Major League Soccer and the French Football Federation (FFF) have announced a partnership aimed at providing MLS academy coaches with world class training through a 16-month development course and earning their Elite Formation Coaching License.
The FFF will host the MLS delegation at its Clairefontaine national training facility and guide the youth directors through the same program as the one it provides its domestic coaches; however, the EFCL program will include customized features developed by MLS, the United States Soccer Federation and the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA).
"We are incredibly excited about this new partnership with the French Football Federation. As part of our vision to be among the top leagues in the world by 2022, we are committed to becoming leaders in the area of player development. This initiative will provide an important learning opportunity for MLS youth academies,” MLS Executive Vice President of Player Relations & Competition Todd Durbin said.
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The course will feature eight weeks of coursework, a two-week immersion at the academy of a number of major European teams, including Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Paris Saint-German and an eventual integration into the MLS academy system.
“Through our partnership with MLS, The French Football Federation is proud and excited to be engaged in such a marvelous project. The expectations of MLS are very high and the FFF technical department is greatly honored to be selected in this area. Our commitment with MLS will be the foundation for concrete and great development between U.S. and French football, as it mirrors the long term friendship between France and the United States,” said FFF Technical Director François Blaquart.
Each MLS club, along with US Soccer and MLS, nominated one coach from their academy to participate in the program, which will be spread out over eight sessions between February 2013 and May 2014, culminating with the integration of the program into MLS academies starting in July 2014.
The program timeline is as follows:
February 25 - March 1: Session 1 at Clairefontaine
March 2-8: European Club Observation #1
June 2013: Session 2 & Session 3 in the United States
September 2013: Session 4 & Session 5 at Clairefontaine
September 2013: European Club Observation #2
February / March 2014: Session 6 & 7 in the United States
May / June 2014: Session 8 at Clairefontaine
July 2014: Begin Integration of Program into MLS Academies
MLS Club Candidates
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Chicago Fire</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Larry</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunderland</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Chivas USA</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Sasha</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">van der Mos</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Colorado Rapids</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Steve</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Cooke</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Columbus Crew</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Billy</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Thompson</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">FC Dallas</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Luchi</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Gonzalez</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">D.C. United</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Nolan</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Sheldon</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Houston Dynamo</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">James</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Clarkson</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Sporting Kansas City</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Jon</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Parry</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">LA Galaxy</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Jovan</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Kirovski</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Montreal Impact</strong></span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Wilfried</strong></span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Nancy</strong></span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">New England Revolution</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Bryan</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Scales</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">New York Red Bulls</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">John</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Wolyniec</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Philadelphia Union</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Peter</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Fuller</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Portland Timbers</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Smith</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Real Salt Lake</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Freddy</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Juarez</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">San Jose Earthquakes</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Chris</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Leitch</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Seattle Sounders FC</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Darren</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Sawatzky</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Toronto FC</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Danny</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Dichio</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Vancouver Whitecaps FC</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Craig</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Dalrymple</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">MLS</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Greg</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Vanney</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">U.S. Soccer</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Marc</span></span> |
<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Nicholls</span></span> |
