Generation Adidas: Graduation

[Nidal Baba Superstar]

I've seen a lot of confusion on these boards about the factors that determine graduation from the Generation Adidas program and subsequent reclassification on a roster.

Is it based on...

- Minutes played? I once saw a suggestion that "2000 minutes" was a benchmark, but have never seen it repeated.
- Age?
- Years played? Games played?
- End of contract?
- Some combination of these?
- On an ad hoc basis?

It can't be pure age, because Altidore has already graduated. It can't be the end of the contract, because players graduate while clearly still under contract.

What's the deal?

[Bonji]

I believe it is age based. However, I can't find anything to back that up.

[jason1551]

It's typically been based on minutes played. A player who gets a lot of playing time (Altidore, McCarty) will graduate faster than someone who doesn't (Ward, Zayner). At a certain point, age does factor in, as they can't remain GA forever.

[USvsIRELAND]

There is a committee at the end of the season that determines whether they are still GenAd or not.

I don't have a link but I remember reading this somewhere.

[Sandon Mibut]

This is MLS - you can bet the farm that the procedure is ad hoc, even if the policy is written not to be.

They've been winging this since the days when Olsen and Dunseth and Digiamarino were P40 and they haven't changed much since then.