By: Marco A. Ayllon
Nautilus Sports News
Dallas TX
Let's learn about The FC Dallas Player Development system, consists of five levels, with each level crossing over with the one below and / or above. The goal of the program is to ensure that each step is connected, thus giving players an opportunity to develop and advance throughout the system:
- The FC Dallas professional team , consisting of up to 28 professional players
- The FC Dallas Academy Program, consisting of two elite teams, U16 and U18, which play in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy.
- The FCD Premier Development Program, an elite core of teams that are selected by invitation only, one team per age group of both girls and boys.
- Over 140 Select boys and girls teams ranging from ages U11 to U19.
- Over 75 Junior boys and girls teams ranging from U7 to U10.
FCDY SELECT SOCCER U11-U19
The FCD Youth Select Program contains over 2,500 boys & girls ages U7 through U19. Players compete on over 140 Select teams and 75 Junior teams. Select teams play in divisions I, II, and III in Classic League and Lake Highlands Girls Classic League, as well as in Plano. Junior teams play in FCD Liga, SDL, PSA, and CAL. Our teams continue to excel both locally and nationally. FCDY players represent our program in the most prestigious programs including (but not limited to) ODP, ID2, ECNL, Development Academy, various national teams, and have also been drafted to play professionally both here in Dallas, at other MLS Franchises, and for international clubs worldwide. The FCDY Academy Teams have continued to dominate both the U16 and U18 age groups in their respective divisions, currently being ranked 1st and 2nd, respectively, in their particular divisions. Our teams travel worldwide to tournaments such as the Aegon Future Cup in Holland, where FCDY were matched against teams from Ajax,Barcelona, Liverpool, Bayen Munich, and AC Milan. FCDY also competes in the Supergroup of the prestigious Dallas Cup, as well as several other FCDY teams who regularly qualify for the Dallas Cup in various age groups. FCDY players who do not play professionally move on to the top U.S. colleges. FCD players are generation Adidas players, homegrown players, & are at the pinnacle place for national and international recognition, recruitment, & development.
FCD JUNIOR SOCCER U7-U10
Junior Soccer has also been referred to as “Pre - Select” soccer for boys and girls ages U7 to U10. Typically it’s for those players that excel at the recreational level and desire an additional environment that is more competitive with advanced coaching. It is, however open to all players. After graduating from our Academy, select soccer begins at U11.
The FC Dallas Juniors Program
The Juniors Program focuses primarily on individual skill development. The goal of the Juniors program is to prepare players for a club soccer environment for their later years. It is designed for the more competitive player, and the more committed families. It has licensed coaches, and has more travel /expenses involved. There is an unhealthy bias towards promoting athleticism rather than taking time to develop players at the younger ages, which is having a profoundly negative effect on soccer in the USA. Therefore at FC Dallas, we believe in age appropriate coaching which ensures that we are teaching not only the RIGHT things, but moreover teaching them the RIGHT way with an emphasis on long term development rather than short term 'wins'.
The FC Dallas Juniors Focus
FC Dallas as a whole is focused on player development. We are striving to create a solid learning experience by eliminating the “must win” stress placed on the player and team. FC Dallas has a unique Player Development system consisting of five levels in which follow our curriculum of developing creative and confident soccer players through out each stage of transition through. We recognize that the Juniors Level is the first and most important stage in structuring player development. The 4 major themes from the Juniors Curriculum are:
Ball Mastery - using both feet and multiple surfaces, we encourage players to experiment with all turns, tricks and skills whereas to develop their technical confidence with the ball. All players are developed to be dribblers first.
Shapes & Support - developing the idea of triangle and diamond shapes by supporting the player on the ball. Thus giving players more options to keep the ball rather than just kick it away.
Small Sided Environments - lots of 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 and 4v4 free play within each training session. Thus allowing players to experiment and maximise development though muliple contacts on the ball and also recognise the triangle and diamond shape within the game.
Independent Player Thinking - we encourage the players to think for themselves and solve soccer problems with the skills we have taught. Our coaches guide players to the answers by asking questions rather than telling them the answer. Thereby creating independent thinkers who will play the game and solve soccer problems without the coach constantly telling them what to do in any given scenario. This leads to longer term information retention and higher levels of skill aquisition.
FCD Liga
FCD Liga is our “in house” development program exclusively for FC Dallas Junior teams on Sunday afternoons at Toyota Soccer Center. It was created to provide a better environment to develop our players. We wanted our soccer “classroom” to be positive and nurturing where players can experiment using their tricks/skills to solve the soccer problems on the field in a healthy and competitive environment. The Liga format is 3v3, 4v4 and 5v5 so players maximize ball contacts as well as their “soccer experiences”. All experts agree that this is the purest form of soccer and it’s widely known that most of the best players in the world were developed playing in the “streets”, so we wanted to replicate that as best we could. Additional information will be provided to you regarding the format. Liga is mandatory for all our U7 and U8 teams.
Roberto Marquez is a Head Soccer Coach and Director since 2010 at the Dallas Youths Soccer League Dallas, Texas. Roberto was born and raised on El Salvador, and has long been developing his coaching abilities and collecting many awards over the past 10 years. 
