The United Soccer Leagues (USL) have announced a new Tampa Bay ownership group, VisionPro Sports Institute, which will launch a PDL team, W-League team and Super-20 League team in 2012 and a USL PRO team in 2013. What makes this program unique is that VisionPRO will bring former Premiership development players to the United States to train for upper level play and work with players in the academy.
VisionPro is made up of current and retired footballers and managers from the Premiership who put together this organization and are starting academies throughout the world. Tampa Bay is their first U.S.-based location and they have intentions of additionally having at least a second location in the United States. The academy will identify and train players from around the world, including U.S. players.
“The academy is designed for players that have been primarily, but not just with the Premiership in England, but other top-level leagues in Europe and throughout the world,” said USL W-League Commissioner Amanda Duffy.
"It’s designed for these players to be part of youth development in the way of the English structure. Once they get to a certain age, the clubs make that decision – do we keep them or do we not keep them - but at that age they’re still developing and there’s still opportunity for them to be playing at the highest level in the world.
These members that are involved with VisionPro want to take the players that are taken out of the club that they’ve been training with through their youth and are no longer a part of that, and keep them in an academy style, continue to develop them and give them that opportunity to play at the highest levels here in the United States or in other leagues around the world.”
These former Premiership development players also will be actively apart of the Tampa-based academy and work with the PDL and W-League team and the 2013 USL PRO team. Additionally, VisionPro has partnered with local youth club Brandon FC Flames.
Headquartered in England, VisionPro already have an academy in place in La Manga, Spain and expecting to soon launch academies in Portugal and the Far East.
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