I pretty much came back and I was like, Hey, we can implement the stuff that I was learning and we need XYZ to do this. So that kind of reiterated the idea and then since we were engulfed in it for one of the modules. But in that course one of the modules was based on the individual development of your top talent. “So I was lucky enough to be a part of that class, the EFCL 4. That success combined with knowledge Castellanos gained as part of the Elite Formations Course MLS offers in combination with the French Federation allowed him to push the idea to the next level.

The initial structure saw early success in the growth of players like Daniel Edelman and Jake Lacava and made it clear to the Castellanos and the rest of the staff that they were on to something. “Can we spend a block of time in the session, working on the individual talent that we had? Once we started doing that and seeing some of the success that we had with some of the players, I think that’s when we kind of said alright, this needs to be like a major project and can we turn this into its own entity.”

The program originally was built into the team training sessions as Castellanos describes. The first iteration of the program was based on the broad idea of accelerating development between age groups. Initially joining the Red Bulls Academy as head coach for the U19s, when that age group was eliminated during a restructuring two years ago, Castellanos was invited to head up a new skills development clinic that would have ripple effects of the entire academy structure. On a cold rainy Monday afternoon in East Hanover, Sammy Castellanos sits down in the coaching office where it all started to discuss the engine of recent success for the New York Red Bulls academy - the Individual Development Program.įrom the first breath the passion for the project is clear from the Philly native who cut his teeth coaching in the greater Tampa area and later at Orlando City.

Pocket academy spot