For a potential MLS player, I think the smart move now is getting your degree as well. If starting pay in the MLS was 100k+ the argument would probably look a little different, since you should be making enough at that point to be able to save for college later if needed.
I've got to admit, watching a replay of those kids playing in that incredible facility is just amazing. Let's just assume that pre-season rain won't keep RSL from being fit this year!
00 midfielder Richie Ledezma gets a U20 call-up with some pretty good company. FWIW, Ledezma got a call-up for what looks like Ramos' first-choice squad, while Soto and Booth did not. https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/20...ain-for-matches-vs-france-and-atletico-madrid
An interesting Twitter thread about college soccer: Numbers that should alarm @NCAAsoccer: Only 6 of the 22 (27.2 percent) players called into the #USMNT camp for #USAvPAR played college soccer. Of those six, none played four years and only two played three years.— Brooke Tunstall (@YesThatBrooke) March 19, 2018 Relevant here as RSL has apparently decided to lean pretty heavily on the NCAA for development. It's been about 2.5 years since we signed someone directly from the academy.
I haven't heard a situation yet where RSL made an academy product a contract offer but they decided to go to college instead. Herrera left college a year early because RSL finally was like "ok now I guess we'll make this offer". I don't get it. Though I will say that in talks with a former Monarchs player he said the maturity level of a guy who even did a year or two of college and some of the kids that were straight from the academy was night and day. His opinion was that unless you're going to be a starter, a year or two of college was great for the players off the field development.
Hard to say for certain but all of the evidence suggests it's club preference. They almost never sign academy players to the Monarchs even when other MLS 2 teams do. Once per year, we're allowed to do a season-long loan to the Monarchs without burning any cap space or a roster spot. We did this with Ovalle in 2015 and Acosta in 2016, but have not done since. We have some academy grads who openly say they'd skip college for a pro contract, but the only academy players we sign are the ones who go to college first. Other MLS teams are signing players straight to their first-team squads and USL affiliates, but RSL is going more heavily down the college route.
The Academy U17s are playing in the Generation Adidas Cup in Texas. This year, they're in the Premier Division, a step down from the Championship Division where they have often competed. Here's the Schedule: 3/23 10:15MT v Orlando City SC 3/25 8:00MT v Houston Dynamo 3/27 7:00MT v Monterrey possible additional games are on 3/29 and 3/31 details TBD
Two games in and the academy team is 0-2. 15 will appreciate that even if they're not winning, they're playing the kids.
Academy wise, I'm fine with losses as long as they're being trained properly. The US puts far too much into winning at the youth levels instead of actually developing players to be better down the line.
Amen to that. However, and I bring this up only within the framework of the BS RSL Board: we recently discussed the organizational goals as they relate to the Academy/Monarchs/RSL “system”. The majority of viewpoints were that the organization prioritizes a culture of “winning” as the answer to the question of “Why doesn’t the organization use the ‘system’ to identify and advance Academy prospects instead of bringing in aged vets to the Monarchs?” The Academies’ results in this tournament seem to indicate that the Organization’s goals are not being met.
I think it's more that the Monarchs and RSL are being ran independently of each other. I don't think that spreads to the academy, though, from what I've seen. I just think the club is missing a huge opportunity to give chances to fringe MLS level academy products a chance to grow with the Monarchs. I've attended a few academy games. Certainly winning is important - and at that age (15-18), you should be teaching kids how to win, not just how to play. That said, the technical focus is very apparent.
That's good to hear that it appears that they're being brought up the right way. Now if they could just get more chances with the Monarchs, we'd have a pretty solid setup.
The title of "Most exciting player in our academy" has probably been usurped from Sebastian Soto by Richie Ledezma. Here's a nice Twitter thread about his minutes for the Monarchs this weekend: Richie Ledezma, 17, impressed at the USYNT mega camp in January and made a case to be the first-choice No. 6 in this U-20 cycle (he was better than Chris Goslin) in two Feb friendlies with France. He got his second pro appearance with @RealMonarchs on Saturday. Got some GIFs.— scuffed (@scuffedpod) May 7, 2018 Click through and read the whole thread, it's well worth it. Ledezma, at the moment, is not signed to a pro contract. He's allowed 5 USL games without losing his NCAA eligibility, but I'm hoping he doesn't go that route at all.
This is an example of why I am not worried about the Monarchs having some more veteran players. So long as the academy kids who have MLS potential in the next couple of years get their chances (Which they will if they are good enough). Ledezma has had a chance to play in a couple of games along side professional players, and learn and expirience not only playing against pros, but with them as well. A full 11 man squad of 17-20 year olds would lead to a bunch of inexperienced players getting played off the pitch and not having the same developmental impact. People don't develop as well when they lose every game, they don't improve when they can't see players who know what they are doing reacting to the way they are playing. Yes, we should probably find room for 3ish academy kids per game. But having a roster of guys in their mid 20's who are still fighting and have potential to break into MLS (Besler, Velasquez types) to play along side a couple of the top young guys is great. Other Academy kids who can't break into the USL first team, might sign with the Monarchs after graduating from the Academy, and have to earn a starting spot from a seasoned player. That will only help competition for both. Young kids have to earn their spots. Being given too much without the work can lead to the Gil's of the world.
Ledezma has played 2 games for a total of ~45 minutes ish. That's great, but he's only allowed 5. He also can sign with any non-MLS team for free at any point. There's a balance between young and experienced for sure, but the Monarchs are way, way too far on the "experienced" end of that balance. They've also found a couple games for David Ochoa, a young keeper from the academy, but they're leaving Jose Hernandez on the bench every game for some reason.
I don’t think Ledezma is limited to five games. Etienne played 14 times for NYRBII in 2015 before heading off the college. Teams are limited to using five academy kids per squad, IIRC.