Absolutely. And Texas, too. I know the RGV Toros play in the Championship in Edenburg, just outside McAllen, but you could also have teams in Laredo and Brownsville along the border, Corpus Christi. Galveston Port Arthur/Beaumont up the Gulf coast and then in the middle of the state in places like Waco, Tyler, Amarillo, Lubbock and Midland/Odessa. There could easily be 100 third division teams in the US in the next 10 years.
You guys SAY you want a 100 D3 clubs, but have you really thought through how daunting that will make following threads like these?
I don't know all the teams in Texas but near Dallas there minor league teams in Forth Worth, Denton, I think Waco and others I can't remember. I'm very surprised by how many in a football state. I hope they all make it through this virus without going bankrupt.
I for one look forward to the 4,000-word weekly updates informing us that 21-year-old Jack "Jacko" Jackson, who passed on his senior year of eligibility with the NAIA Jacksontown Jacks, played 8 reserve minutes for Schmeckelburg United FC. Stuff like that is half the reason I visit BigSoccer in the first place!
Does all this lower division soccer really help if these guys play for unaffiliated teams without pro/rel? I don't see it hurting, but it seems like such a marginal benefit at this point. There's so little player movement between MLS and the USLs right now and if I'm a 4 year senior at the type of schools that are good at soccer, which are almost all very good schools, I'm almost certainly going to make more money getting a desk job than I am playing soccer. The only success story I can think of off the top of my head is Mark-Anthony Kaye, and he's Canadian.
It's a chicken and egg issue. MLS clubs don't sign young players on indy USL clubs because the best young players don't sign with indy USL clubs. Historically, there just haven't been good YNT-eligible players to sign. The best young players don't sign with indy USL clubs because MLS clubs don't have a track record of signing young players from indy USL clubs. It's a risky career move. The question is: if an indy USL club actually lands a top young talent, how will MLS clubs respond? Will they actually spend a worthwhile fee to acquire him? Jose Gallegos feels like the big test case right now.
Yeah, the answer is we don't know. It's too new. Is it optimal now? Of course not. But generally, more paid jobs for pro soccer players in this country is a good thing.
https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/85375/peter-wilt-fans-must-be-included-in-the-process-o.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=23541&hashid=gQkyRnmzcImx5817_j8UkV2zFdE USL actually have Peter Wilt traveling across the country, from town to town, helping potential ownership groups organize, mobilizing potential supporters groups, and preparing towns in general to start up sustainable USL franchises. Developing a culture of successful ownership groups as well as well run supporters groups will only help our players with more well run pathways to reaching their potential as a pro. A kid like Hercules Gomez was on absolutely nobody’s radar. After being discovered by the Galaxy while he struggled in the lower divisions, he went on to win the golden boot in Liga MX and play for the US in the 2010 World Cup. We need more stories like that and every new, well run franchise with a strong supporters culture is potential incubator for that kind of story. The key is that USL clubs need to be intentional about developing players for the purpose of selling them. On another sad note, the real Peter Bonetti has passed on to that big pick up game in the sky. https://www.socceramerica.com/publi...aign=23545&hashid=gQkyRnmzcImx5817_j8UkV2zFdE
If I were starting a lower-division pro club in the U.S. right now (in a general sense, coronavirus notwithstanding) I doubt I'd be building much transfer revenue into my business plan, though of course it would be great to have. And I'd be wary of committing to many of the expenses needed to make it a real possibility, unless perhaps my ownership is playing with funny money, which doesn't seem to be typical. More likely I'm watching to see if someone else does it first. If a non-MLS lower-division organization gets meaningful money for an American teenager, perhaps from its own academy, and especially if the principal source of his exposure isn't from being a core YNT player -- which is to say, he's being bought largely because of what he displays in the league itself -- then I think other organizations may try to steal the recipe, so to speak. Gallegos strikes me as a possible semi-test-case of this, though he may also soon become a core YNT player.
USL are currently signing “Academy Signings” without actual academies, but they are trying very hard to get the Academy ball rolling with “Academy Tournaments”. They clearly see the value of academies, but it is such a sea-change in mentality for running a minor league club in this country that your description above represents a lot of the caution that a lot of people have at the moment. I think that this is changing. In ten years, particularly after the 2026 World Cup, I think the culture of minor league soccer will look dramatically different when it comes to youth academies.
It's a safe guess that you're right. The big open question for me is what the domestic transfer market will look like, much more than whether foreign clubs will be falling over themselves to buy young American players. Of course, the latter would be great too!
