Every Bradenton class we look at has examples of future USMNT players, future MLS-caliber professionals, future USL/PDL caliber players, and a couple of players who maxed out as NCAA players. Take a look at Argentina or Holland rosters from U17 World Cups. You'll see the same thing. I'm not too bothered by that one way or another. One can see that when you take a U17 World Cup team..................there's complete overhaul of the pool by the time their U20 period comes around................and then even more overhaul by the time their U23 period comes around...................and then more overhaul when USMNT callups come. Geoff Cameron never appeared for the US at any youth level. Neither did Graham Zusi. [We could go on with that particular list forever.] We have plenty of kids on this U20 team that didn't appear for the U17s............do we not? It's just the way it works.
Fantastic post. If u go back to the modern era of the game here...88 on IMO...behind most quality US players there were quality dads/uncles teaching them the game. Not our system.
That's a fair point. My comment was too vague. If I have some time later in the day, I'll try to clarify.
Others may take a different view, but the "downside" I have in mind is that Bradenton doesn't prepare players for the outside world. Instead, it exists as its own, highly structured little universe. As a result, the players who are the most advanced become acclimated to being the big fish in a small pond. This is nothing like the professional experience they should be preparing for, where they need to claw their way into the team. We can say that this is related to kids believing their own hype, but I think there's more to it than that. A lot of them have undoubtedly been among the star players on almost every team they've ever played for. They haven't learned how to work their way up, and training every day with kids their own age doesn't teach them that.
Thanks. I thought you might have something like this in mind but I appreciate your willingness to spell it out for me.