Understood. I was merely firing a pre-emptive strike against the European attitude of, "If you're worring about college eligibility, you haven't created a real program." Agreed. The player pool of those who don't give a damn about college eligibility would be too small. There are more families who would like to keep the option of college soccer open than there are families who would be willing to kill the option. Again, that mindset is something that the typical European fan does not understand -- although their basketball followers are starting to get the picture! Believe, me a young & tall Lithuanian boy is very conscious about the rules for U.S. college eligibility.
Interesting point about the difference between basketball & soccer, and the perception of young players toward the real possibilities. Even in Europe, if a kid is VERY TALL & VERY ATHLETIC, and say by age 15, 16, demonstrates a real talent in basketball, he knows he's got a great shot at the NBA (where even the beginning $ is phenomenal) or even one of the European leagues. If the kid is 6'10'' and taller, how many competitors for a coveted draft position does he really have to worry about? In soccer, it's quite different. There are oodles of talented soccer players FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD competing for a limited number of places in the various pro leagues, and where the $ is not quite guaranteed in the way that NBA $ is that would enable a kid to easily decide to foresake college. The only situation so far in soccer in the U.S. that even remotely resembles this scenario is Freddy Adu. Between his Nike deal and his MLS salary he & his family could reasonably decide to go pro immediately. But it ain't gonna happen very many times in the future. But even in soccer, proper guidance is key. The vast majority of the most talented soccer players here may one day play either in MLS or even eventually overseas, but a parent has to be able to differentiate his kid as either garden variety talented (as with the majority of Bradenton kids) or SUPER DUPER DUPER at an early age (Landon?), where a bunch of European clubs are pleading to get their claws on the kid. If a parent sees that his kid is THAT GOOD, there's a good chance that kid will be able to foresake college without much downside (excepting, of course, injury). But we are not yet producing that level of talent yet on a consistent yearly basis.
Absolutely. Not many of those around, though. Also, they're hard to recognize when they do pop up. I've never seen one, at least not to my untrained eye. Last year, I talked with a young man who marked Landon Donovan at a couple of major youth tournaments. He was surprised Landon had done so well since, because Landon never got much done against him. This guy thought that he had played several comparable or better youth forwards. But yeah, if a major European side comes waving a multi-year contract to a 16 year old, college may not be necessary.
If we're talking about the academy also becoming an agency, a concept that is being practiced currently by at least one US soccer school, then I'd reckon that this fork on the road can probably be taken by a trainee at the age of 16-17 or so, when his options would become much clearer. By that time, I assume, he'll have had a chance to go to Europe (like this Soccermom's kid in Genk) and test himself against the Euro kids in his age bracket. After that, the young prospect, his parents and the academy would have to make a decision about his future. I doubt that Bradalites would keep carrying on youngsters with no pro potential whatsoever. As we know, NCAA doesn't pay transfer fees either.
Interesting point. Are we talking about an academy that is importing 13 year olds and 16 year olds? As in, let's find a hotshot 13 year old, in 3 years we'll make him good enough that Bolton or Ajax or Leverkusen will want him on their youth program, then when he's 18 and signs his first pro contract we get a cut? In which case, you're right, the less successful kids will likely be sent home before they graduate high school. Seems like that must be the play. They're isn't much value in amateur players who are older than 17. If they were that good, they no longer would be amateurs.
Since it's a for-profit or at worst a not-for-loss school/academy, the kids pro potentials seem to be the raison d'etre of the Friedelites. I would expect them to be pretty brutal in their selections and rejections. If further down the road, they prove themselves as a worthy pre-pro school, they might get more kids than Bradenton. One of the keys certainly lies in whatever connections with the Euro teams Brad can make. In that, I assume he's got a long leg up on Bradenton. They both may train but he'll be looking to get them paying jobs as well.
In my understanding, even the best European academies average less than 10% of their students ever playing first team football. Bradenton gets the best players in the entire country right now but only 2 or 3 of them every year are good enough to go directly to a developmental slot with a MLS team. And that's hardly the same thing as getting a large transfer fee from Europe. Starting with 15 year old players, I don't think it's really possible to be more than 10 or 15% correct when selecting future pro players. I just don't see how a business like this would be able to break even without the altruistic support of a corporation like Nike. There must be more to this than the newspaper articles are telling us.
Which is the problem we need to be looking at. Increasing the number of serious professional opportunities available to american players. That means more well paying professional spots here not players making 1600 a month. I really think the dutch are correct when they say if kids are looking at college you are looking at the wrong kids.
There has been some very interesting issues raised, I think we need more development academies, but I cannot see this as a viable business option based on future cuts without some major corperation backing. I would like to see all of our pro clubs taking on academies of their own because that is the lifeblood of the game. The success rate is hit and miss and dependant on your scouting/coaching staff. I have known Man Utd to get rid of a whole team of 16 year olds and you would expect them to get some of the best kids around. I am not being negative I just think that our pro clubs need this themselves, it is the obvious step and the one that will benefit our game in the future.
[/QUOTE] and if you are looking for future acadamies... more players will be close to retirement in the future... the euro guys... reyna should be well tied to run one, as will job... as will keller... those would be my first 3 next guesses... (to do it like brad is trying) brad just had the world cup to help him out... which was *huge*[/QUOTE] I think Thomas Dooley is trying to put together a similar venture here in Orange County, California.
There will definitely have to be some trust involved as the players are going to have be 18 before they can make a move. Trust by the academy that the player will stay with them and work via a transfer deal after they turn 18. Trust between the academy and MLS - that MLS will pay some suitable fee to the academy for top players (by the way, superdave correct me if I'm wrong here - there's not rule prohibiting a transfer WITHIN a country, yes?) Possibly, trust between the academy and an overseas academy for a player to go overseas and enroll in another setup, and then sign for that club after turning 18, with some kind of finder's fee paid to the Friedel academy. Incidentally superdave - and I'm not sure if you disagree with this or not - everybody i'm talking to about this, Friedel, professional club people in England, France, Belgium and Holland, ALL say a player can enroll in a foreign academy so long as they don't sign a professional contract. They say there is a distinction between "registering" as a professional and "registering" for the purpose of playing on a youth team. They all seem pretty comfortable with this. Another thing most of them mention, is they expect a more transfer-friendly policy for youth players in the next year or two. The current policy you'll remember was mainly a reaction to some horror stories involving African and South American kids in Italy and Spain. With the economics of club football calling out for more access to young players, expect FIFA to modify the policy in coming months. One other thing, good business will demand that players signing up for this academy be protected college-wise for the reasons JohnR mentions.
Of course, but even a great team like ManU draws from a pool of ~ 5 million people (~ 1/2 of the great Manchester area, assuming the rest go to ManCity and other smaller clubs). Friedelites, assuming they have real connections with the Euro teams, could potentially draw from a population of over 100 million and of a generally more athletic selection.
Correct. Right, but if there's no contract, there's no transfer fee. I *think*, but I'm not sure and am too lazy to look over the thread, that I got into this by responding to the notion that Brad was gonna be bringing in a bunch of Africans and Caribbeans. (I mention this to keep us from getting too far afield.) I'd be shocked if that were to be the case, esp. if FIFA keeps its present rules.
Thanks super, I'd be surprised if it isn't mostly Americans and a few internationals sprinkled in. Clearly if they are to be the source of revenue, they too will have to wait until they are 18, sign a pro contract and then be transferred. I think I should also reiterate that with the academy being not-for-profit, they might not be so reluctant to lose players without getting fees, so long as the staff and everyone are taken care of properly through the sponsorship (which apparently is going to be considerable). Time will tell on the details.