Sarah Brady: Connecting talent with opportunities

Sarah Brady had aspirations of making it as a player.

She went through Everton’s academy before playing for her beloved Liverpool for a brief time, and then moving to Leeds United for a short spell.

When, she says, her "body didn’t really want to comply with the ambition", she took a step into coaching. It led her to the USA 14 years ago, where she has “done everything, from tying the shoelaces of three-year-olds all the way up to the collegiate game”.

Last season, she was head coach of AC Connecticut in the inaugural USL W League, a pre-professional women’s league. Now, she is the USL academy director for the women’s pathway.

SCW caught up with Sarah to find out more about the USL Academy structure, the Academy Cup, and what challenges coaches face working in the set up…

SCW: What was it that made you jump at the opportunity to take on this role with the USL? What is it that makes you so passionate about developing and supporting the female game?

SB: "I honestly think it is seeing the talent at ground level. There is so much talent, and not just in the ecosystems.

"We have got plenty of soccer in America, but there’s a lot of kids who are still not able to access the opportunity that their talent merits.

“I definitely miss the pitch - there’s nothing like putting your boots on, as a player and, next best job, as a coach. But what I love about what the USL is trying to do is connect talent with opportunity.

"I think that is very evident every day in all of our decision making. It is driving our initiatives and what we are trying to do.

“It is not just for players, it’s female coaches as well and referees. We’re just basically trying to make that opportunity via our pathway a little bit more streamlined, so when you are an academy player, you can see a career in the game, whether that’s on or off the pitch."

SCW: What is the academy program like? What are the plans to build that out further?

SB: "One of the biggest differences is it’s a U20 model. In the US right now, there is a huge pay-to-play model, and age group football is the driver of that - if we have a team at every age group, that is a lot more dollars in revenue.

"If you are good enough, you are old enough – let’s put all the talent together..."

"What tends to happen is the talent is kept within age groups because we want to win right now. It is a very season-on-season development plan in the majority of cases. 

"With the USL being that U20 umbrella age group, if you are good enough, you are old enough - let’s put every talent together. 

"In England, we go to high school at 11 and there’s one high school team. So as an 11-year-old, if you’re good enough, you’re playing with 16-year-olds and competing in your county.

"It is kind of inspired by that model - let’s put all the talent together, let’s take it out of the confinement of age-group football and let’s really accelerate it. 

"That U20 model is more of an umbrella, and we empower our clubs to decide, based on what they think a player is ready for.

"It’s a supplemental program. It doesn’t replace age-group football. The other leagues in this country do a good job of what they do - the competition structures are very clear, and people buy into that greatly in the pursuit of the college scholarship.

"Our model is a supplement on top of that. The idea is to give the clubs the flexibility to put the development of the individual player over the needs of a team environment. 

"Our model is very fluid and flexible. The roster is not locked in throughout a full cycle. The movement of players is very common.