FIFA Updates

Today the Houston Dynamo signed Francisco Navas Cobo from the Dynamo Academy, penning the 18-year-old midfielder to a developmental contract.

Navas Cobo, the youngest contracted Dynamo in club history, is the 11th player in the league to hop directly from an academy to the first team, and Houston’s second after Tyler Deric made the jump last year.

“To have a successful Academy, you need talent and opportunity,” Dynamo director of youth development James Clarkson said. “In Francisco Navas Cobo, we have talent, and through Dominic Kinnear’s vision and support of the Dynamo Academy, we’ve been able to provide opportunity to Francisco and the other young men in our development system. This signing shows that the Dynamo Academy is working, and we look forward to the day when one of our Academy players makes his MLS debut.”

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The Development Academy is at the forefront of youth soccer culture in America, but its labyrinthine structure isn’t well known. More of a league than a single-location academy, the DA spans the United States and looks to unify and expedite the process of discovering and nurturing young talent in the country.

Established as a league to put the best clubs against each other and cut down on the excess of games, the Academy started in the fall of 2007 with some of the most powerful youth clubs in the country joining the movement.

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The David Beckham Academy in Carson, Calif. shut down shortly before Christmas with no official announcement, according to a report in the Daily Breeze.

A branch in London previously closed with very little fanfare. Both were jointly run by Anschutz Entertainment Group, owner of the Los Angeles Galaxy, and 19 Entertainment, Beckham’s management team. The closure in California cost a handful of full-time staff their jobs.

“The David Beckham Academy will no longer operate its Los Angeles location,” said a memo from AEG spokesman Michael Roth, which the Daily Breeze’s Nick Green unearthed. “Planning is currently under way with David and senior coaches to develop a program and coaching model that will move beyond the limits of one location and ultimately impact more children in more cities across the United States and worldwide.”

Attendance never reached anticipated levels and frequency of camps decreased steadily until the  academy closed.

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