By Mark Tienken

The New York Red Bulls were among the first professional soccer organizations to set the standard for player development in Major League Soccer. They were the first professional team to boast a satellite based, academy feeder system, known today as the Regional Development School (RDS). Recent years have seen an increasing number of players graduate from the RDS onto the Red Bulls Academy, and participation in the RDS is now widely recognized as the most successful route into the Academy teams.

Intended only for elite boys and girls aged 8 to 14, the RDS comprises the very best talent on Long Island born in each calendar year from 1998 to 2003, and only players actively registered with an LIJSL club are eligible to take advantage of this exclusive training opportunity.

In our efforts to make more people aware of the program, we thought the best thing to do was to let everyone hear from one of the player’s who is already in the program. Special thanks to Mark Tienken and his family for taking the time to share his experiences and put them down in words. This week is just a quick introduction to Mark. Check back later this month for stories from his summer soccer journal.


It was really sunny and very warm on Sunday, July 24th. I arrived at The Peddie School early, ready for a great time and a whole lot of soccer training.

The Peddie School is a private boarding school in Hightstown, New Jersey with really good athletic fields.

The first thing that I learned was that I was incredibly over-packed.

Before we started packing, I had mentioned to my mom that I would be permitted to have snacks in the dorm. Big mistake.

In a plastic tub (the kind that Christmas decorations go in), she filled enough protein bars, protein drinks, nuts and dried fruit that if the camp never gave me anything to eat, I would still be okay. Then there was the bedding bag, the stand-up fan, the refrigerator, enough clothes for 10 days (camp was only five days), and the soccer gear bag.

I looked at the other kids who had maybe two bags at most. I turned to my dad and said, “The refrigerator has got to go. The other kids are going to make fun of me.”

Now, my dad is a reasonable guy. He said that he would not unload the refrigerator if I would explain the refrigerator’s trip back home to my mom. It was a deal.

When we arrived in the dorm room, I was really excited to see that the room was large and only had two beds in it. What made things even better was that I knew my roommate, Jakey, from last summer’s RDS camp at Golden Goal.

That Sunday afternoon, I met Ross Crichton, the trainer for our group. First, we played small sided games. Then we watched Manchester City vs. LA Galaxy on a big screen TV. It was going to be a great week.

Monday at Peddie was cloudy and rainy. The ball moved a lot quicker and that meant we had to run faster than usual. I had some very wet feet but I had fun. By the end of the day, my friends and I hung out and played South Africa 2010 on Xbox 360.

Tuesday was really hot and humid, which made working on ball skills a little harder. Ross taught us tons of moves. I mastered two really complicated moves, which was great. My first touch and shot improved and I scored with a banana kick! Finally, at night, we finished up video game tournaments. Everyone was going crazy when someone scored. I love camp because we get to learn to play soccer and have a little fun the process.

My best day had to be Wednesday. Ross taught us how to strike the ball harder. We even got an opportunity to shoot on the goalies. Later on that day, we had the Skills Challenges. During this part of the camp program, we are given different tasks like dribbling, shooting, juggling, turning, passing and receiving. Each one of these challenges has a point score. The higher your score, the better you did. I am happy to say that I did really well, with total points of 110.

The day ended with all of us watching Manchester United vs. MLS All-Stars. As I did every night before bed, I wrote the day’s events in my journal so I could remember everything.


I don’t know what happened Thursday morning. I woke up feeling pretty sick to my stomach. This wasn’t good. During the last day of camp, we have a tournament for the parents to see. There was no way that I was going to miss that, but my stomach had other ideas. I couldn’t even eat my breakfast. Ross told me that I would probably feel a little better if I ate a banana and drank some water. I started to feel a little better, so I managed to get down to the soccer field in enough time to play. My team came in second. I was glad that I was able to participate.

There was a final ceremony on the main field. Simon Barrow, RDS Manager, summed up the week’s events for everyone and then gave out awards to some incredible players.

Staying at Peddie , soccer, new friends, RDS and…. no homework! Awesome.