US Club Soccer & MLS Form Partnership

[kevbrunton]

http://www.mlsnet.com/content/03/mls0319uscs.html

Guess this shows where the top professional division (MLS) comes down on the whole USYSA vs. USCS/Y-League dickering that's going on...

Obviously the rest of the professional game is in the latter's boat too because they're the organizers of the Y-League.

[SueB]

So, my question is - why with USCS? I wonder if MLS had a bidding or negotiation process with various youth organizations and opted for USCS. Or if somebody at USCS just advanced the proposal and MLS said "sounds good to us!" Whatever, somebody at USCS really knows how to drive a deal through. Perhaps the dispersed, state-oriented hierarchy of USYS is hurting it in this sort of thing.

[kevbrunton]

Originally posted by SueB
So, my question is - why with USCS? I wonder if MLS had a bidding or negotiation process with various youth organizations and opted for USCS. Or if somebody at USCS just advanced the proposal and MLS said "sounds good to us!" Whatever, somebody at USCS really knows how to drive a deal through. Perhaps the dispersed, state-oriented hierarchy of USYS is hurting it in this sort of thing.
Because USCS has the elite clubs -- and that's what MLS wants to associate with. Since USCS handles the player registration process for the Y-League, all the MLS youth teams that play in the Y-League are already affiliated with USCS.

As has been pointed out on the other threads, USYSA governs the ENTIRE youth soccer arena -- so 80% (or some huge percentage) are recreational soccer players. USCS and Y-League ONLY care about the top 1% or so of pool.

So it makes completely sense for MLS to be aligned with USCS. They don't need to be sending the MLS players out to TALK about playing at the highest leve to 3500 recreational players -- they need to send them out to TRAIN 35 players to play at the highest level.

In case you're wondering where I got those numbers, there's 3500 players in our local recreational league. There's a Y-League franchise here and if you took the players from the top two teams and did training, you'd have 35-40 players.

[Sandon Mibut]

Sue,

Bill Sage, who heads US Club Soccer, is very connected. He worked at MLS in a fairly high-level position in the early years and he's also had a role at the Fed.

I'm guessing that Sage's presence made this deal happen.

[SueB]

kev, I don't buy the argument that USCS has the "elite" clubs while USYS does not. (By the way, does membership in one preclude membership in the other? I know USYS clubs can and do play in Super-Y).

Yes, USYS has the rec level clubs as well, and perhaps the massive organization they have in place to support these is hindering its ability to respond to new developments (Super Y, USCS, etc). But there are still many MANY high-quality clubs in USYS, not to mention the whole ODP structure as it exists today was built by USYS. These are not rec players.

I'm not an advocate of one or the other, just wondering why MLS went in this direction. I expect Sandon is right - it's often who you know and who knows whom when these decisions are being made.

[JohnR]

Side note on the issue of MLS & youth training. Called Chicago Fire last week regarding the Fire Academy -- the youth training program.

Know how you get into the Fire Academy? The "main way we place kids into the Academy is through our summer camps," I was told.

Summer camps run about $150 for a one week session (3 hours daily).

In business, we call this "pay to play."

Can't understand why, as a money-losing entity, the Fire wouldn't want to spend $ scouting players. Better to bring in a bit of money, rather than spend it.

Still, it's hard to take seriously the notion of MLS and youth training, at this stage.

[Brownswan]

Originally posted by JohnR

In business, we call this "pay to play."



And a lot of promising talent falls through the cracks opened by tight family budgets.

[rocketeer22]

The arrangement is just for this year and next right now.

And, MLSnet still lists AYSO and USYS as partners. So, USCS just seems like another way for them to target youths, and arguably perhaps the more elite teams.

[Karl K]

Originally posted by SueB
(By the way, does membership in one preclude membership in the other? I know USYS clubs can and do play in Super-Y).


No, dual membership can be done.

[wu-tang beez]

Originally posted by Brownswan
And a lot of promising talent falls through the cracks opened by tight family budgets.

Why can't they create a super fund or scholarship 4 inner city & otherwise, disadvantaged kids?

[SueB]

Originally posted by rocketeer22
And, MLSnet still lists AYSO and USYS as partners.

So is this all a big to-do about nothing more than USCS achieving the same status with MLS as AYSO and USYS already have? ("grass-roots partner" or whatever it's called).

[SoccerX]

Typical marketing BS !!!

MLS will make Osama FC an "Official Grassroots Partner" if they think it will sell more tickets.

Yes, clubs can belong to both USYSA and US Club Soccer. I don't know of a one that ONLY belongs to US Club. All of the US Club Soccer Board of Directors either coaches or run clubs that are members of USYSA.

Don't for a minute fool yourself about MLS involvement in youth soccer. All they want is for you to buy tickets to see their games. They can barely support their league much less run a youth development system.

[The Wanderer]

Originally posted by SoccerX
Don't for a minute fool yourself about MLS involvement in youth soccer. All they want is for you to buy tickets to see their games. They can barely support their league much less run a youth development system.

Baby steps, baby steps. It may take several more years for teams to get involved in youth players, but not everything just magically appears and goes poof overnight. It's a shame that the elite players in this interim generation are going to have limited opportunities besides Bradenton, but in the end someone always suffers. We can't have it all at once, and I seem to notice that you supported the Cosmos. :)

[Viking64]

The following is a post from another thread...
Originally posted by gkm1
In my opinion, the reason most youth teams don't play possession style is because it requires knowledgable training, and many youth soccer coaches don't have the knowledge base to effectively teach their players this style of play. A lot of elite coaches rely on stacking their team with big, fast, physical players who can outrun or physically dominate the opposition. Since this formula often wins games-- especially at the younger ages, they never take the time to teach effective possession, because their end goal is game winning not player development.

It is unfortunate, because a good possession game is a beautiful thing to watch and is so rarely seen in US youth soccer.

I put this here, because it sums up what MLS and the Clubs must address for the future. This is precisely the disconnect between youth soccer and the A League and MLS. When the coaches coach to develop skill and acumen, not to get a score, the partnership will be something besides a marketing technique.