On its face, it looks like a lot of programs we've seen before -- somewhere that American college students (and others) can play amateur soccer overseas while taking college courses and hoping they play their way into some kind of contract offer. http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads/european-opportunities-for-tommy-buono.2032906 But apparently they also work with mid-(soccer) career players like Shelby Printemps: http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads...s-up-at-optik-rathenow.1629202/#post-35136229 And I came across this article, which indicates that they scout players who don't first apply to their program, and can offer some combination of scholarships and semipro contracts: When the letter came to Brayan Torres, the Puyallup High midfielder wasn’t even sure if it was real. The letter came from Europe, from Marbella FC United and The American College of Marbella in Marbella, Spain. And in that letter was an offer — well two, actually — as Marbella FC wanted to give Torres a semipro contract while also being offered a scholarship at The American College of Marbella. http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/...ph-sports/article132897504.html#storylink=cpy AND and, there seems to be some kind of distinction between Marbella United FC, the program's club, and Marbella FC, the local club: Adama Sangare, who is 18 years old, has signed with our local pro club, Marbella FC’s U18 academy after playing only 6-months with MUFC. ... Adama Sangare looks to land his first professional contract on the Marbella FC first team, Division 2b for the 2017-18 season. http://marbellaunitedfc.com/two-u18-mufc-players-sign-pro-academy-contracts/ Basically, seems like there's a lot going on here. Would love if if anyone could help draw a line through all the dots.
I had never heard of it before your question but I sure wish there had been something like this when I was growing up. Can you imagine what Spanish football and topless beaches would mean to an American kid in the early eighties? I'm sure you've, by now, learned the details of the college side. It offers American high school diplomas and 2 year college core curricula as do many American Schools throughout Europe. The "Soccer Program" is run by Richmond Kickers founder Bobby Lennon. The players you referenced seem to be their marquee success stories. It seems to be largely for profit and the "sports" scholarships are offered through the AGM Foundation, not the school. To sum up my understanding, it is like many American schools that cater primarily to wealthier Spanish kids who are looking for follow on education opportunities in the US. The soccer program, however, seems aimed at expats and kids in the US - sort of a soccer foreign exchange program. The school's relationship with Marbella FC seems primarily geographic. The school also has a relationship with a local country club for other sports. MUFC, the school's "club" has two teams that compete in the Tercera Andaluza (groups II and III) amateur league. One of the (great) benefits of this club is the ability to play home games in the Marbella Football Center, where CL level teams often do winter training. Marbella FC, as you probably know, is a standard regional local football club. It was bought a few years ago by a Russian millionaire who seems to shatter stereotypes. He is a fairly good guy who has engaged in much philanthropy, loves (and lives full time) in Marbella and has invested a lot in the community and its FC. Locals seem to consider him a "savior" of their club. It's worth noting that he already lived in Marbella when he bought the club. The club is currently third in Group IV, 2da B, with a shot at promotion. This is probably the highest it has been in its history. I couldn't find any formal relationship with the MUFC but I consider it very likely that there is, at the very least, a strong informal and scouting relationship. There are, apparently formal relationships with third division pro teams and reserve sides of second division teams in the area that the best MUFC players can be "promoted" to. Some of those referenced in your links are among them. I found a fascinating and informative article on MUFC in Spanish that I would be happy to translate for anyone interested. http://www.diariosur.es/deportes/ma...americano-marbella-united-20160217195006.html It really seems like a great opportunity that many American kids could benefit from.
I've known a few players who've gone through it for brief to longer periods of time. One of the benefits is that since it's partnered with a college here in the States, players can take out federal student loans to cover their cost of attendance, since they're technically in school while playing soccer there. The cost is pretty steep, I think I heard somewhere a little south of $20,000 per year (which I suppose actually isn't too bad since it covers room and board in addition to being able to play at an okay level year-round and get decent exposure). But your credits are transferrable back to the U.S. once you decide to come home, so if the pro game doesn't work out, at least you can continue moving forward with your degree. As with anything like this, the goal is to hopefully bring in a stud that a bigger team will want, and bake in a sell-on fee into transfer paperwork.
Lennon did a recent interview on the program: http://goalnation.com/bobby-lennon-on-developing-american-youth-players-in-spain/ He mostly talks about the development side of the story and doesn't really discuss the broader organization.