Cosmos Academy?

Just asking here. Would the Cosmos be better off by affiliating itself with an already existing Academy/youth program in the current Long Island area and taking it to a higher level or would they just be better off starting an Academy from scratch.
I do not know much about the programs already existing so that is why I am asking.

I do know that the Rowdies have just done this with an already existing program in Tampa St Pete area.

It just seems to be a lot of different ways to go about building a strong program around the main club.
Being in the Philly area i know the first thing that the Union did before they even played a game id to affiliate
Reading's PDL program to serve as its U23 Club and were among the first clubs to have a USLPRO affiliate in nearby Harrisburg










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The argument could be made either way, however IMO Fizgerald is coming on with the intention to have a grassroots campaign to affect attendance at games as well as affiliate the Cosmos to theses clubs so they can have access to players as young as 5 yo. Academy would start at a much later age, giving the club a chance to work with many kids to then take the best to their academy. The Red Bulls for example just expanded their academy age to include U 13 I believe, but they offer clinics and such to kids under 6. Then they offer the RDS regional developmental system where they hold tryouts and offer local clinics to kids u7 and up. By age 12 they take the better ones to their academy.
This is a first step for the Cosmos, I would imagine we'll hear more in the near future.

 

http://www.nycosmos.com/article/uuid/1inzc6l19ykzf1fogxhkp4hngl/cosmos-academy
Looks like the Cosmos are getting closer to rolling out an academy. No specific dates in this article, but they do mention some goals for infrastructure. Let's hope this moves faster than the stadium plans.

 

The Academies are set up now at the MLS level as well as some USLPRO clubs. with the NASL still very new it will begin to get its academies in place. The Ottawa Fury have had an Academy in place for about a decade so for them to move from their highest level PDL to the D2 NASL was more natural because it was already in place.

The biggest gap was between the U18 Academies to the DI MLS there was nothing in between to allow players to turn pro in US or Canada accept at the MLS level.
Now with the USLPRO becoming the D3 and minor league for MLS and NASL at the D2 level there will be many more clubs and roster spots for players to turn pro as a real option to the NCAA. like baseball giving a HS grad a chance to go to college will still be their with PDL to supplementyear round play. Now however players will not have stay for a full 4 years or can go right to a D3 pro club from their MLS Academy or NASL Academy to the big club or take a couple of years of college and join the big club before the 4 years

 

NASL clubs could also benefit from having an Academy U23 reserve club that could work out with the big club players during the week but also schedule regional matches with University teams in the spring well before the PDL or NPSL start and then continue with some cross league play against PDL and NPSL once they start in the summer to give them a full season. The young reserve club would also allow for players to move up to the Big club and back down to the U23 club as needed.

 

A proper academy for the Cosmos and other NASL teams would be huge for US Soccer and the clubs individually. First with the rapid expansion of MLS, the pool of talented players is getting diluted, we need to produce more players so the quality of all 4 top divisions are good and are attractive. And obviously its good for the national team, because there is a higher chance of finding/producing a gem for the national team. Also its good for the NASL clubs individually because the jump from U-18 to NASL (D2) isn't as hard as MLS. MLS is doing a pretty good job with that, but most players have to go to college and play U-23 before they can make the jump to MLS. Also a lot of those players play a season or 2 in USL or NASL as well. And last but not least, the academy helps grow the clubs brand more. Lets say you have a U-14, 16, and 18, if each team have around 20 players that's 60 new Cosmos fans right there and most importantly their families will be into it as well, and they spread the word to their family and friends and its spreads.. Boom, hundreds of new fans. And when the academy kids go play other local clubs, the other local clubs kids and families will see the Cosmos brand.

 

Proof?

It's JUST THAT SIMPLE!

 

Of course it is Kenn. Don't you know that when all these kids who grow up playing soccer become adults then soccer will be the sport of the 80s.


Oops. Guess not.

 

As a Cosmos supporter I'm glad to see them make moves towards an academy. No matter how you slice it, it's positive for the club. It may not bring hundreds of people to the games right away, but I'm sure it helps. As time goes on and the academy grows it will bring more people to the stadium. The main thing is it'll give players the chance to enter the next level of soccer. IMO the more Academies NASL clubs have the stronger the league. I hope to see a reserve squad not too long after the Academy.

 

I know that Ottawa has a well established academy system for both male and female at equal levels. FCE has also began running two youth academy systems one in Edmonton and the other in partnership with a Calgary program.
Tampa has partnered with an aleady establshed youth program for now. Both Atlanta and NC have reserve sides not sure about anything else and Indy has stated they are more interested in just PDL or NPSL club

 

Its great for the NASL and US Soccer! Congrats!

 

Thanks for the info, I've been gone from Brooklyn for a while now so it's good to hear the latest scoop

 

Apparently the Cosmos did have a "proper" academy, and by that I mean a USSDA youth team.

http://ussda.demosphere.com/teams/27484436/27484683-27484529/TEAM.html

Weird to me that they had one in LA, but not in NYC... Although the more I think about it, I realize that it could be smart because the best youth players do usually come out of California. Unfortunately it folded and dissolved into the Chivas USA academy.

http://ussda.demosphere.com/teams/27484436/27484683-27484529/TEAM.html

 

The old Cosmos ownership also burned a lot of youth bridges in NY. They affiliated with one of the most storied, respected and historical youth clubs in NY, Blau Weiss Gottschee, and then almost ruined it. BW had to sue the Cosmos to cover all the money they promised, which they didn't pay of course, to keep the club alive.
While it is a different ownership group now that little fiasco didn't help.

 

Sleeping with the Cosmos enemy ?

 

I think to BWG the Cosmos are the enemy, since the bad breakup that is. I wonder if Gio is too occupied with the first team to help out with the Academy development, he had a major role in establishing one of if not the best academy in the MLS with the Red Bulls. BTW a team playing in USL should follow, plenty of guys on the roster don't see minutes now. They need to see game minutes or else the'll never progress. Guys like Diosa, Mulligan, and Nealis would benefit.

 

It would be much better competition should the Cosmos be able to affiliate or have their own USL Pro club than to join say the NPSL.
There will be some USLPRO clubs who will be losing their current MLS affiliate in favor of having a club closer to them. Non however are near the Cosmos. PITT would be the closest should Houston decide to look for a closer city.

 

What's so great about BW Gottschee - isn't it just another pay to play program? There's no competition if the Cosmos decide to do a true academy, not some version of the pay to play scam that is usually called player development.

 

http://www.nycosmos.com/#
By now we all know Raul is coming! that's great news for our future academy, I can't wait to see what The Cosmos and Raul got planned. I'm sure it'll be tough to ge going in the beguining, but in time Cosmos can have a very good academy and hopefully compete with the best like BW Gotchee , Met Oval and BK Italians.

I hope it's not another pay to play, that would really hurt the development, and the reputation of the academy, not to mention Raul's name.

 

But, that's all those places are, right? pay to play? I don't know, still haven't gotten an answer on this.

 

Actually I don't think everyone gets in. There are tryouts for academy players, I think that is U 12 and up. I know for a fact Met Oval has a two week try out for U 13 academy. My friend's son got in, and he was able to get some help with the cost. From what he tells me he still pays about 2K per year, not counting travel costs. I'm not sure if any kid gets a complete free ride.

 

ok, thanks for that. didn't know how it works.

 

You are 100% right if academies would be covered by the clubs, the level of soccer would improve greatly. Not sure if Cosmos academy would be different, one can only hope.