So a number of us got together in the Customer Service forum and talked about ways of handling the crush of information that currently exists in YA, and what we came up with is this forum. We are going to give it a try and I expect many of you may not like it at first, but please share your thoughts, comments, suggestions here. This is the description of the forum: Yanks Abroad Academy: YA Coaches, Youth Players and any players not playing competitively for a first division second tier league (Holland, Scotland, Norway, etc.) or 2nd division first tier league (England, Spain, etc.), Rumors (supported news/rumors about potential new YAs), History, and Alumni, and more! @bungadiri @Friedel'sAccent @Real Corona @Dave Marino-Nachison
I like the new idea. Isn't Hyndman technically a first team player, since he played for the first team?
I like it but why YA coaches? They're not academy and that's confusing Besides, there are only a few of them (Dooley, Bradley, Wagner, Caulfield & a few others) and they aren't really talked about
I think they sort of fit into the "Academy" theme as coaches . It's not a strict definition as just youth players because we are also including potential YA discussions even of full International players.
I'm with Brian on the coaches part. I think they should stay in the main YA forum for ease of finding/searching for their threads. Otherwise, I like this. We have a slew of young YAs and it clutters up the main board.
I like the new setup. Based on the rules in the first post, should a player like Joe Gyau be in this forum since he is not in a second division or is he not considered a youth?
I think so yes - any threads you think are in the wrong place, please post here preferably with link!
We'll see what others think - in my mind it's sort of a niche interest that fits more in this forum based on how I think about it but maybe I'm in the minority.
Ah good point - so that probably should be enough by the rules we've set up. But I'm inclined to leave him for now so we can have a dramatic move later
We'd discussed using a league appearance as the cutoff, rather than any first-team competitive appearance. That would be the strictest line to draw, of course.
Dang you and your facts! So by the rules both guys should graduate, but part of me thinks the reality of their situation isn't yet as first teamers. But I'm probably going to get over-ruled on this one because I think my fellow mods would like to have this be debateless. If a player appears for the first team in a competitive match, they graduate - although I kinda like Dave's alternative suggestion of minutes in a league match. That would allow for players like Lleget to stay a little longer.
Here's a question for y'all: We could also use Academy for further discussion about former YAs. Should we allow a thread like this to stay open in this forum for at least a while, or would it be better to shut them down right away. I think sometimes we might want to have a little more discussion about a player's career choice like when Dempsey and Bradley went to MLS.
As someone who enjoys covering coaches abroad (because it is so damn rare and is really the next frontier) I think there is an easy solution that I can propose. If an American coach is coaching a first team at a professional club level (Bradley and Caulfield) or is coaching a full national team (Stefanowski at Nepal or Dooley at the Philippines) then they should be in the main YA form. That's a high level and there is nothing academy about it. They're important figures. If an American coach is a first team assistant or is coaching a youth team at the club level (Cherundolo now for as assistant for Hannover U23s) then I think that would classify as academy. David Wagner is tricky because while he is the head coach of Borussia Dortmund U23s and that is youth, Dortmund U23s are in the 3.Liga in Germany and are at a full professional level. So I'd be included to say on a rare occasion that an American coach is the head coach of a youth team but it is in a full professional league, that goes to the main YA forum. As for technical directors like Stewart at AZ Alkmaar, I am fine with either. Either way, I'd hate to see the important and established guys who are first team club coaches or national team head coaches relegated to a forum designed for prospects. I mean, if Bob Bradley wins the Norwegian Cup, that is major. His run as the head coach of Egypt was major. I hope I am not alone Let me know
Now that I've asked it - I think what the other mods willsay which I would agree with is that we can make short term exceptions when it's something like Bradley to Toronto where people want to talk about it a little more. Otherwise I think we close.