U16/U17 Finals Allocations Announced

USL News Release

Friday, May 25, 2012

TAMPA, Fla. – United Soccer Leagues released the U16 and U17 age group qualification allotments today for the 2012 Super Y-League North American Finals presented by Umbro. Eight boys’ teams will compete for a place in both the U16 and U17 age groups at IMG Academies in Bradenton, Florida, from December 7-11 to compete for their respective Super Y-League championships. Eight girls’ teams will attend the U16 Finals and six will contest for U17 honors.

The Mid Atlantic Division, which has delivered the past two U16 boys champions, will receive four bids to this year’s tournament. TSF Academy, the 2011 champion, returns a team to the age group to defend its title against 12 other clubs in the largest division. The Midwest Division will receive two bids and the New England and South Atlantic divisions will each receive one bid.

In the girls’ U16 age group the New England Division will send two teams to the Finals, as will the Southeast Division. The Mid Atlantic Division will receive three bids and the South Atlantic Division will receive one.

Three of the past four U17 boys champions have come out of the Mid Atlantic Division. With four teams set to attend this year’s tournament, the division has the best odds of continuing the streak, including 2011 champion Ironbound SC. The other four teams to travel to Bradenton will come from the Midwest and Southeast divisions, which will each receive two bids.

Two divisions comprise the U17 girls age group - Mid Atlantic and Midwest – and each will send three teams to the finals. Of the two, the Midwest Division had the last Finals victor; the Cleveland Internationals won it all in 2009.

IMG Academies, a division of IMG Worldwide, the global sports, fashion and media company, is the world’s largest and most advanced multi-sport training and education complex. IMG Academies has already hosted a myriad of soccer team training camps in 2012, including clubs such as the Seattle Sounders, D.C. United, Columbus Crew, Sweden’s Malmö FF, and, most recently, the U.S. Women’s National Team preparing for the London Olympic Games.

For more than 30 years, IMG Academies has helped countless youth, adult, collegiate and professional athletes reach their full potential in and out of sport, by providing world-class coaching, tailored programs and professional facilities within an energetic environment across a 450-acre campus.