A Non-Profit Soccer Academy? But that’s unAmerican!

There is a full-time soccer boarding school in Florida that costs its participants $37,900 in annual tuition.

This post is not about that school.

Instead, it’s about a very different kind of school, run by Blackburn Rovers goalkeeper Brad Friedel.

In August, 23 boys from eight countries ranging from 12 to18 years old arrived at PSA in Lorain to live and train year-round.

They live on an $10 million campus that covers 58 acres, in rooms better than most college dorms. They are cooked meals by a top-level chef, have 3½ soccer fields to train on — including one indoor facility just steps from the dorms — and elite coaching.

And it’s all free.

Free?!? As in, not for profit?!? What a nefarious, subversive idea. Why in the world would somebody do something like that?

“It’s up to more people in my generation to come back and bring our experiences, bring it to the United States and really help at the grass-roots level,” Friedel said. “The people around the world and in the United States are more aware of soccer than they’ve ever been. We need to keep them more intrigued than they’ve ever been.”

The best news? People are starting to notice. The academy recently announced an affiliation with the MLS team the Columbus Crew.

Thank you, Brad. You’re giving me hope for the game in America.
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