RPS ACADEMIES SOCCER SHORT-TIME PROGRAM

"THE RUSH SELECT ACADEMY"

We provide our students with high-performance soccer training using one of the world’s most in-depth and specialized curriculum, designed by internationally renowned Academy Director Pablo Toledo.
 
Short-term stays and camps are an excellent opportunity to experience the high-performance residential academy setting and get a glance at the lifestyle of a professional, aspiring player. Our periodized curriculum for these camps is specifically intended to develop the players in a pedagogically logical way, building their skills and understanding over the course of the days and weeks.

weekly & camp program options

The RPS Soccer Academy has the capacity to host a new student-athlete at any point of the year. In our program, short timers are not placed in separate groups but actually incorporated with our full time student-athletes. This is purposely done with the intention of allowing short time participants to experience the program and the residential academy life in its full capacity to truly grasp and know if this is what they’re looking for for their future. 

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Our camps are organized in blocks of three weeks to provide each player a logical and effective progression of learning, with weeks building off of one another. The participant is encouraged therefore to be part of the full three week camp to maximize progress, yet this is not mandatory and any participant can always choose to join the group on the week they are most interested in.
 
Block 1: Technical Development
The first week of the camp is oriented to developing technical skills that serve as a foundation of individual and group tactics that will be covered in the following weeks. High repetition of passing, receiving, dribbling, and shooting in different game situations are at the core of this initial week.
 
Block 2: Individual & Small Group Tactics
The second week of the camp is oriented to teaching the participant individual and small group tactics in both attacking and defending game situations. These will build the foundations needed to solidify the learnings of the final week. Individual pressure, covering, or retreating in defense, and dribbling 1v1, making runs into space, and concepts of supporting are some of the topics covered in this week.
 
Block 3: Team Tactics
The final week of the camp is oriented to developing the players in large group and team tactical concepts in attacking, defending, and transitional game situations, using the foundations of weeks 1 and 2 to give sense and logically progress in the learning process. Pressing and block compactness in defense, and build up aspects in attack are examples of topics covered in this week.
Our pre-season camp has the objective of preparing ambitious players for the season like a professional player does, adding two weeks of physical, technical, and tactical training. The pre season camp is organized in two weeks as follows:
 
The first week of pre season has the main goal of progressively increasing physical demands and introducing game model concepts while minimizing the risk of injury. Therefore, a core focus on aerobic development and flexibility work is at its core. Group and team tactical concepts are presented through large numbers’ training exercises. Transitional exercises are purposely avoided.
 
The second week of the camp builds off of the first week, elevating the physical demands and introducing anaerobic activities, which are at the core of the sport, while incorporating game model concepts in smaller numbers now in attack, defense, and transition. Flexibility work, proper hydration, and regenerative activities are utilized and taught to the students to form high performance habits.
Time Activity
7:00am
Breakfast
8:00 am
Video Session For Tactical Understanding
8:30 am
Activation / Warm Up w/ Performance Coach
9 am
Functional Training w/ Head Coach
11 am
Cool Down w/ Performance Coach Or Pool Recovery
12 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm
Tactical Discussion At Soccer Office
2:00 pm
Team Training w/ Head Coach
4:00 pm
Gym Or Recovery
6:00 pm
Dinner
7:00 pm
Entertainment Activitie

Soccer camp and
weekly programs

The Rush Select Academy is the capstone of Rush Soccer’s player pathway. As part of the largest soccer club in the world with over 50,000 players distributed in over 120 clubs in all continents of the globe, Rush Soccer recruits its top talent directly into this state of the art all inclusive facility and international academy in which its student athletes are prepared for both academic and sporting success. 
 
It is a vital distinction of our academy to be the only non MLS academy in the country counting on its own professional pathways through the Rush Soccer system.
 
Rush Soccer has developed over 90 professional soccer players in its 25 years of existence, with some of them reaching the highest level of international competition, like current USWNT Lindsey Horan or USMNT Christian Pulisic, among many others. 
 
 

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Professional Pathway: It is the only academy in the world that has its OWN professional teams, making this goal MUCH more achievable

College Placement: The academy prides itself on achieving 100% college scholarships every year. The College Advisory Program provides 1-on-1 personalized guidance EVERY step of the way in the recruitment process.

Safety: The academy operates in a state-of-the-art all-inclusive gated facility with all accommodation, school, and training facilities onsite.

International & Multi-Sport: As one of the four high performance academies operating within the facility (Tennis, Golf, Soccer, and Volleyball) and hosting student-athletes from all over the world, the academy environment is ideal for development, creating an ‘Olympic Villa’ atmosphere and a strong identity.

