FC Edmonton Academy
Making Dreams a Reality
As the main community investment arm of FC Edmonton and the Fath family, for over five years FC Edmonton’s Academy has ensured local youth who possess drive and determination can receive elite level training at no cost.
The Academy provides each player, regardless of economic or social situation, the opportunity to live out their dreams of training and playing soccer in a professional environment completely free of charge.
The boys and girls teams are fully funded by the Fath Family, which owns FC Edmonton, as their way of giving back to the youth in their community.
Families pay no registration fees and every Academy athlete is provided training & game wear, elite level coaching, academic mentorship and various other levels of soccer support.
Overview
The FC Edmonton Academy has 4 programs:
- U-16 boys
- U-18 boys
- U-18 Regional EXCEL Girls team (REX Program in partnership with Alberta Soccer)
- U-21 Reserve Side
The FC Edmonton Academy was established in January of 2012, following the launch of FC Edmonton in the NASL in 2011.
The Academy has been responsible for producing some of FC Edmonton’s greatest homegrown talents such as Allan Zebie, Shamit Shome and Amer Didic.
The Academy has graduated numerous players to first team contracts, both with FC Edmonton and elsewhere around the world. In addition, many Academy grads receive college & university scholarships from across North America, and a large number have been invited to Canadian National Youth Team Camps.
The FC Edmonton Academy is statistically among the most successful youth teams in Alberta, claiming two EDSA Men’s Premier Division League titles and two provincial championships in the Men’s Premier Division.
This past year the Academy was selected to play in one of the world’s top youth tournaments, the SuperCup in Northern Ireland. As the lone Canadian club at the event, the Edmonton team showed they can certainly compete with some of the best academies on the planet.
Training Facilities
Our Academy programs are primarily based out of Clarke Stadium in the summer, and the Edmonton Soccer Dome and Commonwealth Rec Centre in the winter months.
For the 2018/19 winter season, the newly-established U-21 program and the REX Girls will train at the Dome, while the U-16 and U-18 boys will practice at the Commonwealth Rec Centre.
The Academy is a big piece of the “path to pro” for Edmonton and area athletes, giving those players a chance to achieve their dreams.