Over the weekend the VDA partner clubs (VSA, PWSI, HYS) 'Development Players' excelled in ECNL match day action. Since VDA’s inception in 2015, the Development Player program has been an integral part of the player development pathway providing players opportunities in training and games to develop and excel. 

"The role of the DP player at VDA has become a vital part of the development process for our club. It is something that we are proud of and have had remarkable success with over the years and as we continue the project of developing VDA the more players have benefited from this program" Matt Lacey, Technical Director 

The DP program is for players that the club feel have potential to be successful in the ECNL but need more time to develop for a variety of reasons (physical development, confidence, more playing time in games, etc). These players are provided with specific training days with VDA while playing full time with partner clubs in the ECNL-RL (VSA, PWSI, HYS). If the player is developing and performing well in the ECNL-RL environment they will be given more training opportunities and time in VDA games. Between the three partner clubs we have 20+ players per gender as Development Players.

"The most important part of being a DP is trusting the process as a player and as a parent. We make players DPs because we believe that it is in the best interest long term for them to be in the right environment where they can maximize training opportunities and game time (Games with ECNL RL team). If the player is committed and dedicated they will be given the opportunity to play in VDA games and earn a full-time spot" Matt Lacey, Technical Director 

This past weekend the following players had big roles in their teams performances: Ethan Ognek (08), Yinka Bashorun (07), Oman Akbari (08), Thomas Fitzsimmons-Call (06), David Fitzsimmons-Call (06), Mikey Stegmaier (09), and Liam Richford (09). This included a hattrick for Liam in the 2009 game.