WITH THIS FIGURE SCHULZ ACADEMY RANKS # 1 IN THE US
Josmer Altidore, Villarreal C.F. and US Men’s National Team
Matt Luzunaris, FC Magna Wr. Neustadt and US U-20 National Team
Verneri VALIMAA Khori FOSTER Joseph CHANG
Next season we will even more professionalize our developmental system. We are working on different things in order to provide the best possible infrastructure and time schedule for our top talents. The first step will be a unique school system, where the players can even practice in the morning 2-3 times a week in addition to the normal Academy training in the afternoon. We are planning to play the Academy League home games in the brand new Stadium in Lauderhill, and for the training itself we will recruit some top talented young coaches from Europe with a lot of playing experience on the highest level and different European training philosophies on the latest standard.
The new, gorgeous Stadium in Lauderhill will make the home games of the Schulz Academy Teams a special event
These improvements should enable our average talented players to get at least full scholarships at top colleges in the country, and for our above average players this should be the first step to become professional soccer players in one or two years”, explains Dr. Schulz the plans for the development of the Schulz Academy players in the future. “From now on we will be extremely selective with the recruiting process of talents for our Academy League Teams, because almost each spot on a Development Academy League Team has a future value of at least $ 120,000 in scholarship money. We can offer these roster spots for special talented players, but they need to understand that this is a unique opportunity for them, and also work 100% in the same direction”, states Josef Schulz.
In addition to this, the Schulz Academy produced in 2008 a stunning US $ 2 Million in scholarship money at reputable colleges and universities for its players. Players like Edvin Worley, Julian Serrato, Shawn Barry, Joshua Breto, and Karol Chorak made already a huge impact in their respective colleges even in their freshman year.
Matt Luzunaris, who signed in January 2008 with FC Magna Wr. Neustadt (current leader in the 2nd divison in Austria) showed a lot of improvements while playing for the U20 US National Team last week. “Matt learned a lot in Europe in only 10 months. He is a complete different player now, and is showing promise for the future. I am working on a possibility for him in Brazil with Botafogo for the next 6 months so he can make the next step. Matt is only 19, and can still learn a lot. I think in 1 or 2 years he can play in one of the big soccer countries in Europe on the highest level”, says Josef Schulz, who represents Matt in international transfers, and trained Matt since he was 12 years old.
3 OF THE MANY U-16 PLAYERS WITH PROFESSIONAL FUTURE
The move of Josmer Altidore in January 2008 to Villarreal for a fee of $ 10 Million was by far the biggest transfer of an American Soccer player in the history of the US. Normally this scenario is the big dream of all soccer clubs in the world, but it happened literally with the first player who came out of the youth system of the Schulz Academy.
“I started the program 10 years ago, when Josmer was just 8 years old, and he was one of the first players I started to train here in the US. Although he really is something special, I am very confident, that we can develop many more players for the highest level of soccer in Europe. In our current U16 Academy League team alone we have at least 15 players who can become serious pros in a few years”, states Dr. Schulz, president of the Schulz Academy.
