Aspiring Soccer Players Have A Main Line School To Call Their Own
By John Ostapkovich
WAYNE, Pa. (CBS) -- Today was kickoff day for a new private school dedicated to nuturing young soccer players.
The Philadelphia Union and YSC Sports have opened the doors to YSC Academy in Wayne, a private school in the sports academy vein popularized by other franchises.
This first crop of 8th-to-12th graders shares one thing in common: top-level soccer. But school founder Rich Graham says that will allow them to be more diverse.
"In a typical high school environment, they would walk around the hallways and their identity would be built around, 'Hey, that's the soccer guy.' In this environment, there's other soccer guys. So the question is being asked of these kids, who else are you? Are you an artist? Are you a designer? What other piece do you bring to the equation in terms of your personality?"
Graham says the forcus is on excellence as much as soccer. And while there will be plenty of skills training, there's no school team for these guys. They'll all compete for whatever travel or Union-sponsored team they already were on.
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