson
*Justin Mapp
*Chad Marshall
*Mike Magee
*Santino Quaranta
*Jordan Stone
*Tanner Krause

2003

*Freddy Adu
*Eddie Gaven
*Guillermo Gonzalez
*Jonathan Spector
*Danny Szetela

Head coaches

*John Ellinger (1999-2004)
*John Hackworth (2004-2007)
*Wilmer Cabrera (2007-Present)

List of classes

pring 1999

*Nelson Akwari
*DaMarcus Beasley
*Kyle Beckerman
*Danny Bolin
*Filippo Chillemi
*Jordan Cila
*Bobby Convey
*D.J. Countess
*Steve Cronin
*Kenny Cutler
*Landon Donovan
*Adolfo Gregorio
*Bryan Jackson
*Kellen Kalso
*Greg Martin
*Oguchi Onyewu
*Raul Rivera
*Matt Roberts
*Seth Trembly
*Alex Yi

Fall 1999

pring 2000

*Craig Capano
*David Chun
*Daniel Fiore
*Gray Griffin
*Jordan Harvey
*Eddie Johnson
*Paul Johnson
*Chris Lancos
*Justin Mapp
*Heath Pearce
*Santino Quaranta
*Zachary Riffett
*Marco Rodriguez
*Mario Rodriguez
*Adam Schuerman
*Chefik Simo
*Jordan Stone
*Josh Villalobos

Fall 2000

pring 2001

Fall 2001

*Corey Ashe
*Craig Capano
*John DiRaimondo
*Erik Forbes
*Eddie Gaven
*Guillermo Gonzalez
*Gray Griffin
*Michael Harrington
*Chris Lancos
*Mike Magee
*Justin Mapp
*Phil Marfuggi
*Tomiwa Ogunsola
*Brandon Owens
*Adam Schuerman
*Jordan Stone
*Josh Villalobos
*Eric Vogl

pring 2002

Fall 2002

pring 2003

*Freddy Adu
*Corey Ashe
*Michael Bradley
*Adrian Chevannes
*Steve Curfman
*John DiRaimondo
*Eddie Gaven
*Chris Germani
*Trini Gomez
*Guillermo Gonzalez
*Brian Grazier
*Michael Harrington
*Drew Harrison
*Kyle Helton
*Rodrigo Hidalgo
*Christian Jimenez
*Phil Marfuggi
*Brian Mascarenhas
*Tomiwa Ogunsola
*Brandon Owens
*Jacob Peterson
*Marcus Rein
*Robbie Rogers
*Stephen Sandbo
*Jonathan Spector
*Danny Szetela
*Julian Valentin
*Tim Ward
*Jamie Watson
*Chase Wileman

Fall 2003

pring 2004

Fall 2004/Spring 2005

*Eddie Ababio
*Kevin Alston
*Josmer Altidore
*Anthony Ampaipitakwong
*Bryan Arguez
*Matt Armstrong
*David Arvizu
*Eric Avila
*Michael Balogun
*Nikolas Besagno
*Carlos Borja
*Jonathan Collier
*Victor Cortez
*Michael Dal Pra
*Richard Edgar
*Gabriel Farfan
*Michael Farfan
*Andrew Giallombardo
*Jeremy Hall
*Amaechi Igwe
*Mohammed I Khan
*Quavas Kirk
*Eric Lichaj
*Ernesto Mariscal
*Perica Marosevic
*Kyle Nakazawa
*Evan Newton
*Cesar Nunez
*Brian Perk
*Patrick Rickards
*Bryant Rueckner
*Ofori Sarkodie
*Joel Smith
*Ryan Soroka
*Joseph Sorrentino
*Michael Stephens
*Blake Wagner
*Matthew Walkers
*Anthony Wallace
*Drew Yates
*Preston Zimmerman

Fall 2005/Spring 2006

*Kevin Alston
*Jozy Altidore
*David Arvizu
*Edgar Barajas
*Danny Barerra
*Mykell Bates
*Brandyn Bumpas
*Kyle Davies
*Greg Eckhardt
*Richard Edgar
*Andrew Giallombardo
*Omar Gonzalez
*Jeremy Hall
*Amaechi Igwe
*Jared Jeffrey
*Ian Kalis
*Daniel Kelly
*Quavas Kirk
*Josh Lambo
*Brandon Lee
*Eric Lichaj
*David MacVane
*Perica Marosevic
*Ellis McLoughlin
*Thomas Meyer
*Kyle Nakazawa
*Brian Perk
*Diego Restrepo
*Bryant Rueckner
*Ofori Sarkodie
*Ryan Soroka
*Joeseph Sorrentino
*Michael Stevens
*Brandon Tarr
*Kirk Urso
*Anthony Wallace
*Daniel Wenzel
*Sheanon Williams
*Preston Zimmerman

pring 2008

*Christian Alvarez
*Julio Arjona
*Eder Arreola
*Samir Badr
*Zachary Barnes
*Alex Bramall
*Scott Caldwell
*Andrew Craven
*Rob Derschang
*Bryan Dominguez
*Bryan Duran
*Earl Edwards
*George Fradenburg
*Luis Gil
*Jaime Gutierrez
*Joeseph Gyau
*Drew Hartell
*Donovan Henry
*Zachary Harold
*Stefan Jerome
*Perry Kitchen
*Alfred Koroma
*Zach MacMath
*Carlos Martinez
*Jack McInerney
*Chase Miller
*Nick Millington
*Emilio Orozco
*Aubrey Perry
*Shaquille Phillips
*Tyler Polak
*Charles Renken
*Spencer Richey
*Kofi Sarkodie
*Alex Shinsky
*Brian Span
*Eric Stephenson
*Brian Sylvestre
*Korey Veeder
*Jared Watts

External links

* [http://www.ussoccer.com/teams/default.sps?iTeamID=248 US Soccer's U-17 page]
* [http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=255 BigSoccer Forum on U.S. Men's Youth Soccer Teams]