Revs Academy News 2014

It's possible that they'll wind up with him eventually if he's any good. But if this was part of the Revs development plan for Gissie, wouldn't it be more likely that he'd have signed with Rochester?

Interesting times. Oklahoma City Energy announced the signing of a kid from SKC's U18 team yesterday, But OKC is Kansas City's affiliate and OKC's manager is Jimmy Nielsen. Presumably it's a way to give playing time to a kid ready to go pro without costing SKC a roster spot. It's a clever workaround and a situation that bears watching.

So are the Revs doing the same thing? Or is Gissie going rogue? Either way, they'll have a decent shot at getting him on their MLS roster if he turns out to be good. It would be comforting, however, to know that there's a plan.

 

I've actually seen all of those teams play, sadly. Rockhurst has been a strong D2 team over the years from what I can remember.

 

You assume that if he does well in Sacramento that his next move would be to MLS.

 

Are there lots of guys leaving the NASL for worthwhile deals in Europe or South America? Where else would the guy go? The Icelandic second division?

 

I don't think the Revs do retain his right since they never offered him a professional contract (that we are aware of).

 

Some go to the Icelandership, some to other NASL teams for free rooms during road trips.

 

You don't need to offer him a contract to retain his rights. That's only for players leaving your team and playing in another league. Since he was never an MLS player to begin with, he isn't leaving the team.

I'm pretty sure this is a gray area for the league. If you look through the player acquisition methods (draft, HG, discovery claim, allocation, weighted lottery), he doesn't really fit into any particular one. Thus it's likely the league will "make up" the rules if he ever goes to MLS. He'll either come to us as a HG, someone will use a discovery claim on him, or least likely he'll be allocated via weighted lottery.

 

It's not much different than Scott Caldwell leaving the academy to go to college and play for Akron for 4 years, then signing with the Revs. Just USL-Pro instead of NCAA.

Matt Wiet is a Home Grown signee for Columbus, who played for Dayton in USL-Pro before signing with the Crew last November.

 

I think Yardley is wrong. HGP is a method of player acquisition, not a type of contract. Scott Caldwell isn't on a Home Grown contract, he's on a normal contract, but he was acquired by the HGP mechanism.

I've read before that MLS teams have to maintain a HG protected list. It's a list of available players eligible to be signed as MLS players via the HG acquisition method.

Source: http://pressbox.mlssoccer.com/content/roster-rules-and-regulations

The terms Homegrown and Generation adidas are used to describe mechanisms by which players are acquired. They are not roster designations. All players’ roster slots are determined by their compensation and/or age as outlined above.

 

Yes, I think the Revs maintain his rights within MLS, but you have to wonder, with this move, whether he's really looking past MLS completely.

The Fagundez or Caldwell paths were open to him, but it looks like he wants to go on his own timetable.

 

How do you know that?

 

its possible that he and/or his family needed money immediately and Sacramento paid the best.

 

Or, its possible he was going to be playing in the USL anyway, so he might as well spend his year in sunny California.

 

Would've it been possible for the Revs to sign him to a HG contract then loan him to Sacremento?

 

Yes, although that might be kinda weird considering we already have a USL affiliate.

 

I wonder how Sacramento found this kid, playing an academy across the country. I mean, the USSDA isn't totally obscure, but I don't think they'd have a lot of connections on the east coast. Gissie has been scoring for the U18s (and scored for the U16s), but he's hardly the only kid in the USSDA to put up some good scoring numbers across the country.

 

Interesting. Aviza is a name who has caught my eye as well. The Revs described him as a U16 player in this press release and indeed he has made 8 appearances for the U16 team this season. But he's also played up with the U18 team both this year and the last (25 starts as a '97 last year in a league of mostly 94s and 95s). Aviza has also popped up on some lower-level YNT lists.

 

That's how the program works. The academy players can try to make the MLS club straight from the academy (as Fagundez did) or go off to college and try to make the club later (as Caldwell did). I wasn't suggesting anything more than that he had the opportunity to "try" to make the senior team.

Perhaps he'll blaze a third trail from HG to MLS.

 

That's not how the program works for everyone. Maybe neither route was an option.

 

Well, the player has to be good enough, of course. Why wouldn't the Revs (or any team) give a kid a chance to make the team if they might be good enough?