January 16th, 2014- In This Issue:
MTA South Metro Becomes The Newest MTA Regional Academy

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

January 10, 2014

 

South Metro Futbol Club Becomes MTA South Metro

 

Minneapolis, Minnesota - The Minnesota Thunder Academy is pleased to announce that they have added MTA South Metro as their newest Regional Development Program.  MTA South Metro is created through South Metro Futbol Club joining MTA.

 

The South Metro Futbol Club serves the cities of Farmington, Lakeville, Apple Valley, Rosemount, Hampton, Eagan, and Northfield. The purpose of South Metro Futbol Club has been to promote, foster, and perpetuate the game of soccer at the youth level.  South Metro Futbol Club aims to provide fun and enjoyable programs suitable for all ages at a recreational level and, as an option, at a more competitive travel level to develop the understanding, sportsmanship, and skill of soccer.

 

"We are very excited to have the players, families, coaches, and club officials become a part of the Minnesota Thunder Academy family.  Being able to expand into the South Metro area of the Twin Cities is a huge development for our club.  MTA South Metro will allow us to be able to work with and develop many players who we were unable to work with prior to this collaboration.

 

Many clubs hire on Directors of Coaching for large sums of money and while the Director might be good, it is difficult to set up a quality coaching staff so all the players in a club are truly developing.  We are able to bring our existing structure, staff, and proven development methods to solid clubs like South Metro FC and create a positive environment for all of their members.  Our Mission is to offer programming to all of the players in the South Metro area as well as developing players to join our US Development Academy and Elite Club National League programs." - MTA Director Andy Kaasa

 

Visit MTA South Metro Home Page 

 

About MTA South Metro

 

MTA South Metro will build on the programming that South Metro Futbol Club provides to it's members.  Beginning in January of 2014 we will begin operating the South Metro FC Rec program with a U6-U12 clinic.  This will expand into our Full Summer Rec Program in the Spring of 2014.  Details and Registration are found here.

 

MTA South Metro Travel will begin at the conclusion of the summer MYSA Season with tryouts for all players interested in joining MTA South Metro.

 

Questions or Interested in Joining MTA South Metro: Contact Andy Kaasa at akaasa@mnthunderacademy.org 

 
Akale and Yueill Attend U18 US National Team Camp

 

U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team head coach Javier Perez called 24 players for a week-long training camp in Lakewood Ranch, Fla., to prepare for the upcoming Copa del Atlantico in the Canary Islands.

The training camp ran from Jan. 4-11 and precedes the tournament in Spain, which is scheduled to be played Feb. 4-7.

 

Twenty-one of the 24 players currently play for U.S. Soccer Development Academy teams while the remaining three also play for domestic-based clubs. Nine MLS Academies are represented, with Real Salt Lake AZ leading the way with three players receiving call-ups and the Minnesota Thunder Academy second with two call ups.

 

Full Story : http://m.ussoccer.com/news/u-18-mnt/2014/01/140103-jan-camp-roster-rel.aspx  
Emerging Talent Program Begins Saturday For 2014

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The MN Thunder Elite Boys Academy is excited to begin it's third year of the Emerging Talent Program (ETP) with a meeting at the Augsburg Dome this Saturday at 12:30pm. 

 

The ETP is a program that recognizes  boys U11/12 players.  The program is designed for players of higher standard and commitment level.  MTA will form a pool group that will compete outside the current Regional Academy teams that will play & train in a quality environment throughout the winter, spring and summer of 2014 to prepare players for the Elite Boys Program and develop future US Development Academy Players.

 

Brief Overview
  • Training 1-2x week (Jan-Apr)
  • April Event (KS)
  • May Event (NSC)
  • June US Club Regionals (IL)
  • July USA Cup
To reduce conflict, we have tried to plan ETP sessions around our regional teams.

 

What are the costs associated with this?
No training or facility costs.  The only costs associated will be tournament entry and travel costs. 

 

Who will be running the sessions and games?
The Elite & US Development staff will be running these sessions. 

 

Will my son be able to play for his current district team?
Absolutely, we have tried to plan our sessions and events around our regional schedules. 

 

Why do this?
To bridge the Elite and Juniors program.  There are subtle changes in training and would like the players to have a jump start in the Elite Program.

 

Do we need to attend all events and training?

Attending training is highly recommended.  We recognize you might not be able to attend all of the events. That is okay, we will have a large pool (24-30 players) to make up the difference. 

 

Questions
Contact Rob Zahl at rzahl@mnthunderacademy.org