Eddie Folds is going to Wake and was Academy player of the year. Wake is traditionally the best soccer school of any these kids are attending. I was at college ID camp at a D1 school last weekend and a Crew kid showed up in his full uniform - looked a little odd as others just wore miscellaneous athletic gear. I believe he was 17 so probably a high school junior - no idea if he was on an academy team. Appeared to prefer AM role. Saw one nice counter attack during 11 v1 11 with some speed (I think he blew shot high) but other than that nothing caught my eye when he touched the ball. Actually got taken out of action late in the day by a much bigger RB. Many other players stood out far more technically, tactically and athletically.
Does anyone possibly have any details on the 7/6 exhibition match vs. the Columbus Crew College Program...just curious. Thanks, 2016 Detroit City FC Schedule Friday, May 13 at Michigan Stars FC 7 PM EST Sunday, May 15 at Dayton Dynamo 2 PM EST Friday, May 20 vs AFC ANN ARBOR 7:30 PM EST Sunday, May 22 at Kalamazoo FC 6:05 PM EST Saturday, May 28 vs FC UNITED OF MANCHESTER (friendly) 3 PM EST Friday, June 3 vs FC BUFFALO (friendly) 7:30 PM EST Sunday, June 5 at FC Buffalo (friendly) 2 PM EST Friday, June 10 at Grand Rapids FC 7:45 PM EST Sunday, June 12 vs LANSING UNITED 5 PM EST Sunday, June 19 vs KALAMAZOO FC 5 PM EST Saturday, June 25 vs DAYTON DYNAMO 7:30 PM EST Friday, July 1 vs GRAND RAPIDS FC 7:30 PM EST Sunday, July 3 at AFC Ann Arbor 1 PM EST Wednesday, July 6 vs COLUMBUS CREW COLLEGE PROGRAM (friendly) 7:30 PM EST Sunday, July 10 at Lansing United 12 PM EST Friday, July 15 vs MICHIGAN STARS FC 7:30 PM EST Wednesday, July 27 vs WINDSOR STARS (friendly) 7:30 PM EST
http://www.columbuscrewsc.com/post/2016/02/09/philosophy-crew-sc-academy?autoplay=true Video talking academy stuff
Crew will be adding DA teams at the u12 and u13 level next season. This is a good sign. U15/16 advanced to the Championship Division of the GA Cup Finals in March.
It's interesting to me that they are going with a mixed team of CSA and CSA Wolves; it seems to be working out well.
Here are the last two lineups: Srodawa - CSA Hernandez - CSA DeBolt - CSA Bulger - CSA Nichols - CSA Zawadzki - CSA Parente - CSA Lukasco - CSA Faqi - CSA Mutatu - CSA Wolves Conerty - CSA Wolves Srodawa - CSA Hernandez - CSA DeBolt - CSA Hughes - CSA Nichols - CSA Zawadzki - CSA Parente - CSA Lukasco - CSA Biros - CSA Mutatu - CSA Wolves Conerty - CSA Wolves Basically CSA augmented with CSA Wolves best attacking players.
I'm not too up on the youth side of things. I know CSA is the Crew academy or whatever, what exactly is CSA Wolves? And is there any sort of snazzy graph or explanation about the Crew's youth setup from top to bottom?
CSA Wolves is an Academy team in Michigan. There's the best snazzy graph they produce. Really since Precourt has taken over the most important thing to know is they've cut down on the "affiliations" and are more just working with clubs in the area to get the best players. I didn't really like dropping the affiliations all that much until Grand Rapids let it be known why they were dropping theirs. They basically said that they weren't receiving funds to help with training or anything else it was actually the other way around; they were paying a licensing fee to be an affiliate. In my opinion that's pretty counter productive for what the goal is supposed to be so I'm fine with the change. They've had a few training sessions with Ohio Premier, I'm not saying I'm sure it would have, but once upon a time it may have helped not let a guy like Emmanuel Sabbi fall through the Crew's fingers.
It's an interesting change because teams like SKC have like 20 affiliates. I don't know the arrangement or what type of quality control but it would appear they are playing the numbers game as well as using it as marketing. Crew have moved to a more hyper local philosophy. With the new coaching I am hoping that will make a difference. I would say we are middle of the pack MLS academy. Far far behind the leaders.
Agree on the surface I liked the affiliates because I thought we were controlling them and paying for them. I dislike them as a money grab which looks like what they may have been. I think this is preferable than what we had but not great yet. I'd still like to see them go after Internationals up in Cleveland and try to build one in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh to mimic Wolves. It'd just be the best way to get the most out of this state/region. But I'm still disappointed they let the Fire get Carmel United; getting Carmel United along with Wolves would have locked up the best Academies we would have had a fight with the Fire over.
Right. If they are only money making ventures then we shouldn't be doing them. However, we do need to expand our affiliates to other areas but provide resources to make them successful. FC Dallas has recruited kids from other states and have a relationship with the local school district. LA is doing the same. Vancouver and TFC have state of the art facilities. I think every year that passes we have lost ground. We have to work twice as hard to make it back up. I am not sure that's happening. This should be an area as a small market team we look to be better than others. Berhalter has made a lot of changes so we will see what the next steps are.
Chicago probably had a better "in" with Carmel due to Bliss. I'd not be surprised to see the Crew working with Pittsburgh more in the youth area now that they are out USL affiliate.
He better hope soccer works out for him. Playing college soccer isn't like being a non-NFL former OSU player around Columbus, where your name at least gets your foot in the door.
Crazy idea for Crew residential academy location (not sure this is even in the plans or ever will be). The old Indianola Junior High School. Location is near perfect to the mothership. Looks to be enough room for at least one full sized practice pitch. Problem is it was built in 1929 and has been basically abandoned and in a "state of disrepair" according to Columbus Landmarks Foundation (Whoever the hell they are). But what if half the building could be turned into residential units and the other used for classrooms. Assume if has a gym and likely a theater of some sort and a cafeteria. Costs might likely exceed building new, but just thought it was interesting idea. http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus...Iqr9qgBfw1xWEmZNYV&t=1463153361&j=73174792#g5 https://www.google.com/maps/place/4...0x705bdc4e4228d159!8m2!3d40.0045!4d-82.996684
Our church thought of buying the building as they have an area adjacent and then thought better of it when they got into the guts of it--it also is a listed building making renovations much more challenging. tOSU will likely buy it at some point when it becomes unstable and thus demolishable--they own most of the large pieces of property in the campus area.
http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/the91stminute/2017/03/nine-mls-clubs-told-grant-wahl-how-much-they-spend-on-their-academies/ Pulled from each individual questionnaire, here’s the ranked list of the nine who submitted figures on how much they spent in 2016 on their respective academy setups. New England Revolution: $1 million D.C. United: $1.5 million Montreal Impact: $1.5 million Chicago Fire: $1.75 million Columbus Crew: $2.5 million FC Dallas: $3 million Portland Timbers: $3 million LA Galaxy: $4 million Philadelphia Union: $4 million
I'll also note that things tend to be a bit cheaper in Columbus (land and housing for two) than a number of cities mentioned above, so we may be getting even more of a bang for the buck...
I honestly don't believe those #s. Crew seems way too high compared to others. Philly has a school and housing for players. I'd like to to see what RSL spends with their place in AZ.