“How do we bring the advantages of the youth academy programs that we grew up with to the local youth players that we teach in our camps and skills classes?” This was a question posed by several coaches who grew up in Europe and Latin America shortly after the US Men’s Soccer team’s phenomenal performance in Korea. Not to be deterred by the refusal of the existing sanctioning body of youth soccer in North Texas, the coaches approached a progressive, experienced sports programming director at a local YMCA and the Super Development League was born. As a result, children are provided with skilled instruction by highly qualified coaches from most of the area’s select clubs. The combination of better training and enhanced developmental league play is seen in the improved level of a player's confidence, capability, and comfort on the ball. In fact, because of the parity that has been created, some leagues are rethinking their league structure, particularly for the entry level U11 age group.
The SDL began with 14 teams in the fall of 2002 with membership in the newly formed US Club Soccer, which is part of the United States Soccer Federation. The SDL was in fact the first academy-oriented league program in US Club Soccer. There were two age divisions and in some cases the girls and boys teams played each other with the girls more than holding their own. The league did not play on Saturdays so that players could continue to play with their friends recreationally and, true to its mission of placing the emphasis on player development first and team development second, scores and standings were not published. The league grew to almost forty teams that spring and one year later over 120 teams were playing at three different locations! This did not go without notice… Rather than accept the pundits who figured the SDL would quickly fade, the SDL took a long look at what it did well and focused its resources on providing a superior quality league that clearly differentiated itself from others.
The SDL made a commitment to work directly with select club academy directors and coaches and listen to their concerns and needs. Because of its organizational structure, the league is flexible and responsive to the changing needs of the academy player. This is augmented by relationships with privately operated field complexes such as The Blue Sky Sports Center in The Colony, which has been a valuable partner to the SDL since early in the league’s existence.
In response to a growing demand from parents to include academy level instruction for younger ages, the league added U7 and U8 age groups. At the recommendation of the girl’s coaches, the SDL went to a full-sized field program for the spring season to help teams make the transition to competitive soccer. We responded again by doing the same for the fall seasonand including the boys as well in the switch.More recently, on-the-fly substitutions were introduced to the younger age divisions in order to provide the coaches an opportunity to address a particular point that needs to be reinforced with a player while it is still fresh in the player’s mind.
Using a single referee system for the younger age divisions and a dual referee system for the older divisions, the SDL contracts with select-level experienced referees. We work with the assignor to purposely ensure a diverse group of referees in order to reflect the diversity of players that participate so that they may see the officials as role models. The more we can encourage players who have that extra interest in soccer to respect and appreciate the referee, the more we increase the chance that they might one day become a referee, which will lead to a better level of officiating as participation in the sport expands.
We hope this gives you a bit of history on the league and illustrates the SDL’s commitment to providing a higher quality program for your children and your players. Come join us!!