The Rush Soccer Factor: From its unique and exclusive partnership with Rush Soccer, our student athletes access an unmatched portfolio of resources and services in College Advisory Program, Technical, Physical, and Tactical training, as well as Video Analysis and Sports Psychology. There are numerous opportunities to travel and play abroad and so much more! 

Weekly camp programs are available every week of the year.

Summer Camp Dates:

June 2 until August 9

Our soccer short time weekly and summer camp program has three unique training sessions:

The morning session includes two hours of technique and skill development. The focus of the afternoon session is tactical and implementing the learning technical skills on game-like environments. The evening sessions are in-house games. 

PERIODIZATION PLAN
AND SCHEDULE

THE SYSTEM
AND METHOD

THE METHODOLOGY

Three simple factors to develop a high performing footballer:

THE PRINCIPLES

Talent & Potential, Volume, and Instruction. The conceptual simplicity of the approach is purposeful to remind the base necessity of excelling at identifying the highest potential players, highlight the fundamental role of volume and repetition as a necessary condition to develop mastery, and remark at last that volume of training is most frequently not sufficient if it’s not accompanied by optimal instruction. In other words, RPS Soccer Academy’s approach highlights that it is not only about Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours but also about the quality of those hours, which need to be optimized by the best possible level of instruction. 

From this foundational base, our methodology builds the most in-depth layers of knowledge, delivering specific coaching points in each session and activity and in both team and individual settings. 

This is aligned with the belief that despite soccer being a team sport, the player comes first and team results need to be majorly a result of progress of each individual, highlighting then in our programming not only team oriented sessions and instances, but also focusing on individual and functional training to ensure that each player is learning the specifics of their roles as they go through their youth years and the positional specialization process.

This is in our methodology, by no means, suggesting that unopposed training, or isolated training, is more important than the game based and opposed. On the contrary, our approach highlights the importance of developing skill over technique, understanding the first as the effective application of the second within a game situation.  

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SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Skill development, in that sense, is not perceived as a linear process of acquiring techniques in isolated situations to then merge into game-based and opposing situations that resemble real games in a closer fashion. Like in music, it is not always a good idea to break a masterpiece into too many fragments to try to stick it back together. From that cornerstone, the different activities and training that are utilized serve as tools that can be used based on the needs of each specific player.  

ENVIRONMENT

To surround and support soccer specific training, a team of professionals assist for a fully holistic developmental approach, covering the areas of Video Analysis, Mental Skills & Toughness, Fitness & Performance Development, Nutrition, and Intellectual Development. 

It is at the core of RPS Academies, like the famous Argentinian coach Cesar Luis Menotti said: If all you know is football, you hardly even know about football. 

GAME BASED

Our primary objective is to develop the cognitive and mental aspects of the game, including emotional control and intellectual understanding. To achieve this, we conduct training based on games. 

ENVIRONMENT

To surround and support soccer specific training, a team of professionals assist for a fully holistic developmental approach, covering the areas of Video Analysis, Mental Skills & Toughness, Fitness & Performance Development, Nutrition, and Intellectual Development. 

It is at the core of RPS Academies, like the famous Argentinian coach Cesar Luis Menotti said: If all you know is football, you hardly even know about football. 

PERIODIZATION

The plan is based on the systematic and incremental improvement of the player over an extended period.

We focus on the specific skill set of the athlete and connect short-term developmental objectives with long-term performance goals. 

The plan goes beyond generalities, establishing specific improvement strategies by setting realistic goals that we can objectively measure. Results don’t lie and will show us the way. 

Although it is well said that plans change after the first training session, it is also well said that  “A Dream without a plan is just an illusion”. Our periodization plan acts as the guiding light of the program and the masterplan to maximize the impact of the pieces within. 

 

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COMPETITION

Final Preparation and Daily Training

Ultimately, our success is judged by the results, which is why it is crucial for athletes to arrive at competitions well-prepared in all aspects of their game. Daily practices expose them to various types of pressure, teaching them to perform at their best, under pressure, against opponents with different playing styles. This exposure helps them interpret and adapt to different plays based on their opponents and the court surfaces.

Our athletes learn the importance of differentiating between strategy and tactics, managing their emotions, and maintaining resilience. These skills are integral to their development and are what we emphasize in our daily training. Unlike many others, we compete daily, not just in matches, but in our commitment to excellence and continuous improvement.
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How we deliver the program

1

Program Principles

The star of the team is the team.

We teach and we play from a position of love, not of fear.

Professionalism is not a status, it is a behavior.

Our responsibility is to nurture well rounded, cultured, sensitive people, not just great soccer players.