Here's what I got. Let me know who I missed. Pro-contract players only. I included MLS loanees when players were loaned outside their organization, but not when it's guys playing for their own club's MLS2 team. Atlanta United 2 GK Gabe Rosario 99 CM Amir Bashti 97 AM Daniel Steedman 00 FW Jackson Conway 01 FW Phillip Goodrum 97 Austin Bold CB Brecc Evans 99 (loan) FW Roberto Avila 00 Birmingham Legion RB Jonathan Dean 97 CM Eli Crognale 97 * There's a "holding the jersey" pic of Braxton Najib '02 on the internet but he hasn't been announced by the club Charleston Battery GK Paul Lewis 99 GK Darian McCauley 97 CB Kyle Nelson 97 FW Jesus Ibarra 97 Charlotte Independence CB Jack Maher 99 (loan) CB Casey Penland 97 AM Luke Haakenson (loan) Colorado Springs Switchbacks GK Abraham Rodriguez 02 (loan) RB Sebastian Anderson 02 (loan) CM Will Vint 01 (loan) Hartford Athletic CB Alex Lara 98 CM Conor McGlynn 98 AM Noah Paravicini 97 FW Dre Deas 97 FW Alfonso Vazquez 02 Indy Eleven CM Cam Lindley 97 AM Andrew Carleton 00 (loan) FW Jeremy Rafanello 00 LA Galaxy II RB Mauricio Cuevas 03 CM Adam Saldana 02 CM Adrian Vera 97 AM Jorge Hernandez 00 FW Augustine Williams 97 Las Vegas Lights GK Angel Alvarez 97 GK Edward Delgado 98 CB Jaiden Waggoner 97 AM Grant Robinson 98 FW Rashawn Dally 97 (loan) Loudoun United RB EruMuse Momoh 97 CB Jake Dengler 99 DF/DM Nelson Martinez 01 CM Tyler Gabarra 97 CM Brandon Williamson 98 AM Ted Ku-DiPietro 02 FW Josh Fawole 98 FW Christian Sorto 00 Louisville City RB Akil Watts 00 LB Jonathan Gomez 03 Memphis 901 CB? Jackson Morse 97 AM Pierre da Silva 98 AM Matt Hundley 00 (loan) FW Cal Jennings 97 NYRB II GK Wallis Lapsley 97 CB Joe Fala 97 CM Samad Bounthong 97 CM Caden Clark 03 CM Barry Sharifi 97 CM Kyle Zajec 97 FW Sebastian Elney 97 FW Jake LaCava 01 North Carolina FC RB D.J. Taylor 97 AM Manny Perez 99 (loan) Orange County SC GK Aaron Cervantes 02 CB Kobi Henry 04 CB Blake Malone 01 CM Daniel Crisostomo 97 CM Francis Jacobs 05 AM Edson Alvarado 98 FW Kevin Coleman 98 FW Diego Lopez 02 Philadelphia Union II RB Issa Rayyan 00 CB Ben Ofeimu 00 CM Jack McGlynn 03 AM Selmir Miscic 03 Pittsburgh Riverhounds AM Danny Griffin 98 FW Lukas Fernandes 98 Portland Timbers 2 RB Harold Hanson 99 CB Aedan Stanley 99 AM Carlos Anguiano 99 AM Gio Calixtro 00 Real Monarchs GK Jimmy Slayton 98 RB Steve Jasso 00 CB Michael Wetungu 98 CM Jordan Pena 00 AM Christopher Bermudez 99 AM Arturo Rodriguez 98 (loan) AM Ryan Sierakowski 97 FW Joe Gallardo 98 Reno 1868 GK Sebastian Mora 98 LB Yosimar Hernandez 97 CM Jared Timmer 97 CM Emilio Ycaza 97 FW Benji Kikanovic 00 RGVFC RB Andrew Samuels 97 CB Robert Castellanos 98 LB Jonathan Jimenez 97 CM Isidro Martinez 97 CM James Murphy 97 AM Christian Lucatero 97 AM Luka Prpa 98 FW Garrett McLaughlin 97 FW Juan Carlos Obregon 97 Sacramento Republic CB Hayden Sargis 02 AM Mario Penagos 02 Saint Louis FC AM Nichi Vlastos 00 San Antonio FC GK Carlos Mercado 99 AM Jesus Enriquez 97 AM Jose Gallegos 01 AM Leo Torres 04 San Diego Loyal CB Jordan Chavez 97 LB Edwin Lara 99 CM Morgan Hackworth 97 Sporting KC II GK Remi Prieur 97 GK Brooks Thompson 02 CB Danny Barbir 98 CB Sam Raben 97 CB Kaveh Rad 01 CM Jake Davis 02 AM Will Little 98 AM Bailey Sparks 02 AM Jaret Townsend 98 FW Wilson Harris 99 FW Enoch Mushagalusa 99 Tacoma Defiance GK Christian Herrera 97 CB Eric Kinzner 03 CB Sam Rogers 99 LB Nick Hinds 97 CM Collin Fernandez 97 AM Azriel Gonzalez 01 AM Jesus Perez 97 AM Danny Robles 02 AM Ray Serrano 02 AM Marlon Vargas 01 FW Alec Diaz 01 [still not cap-tied to Puerto Rico!] