The Official Matheus Silva thread

Fly by night degree at an accelerated online basket weaving school. Its the cost of pocket change for Lew & Fisher.... They are probably payiing for it with the revenue they got from the Club -America and Man United matches...

 

The whole system is just unfathomable to me. And we as taxpayers are probably funding it In some way through the school's probable non-profit status or other tax write-offs.

 

It would be very revealing if the Quakes did pay someone something for this academy find. That might explain the biz side of these basket-weaving soccer factories.

 

Interestingly, the athletes don't learn all that much more at CAL , Stanford or Santa Clara. A lot of kids that go there to play don't always get degrees.

 

That's not true anymore at Stanford. Might be true at Cal tho.

But again, the academy kids I'm talking about are 14-16 and in high school. They can barely read or write.

 

I heard same story's at a lot of Bay Area schools....

 

Profile on Top Drawer Soccer:
http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/high...erde-star-silva-realizes-dream-at-sj_aid36941

 

we need to get a USL team so we can get this kid some serious first team minutes to develop. otherwise he's just going to waste away on the bench here in SJ.

 

Again, this is a great idea and what we need but do the Quakes have any plans for starting a USL team? I haven't heard or read anything as of yet.

 

For a kid this young with no pro experience I think they should keep him around the team to let him know what is expected of a pro and to train with better players. Send him to Sacramento next year as their is only 1.5 months left of their season.

 

Not so much with Silva but for most HS and college kids, you would think the NCAA or MLS could get together could pass a rule so these kids could be on a pro teams roster , even for part of the season and still keep their college eligibility. It absolutely makes no sense to stunt these players growth. Jordan Morris of Stanford has 5 senior national team caps, scoring a goal while playing with and against other professional players who earn millions upon millions of dollars a year so why can't Morris for example play , even on an amateur contract while he makes his bones by staying in school? Incredible!

 

Hope he's taking the opportunity to learn from Goodson and Muma!

 

http://www.sjearthquakes.com/post/2016/03/09/pair-mls-debuts-showcase-youth-movement-san-jose

 

I wonder if this is the same soccer academy that the Galaxy's Boateng came from. I really have a problem with these academies that recruit kids from developing countries rather than offering the opportunities to disadvantaged Americans.

Does anyone know the business model for these private soccer mills, I.e. How are they making money on this.

 

Boateng came through a different program. He was selected through The Right to Dream Academy which placed him with the Cate School in California and then UCSB. He is actually featured in the documentary The Beautiful Game, which showed his life in Ghana and how the program would change his life. (I actually saw the documentary at a film festival with Heather O'Reilly and Lianne Sanderson in the audience).

I have questioned the business model for Montverde myself. They aren't just looking to win games like some private high schools with a couple of foreign "ringers," but to really fill the pipeline with foreign talent, boys and girls. They set up SIMA, which is above and beyond their high school teams. Perhaps they have tapped into a large foundation to do this, but they aren't bringing in students who can afford the tuition and it's a bigger effort than the private basketball diploma mills that seem to rely on shoe money. The money has to come from somewhere and it doesn't look like they are bringing in much US talent (or even players) who can pay full rides.

 

It's quite possible they have a large endowment of the "quasi" variety which would specify how the money is used. Strange as it may seem, some people would consider providing opportunities to under-privileged international youth to be a worthy cause. Offhand, I have a hard time finding something wrong with it, as it is a private school.

 

Thanks for looking up the academies. I've also seen that film and reviewed it at

• https://soccermoviemom.com/the-beautiful-game-2012/

I am sure that all donations to the program are tax-deductible. Therefore, American taxpayers are really footing the bill and enabling the school owners to profit and/or make a living off of importing and training foreign workers over Americans. I'm a political liberal, but I have a real problem with these schools that become role models for the wrong reasons.

 

I don't think of providing opportunities to a handful of under-privileged international youth in terms of "importing foreign workers over Americans". And furthermore, for the American kids there at the academy, they are getting exposure to people from other cultures which will enrich their own lives and make them more employable in the global economy, not to mention improve the political good will of our country and how it is viewed abroad. As the pope says, build bridges, not walls :--).

 

You have to admit that Montverde is an odd duck. It's been around a long time, but recently has gotten into the big time in high school sports. It's 65% international and they don't offer scholarships. There is financial aid available. Tuition for boarding students is $49,600 annually. About 600 students are day students and 300 board at the school.

This article is about the basketball team, one of the top in the nation, which has players from Cameroon, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Canada, Nigeria and Burkina Faso. At least 3 alumni are in the NBA.

http://www.orlandomagazine.com/Orlando-Magazine/April-2012/Building-a-Bigger-Giant/

Most of the changes have happened since 1999 when the school's enrollment was declining, more of a school for troubled youth.

According to the article, they are definitely on a spending spree. You always wonder where the money is coming from when it's not obvious.

 

Don't rule out government grants. Especially if they have a congress critter 'benefactor'. Another drain on taxpayers.

 

The president of the academy was talking about alumni contributions and the effect the success of the basketball team had on that. I'm guessing that's where most of the money comes from. Anyone ever been on the Bellarmine campus? It's nicer than most college campuses. Alumni money. I'm sure there are several CEOs and company co-founders, etc. on the alumni role.: Stephen Schott, McEnery, lots of pro athletes, etc. Their tuition is on par with other Catholic schools. So it's not that.

 

This is an interesting paragraph in that article:

Though Montverde Academy’s basketball program is registered with the Florida High School Athletic Association, it chooses not to compete in the FHSAA’s state tournament because it doesn’t want to continually answer questions about recruiting players, which member schools are banned from doing. Last decade, the FHSAA fined and sanctioned Montverde’s baseball team for alleged recruiting.​

 

How would a private school be tapping into government grants? I can see a research institution finding some of that, but a traditional private high school doesn't seem as likely.