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Shattuck-St. Mary’s U-17 boys’ team differs from many of the squads participating in youth soccer today, but it’s also very much the same.

While the team is part of the college prep boarding school’s soccer program, the squad takes advantage of its full-time residential program by allowing players nine months of high-quality soccer development and training, a fundamental aspect of many of the country’s best youth soccer clubs which aren’t attached to an academic institution.

“We’re an academy in the real, true sense of the word,” said Shattuck-St. Mary’s Director of Soccer Tim Carter. “[The team] practices four to five times a week and plays 40 to 50 games. There’s strength and conditioning two to three times a week in addition to that, in addition to the [academics]. We function as an academy, and within that academy, you still have a lot of the same club feeling – probably more because you’re together so much.”

The student-athletes live, eat, work and play together, which, as Carter mentioned, undoubtedly increases the team’s camaraderie.

And Shattuck-St. Mary’s is no stranger to US Club Soccer’s National Cup Finals. The squad’s appearance at the 2009 event marks the third time in as many years the institution has had a team participate in the U-17 boys’ age group.

Fresh off a 2009 National Cup VIII Indianapolis Regional championship on June 30, Shattuck-St. Mary’s has positioned itself atop Group B of the U-17 Boys’ Super Group division, earning six points in two games. The team is looking forward to doing something their club hasn’t done in two previous visits, and that is win a national championship. They were close in 2007 but ultimately came up short by a 2-1 score to the Bayport Hurricanes in the championship game.

For the most part, the team comes together for the first time at the U-16 age group, while their competition has often been together for a much longer period of time.

“At U-16, we don’t expect them to win because they come from all different parts,” Carter said. “It takes you time to learn. But the most important thing for us is, over time, they become better players. They understand the game better, technically they become more comfortable, and obviously, doing it as often as we do, we take it that they’re going to get stronger and adapt to a higher level.”

The Faribault, Minn.-based institution in the Twin Cities metropolitan area caters to students from all over the world, as can be seen on the U-17 boys’ roster comprised of players from nine states and multiple countries, including Ghana, Korea and Liberia. The program consists of a U-18, U-17 and U-16 team with some community-based offerings for younger ages.

The soccer program is relatively new, as it’s currently in its fifth year of existence. However, the program has produced numerous players that have advanced onto higher levels of the game. Recent graduates have played at institutions such as Notre Dame, Harvard, Princeton, Akron, James Madison, Vanderbilt and UCLA.

Aided by top-quality indoor and outdoor facilities in the often-harsh climate of Minnesota, the squad hopes to parlay its success during the 2009 National Cup VIII into success once the new season starts in September. The squad’s first 10 games are against premier college and NAIA reserve teams.
 
“It’s a good soccer education as well as a good academic education,” Carter said. “And we’re going to have some guys go and play professionally. If you get one or two every few years, you’re probably doing well.”