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chattanooga Red Wolves GK Tim Trilk 98 CB Jason Ramos 98 CM Amirgy Pineda 97 AM Alexi Jaimes 97 AM Jonathan Ricketts 97 FC Tucson GK Rafael Guerrero 02 CB Charlie Booth 97 CM A.J. Valenzuela 98 CM Erik Virgen 99 AM Josh Coan 98 AM Gio Magana-Rivera 97 FW Shak Adams 98 FW Azaad Liadi 98 FW Darryl Lingdon 98 Fort Lauderdale CF GK Daniel Gagliardi 97 DF Ian Fray 02 CM Blaine Ferri 00 Forward Madison RB Gustavo Fernandes 98 CM Michael Vang 00 NE Revolution II GK Keegan Meyer 97 RB Simon Lekressner 98 CB Nick Woodruff 98 LB Jon Bell 97 CM Dennis Ramirez 01 AM Connor Presley 98 AM Ryan Spaulding 98 North Texas SC GK Luis Zamudio 98 CB Lamar Batista 98 CB Philip Ponder 97 CM Imanol Almaguer 00 CM Derek Waldeck 98 AM Gibran Rayo 01 AM David Rodriguez 02 Orlando City B GK Austin Aviza 97 CB Juan Monticelli 97 LB Nick O'Callaghan 97 DF Jonathan Rosales 98 CM Austin Amer 00 AM Adam Ozeri 98 (loan) AM Teddy Ndje 01 MF Raul Aguilera 99 MF Ignacio Poplawski 98 (loan) FW Aleksandar Gluvacevic 97 Richmond Kickers CM Ryley Kraft 98 AM Jonathan Bolanos 98 Tormenta FC GK Parker Siegfried 97 CM Abuchi Obinwa 97 Toronto FC II CM Fito Ovalle 97 Union Omaha CB Daltyn Knutson 97 LB Jacob Crull 97 CM Kobe Perez 97 MF Christian Molina 98 MF John Scearce 97 FW Evan Conway 97
Props to you for putting it together, although I noticed a few errors, Bailey Sparks is on an amateur deal, Christian Herrera is on loan with Tacoma, and TFCII signed Fito's brother about a week ago, although I don't know if he's US-Eligible.
Correct. There are dozens and dozens more players who will play in USL on non-pro contract terms. Obviously, the majority will be with MLS2 teams, but there are a number of kids with indy teams. I also can't edit, but I realized that Bailey Sparks did not sign a pro deal; I missed that when I first read the release.
Thanks. I just realized my mistake with Sparks, forget about Herrera, and didn't know about Ovalle! Nicolas Ovalle has pretty bad timing. He signed two days before TFCII withdrew for the season.
He's in the 18 right now. Still no announcement from the club, but third party accounts described it as a "pro" contract. Sometimes third party sources mistake academy contracts for pro contracts, but it seems likely he's a pro.
Thank you for validating my mistrust of overexuberant third parties exalting a "pro" contract that their ex-player signed!
Couple things here -- first off, where's Nathan Harriel? Not just that he's not a pro, but I don't see him on any Philly roster at present, and he hasn't been mentioned in any recent club write-ups. He might still be around, but seems odd given that he's college-aged (graduated HS in 2019 I think) and still an amateur as far as I can tell. Also of note, apparently Tyger Evans, who is heading to college, was the starting LB and Rayyan had stepped in there now that he's gone. It appears that it may just be a "he's versatile" thing rather than a career thing, but who knows... (And Rayyan's injured for their next game, so they'll need to find someone else.)