F.C. Portland Academy teams are formed through the open try-out system. Players try-out and are offered positions on a team if in the opinion of the coaching staff and evaluators the player meets the standard for our teams.

F.C. Portland is honored to be recognized as a Premier Club that is dedicated to and understands that the true value of long-term success comes through the development of both technical skills and team play over any individual game result. Attention to this philosophy is demonstrated immediately following try-outs. If the coaching staff determines that a newly selected group of players has enough talent to form two teams, the player base will be divided as equally as possible to make two teams of similar competitive ability. This removes the ‘A' Team v. ‘B' Team mentality that can negatively affect younger players, causing them to feel disillusioned about the game. The fact is that our age group teams train together with a shared curriculum and they also have individual team training sessions. This policy is in place for the U11 Boys and U11 Girls teams and can be used at the U12 age group if the coaching staff determines that it is best for that age group. Eventually, it is a mixture of both premier and developmental teams that creates F.C. Portland. As the Academy continues its growth, the need for ‘equally split' teams will exist only at the younger age groups (U11 and possibly at U12) allowing players who have not been through a full year of our curriculum to begin competitive play in a balanced environment.