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U.S. Soccer Development Academy Shut Down Because of COVID-19 Pandemic

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The United States Soccer Development Academy is ceasing operations, effective immediately, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Soccer announced the decision Wednesday in a joint statement from the organization's CEO Will Wilson, sporting director Earnie Stewart and president Cindy Parlow Cone.

"This was an incredibly difficult decision to make," the statement said, "but the extraordinary and unanticipated circumstances around the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a financial situation that does not allow for the continuation of the Development Academy program into the future. We know that suddenly discontinuing a program that has been with U.