True, I guess the minimum salary does not apply to players coming on loan, never mind. I wonder if there is a time limit on that? Then again, who would want to undermine a rule by getting a bunch of cheap back ups? nobody I guess.
I figure they would essentially be paid the equivalent of minimum for the time they were with playing with the team on the loan, however long it is. MLS can't control what players make in another organization, but when they are with an MLS team they will have to follow MLS rules, even if that's for 2 weeks.
It will probably work similar to the old USISL/MLS working agreement. MLS compensated each individual A-League club for any of their players that were called up. Back in the late 90s, MLS needed a lot of cheap filler, so numerous players were called up. These days very few USL players could even make the back of a MLS roster. So there will be very few, if any, call-ups. The idea seems more to help the USL. They badly want to sell players on their league being the quickest way to MLS as opposed to the NASL.
USL could also be planning for one or more of them to play an exhibition match against the Sacramento expansion team. According to Sac Pro Soccer, they are supposed to play MLS opponent(s) in 2013 in gearing up for joining the league in 2014.
I wonder if teams with USL affiliates will still be required to keep three keepers on the roster? Given the roster limits, it might make sense to ignore the pool keepers and call up a backup from your USL affiliate if you need to. Or at least make your third-string keeper one of your four loanees, leaving you with an extra roster spot for a field player.
Loaning out the 3rd keeper would probably be the smartest thing, also when the #1 recovers he could be loaned out for a game or two as a way to bring him back from injury. Similar to what baseball does. Shit over the summer MLS could have the “September call-ups” like in baseball when they are playing all those friendly games and they want to rest some of the starters, just call up all 5 players out on loan for a month and then send them back after the summer friendly games.
I guess you are predicting the future pretty well. My kid is trying out next month at a USL PRO combine with several teams participating. He's played with and against older players, so that will be a help (he is not 18 yet). If he gets as far as a contract, my understanding is that he can play either as an amateur or a pro, even though it is a pro league. Expenses would be covered, and NCAA rules just changed to be more liberal with what an amateur is - more reimbursement is covered without being called a professional. Wouldn't it be a win-win for USL PRO teams to get in a crop of 16 - 20 year olds who will agree to play as an amateur to keep eligibility, until they "make it" or do end up playing in college? There are teenagers who play in MLS as amateurs - MLS clubs can bring up DA players who do not lose NCAA eligibility. Considering they know his age and he was invited and accepted, they might be on the same page as you. Although the chance to get an offer is slim to none, he could attend HS online with no worries in our opinion (my job is portable so that helps, not going to send him off by himself at his age). He's really REALLY tired of being on "premier" teams his age where parents love when practices or games are cancelled, and players miss events for parties or hangnails. What's a teenager dedicated to soccer to do? The same thing a teenager dedicated to swimming or gymnastics would do - find a better environment where his or her teammates are committed to the sport like they are, and lose eligibility if they indeed make it.
I was working under the assumption that players would be paid. They would lose NCAA eligibility if they were. I'd ask a lot of questions about the eligibility if I were you. Yes. the NCAA has made some changes, but there still are restrictions that could take his eligibility away (I cover women's soccer as well and I know that this is an issue in the W-League). i was basing my opinion on a lot of conversations I've had with people in Ontario and around TFC. It's a bit different up here (there is less of a focus on college sports, for one), which has led the Canadian teams into more "progressive" stances on this issue. The feeling here is that the rest of MLS is coming towards the Canadian perspective -- that MLS academies are not there to get kids scholarships, but rather to produce professional players. If the NCAA can be used as part of that development, or as a fall back for those players that don't make the cut, then great, but not at the expense of the professional development plan. It helps that the Canadian college (best teams are probably NCAA D2 level) has always allowed players that have played with and against pros to play. TFC academy has played in a semi-pro men's league since its inception and has been very successful against other MLS academies that are mostly playing youth soccer (the academy is the one thing TFC has gotten right). Good luck to your son. I think players like him will make up the bulk of USL-Pro in a few years, with older, journeymen going to the NASL.
This is really good news if true. We need the merging of amateur and professional development with NCAA eligibility so important in our soccer culture. Now we have to figure out how the DA to USL Pro or NCAA soccer to MLS all work in a logical smooth way.
It is a very intriguing idea. Supposing USL Pro became a hybrid, a few MLS prospects sent down for development, a few elite amateurs that are there for a one-year 'internship', and a few of the sort of player they currently sign. (First of all, I think that makes for a far more appealing product than what they have now and may give them the edge they're looking for over the NASL in that regard, but that's on a bit of a side note.) Such a league would be substantially better than the Development Academy, and as such it would give the kids the step up they'd need for their development. And it would have a lot of advantages over college (no cream puffs on the schedule, much more practice time, games more rationally spaced out, style of play is much more likely to be professional, presence of some veterans to learn from and test against, etc). When the kid got through a year of that, you'd stand in most cases to know a great deal more about his professional possibilities than is currently the case with 18 year olds coming out of the DA (which is part of the reason why MLS teams don't sign many of them). . . . that said, there are a couple issues: 1) How's the kid going to eat? I believe USL Pro could pay for travel without having to worry about the NCAA, but I'm not so sure about per diem, and you definitely can't pay per diem or housing when they're at home, that's just a salary in disguise. It's fine if it's a middle class kid whose parents want to support him, but it doesn't seem to get at the lower socio-economic strata we've been aiming to include. 2) There's the injury bugaboo. When you go to college and blow out a knee, the school is basically committed to you; they red-shirt you and hope you can play the following season. Even a pro team that has something invested in your development is likely to keep you around to try and realize their investment. But if you did this on your intern year, you may blow your chances at either a pro contract or a scholarship.
And even if you can't the university will keep a player on medical scholarship (assuming they were on a scholarship to begin with) as long as the player agrees to help the team in some way off the field.