Isn't that what we as a club are supposed to do? Nurture and teach them how to become not only better soccer players but also help them along the way of what it takes to be a professional at the 1st division level?!? All over the world kids from 15/16 on up are already being groomed on all those things. Sure you have your Balotellis from time to time, but good clubs have a system in place for youngsters. Again, we've failed as a club in so many levels, but to tell a young prospect to go to college and lose 2-3 yrs of development to a system (college) that's not on par at all to the professional game is doing a disservice to not only the player but the team at the end of the day. These 2 homegrowns we've just signed are 22, a bit old in the rest of the world to just becoming a professional. On top of that they'll most likely go to Quakes ll, won't see them anytime soon in the first team.
For me, leaving home and attending college a thousand miles away was a huge growth experience. Not so much the classroom, but the independent living. From a Levittown-style post-war suburb to an urban environment with decaying pre-war housing stock, from having met hardly any non-whites growing up to living in a predominately black neighborhood. Broadened my horizons immeasurably.
Yeah there are no hard and fast rules and everyone’s case can be different. But most college kids live in the dorms the first few years and that has its own insular culture not necessarily conducive to mature growth. Lots of underage drinking, and cliques that you’ve already experienced in high school. Playing pro soccer you might live at home or you might learn to live on your own, and you are going to have road trips where you’re going to have to behave or you won’t play. Plus generally you’re going to have more older role models.
This. My oldest daughter went to South Dakota for her last 2 years. The first year was rough as her roommate was a real piece of work. Second was a whole lot better with a different roommate, and for someone who said " I'm never going back". She has been back 3 times for friend graduations, and senior nights. It helped her get a whole different "world view" exposed to people who did not have a "Cali" upbringing, and vastly different political views.
The common denominator there seems to be the Quakes organization and how they are handling young homegrowns? We haven't seen similar issues throughout MLS from Alphonso Davies to Tyler Adams to Brenden Aaronson... why is the solution "send kids to college" instead of "fix the problems in the organization"? The former is much easier to do, but the bottom line is the best players both across the world and from the US/Canada (these days) are not going to college. What happens to a young kid's potential if he stagnates in college soccer for 3-4 years?
Could see a lot of kids leaving Quakes academy if they’re gonna want their homegrowns to go to college.
Well Leitch did sign Tsakiris and Medina before they were college age. He also signed college homegrowns Lima, Richmond, Cilley and Tingey.
Do you see any youth HG signings this offseason? I wish that if Benji is sold we could get Fidel Barajas back. I know you rate Sebastian Carbajal or maybe Tomo Allen? I know we have enough CBs so most likely Alejandro Cano is a no. We do have a couple of USYNT players so maybe one of them?
I had lunch a week or two ago at Cracked & Battered (marina district) and one of the co-owners was wearing a Quakes jacket. Chicken and waffles was good.
I think the team is going to let Luchi look over the prospects closely before they make a move. I heard a few guys were invited to training camp to make up numbers (Almeyda and Covelo did this too). I’d be curious to see if any of them are asked to go to Santa Barbara.
@itscalvin Heard a rumor that Aaron Edwards might be added to the Quakes ii roster. I don’t know if he would have to be on a professional contract. I think I recall the rules stating that if a player turns 21 before the calendar year they are no longer considered an “academy player” and must be paid. If this turns out to be true then he has to be in consideration to become an eventual homegrown player. I believe Q2 lost both outside back starters from last season so it will be interesting to see where he would play if he is indeed joining the team.
Reading up on him a bit, seems like a very versatile player, has played centerback, fullback, and forward for UCLA and most importantly for our ownership he is not going to cost much if he does sign .
https://t.co/lQlxSiL1kI New Video Out Now 👀 pic.twitter.com/YK4NHZXzgc— Youth Soccer Central (@yscentral) January 19, 2023
Yup me and @jeff_adams have kept an eye on him over the years and he gives me Lima vibes but yeah this might be the best idea because he got a lot less playing time this season for UCLA compared to last season where he started every game at the RWB role
It seemed like he was playing LWB a lot when I tuned in to UCLA games this year. I don’t recall him playing much at all on the left in the academy. Of course Benjamin Do played mostly on the right in San Jose as well but he was left back for University of Pennsylvania this year. Aaron was listed as a forward on his UCLA bio page. The guy he most resembled to me in the Academy was Clint Dempsey. He was full of outrageous tricks, but he often played angry and frustrated. I saw him pick up a bunch of unnecessary cards. If there was one guy that needed to go to college and “grow up”, it was Aaron. We will see what the Quakes have in mind.
The second academy kid the Quakes have lost to the Oakland Roots… Oakland Roots Sports Club Sign Bay Area Raised Youth National Team Midfielder Ethan Kohler.Read More: https://t.co/h8WSGVTG8d#KnowYourRoots pic.twitter.com/gadLcFPsPN— Oakland Roots (@oaklandrootssc) January 26, 2023 Nice pickup. Ethan is a rangy defensive mid that is tough and instinctive. He is good on the ball as well. Passing can be a little safe at times, but potential is there.Roots have now signed two, 2005 Earthquakes Academy players. The other is CB Drew Murray. https://t.co/bflsVoodaa— Marcus Chairez (@chai_asc) January 26, 2023 Someone let us know if we should care!
I bet these guys have the same agent. If Kohler’s deal is not an academy contract then he gives up Stanford soccer.
Yes, they do have the same agent. Kohler, much like Murray has already given up college, he's signed a pre-agreement with a team in Germany for the summer.