USSF Development Academy 2.0

Discussion in 'Youth National Teams' started by Real Corona, Mar 22, 2012.

  1. Peretz48

    Peretz48 Member+

    Nov 9, 2003
    Los Angeles
    Yes, this is good news. With all the soccer being played in metro Phoenix, and as the 11th largest metro area, I didn't understand why for the longest time RSL-AZ in Casa Grande was the only DA program, and only at the oldest ages. Now there will be several clubs at the various ages, in addition to Barca Academy, which took RSL's place in Casa Grande when they moved to Utah.
     
  2. Dirt McGirt

    Dirt McGirt Member+

    Jun 20, 2005
    Phoenix, AZ
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I expect Phoenix Rising to be in the DA next season. To be honest it's going to hard for the other local clubs to compete if what I'm hearing about the very low fee structure for RSL-AZ DA and ECNL teams is true.
     
  3. Peretz48

    Peretz48 Member+

    Nov 9, 2003
    Los Angeles
    My guess is they'll do OK at the younger ages, but then start to lose players at U15, and certainly by U16.

    In the LA basin there's the example of Total Futbol Academy, which right now operates at U12, U13 and U14. They'll lose the U12s next season (as will everyone else), but will add a U15 team. The significance of Total Futbol Academy is that they've managed to dominate club football in the Coast Soccer League for many years, esp. at the youngest ages. Before rebranding as TFA they were known as FC Barcelona, from which came players like E. Alvarez, U. Llanez, A. Mendez, J. "Xuxuh" Hilton, and many others. Now that they're in the DA they still manage to hang onto some very promising players in the U12-U14 age groups, and have been dominating the U13s in the DA. It will be interesting to see if their better U14s will stay with them next season.

    I bring them up to point out that it's still possible to train and retain good players at the youngest ages assuming you have a good program, with good coaches, and provide everything at low cost.
     
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  4. Thundering165

    Thundering165 Member+

    North Carolina FC
    United States
    May 1, 2017
    Raleigh
    The USL has announced an Academy Cup competition, moving towards starting their own academy league in the future:

    https://www.uslsoccer.com/news_article/show/1004181

    Is this the independent MLS academy league that was talked about, or is that still to come? Would NYRB's academy compete in USL A since they have the RB2 league? What about the teams without USL affiliates?
     
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  5. jeff_adams

    jeff_adams Member+

    Dec 16, 1999
    Monterey, Ca
    Since it appears very likely MLS will play in their own DA league as early as next DA season (fall), I expected we would start to hear about what kind of league the non-MLS Academies would play in. Will they be invited to play in the USL league or will they need to form yet another independent DA league?
     
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  6. Balerion

    Balerion Member+

    Aug 5, 2006
    Roslindale, MA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Non-MLS, non-USL clubs make up a sizable majority of the Development Academy as it is currently constituted.
     
  7. jeff_adams

    jeff_adams Member+

    Dec 16, 1999
    Monterey, Ca
    They certainly do. So the question is, will there be 3(or more) separate DA leagues next year?
     
  8. Peretz48

    Peretz48 Member+

    Nov 9, 2003
    Los Angeles
  9. Runhard

    Runhard Member+

    Barcelona
    United States
    Jul 5, 2018
    The last part of that article is most damaging as it states: " there appears to be a double standard where MLS clubs can obtain training compensation and solidarity payments while those outside the MLS cannot not"

    Way to screw the little guy and close down a source of future player development in the states.
     
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  10. jeff_adams

    jeff_adams Member+

    Dec 16, 1999
    Monterey, Ca
    Wait, wasn’t Yedlin’s club a “pay to play” club? Because not only does Seattle’s Academy spend at least 2 million a year to cover the costs of the players participation so parents aren’t financing their son’s development, but Seattle (and other MLS teams) are actually signing players like Yedlin and PAYING them to train and develop. How much did Yedlin’s club team pay him to play???

    Seattle made a financial investment in Yedlin. They took the financial risk that he would pan out. Why should they split the profits of that investment with a team that BENEFITED financially from Yedlin’s participation already? Pay to play can’t have it’s cake and eat it too.
     
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  11. Runhard

    Runhard Member+

    Barcelona
    United States
    Jul 5, 2018
    Based on the article Yedlin did not pay to play, his costs was absorbed by the club. In the big picture giving non-MLs clubs a chance to benefit from kids they put on scholarship and develop incentivizes them to put more kids on scholarship, opening up elite level soccer to more kids and finding more diamonds in the rough that can't afford to play. If a small, non-mls club can benefit financially from developing a Yedlin then it changes the landscape of how they go about doing business and the importance if winning at the youth ages ( an argued deterrant to developments) takes a back seat to individual player development.
     
  12. Stan Collins

    Stan Collins Member+

    Feb 26, 1999
    Silver Spring, MD
    Fixed. One of the problems here is that forcing a pro club to pay the youth club a fee opens up a whole can of worms for the parents of all the other kids who have a good argument that they were subsidizing Yedlin.

    The other problem is that this is clearly wishful thinking.
     
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  13. For what?
    Just for clarity: to be part of the solidarity/compensation stuff the club and its members must be members of a FIFA member association.
     
  14. One strange argument against these compensations is the notion it could violate child labour laws.
    Wtf? It isnot that until the kid gets transferred after being adult?
     
