In 2019, the U.S. Soccer Development Academy (USSDA) announced that they would be removing the U-12 boys age group, leaving San Jose Earthquakes U-12 coach Mark Christie in an interesting position. The Quakes Academy ultimately decided that they would continue to develop these age groups, even if that meant finding competition elsewhere. We had an opportunity to chat with Mark about how he has continued to develop the Quakes’ youngest prospects.
SJEarthquakes.com: The USSDA made the decision to remove the U-12 age group from the league. How has the change affected your teams?
Mark Christie: “Well last year in the U-12 USSDA bracket, we had two age groups that trained together; U-11 and U-12.