Have you ever dreamed of playing on the perfectly manicured fields that you see during professional matches? No potholes. No slanted fields. No chasing balls that roll well out of bounds. With 13 full-size soccer fields, you and your team can play and train on fields worthy of the world’s top pros at the IMG Soccer Academy in Bradenton, FL. No training facility in the country offers a better mix of world-class facilities, pristine weather and convenience for your team to focus solely on skill development and building team camaraderie. 
Jared Vock is an IMG Soccer Academy Alumni having attended the Academy as a full-time student from 1999-2001, coming from Plymouth, MI. Jared graduated from the Academy in 2001 and received a full-scholarship to the University of South Florida and went on to finish his college eligibility at LeMoyne College. Since arriving at the IMG Soccer Academy as a full-time coach, Jared has worked with players of all ages and abilities; the players he has coach range in age from 12 all the way to the 18 year-old USDA players. Jared started his full-time coaching career at the age of 22 under the tutelage of previous IMG Soccer Director, Tom Durkin. 
By any measure of success – from players produced to team success to number of college scholarships earned – the IMG Soccer Academy has proven itself as the nation’s best. Since its inception in 1994, the Academy has continually developed some of the country’s best players while also putting the caliber of teams on the field that can successfully compete in any tournament against any team at any time.
News
IMG Academies to host USL PRO Combine featuring 100 of nations top soccer players looking to turn professional
Event marks first of a series of first-quarter youth and professional events for the IMG Soccer Academy
IMG Academies will host the United Soccer Leagues (USL) PRO Combine, January 26-29, 2012. Among the players who will have the opportunity to be evaluated by USL PRO clubs and other professional clubs such as Sweden’s Malmö FF, are nearly sixty former USL Player Development League players looking to transition to the pro ranks.
“We are very happy with the level of talent that will be on display in Bradenton next week,” USL National Technical Director Peter Mellor said. “We believe there are a number of players who are ready to make the jump to the professional ranks from the PDL, and some current professional players attending who would fill a need for a team immediately.”
Being staged for the first time at the internationally-recognized IMG Academies, the USL PRO Combine will see the players divided into six squads, with each team playing three matches over the duration of the event. There will also be testing, team training sessions, and for the second consecutive year, two sessions devoted solely to goalkeeper development.
The Combine marks the first of a number events occurring over the next few months at the IMG Soccer Academy Complex within the walls of the 400-acre IMG Academies. Also next weekend, IMG will play host to the U.S. Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program (ODP) Boys Winter Interregional, in which the four U.S. Youth Soccer 1996 Regional Teams (NE, SE, Midwest, Far West) will train and compete. Coaches will be on site to evaluate players for possible selection to a National Team Training camp.
Beginning in early February, a number of professional teams will begin descending on the campus of IMG for pre-season training. Teams include MLS’s Seattle Sounders, Columbus Crew and D.C. United, as well as Malmö FF, Sweden’s most successful club with sixteen national championship titles and fourteen national cup titles to their name. During their stretch of training, the teams will compete with another.
Later in February, IMG will host both the boys’ and girls’ 2012 USL ODP Super-Y League National Camps. The boys’ camp (1995/96 and 1997/98 teams) will run February 23-26, while the girls’ (1995/96 and 1997/98 teams) will take place March 1-4, 2012. There will be six teams formed within each calendar year group that will train and compete in games for national select spots and other opportunities. The event will draw nearly five hundred players and countless coaches.
Rounding out the events is the IMG Soccer Academy’s IMG Cup-College Showcase event, to be held March 9-11, 2012. The event, expected to attract several thousand players, coaches and spectators, will feature sixty of the nation’s top boys and girls teams. More than 200 men’s and women’s coaches from the nation’s top collegiate programs like Akron University and the University of North Carolina, will be on hand to scout the talent. Amidst the exciting team competition, a number of pro teams will travel to IMG to train and compete among one another during the Showcase.
Remarked Scott Dean, Director of the IMG Soccer Academy, “This year is off to an exciting start, as we help our senior student-athletes select the best collegiate programs, all while bringing incredible talent to our fields for great competition at the youth level through the professional ranks.”
For more information about these events, and to register, please visit: http://www.imgacademies.com/soccer-academy/
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