We don’t expect comfort, we are here to embrace the grind and to compete.

Our athletes learn the importance of differentiating between strategy and tactics, managing their emotions, and maintaining resilience. These skills are integral to their development and are what we emphasize in our daily training. Unlike many others, we compete daily, not just in matches, but in our commitment to excellence and continuous improvement.
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2

Performance Based Groups

Within the RPS Soccer Academy, groups are not splitted by age groups but by level of play, respecting our overarching program principles. We are here to compete.

3

In depth Game Knowledge

The first thing that’s needed to be a great coach is to know the game in depth. We coach specifics, not vague ideas. 

4

The Player before the team

Because the ultimate success is the success of each individual, not the success of the team.

5

Embrace the grind

Our coaches and students are guided by a growth mentality, understanding errors as part of the learning process, and displaying resilience. 

PEAK PERFORMANCE TRAINING

Endurance

Strength

Power

Speed

Balance

Coordinate

agility

flexibility

nutrition

Our systematic approach includes all of the fundamental components for peak performance including endurance, strength, power, speed, balance, coordination, agility, flexibility, and nutrition.

GROUP RESERVATION

Special rates  and benefits for group reservations

PERFORMANCE
TRAINING

Develop strength, speed, coordination and agility with the RPS soccer specific conditioning program

FAQ

If accepted to the program, you can join the RPS Soccer on a full-time boarding or non-boarding basis. The difference between these two formats is that boarding students live in the dorms at the Sandpiper Bay Resort at our facility. Non-boarding students spend the entire day at the facility but once academics and sports are over for the day they return to their off-campus homes.

Alternatively, plenty of student-athletes from all over the world participate in the program on a short-term basis, coming to train with us and experience the academy life generally for 1-3 weeks at a time.

Groups and teams are also frequently received with the objective of experiencing this academy life and compete against some of our teams.

RPS Soccer recruits players from Rush and non-Rush clubs from around the world. Interested candidates are evaluated as far as their soccer level through video and/or personally when possible. Very frequently interested candidates fly to the academy for short term stays of a week to try out for our teams.

Academic records are also evaluated as part of this process.

The academy life is exciting every day, yet long and demanding. Our student-athletes wake up early around 6 AM to prepare themselves for training and academics. They generally eat breakfast at 7 AM and at 8 – 8:30 AM walk to the fields for a morning training session, complemented by a second session for fitness at the gym or on the field (in recovery days this can be replaced for a class of Mental Conditioning, Nutrition, or Video Analysis).

By 9:45 AM the student-athletes are showering and getting ready to attend school, which runs in two blocks of two hours, from 10 AM – 12 PM and 1 PM – 3 PM, leaving a one hour break in the middle for the students to have lunch.

Once school is over, the participants change again into their training gear to go for a second training sessions at 3:30 PM on the field.

At 5 PM their day concludes, leaving an hour for them to shower and relax before dinner at the resort restaurant.

Two days a week the student-athletes attend a third shift of academics at the school.

Rush Soccer is the largest youth soccer club in the world with over 100 clubs in all six continents of the world and a strong core in the United States, in which it is represented in more than 140 communities of the country.

The RPS Soccer Academy is the pinnacle of its player development pathway, serving as the residential academy in which the club places its top talent from all over the world, with the intention of developing it to then place those players in the club’s professional teams or in the top tiers of the US college system.

The RPS Soccer Academy is a unique, top level sporting program with many benefits and differences from all other academies, such as:

  • The Rush Soccer Factor: The academy is built over Rush Soccer, the largest youth soccer club in the world as its pinnacle of soccer development.
  • Own Professional Pathway: The RPS Soccer Academy is the only non-MLS academy that possesses and can place players its own professional teams.
  • 100% College Placement: College Placement for our student-athletes is sustained at 100%. We make a big emphasis on this. By the conclusion of their senior year, all of our participants have historically received at least one offer from a college.
  • Safety: All of the facilities utilized (dorms, restaurant, soccer fields, gym, etc.) are located within the Sandpiper Bay Resort, so our students live in a safe and guarded gated community, bringing peace of mind to their families.
  • Multisport ‘Olympic Villa’ Environment: The RPS Soccer Academy is one of four academies that operate within the Sandpiper Bay Resort (Tennis, Golf, and Volleyball are the others), which creates a high performing, enjoyable, and multi-discipline environment that resembles an ‘Olympic villa’.
  • Holistic Approach: Elevating the provision of services through Rush Soccer’s technical department, the program is supported and completed with unique team of professionals that assist our student-athletes in matters of Video Analysis, Nutrition, and Sports Psychology, among others.