I don’t know about any of that stuff but all I can see in ten years of our infamous academy , is that we’ve had one player who panned out. Tommy Thompson played in only 19 youth team games as a token player. He is currently the only who came through that setup that graduated to the senior team. All the others came through the GA/college ranks , trades or foreign signings.
Yes Beita came from the 3rd round. Tyler Thompson was a 4th rounder from Stanford. Not sure what happened with him but I guess he wasn't as good as his kid brother.
No he was the an additional 2nd round draft pick we got from Houston in the Wondo + a pick for Weaver trade. 2010 was by far our best draft year, with Opara, Morrow and Beita, but on was 1st round, and the other two are two of our three 2nd round picks for that year. Andrew Hoxie was our 3rd round pick, and our 4th round pick went to Chicago. Wiki Citation.
I'm too lazy to look it up, but I'm pretty sure I saw that some other team took a St Mary's player after we passed. Maybe's he's been invited to practices and they know him, but if not, seems like very little to lose by taking a local guy.
Great for a college draft pick. Anyway , he was better or just as good as any of our academy players we’ve had in the last decade... I’m sure he could have used some of that Gilbert Fuentes money to pay his rent.
Lima played in our youth system from 2010-2011, and then we retained his homegrown rights when he went to play for Cal. Tommy was in our youth academy in 2012-13 before becoming a Hoosier. This is ideal and circumvents the draft. I liked Kip but these two are better. We’ll just have to see about the really young signings, but you might be right that the money is the incentive that will help us capture youth talent. I think Marcinkowski might be the real deal.
Kip tore it up in preseason when he first arrived. I believe he was a starter off the bat because of injuries. He was a good player and would have gotten better with more playing time or experience but his heart wasn’t in it because he just couldn’t live off of what they were paying him so he quit. Lima and Thompson may be listed as homegrown Quakes players but I don’t consider either a product of the academy as they really weren’t developed that way. Tommy played in only 19 youth team games and the only reason he was signed was because Doyle knew his dad Gregg. Lima played 4 years at Cal Berkeley and coach Kevin Grimes converted him into an overlapping defender and he deserves credit for his development. Same with Bingham who (love or hate him) played 3 years at Cal before signing a GA deal. Another reason why I think college soccer is a great developing tool to utilize for finding talent. Maybe the youth academy development team will change some time in the future but after ten years of trying and 0 starters, I have my doubts.
You are missing my larger point that any participation in a youth academy places your rights with that team, and thus takes a promising player out of the draft. With 20+ teams doing this for the foreseeable future the draft will get thinner and thinner as result. Smart teams will use college as a ground to develop "their" players, and the lower rounds will become (or are becoming) irrelevant. It is easy to foresee a time in which the draft is only two rounds and then teams simply invite whatever local players they are interested in to workout with the team. Things are changing.
Isn't the point of the youth academy to discover , train , groom and develop young local prospects and get them ready for the pros? What’s the point of having an academy if they already get or have traditionally gotten that same preparation with the existing academies or the ones already in place and then go to college to get more development? The Mustangs , De Anza Force , Santa Clara Sporting . Almaden, and Ballistic United have been around forever and many if not most of their players go to 4 year college. Therefore in my opinion, the Quakes academy team is just there in name only. I don’t see how they have developed anyone in the past and they are still batting 1000 on their prospects for anyone in the immediate future. So far anyway, or for the last ten years, its been an illusion and a farce.
I have enjoyed this Falvo, but I think at this point I'll just let the number of ifs, generalities, and lack of data in your argument speak for itself. This is not a simple issue, and if we take out the actual rules and result out of the equation then there is no difference between reality and imagines scenario of what could have been. Perhaps another time over a beer at a tailgate.
Lack of data and ifs? The Quakes have discovered 0 starters in ten years since they’ve had the academy in place. This isn’t coming from me, it is a fact. Giving them the benefit of the doubt and taking into account that Lima and Thompson were in fact developed by our academy (which I do not believe) , it’s still not enough. If there were any players under 12,13 or 14 in 2010 they would all be 22,23 and 24 years of age respectively today. So where are they? We have no one to speak of and I don’t see how this is supposed to be a positive. Again , they can do the same thing using the local and existing academies and college draft which is what they’ve done and are doing.
Yeah I do but not as much as I used to. If you recall, I even met you at a Quakes -Seattle game I believe it was a few years back.
Considering 2012 was the Quakes last best year....... I guess I haven’t missed anything since then have I?
It’s always a good time Falvo, though I also prefer it when we win. PM me if you come to a game. We always have a cooler, and I’ll pack a few extra for you.
The academy is still not that old. It’s doing pretty well Imo, even if it wasn’t so good for the first few years. They have 3 pro starters: JTM starts for Reno regularly. That is a pro team. Tommy Thompson and Nick Lima start for the San Jose Earthquakes regularly. Contrary to some current belief, this is as pro team. They have other young players signed. We wait to see if they will developed into starters. In the meantime, they are playing with US national teams, which isn’t a chopped liver sort of accomplishment. The Quakes not drafting players they don’t have any serious interest in seems to me to be plainly professionally ethical. If they really are good enough to go pro, they can sign in USL or in Europe with no encumbrance of should they go to Quakes training camp as if they have a legit shot. Quakes have limited roster slots. They need one for their first pick who is signed already. The two second rounders deserve their shots to sign and loan out. 3 is plenty for a draft and fair to players.
I do know they have to pay players if they bring them in even if its just for training. That could be another reason on why they don't want to draft any more preseason camp guys….
I think not making any picks in rounds 3 and 4 shows that Almeyda and Jesse are confident with the guy they already have. So just three guys should be OK. I’m a little surprised that they didn’t use the later rounds to get players for Reno, but I’m sure they have a plan. Go Quakes!! Fisher OUT!! - Mark
First round pick Tanner Beason was at the season ticket-holder fan event today (2/22/20). Impressive guy. Mature for his age. Evident why he was a collegiate captain for a top program.