Girls Academy Partners with MLS, U.S. Youth Soccer
The Girls Academy, which the OL Reign Academy joined in May ahead of the league’s inaugural season, announced on October 22 that it had established strategic ties with U.S. Youth Soccer and Major League Soccer. The partnership will allow the Girls Academy to develop strong programming for its players while providing a premier level of play for girls in the United States.
Girls Academy commissioner (and former longtime University of Washington women’s soccer head coach) Lesle Gallimore said the partnership will focus on collaboration to improve the Girls Academy and MLS NEXT, MLS’ premier academy league that was announced back in September.
“The strategy is to create synergies across our platforms, to participate in technical conversations and educational opportunities to create the right teaching and learning environments for our clubs and players,” Gallimore said. “Our mutual vision of standards-based and player-centric club models make working together exciting and I can't wait to see what we all learn from one another through this collaboration. This partnership is a vital cog, but not the only one, that can set us apart in being elite.”
As part of the partnership, four individuals from MLS NEXT will also serve on the GA Technical Advisory Committee, including MLS Vice President and Technical Director of Player Development Fred Lipka, an MLS Academy Director, the Youth Director of one of MLS NEXT’s elite member clubs and another MLS NEXT staff member.
“The shared expertise and visions of all parties will provide for a type of collaboration that's not really been seen in the past particularly as it relates to the investment and interest in girls soccer,” Gallimore said. “Women and girls’ soccer has been a vital and growing part of the game in our country, and it's cool to share ideas across leagues that mutually benefit players in pursuit of achieving excellence through their pathway.”
While the partnership with MLS will allow for collaboration and the sharing of ideas and techniques, the partnership with U.S. Youth Soccer will see the Girls Academy installed as the top level of youth soccer for girls in the United States.
“USYS, guided by the leadership of CEO Skip Gilbert, recognize that an affiliation with the Girls Academy provides an elite club-based league model that they haven't had in the past,” Gallimore said. “This is a terrific opportunity for us to unite and reinvent and reimagine the programming and pathways specifically for girls. Players in all of our state associations deserve the opportunity to aspire to be the best they can. I firmly believe there are strategies we can execute to increase access to our elite platforms where there hasn't been access before.”
The female-centered pathway is important to academies like OL Reign’s, which prides itself on being designed specifically for developing female soccer players in its programming, coaching, and philosophy. Gallimore says the partnership with MLS and MLS NEXT will inform and aid that mission, rather than hinder it.
“It's no secret that the ‘ages and stages,’ as we say in coaching education, are very different for boys and girls,” Gallimore said. “However, there are philosophies around teaching, training environments, game analysis, player qualities, and how that looks through the different ages and stages, that can be shared in order to benefit all of our players. The pathways for girls and boys have more differences than similarities, but I've already found that educating each other on the differences has created a lot of positive and productive discourse.”
Gallimore said that the buy-in from MLS in committing to the partnership will provide exciting new opportunities for Girls Academy players.
“The exciting thing for players is that an organization and league with the stature and success that MLS has demonstrated over several decades believes in the importance of being a part of the popularity, success and growth of girls and women's soccer in this country,” Gallimore said. “It’s important that our players see, along with the creation of MLS Next, their worth and importance as being equal to that of the boys. In sharing ideas and working to create combined competition environments and events, there will be a vision and example of an elite and professional pathway. I want female youth players to see a bigger vision of the game than they currently see. OL Reign Academy players are fortunate, in that they get to see and experience this first-hand with OL Reign’s first team; this isn't the case for the majority of our Girls Academy players, so it's unique to be in the partnership with MLS and to build out from here. It's a terrific place to start and I feel fortunate to be working together with so many different stakeholders in giving our players the best experience and opportunity we possibly can.”
Gallimore looks forward to parents of Girls Academy players being able to see the new level competition and development made possible by Girls Academy in conjunction with MLS and USYS.
“Parents get excited when their daughters are enjoying their experience, being challenged at the appropriate level, given opportunities to rise in their pathway with the knowledge that there is potential to achieve the highest level possible,” Gallimore said. “This vision has typically been exclusive to playing in college and youth national teams. For too long this rise to the highest level has been more varied, more plentiful and geared more towards boys. For parents to now see that there is a significant interest and investment of time being put into developing the same staying power, standard of excellence, and professionalism dedicated to their daughters will be a new level and a different kind of excitement for them. Parents, along with the players in the GA, will be able to see a bigger vision being imagined and realized.”
For Gallimore, the collaboration and partnership is an important step in the early life of the Girls Academy to help establish the high standards that will help the organization continue to change the landscape of girls soccer for the better.
“As Commissioner of a new league I have access to some of the best soccer minds and strategists in the business to learn from and collaborate with to collectively grow the game for youth players in the U.S.” Gallimore said. “Our autonomy as a league in this partnership and affiliation with MLS and USYS allows us to remain female-centered and do what we know to be best for girls through their soccer experience. It's also extremely exciting for me to be in conversations with those from the men’s and boy’s side of the game who are truly interested in our thoughts and ideas about growth, change, and what it takes to be successful at the highest level. This is in no way an ‘on the coattails’ venture; we're in this together to unite and connect. I believe in the MLS and USYS leadership and they believe in ours.”