I know one kid that is not there and that is my son Lucas who is a yong 95 and will be a Junior this year. He is over in England doing trials this month. He played in the last two GA for RSL but you are correct that they do require a mix of age groups and certain amount of playing time and starts for each player taken. In the RSL case I am sure they have 10 96s they are on next years u-16 team mixed with 10 95s that will be on next years u-18 team. I think most top players consider this more of a showcase and since you dont really play to win but rather have all these rules about playing time and year born mix it is interesting to say the least. It was much more serious a few years back.
Greetings from Toronto: Hopefully Toronto can host this event next year so we can show off our beautiful new six turf and two grass field Training Facility for TFC Academy teams..... Rhumor has it they are just slightly over budget @$48mil. Since the parents have yet to be invited inside, I can only provide second hand information..... My just turned 16yr old is starting keeper tonight, and most of the team is 96'ers. These kids play in the CSL-division 2 u-21 league and are 9 wins 2 ties, ands in first place. If anybody has suggestions on game results....please relay... In return I would be pleased to reply to any questions about the team...
Live tweeted today on @adidasitp, will again tomorrow and Thursday morning. Will write an article on it including standouts afterward. One hint...New Yorks Arun Basuljevic is a really special player.
Curious, how many games did/will your sons team play this year?? Are they all in CSL? Do they ever play local teams around the same age? Tournys (besides SUM cup)? If so, outside the US/Canada?? # of games is kinda a hot topic here, thought might be interesting to know the one team that isn't really in the eye of many around here.
Tough question: I have finally been convinced its about the training.... they train 5 days a week, 3 hours a day, and play one CSL game. CSL is a 16 game season..plus elimination rounds. This is the third out of town trip.....They were in Columbus in April for 3 Games/all wins, and Montreal in May for two games. There really is no point in playing local teams their age... My Sons Club team last year plated solid against the Women's National Team on three or four occaisions.
Don't know how it's done State-side, but this is the first year where our son has been on a team that is 100% funded....I have to say "Well Funded" ! Not a single dime has come out of my pocket this year for anything soccer related.... Tournements, gloves, Adidas shoes, There is a staff of five in the injury rehab department, and this winter, there will be no shortage of climate controlled turf... (four new full size turfs). And there will be no more 7:am or 11m practices.....
Congrats to Toronto for winning both of its age groups and becoming the only club to reach both semi-finals (which indicates that maybe being part of the DA isn't such a benefit). http://www.mlssoccer.com/2012-generation-adidas-cup I'm not even sure when the semis are going to be played, though. On the MLS site, there are two games listed today for TFC U17s and no game for their U15s.
Don't know if Columbus Crew has made any changes since TFC visited in April, but all three games were over very early........ 8m west coast time means I will hear the score in the morning.........
Given the potential visa and passport issues that may arise with some of the players on American teams, I can't see this happening. Though it's great to see TFC investing so much into their youth program.
Good showcase for TFC. Their players are right up there with any program in MLS right now. I guess playing in a semi pro league against men isn't all that bad after all compared to DA.
We have alot of US teams visit for hockey every year.........If there are alot of non US players on these teams, there could be an issue......... Any US citizen is very welcome at our border with 2 pieces of government ID, and a parents note..... Unfortunately it's harder for a US citizen to get back into their own country. Then they need a passport........Gofigure!
The demographic of players who play hockey and soccer is very different. To give you an idea how this could be an issue, there are at least three homegrown signings who most likely would not have been let back into the US had they left the country as youth player.
It's after 8M in Seattle. The semi final game has started and I'm sleepless in Toronto not knowing how the game is going...............SillySoccerDad!
Alot of these teams hate losing to 16yr olds.... The last two games have been really rough games.... Two weeks ago Windsor's keeper got a red card for a charging body check.... and then last week got really ugly!
Congrats on TFC making to the finals in PKs against the Crew. I'm sure you're son will be quite happy in the morning. This wasn't your normal Crew team. It was most likely made up of the best kids on the Crew, the best kids on their DA affiliate CSA Wolves, and possibly other players outside these two teams. Unfortunately, these rosters are more secret than Area 51, so I suppose we'll never know who TFC actually faced. This Union team is basically a DA All Star team primarily made up of 3 teams: PA Classics, PDA, and FC DELCO. It looks like they've run through this tournament pretty easily. God forbid the Union actually create an academy team and have these players train together day in and day out. TFC played their U16s last year and won both games, but who knows if these are the same players who they played in those matches.
I haven't paid much attention to the Union's approach, but I'm not convinced that it's terrible to give local clubs a prominent role. Considering how slow it is to commute around most US metro areas, it's probably preferable for kids to do their regular training closer to home.
TFC beat L.A Galaxy 1-0 in the u15 division to reach the final. TFC u17 beat the Columbus Crew on penalties after a 1-1 regulation draw to reach the final. Good showing for TFC. I'd still like to see them in the D.A. I'll have to settle for seeing how Montreal stack up next year.