Philadelphia Union and its Official Youth Development Partner YSC have developed a truly innovative model for developing youth talent from the Home Territory of the Philadelphia Union.  Philadelphia Union and YSC are deeply committed to youth development and strive to build one of the best youth development academies in North America.  Our objective is to produce world-class players from our home territories to someday represent the Philadelphi Union at PPL Park.  The YSC/Philadelphia Union Youth development program is free of charge so Philadelphia's future players of promise have an opportunity to pursue their passion without the burden of being required to "pay to play."  Selection into the program is a true accomplishment and is the first step in a player's path to PPL.

The innovative Philadelphia Union Youth program is deeply based in sports science and coaching education best practices and includes three developmental levels segmented by age:  Union Futures (ages 6-7), Union Juniors (ages 8-12), and commencing in the Fall of 2013, Union Academy (U14, U16, U18).  At all ages, our players are asked to lead by example and embrace the ethos and culture of Philadelphia Union and YSC.

All Union programs below the age of 12 follow our "club and country" format whereby youth players remain registered and play with their local youth clubs and are only "called up" into Union program for supplemental training and competition opportunities.  This "club-neutral" model enables Philadelphia Union and YSC to effectively partner with local youth clubs and share in the process of developing players.

UNION ACADEMY (U14, U16, U18)

Commencing in the Fall of 2013 for U14, U16 and U18 age groups, Philadelphia Union will provide a full-time academy program (i.e., 5x week training + games) similar to professional youth academies in Europe and South America.  The Union Academy will compete in the US Soccer Development Academy.  

UNION JUNIORS (8-12)