Preseason Soccer Camps for Long Island High Schools

The US Premier Soccer Academy is offering preseason camps to all the high schools on Long Island. Our coaching staff is comprised entirely of Long Island natives who have become very successful players. We only hire professional, NCAA division I, or international players/coaches to be on staff.
The normal high school preseason is run by the school coach one week before school starts. Why not show up for that week sharp, fit, and ready to go!? We will have 5 day camps that will be scheduled the week before normal preseason begins.
All camps will include soccer specific fitness training, technical training, and small-sided/full-sided games. Any specific area of soccer that needs work can be brought to our attention as well and we can address it over the course of the 5 days. Please contact Matt Avellino or Don Desroches if interested. Contact information available at www.uspsocceracademy.com. Sign up early to ensure availability of your local coach!

Andrea Pirlo

For those of you who don't know Andrea Pirlo, he is a creative midfield player for AC Milan and Italy. His passing and vision is the catalyst of many goal scoring opportunities for both club and country. The most unique quality about Pirlo that makes him stand out is the fact that he does all his creating from a deep midfield role!
Most creative midfielders play right behind the strikers in a withdrawn position. Pirlo sits right in front of the central defenders and controls the tempo for his team. While he plays he calmly jogs around the pitch and just picks out these incredible long range passes. It looks effortless, like a walk in the park. Some games it looks like he's barely even breaking a sweat!
His ability to strike a dead ball (free kick, pk, corner kick) is uncanny as well. He's one of the best free kick specialists in the world, accounting for majority of his goals. Take the time to check out a Milan or Italian National team game and watch this artist perform his craft. He's perfect proof that 90% of the game of soccer is played with your mind, and athleticism makes up the other 10%.

Defense Wins Championships

Hypothetical situation, if you were to go to a local New York Red Bull game and ask 50 fans what the key to victory was in the Red Bulls 1-0 victory over the Chicago Fire, majority would say, the 1 goal scored. However, in most 1-0 victories, the key number in that equation is the 0 goals allowed. Defense is monumentally important in all sports, especially soccer, and just as overlooked and underappreciated. Ironically to me, the stamp of a good defender is a player who you don't really notice on the pitch. They go about their business, win their tackles, win their headers, keep the teams shape, and then play simple passes to keep possession. It's nothing that's going to get the fans on their feet screaming "Oh and Ah," but it's their steady, disciplined work that allows the midfield players and attacking players to have the freedom to perform their jobs. Next time you find yourself at a soccer game, appreciate the selfless work of the players in the back. Without them, none of the goal scoring you appreciate would be possible.

1v1 Dribbling, Entertainment or Math?

As a wide midfield player, taking on defenders 1v1 is a very crucial part of my job. It's a chess match between you and that defender; a battle of wits if you will. The key to success is being unpredictable. Sometimes go right, sometimes go left, sometimes look to combine, sometimes play the ball backwards to keep it, etc… If the defender knows what you are going to do, you're in big trouble! There is a simple formula for offensive success.

Misdirection + Change of Direction + Change of Speed= Success

Simply fake you're going one way to get the defender off balance; go the other way; accelerate past him and you have successfully dribbled by a defender. Becoming a very good 1v1 dribbler takes practice, but it's a very rewarding skill set to possess.

World Gym Soccer Clinic

As some of you may know the US Premier Soccer Academy is currently finishing up with Winter Clinics out of World Gym in Wantagh. We've had two great groups of kid consisting of 10 year old girls on Thursdays and 4-7 year old boys on Sundays. The first week we had young kids walk into these clinics that have just played intramural for fun and never had professional level soccer training. 6-8 weeks later these kids are passing the ball with proper technique with both feet, doing basic foot sequences, and even some beginning juggling. It's very rewarding as co-founder of this academy to see how quickly these young players are improving under a systematic methodology of training and the guidance of the high-level coaches we have on staff here. I commend the players, parents, and US Premier Soccer Academy coaches for a job well done this winter!

Lionel Messi

Every week starting from now, I am going to take a day to appreciate one of the super talents of world soccer. The first one goes out to one of my favorite players, Lionel Messi. Messi plays for FC Barcelona in Spain and is a member of the Argentina National team. Every time I watch this kid play, I am simply in awe of what he is capable of. His close control, speed with and without the ball, and balance is second to none. It's scary to think he is roughly 5 years from his prime! The next time you are watching a Barcelona game, pay close attention to the way he works out of tight spaces. The combinations he orchestrates are really something to applaud. If you don't have Goltv where you can regularly see Messi in action, type his name into YouTube and take your pick at the various highlight compilations people have made of him. You'll get a firsthand look at some of the remarkable things a soccer artist can do on the pitch.