Nashville SC has launched a development academy, another key step for the club as it prepares for its first MLS season in '20. Former MLS player Jamie Smith will run Nashville's academy program, which will begin play in the under-12 age group, before adding U-13, U-14 and U-15 teams for the '20-21 season. Nashville SC GM Mike Jacobs previously helped Sporting K.C. start their academy. Jacobs cited the Red Bulls and Real Salt Lake as MLS clubs making their academies count, either by developing players for their respective first teams or selling talented prospects to European clubs or other MLS sides, thereby helping the club financially. “It’s the lifeline for any club,” Jacobs said. Bringing a local player through the academy into the Nashville SC first team could be a huge marketing boost for the fledgling club, but Jacobs insisted “we’re going to be pretty thoughtful about how we go about identifying players.”
STUDYING ABROAD: Jacobs and Nashville SC CEO Ian Ayre visited Ayre’s former club, Liverpool, last year to study that club’s academy system. During Ayre’s time at Liverpool, the EPL powerhouse produced Trent Alexander-Arnold and Raheem Sterling, two mainstays of the English national team. “It was a good pipeline,” said Ayre. “I think if you can get one or two through to the first team every few years, you’re doing pretty well.” Nashville’s academy will be based at Currey Ingram Academy, a college-prep day school in Brentwood, Tennessee, that was founded by Nashville SC Owner John Ingram and his wife, Stephanie. The facility’s grass fields are all ready for play, but construction of the academy’s offices and other buildings will continue over the next eight months. Nashville SC will be able to house some of its academy players in Currey Ingram Academy’s dorms, allowing the club to “not only develop soccer players but further their education on-site,” said Ayre. “So, it’s an exciting facility and an exciting proposition.”
