Re: Union Youth Development Thread I heard the same thing about his trial over here. Hoffenheim tries to sign the best talent they can find here in Germany, so I believe the fact they wanted to keep Pfeffer reflects very well on the kid.
Re: Union Youth Development Thread How'd you hear about it? Has he been getting media coverage? Cheers for the German perspective on both threads.
Re: Union Youth Development Thread I heard that Corey Hertzog (the PSU forward) isn't among those attending the MLS combine. Does this indicate that he could indeed end up a "homegrown" player for Union? Or is he not going pro?
Re: Union Youth Development Thread Hertzog is a junior. He wouldnt be announced as a combine attendee unless he was already signed to a GA contract - the current combine list is all seniors. While MLS may have already selected and negotiated GA contracts, they haven't announced any yet. Thus, if they were to announce that he was attending, it would signal a GA signing that they would likely prefer to be a PR move. MLS does not allow underclassmen there without being signed to a contract as it can endanger their continued college eligibility. All GA players who will be attending the combine have already declared as going pro having signed a contract, and will be added to the combine list after their signing is made public. We havent faced many situations yet about players finishing school and being eligible for homegrown signings - the academies arent all very old. I hear that one of the players, SMU's Soto, would/might be eligible for homegrown status with FCD and he is on the list of invitees. I don't think Hertzog not being on the list signals anything though and Buzz Carrick still has him on the list of players in line for a GA contract while some players are already falling off the list due to decisions to stay in school.
Re: Union Youth Development Thread Disappointing but not surprising news on the Corey Hertzog front. Zach Pfeffer still looks likely to be the first HG player for the Union.
Re: Union Youth Development Thread So has Zach been in Union's academy longer than Hertzog? Considering the program is barely 12 months old, can Union claim anyone yet as home grown?
Re: Union Youth Development Thread By the time Pfeffer is old enough to sign a pro contract(remember, he's still 15, Herzog is at least 5 years older) he'll have been in the system long enough.
Re: Union Youth Development Thread Pfeffer has been affiliated with the Union youth team since last season's SUM U-17 Cup in July. He'll have a year with the team by this summer and I expect he'll be added to the roster shortly after he's eligible. He's already training with the first team and has played in friendlies so it seems like it's just a matter of time. Exactly. Diego Fagundez (New England Revolution) was just signed as a HG player as 15-year-old. Zach turns 16 next month (on January 6) and is actually a month older than Diego.
Re: Union Youth Development Thread I heard the U-17 team also trained together for a month or two before the SUM cup, so Pfeffer's year may be up as soon as May or June.
You're right...I remember reading the same thing. Hard to know exactly when he'll be eligible unless you're on the inside but, with all the public comments the team has made about Pfeffer, you have to think he'll be the first HG player signing. Thinking about this further and I'm not sure it makes a big difference when Pfeffer is signed. Development academy players are now eligible to participate in the newly reestablished reserve league and we should probably expect to see Zach participate in those games from the beginning of the season. Unless he's a truly exceptional talent, it's unlikely he'd see much playing time in league games this year. I suppose he might get some time in the Open Cup if the team manages to qualify for the competition this year but those games weren't until the end of June last year. It will be very interesting to see which other players from the youth academy get time in reserve league games. Hopefully the team will make highlights from the reserve league available online. Source on youth academy players eligibility: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=264868
Re: Union Youth Development Thread Does anyone know exactly how good of a talent zach is? Are we talking your average MLSer or a possible national team player in the future? just curious if anyone knows how good this kid can be
Re: Union Youth Development Thread It is way too early to predict that. if you even look at some of the under 17s teams in past WCs, you'll see that only 1-2 out of the winning team would make it to a full WC. All you can say justnow is that he has a lot of potential.
Re: Union Youth Development Thread Exciting day. Pfeffer officially signed: http://www.philadelphiaunion.com/news/2010/12/union-sign-pfeffer-first-homegrown-player
Re: Union Youth Development Thread Video on the Pfeffer signing from the U: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABJpa-0oYDs"]YouTube - First of a Kind[/ame] Dills, feel free to combine with previous post...I couldn't edit it to add this video.
Re: Union Youth Development Thread Thanks for posting - hopefully they spell his name right on the jersey in the future.
Re: Union Youth Development Thread Funny that JP and Hack are talking about Pfeffer signing, and it's part of the same video where they're talking about the Expansion Draft ... unless they both happen to be wearing the same clothes in both vids. That would mean, technically, Zach was signed back in November and now it's been officially announced.
Re: Union Youth Development Thread Would it be in bad taste to talk about the new phenomenon of MLSMILFs? Because if it's in bad tast, then I won't mention it.
Re: Union Youth Development Thread Here's a great primer for those interested in learning about the past, present, and future of youth development in the U.S. The link below takes you to a collection of 20 interviews by L.E. Eisenmenger (with people like Greg Vanney of the RSL residential academy, Brian Bliss of the Crew, Bob Lenarduzzi of the Whitecaps, Barry Gorman of FC Dallas, college soccer coaches, player agents, etc): http://www.examiner.com/soccer-in-n...elopment-2011-interviews-with-top-u-s-coaches
Re: Union Youth Development Thread Academy teams take shape Still disappointed that our academy is dependent on the expensive youth clubs. I hope this is a transition stage as the cost (to join the 'elite' clubs) will discourage many promising talents.
Re: Union Youth Development Thread Bump Alex Shinsky played for the Union SUM team this past summer. Someone over at the Youth National Boards was asking about him. It was mentioned that he is heading down to Maryland next year for college. Does anyone know if we get the shot at him with a Homegrown contract?
Re: Union Youth Development Thread Those kind of results are common in Youth Soccer - but it is all good news for us. The future is bright, the future is #DOOP.
Two Union Youth players called into the US U-18's: Shinsky and Somerville. Hopefully the Union are planning to keep these guys in the fold and sign them to when they are done with college. The Union should also try to sign up the Baltimore Bays as a youth partner seeing that Agasor played there and there is animosity with DC United. GOALKEEPERS (2): Jeff Gal (Sockers FC; Bartlett, Ill.), Jon Kempin (Sporting Kansas City; Leawood, Kans.). DEFENDERS (7): Michael Ambrose (FC Dallas Academy; Frisco, Texas), Jack Coleman (FC Dallas Academy; Norman, Okla.), Bryan Gallego (New York Red Bulls Academy; Kinnelon, N.J.), Jordan McCrary (North Carolina; Marietta, Georgia), Juan Pablo Ocegueda (Tigres; Riverside, Calif.), Boyd Okwuonu (FC Dallas Academy; Edmund, Okla.), Walker Zimmerman (Furman; Lawrenceville, Ga.). MIDFIELDERS (7): Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake; Garden Grove, Calif.), Daniel Metzger (New York Red Bulls Academy; Holmdel, N.J.), William Packwood (Birmingham City; Concord, Mass.), Victor Pineda (Chicago Fire; Bollingbrook, Ill.), Alex Shinksy (Maryland; York, Penn.), Christopher Somerville (Baltimore Bays Chelsea; West Chester, Pa.), Wil Trapp (Crew Soccer Academy; Gahanna, Ohio). FORWARDS (4): Villyan Bijev (Cal Odyssey; Fresno, Calif.), Luis Rendon (FC Richmond Magic; Chesterfield, Va.), Khiry Shelton (Lonestar SC; Leander, Texas), Jonathan Top (FC Dallas Academy; Ft. Worth, Texas)