Ohio Elite Soccer Academy Established 2002

Ohio Elite Soccer Academy

Home	Away	Alternate	State Cup
info@ohioelite.com

Boys Teams

Girls Teams

Overview

The Ohio Elite Soccer Academy is a non-profit organization under the laws of the State of Ohio formed to provide elite level soccer players with professional coaching, state-of-the-art facilities and the optimum competition environment.

The word academy refers to a higher standard of training and facilities. The players are provided the best and most experienced coaching in Region II. The professional coaching staff members have extensive playing and coaching backgrounds. Each team will be provided a professional coach that will conduct training sessions and oversee game/player management. The professional coaching staff has developed a detailed curriculum and developmental process that is geared towards the development of the individual player at younger ages leading to team tactical knowledge at the older age groups.

The Ohio Elite Soccer Academy will offer teams U9-U18 age groups for both boys and girls. The Academy will offer a U8 program for boys and girls that will be structured as a non-result based, fun, learning environment. This program will focus on developing a love of the game and individual skill.

The Ohio Elite Soccer Academy will seek to participate in the highest-level leagues, competitions, and tournaments, available in the Cincinnati area. Academy teams will have the opportunity to play in the Elite Players U8 League, Tri-County Youth League, Buckeye Premier League, Midwest Regional League, USL Super-Y League (the only Cincinnati club to offer this) and US Soccer Developmental Academy. It is a goal to achieve success at the state, regional, and national levels. Academy teams will participate in age appropriate tournaments. The academy will seek to provide U15-U18 teams with the opportunity to attend tournaments that will provide the highest level of competition and exposure to college coaches.

Mission Statement

"To create an elite training and competition environment for boys and girls that strives to reach the highest level of success through first achieving excellence: providing a life enriching experience in an academy atmosphere that seeks to develop the complete player on and off the field of competition."

History

In 2002, Tim Lesiak, Doug Bracken, Doug Conway, Jerry Chambers and Jeff Beckham came together to meet about the formation of a new elite soccer club in Cincinnati. The idea behind the new club would be to provide talented players with talented professional coaches and to subtract the parent influence from soccer development. The business side of the new club and the soccer side of the new club would run parallel but separately. Roby Stahl was later brought in as the Boys Director of Coaching. The Ohio Elite Soccer Academy was born.

The first year saw many successes as the inaugural seven Ohio Elite Soccer Academy teams blazed a trail for what would become the standard for soccer clubs in Cincinnati. The U13 girl`s team was the first to take the field in the 2002 Bolt Cup in Dayton, OH. They won the tournament and the club was off and running. Later that year the U12 girls captured the clubs first OSYSA State Cup Championship with a 2-1 defeat of Blast FC in the final. That team has since won four more State Championships. In 2005 they captured the U14 Girls USYS Region II Championship, the clubs first USYS Regional Championship. To date, the club has captured nine OSYSA State Cup Championships.

In 2003, another step was taken towards future success. The club had now grown to over 20 teams. With the idea that Ohio Elite Soccer Academy would always search for the best opportunities for the development of their players they joined US Club Soccer as one of the inaugural club members and the USL Super Y League. For several years the club was the only club in Cincinnati to belong to these organizations. The club still remains the only Super Y League club in Cincinnati and Ohio South. Ohio Elite Soccer Academy became part of US Club Soccer permanent history by winning the 2003 U16 Girls National Championship when Cara Kelley scored the winning goal in overtime in a 2-1 defeat of San Juan SC. The club has gone on to win 13 US Club Soccer Regional Championships. The Super Y League has provided Ohio Elite players the opportunity to continue playing throughout the summer months. Since joining SYL the club has sent three teams to the SYL North American Finals. In 2007, the U17 girls finished 8-0-0 in regional play to win the league and advance to the finals.

In 2006 the successes on the field continued as the club captured three OSYSA State Cup Championships and sent four teams to the USYS Region II Championships. The U16 boys captured the clubs first State Championship for the boys program and the U13 and U15 girls advanced to the Region II Championship final. This was a year of unprecedented success. But maybe the biggest success of all was realizing the dream of a top-class training facility when the club purchased a 29.8-acre property in West Chester, OH. It was the future home of Ohio Elite Soccer Academy. Part of the mission of the club at its inception was to provide players the best possible training environment. The new training center would provide just that. In August of 2007, the first ground was broken and the facility development began. The David L. Olberding Ohio Elite Training Center is scheduled to open in the fall of 2008. In 2006 the club also signed on as a marketing partner with Nike. The agreement made Ohio Elite Soccer Academy one of 45 clubs in the United States with the designation of Nike Premier Club. The relationship has blossomed offering the club teams and players access to the US National Team staff as well as participation in elite events such as Nike Premier Cup, Nike Friendlies and Nike Premier 50.