  15. Clint Eastwood

    Clint Eastwood Member+

    Dec 23, 2003
    Somerville, MA
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    That's actually the part that makes the most sense...................................

    This was always going to be the result of these actions.

    Solar and Crossfire and Chicago Magic.....................are essentially the Boy Scouts or the 4H club. They certainly are in the eyes of the IRS. They're "not for profits."

    Now I'm fully on board with every argument you made for why it would be great if these clubs became compensated for their work. Would it be swell if the Houston Texans got a piece of the pie when FCD sold Chris Richards to Bayern Munich? Of course. And it would be swell if the Dallas Texans got a piece of the pie when Pomykal is sold, and Solar got a piece of the pie when Reggie Cannon is sold. You'd be strengthening the pipeline of youth development. But these are NOT professional clubs in the eyes of anybody. These are amateur youth clubs. As was mentioned above, they are not part of a FIFA sanctioned league or member association. Why would FIFA's rules and regulations apply to them?

    As we've spoken about endlessly, there's going to be a lot of change soon. I suspect that there's going to be a break between MLS and non-MLS clubs in the DA. It could be that the MLS clubs form their own U20 league like Liga MX has.
     
  16. SUDano

    SUDano Member+

    Jan 18, 2003
    Rochester, NY
    Why do you limit FIFA membership to just professional clubs?
    I thought FIFA members were the Regional federations and the member nations federations which USSF is a member. Both MLS AND all other clubs and teams under USSF would theoretically be a FIFA member including all Amateur teams in the DA funded by USSF. FIFA only differentiates amateur and professional players in getting solidarity training payments or transfer fees. DA teams seems like they would fit into the FIFA sanctioned solidarity payments. FIFA doesn't mention if the player pays or not and to honest most of the top players are on scholarship due to their talents for at least if not all their time at a club or DA.
     
  17. ??? It makes no difference if a club is an amateur or a professional club to be member of a federation.
     
  18. Is it clear to everybody what exactly is meant with either "solidarity payment" and "training compensation"?
    SP is 5% of the international transfer fee to be split between every club where the player played between his 12th and 23d year, regardless if it was an amateur or pro team.
    TC is a single payment when a player signs his first pro contract. It is a fixed amount for every year between his 9th and 20th birthday to be payed to the club he was in in a given year, also regardless of being an amateur or pro team.

    All in question have to be a member of the countries federation.
     
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  19. elessar78

    elessar78 Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 12, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Where a club gets its revenue from doesn’t matter: ticket sales, parents, donations, fundraising-whatever. Income is income.

    In the grand scheme it’s just a good idea to share transfer fees with all clubs that had a role in the player’s development. It will incentivize clubs to develop players even better.
     
  20. That's the whole idea behind it. Donot treat kids just as an income generator by giving only time to kill on a pitch. Make them learn something and you might get the benefit of that effort.
     
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  21. elessar78

    elessar78 Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 12, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Yep. Winning State Cup/ECNL becomes less meaningful when you can potentially sell the any kid on your roster and earn couple of hundred thousand bucks in ten years. Lots of stats show that all sports are poor predictors and evaluators of talent.

    Then we can stop fixating on the best 9YOs and having them peak at 16 while we left behind the kid who would peak at 25.
     
  22. bpet15

    bpet15 Member+

    Oct 4, 2016
    I am really interested in hearing everyone's response to the information I received last night. Apologies if it has been posted somewhere else.

    I think it is great that our league (MLS) is finally going to abide by defined FIFA rules. It would be better if our Federation would instruct all of its members to abide by the same rules. That said, MLS and its clubs sent documents to players asking to acknowledge that these fees will now be part of the world they play in.

    Acknowledgment is one thing, even though I question why anyone has to sign something acknowledging a rule that has been on the FIFA books for years. In its infinite wisdom, MLS has taken it a step further and added a couple of additional items that parents and kids have to agree to.

    These items are:
    • You must notify the MLS club if you receive any communication from a non-MLS club
    • If you receive an offer from a non-MLS club, you must notify the MLS club, and MLS will have up to fourteen (14) calendar days to offer an employment agreement.
    Not following these rules will result in "Player will be released from the team roster and cease participation with Club."

    Thoughts?
     
  23. Baysider

    Baysider Member+

    Jul 16, 2004
    Santa Monica
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    A couple of things. Everything is in flux right now so I wouldn't take anything being done now (or in the past) as a guide for what things will be like in a few years. Second, if US labor laws disagree with FIFA, you can't assume that FIFA rules will determine the outcome, and compounding that problem, no one really knows how US labor laws will apply in this situation.

    MLS forcing the players to sign an acknowledgement is part of protecting themselves against lawsuits against transfer payments.

    The last clause is kind of funny since it gives MLS 14 days to offer an employment agreement. Since the players are not required to accept an agreement if MLS offers it in 14 days, it really doesn't mean anything. My interpretation is that it is signalling to the players that MLS very well might make a counteroffer and so don't be too hasty signing with another team.
     
  24. Pegasus

    Pegasus Member+

    Apr 20, 1999
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Are you really telling us that these scholarships are paid for by the club and not split among the parents on each team that aren't getting scholarships? Pretty sure you know better. If you are very young and don't actually know better I will tell you I subsidized multiple kids on "scholarship" and even subsidized coaches when at away tournaments. The parents picked up Yedlin's tab. They should should get the solidarity payments not the club.
     
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  25. Sorry, but parents arenot part of the federation or fifa, so no.
     

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