The Philadelphia Lone Star FC Academy is a low-cost/cost-free program that aims to produce grounded, responsible, confident, respectful, hard-working young players, who are able to reach a balance between academic achievement and attainment, prepared for life’s responsibilities and life in soccer as a student-athlete or young professional.

Comprised of six teams (Boys U-19, Boys U-17, Boys U-15, Boys U-13, Boys U-10, and Boys U-8), Academy players will train two to four times a week based on respective age groups and will compete in leagues, cup competitions, and tournaments during the season.

The U-19s will be the most elite academy team as they will compete in the prestigious USL Academy League.

The addition of the Philadelphia Lone Star Academy in the USL Academy creates an elite youth platform for our players (ages 16-19) with a path for our top prospects to move up to our USL League Two team or to a professional level.

The USL Academy League provides elite youth talent from across the USL landscape an additional opportunity to compete at a high level.

The USL Academy League establishes a high-level pre-professional training environment, with a direct connection to the local USL senior team.

It provides meaningful games to aid in those players’ development and to provide all clubs an opportunity to compete amongst each other in regionalized competition.

The USL Academy League displays strong competition and growth for academy teams across the country through competitive play and development attributions.

The 2023 Academy League consists of (3) 3-month cycles and the USL Academy League Finals in November, together mirroring the length of the professional season to allow for young talents to train and play at the highest level.

VERTICAL INTEGRATION

From U8 level and up to the Senior Team, consistency in teaching our philosophy will lead to consistent individual player development, player promotion, and dynamic results for our teams.

• U8 & U10 Teams

Development focus on tactical, technical, physical, and psychosocial objectives with a 90-minute training session two times a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays along with player assessment frequency twice per year.

• U13, U15 & U17 Teams

They will compete in USL Super Y League or US Youth Soccer National League or UPSL Youth Academy Division.

Development focus on tactical, technical, physical, and psychosocial objectives with a 90-minute training session three times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays along player assessment frequency twice per year.

• U19/20 Team

The top prospects from the U15s and U17s will be filtered into the USL Academy U19/20 team. The top talents within the U19/20s who are on a full-time academy contract will then train regularly with the Senior Team(s), play matches when needed, and featured with their respective National Youth Teams if called upon.

Development focus on tactical, technical, physical, and psychosocial objectives with a 120-minute training session four times a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays along with player assessment frequency more than three times per year.

MISSION

To promote, administer, develop, provide sporting and educational opportunities, and foster a positive, fun, friendly and inclusive social sports environment for the participation of players, technical staff, and administrators through the concept of ‘soccer for all’ for the entire community.

Primarily, the two main points regarding the outcomes of our Club Mission Statement is:

• Producing young student athletes to progress through high school to college;
• Producing young players to play in the Senior Team(s), who then may progress to a professional level.

VISION

The overall and long-term vision of the Club is to transform our organization into an
exceptional organization both athletically and academically.

Our objective is to attain 100% high school graduation milestone for our young stars in our academy program and placement in college programs across the country.

On the playing side, the Club will continue to invest in the recruitment and development of players.

With this success, we will attract more parents from the communities of Philadelphia which will in turn boost the investment into the sustainability of the Club.

PHILOSOPHY

We emphasize attacking soccer with domination in midfield. We focus on forward passing, forward running and forward thinking wherever possible. We try to press the ball as high up the pitch as the game allows and be flexible in our team shapes.

Our players must be comfortable and excellent playing in tight areas and they must understand the team shape while in possession, out of possession and in transition.

We are not rigid tactically. Our soccer philosophy is not restricted to a particular system. Our football philosophy is all about principles of play that remain constant but can be implemented through different formations and systems.

We want players with:

• Individual quality who understands the importance of team play.
• Football intelligence and good spatial awareness.
• The ability to make decisions when under pressure.
• The ability to keep possession under pressure.
• Creativity and confidence.
• The quality and awareness to see and deliver forward passes, even when it’s compact.
• The patience and confidence to be ‘on the ball’.
• An understanding and recognition of managing and controlling the tempo of the game, being able to play with patience and speed.
• The reactions to work effectively in the transitional phases.

We want players who:

• Want to learn.
• Are bright eyed, enthusiastic, and take responsibility for their learning.
• Want to be the best they can be, and who are willing to go the extra mile to achieve it.
• Are tough, determined, strong, and disciplined.
• Are committed, loyal and professional.

CORE VALUES (S.T.A.R.S)

The Club has a number of core values that cascade down from the President, the Board of Directors, and the Management to all players, staff and supporters. The Club always tries to ensure that all values are upheld.

• SPORTSMANSHIP

We must ensure that this is enshrined in all we do, at all levels, both on and off the pitch, and it must encompass all involved with the Club: the President/CEO, Directors, Players, Technical & Support Staff, and Supporters. The good name of Philadelphia Lone Star FC must always be foremost in our thoughts and actions.

• TEAMWORK

It is our aim to unite all people involved in the Club, from the Boardroom to the Bootroom, from the Office Staff to the Playing Staff, we will strive to work together for one common aim, and that is the benefit of Philadelphia Lone Star FC.

• AMBITION

Ambition is the desire to achieve the maximum performance and do things not only as well as feasibly possible, but to improve every day. It involves the use of a web of other values as varied as excellence, patience, discipline, order, motivation and responsibility.

• RESPECT

An often-overused word that a great many pay lip service to. However, it is a word and a value that we strongly believe in at Philadelphia Lone Star FC. Respect officials, respect each other, respect your opponents and respect ourselves.

• SUCCESS

In order to be a top soccer club, we need to achieve maximum sporting success. However, our search for success does not end on the pitch: it extends to our office desks, the locker rooms, and our work with supporters. We strive to succeed as people and every single one of us contributes to the success of Philadelphia Lone Star FC.