Registration Fees and Information
- Registration Fee: $250.00
- Early Bird Registration Price: $225.00 (If registered by August 9th, 2026)
- Online Registration officially opens on July 15, 2026!
What is The Academy?
Coaches the world over have been trying to predict which young players will develop into the next Lionel Messi, Christian Pulisic or Abby Wambach. To date, no one has a sure-fire formula for identifying which of today’s youngsters will become the next star on the world stage. Coaches do however agree that young players with promise and potential, when placed in a good training environment and exposed to good coaching, can achieve a superior level of play.
To foster our young talent, New York State West Youth Soccer Association’s coaching staff created The Academy. The Academy is designed to expose young players to focused training sessions provided by nationally certified coaches. The Academy Curriculum focuses on improving a player’s technical ability and tactical awareness. The six session program stresses fun and progress in a positive learning environment.
Today’s youth soccer landscape is now saturated with an abundance of games, games, and more games; in many cases, to the point where the US Youth Soccer recommended “practice to game ratios” have unfortunately been pushed woefully out of whack. At a time when proper training and essential learning opportunities are being squeezed out of the player development protocols, The Academy training program balances that ratio and targets the development of fundamentally sound players.
Who can attend The NYW Academy?
- Expanded Age Groups – All players 9U to 14U are welcome.
The Academy program, which is for both boys and girls, was originally established for NYW ODP players. However, due to its popularity, participation was opened up in 2015 to all age-eligible players in NYW (i.e. players do not have to currently be in our NYW ODP program to participate). We encourage and welcome any new athletes who are serious players who wish to experience the high-quality coaching associated with the Olympic Development Program.
When and where is The Academy held?
The Academy will be conveniently offered at four locations throughout the state in 2026. All training sessions will be held on Sundays on August 30, September 13, 20, and October 11, 18, 25. Times for each location are still being finalized. If your location does not have a time listed yet, please check back as we are working to get these established.
Academy online registration for will open on July 15.
Academy Training Sites
Buffalo, New York
- Location: Ken Dev Soccer Complex, Tonawanda, NY
- Time: 11:00am to 12:30 PM (All Players)
Elmira, New York
- Location: Eldridge Park, Elmira, NY
- Time: 11:00am to 12:30PM (All Players)
Rochester, New York
- Location: Veteran’s Memorial Park (VMP), Town Hall, Penfield, NY
- Please Note: All sessions held at VMP except for September 20, which will take place at Rothfuss Park
- Time: Noon to 1:30 PM (All Players)
Olean, New York
- Location: Clapp Field, Allegany, NY
- Time: 11:00am to 12:30pm (All Players)
Syracuse, New York
- Location: CNY Sports Complex, Syracuse, NY
- Time: 11:00am to 12:30pm (All Players)
Who will be coaching at The Academy?
Each site will be directed by the following NYSWYSA Staff/ODP Coach:
- Buffalo: Dave Kreger, NYSWYSA Technical Director, Director NYW ODP
- Elmira: Zach Sarno, NYW ODP Coaching Staff
- Rochester: Jim Gentile, NYW ODP Coaching Staff
- Syracuse: Darek Panol, NYW ODP Coaching Staff, US Soccer Coach Educator
- Olean: Colton Bly, NYW ODP Coaching Staff, US Soccer Coach Educator
What is the cost to attend The Academy?
- Registration Fee: $250.00*
- *Early Bird Registration Fee: $225.00
- To receive the Early Bird Registration Rate, registration must be completed by midnight, Sunday, August 9, 2026.
- Register early to save money and ensure placement. NYSWYSA reserves the right to close registration when capacity at any site is reached.
- CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE ACADEMY!
Additional Information
- There will be no required training kit for participants to purchase this year. Players are free to wear whatever training gear they wish to Academy training sessions.
- ALL PLAYERS MUST BE REGISTERED ONLINE.
- There are no longer on site “walk-in” registrations.
- Rosters are printed at 5:00 PM on the Friday prior to the start of each respective program. Registration will remain open right up until the start of the respective event, but players who register after 5:00 PM on Friday, must bring a copy of their registration confirmation to show at check-in.
- Contact Dave Kreger at Techdir@nyswysa.org for more information.
The Academy Policy for Accepting Underage Players
While the cutoff for The Academy is children born in 2018, we will accept players born in 2019 under the following conditions: AGE MATRIX
- The child, from a physical standpoint, is in no danger of injury (i.e. he/ she is big enough so that they will not be in harm’s way from playing alongside older and presumably bigger players).
- The child is emotionally, socially and psychologically comfortable in an environment where they are the youngest player in the group.
- The child, from a soccer standpoint, is able to keep up with the group.
We will allow 2019s to register online per normal and pay the full Academy tuition. They will then participate in the first training session. Our coaching staff will evaluate and determine if the child meets the criteria listed above and they will then notify the child/parent immediately following the session if they can continue on in the program. Anyone turned away will be refunded their money less a small administrative fee.
We just want to be sure no one is out of place or in over their head. We want all participants to have a positive experience.
Goalkeeper Training Philosophy for The Academy
Goalkeepers are welcome and encouraged to participate in both the NYW Academy and the 11U Pre-ODP program. It is important to point out that all participants in these programs will still work primarily on their footwork/technical ability per player development “best practices” designed for players in these younger age groups (regardless of whether they are GK’s or field players). Goalkeepers who attend will train as field players for the first half (approximately) of the training session. In the final stages of the training session when games are played to end-line goals, they will in turn be utilized as goalkeepers.
The philosophy of The Academy/11U Pre-ODP is that all players in these young age groups need to be better and more comfortable with the ball at their feet, including goalkeepers. If a player commits him/herself exclusively to the GK position at such a young age and subsequently receives the majority of their training exclusively in the form of GK training, when they get older, they often become GK’s who are good with their hands but deficient with their feet.
Playing in the field in the early years is critical in developing foot skills (which the game dictates the modern GK needs more than ever before), decision making (a critical dimension that is commonly deficient in GK’s that have minimal field playing experience) and cultivating a player’s overall tactical understanding of the game.
If you are looking for position specific goalkeeping training, this may not be exactly what you’re looking for (in that the GKs will not be off to the side with a position specific GK trainer engaging in specific goalkeeper training exercises). We feel though that the training they receive and the manner in which we integrate them is age appropriate for 11U GKs (and younger). We begin position specific goalkeeper training in our ODP program with the 12U age group. Please feel free to follow up with your Academy/11U Pre-ODP site director regarding more specific information as to how he/she integrates GKs into their training sessions.