I believe Kawulok did meet the HG eligibility rules but the Rapids declined to sign him before the draft, and was eligible for selection by any team. You have to sign, not just trial, your 4-year college players to retain their rights, which is why last year (?) Houston opted to sign Josue Soto and he was pulled from the combine and draft eligibility.
Also, he spent last 2 years playing in summer with Portland's PDL team so maybe that toss both our claims or something.
7 Academy players sign letter of intent. Dillon and Shane are both in camp with Rapids this pre-season. Dillon Serna – Academy midfielder from 2009-2012 (with U.S. U-17 residency program in 2010-11) from Horizon High School has committed to play at 2010 NCAA College Cup champion University of Akron. Shane O’Neill – Academy midfielder from 2010-2012 from Fairview High School will play at the University of Virginia, 2009 NCAA College Cup champions. Karsten Hanlin - Academy midfielder from 2009-2012 from Cherry Creek High School, who also participated in the High School All-American game in December, will play at Denver University. Idrissa 'Idi' Camara – Academy forward from 2009-2012 from Aurora Central High School will play at Midwestern State (TX). Chris Gurule – Academy defender from 2009-2012 from Niwot High School will play at the University of New Mexico. Jason Prichard – Academy defender from 2009-2012 who is home schooled (soccer at Eaglecrest), will join his brother at Sterling College (NAIA) Rojesh Shrestha – Academy midfielder from 2010-2012 from Boulder High School will play Metropolitan State College. http://www.coloradorapids.com/news/2012/02/seven-academy-players-sign-play-college Also from ESPN: [MF] Ricardo Perez, Rocky Mountain, Junior, Colorado Rapids Considered one of the nation’s top midfielders in the Class of 2013 [D] Cole Davis, Cherry Creek, Senior, Colorado Rapids Anchored defense that gave up only 15 goals last season So with Dillon Serna and Richard Perez we have in back to back years top 5 rated midfielders in USA.
Little disappointing that we couldn't get any of these kids to follow Davy Armstrong into the first team, but good to know they're out there when they finish college.
Not all homegrown signings get gen adidas contracts, right? (Maybe most don't?) I think those at least offer college money if the player washes out.
Homegrown and Generation Adidas are two different groups. It think there has only been 1 or 2 homegrown players league wide that got a Generation Adidas contract. Generally GA is for players identified in college taht didn't come through an Academy. I believe I read somewhere that the Rapids gave Davy Armstrong the equivalent of a GA contract, where he gets a salary and the Rapids are putting money aside for him to go to college after his career. The difference is that GA contracts are paid by Adidas, while Armstrong's contract is paid by the league (and the college part may be paid by the Rapids directly like a DP's salary is, I'm not sure how that works).
I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Dillon Serna sign with the first team before he graduates from college. The kid is good.
Maybe not the right thread but one thing I asked Bravo at Fado's was about the academy and what changes would be made with Oscar. He said the main difference would be a consistent philosophy throughout the entire club. From the U-11 all the way to the first team. Apparently, Gary's style of play was a big point of contention and completely at odds with the style the Rapids were attempting to promote in the academy (at least that seemed to be implied). It was also said that Oscar had already spoken with academy players and spent time at their training, something that had never happened before. I left Fado's with a very positive feeling about the direction of our academy and the attitude that the Rapids wanted to implement a consistent philosophy at all levels of the club.
Thanks for getting that info COYP. Backs up what I found when looking into to our top guys Dillon Serna and Ricardo Perez (2013). Both are consider top attacking midfielders.
What "claim" to the Rapids have on the 7 academy players who just signed letters of intent for college? Is it a sort of right of first refusal--if they decide to come out for the draft, the Rapids have a chance to offer them a contract first before they enter the draft pool?
Pretty much. They can sign them as homegrown players or pass and let them enter the draft. Since they are Academy players they can leave college at any time if they sign a homegrown contract. Otherwise they have to wait until they graduate or are offered a GA contract to enter the league.
Me too. At the same event Oscar mentioned to me this youth team retool-revision-reboot would mainly be under Wilmers supervision, with input from himself of course. So this is basically as we all suspected and dare I say hoped? I can't think of a better candidate than Wilmer. Exciting times Rapid fans. Exciting times.
Sunday's paper had little article on Shane O'Neill. He said even though he committed to Virgina, he will take next 6 months to decide between that and going Pro (Rapids seem obvious choice unless Europe).
Home Grown controversy article. 2 parts, hope I get them in right order here http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/play...3763/MLS-Home-Grown-rule-is-not-for-your-eyes http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/play...766/Controversy-surrounds-MLS-Home-Grown-rule
Thanks for sharing. When you see Lagerway’s quotes it is most diffidently a more involved process than MLtwoS’s dot com’s “one paragraph.” I wonder how much “say” the kids that are in dispute are going to have. By not giving them a choice, like if your family decided to move to California and you were playing happily for the CUSA’s U18s it could be a hindrance toward getting these prospects into the league.
I met with the Rapids coaching staff last year and asked about the academy. I got the impression that the academy was a bit of an afterthought and a lot of their answers were: you need to talk to Paul Bravo
Very true. This statement also has me mystified. So is Rapids territory CO and NV then? RSL is attached to a youth club in Florida, but Lagerway said those players could not be included on the list because the club is outside RSL's territories [Utah and Arizona]. Jason or Mark (from class VI) if you guys can arrange an interview with Wilmer Cabrera I could toss you a couple of questions about youth program/ Academy I think we would like clarification on.
Here is article talking about reserve league. This year will be like last year but in 2-3 years they want to have 20+ game schedules. Standing next to Rodriguez under a light drizzling rain at Home Depot Center, Durbin spoke about short term player development by focusing in on the reserve league which was resurrected after the collective bargaining agreement which was signed before the start of the 2011 season. He explained the league would stay static for 2012 with “minor modifications.” Much like 2011, the reserves would play a 10-game schedule but would finish by September 30th. He also stated they were looking at more “stand alone games” which he said the league’s technical staffs feel “will create a better development environment.” As well they would ask the teams “to take a close look to see if they can schedule some of those games in their home stadium, perhaps even do them as double headers.” ....Either we are going to expand our current reserve league which would involve us expanding our rosters and playing perhaps 20 or 24 games and ramping that up over the course of two or three years. The other thing we are going to be examining very closely in 2012 is a possible deep relationship with the second division here in this country, to see if maybe there’s a way we can form a partnership with the second division that could fulfill our needs as well.” http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2012/...-league-into-americas-lower-divisions-part-1/
I remember the Rapids doing a double header a few years ago. My daughter and I really enjoyed staying to see the reserves game after the regular match. I'd like to see more of this.