When homegrown territories go away, the winners will be the people who invest, and that's more likely to be mid-tier economically. They have to cash to invest, but they also have a need for this business model to win out, AND they don't have high priced players taking opportunities away. A SKC, Philly or Dallas will be able to sell a kid on developing there whereas it will be apparent to many of them that there's no path to playing time at the LA Galaxy or Atlanta if they continue to buy all their players. Some will be fooled. But with the loan army restrictions as well, I think it will be tougher for big money to win out if other clubs establish opportunity and a track record of development.
With MLS teams cutting u19 sides it is likely they are searching for a new non USL solution to fill the gap
MLS club is a for profit business, while the US Soccer federation is looking for the overall good of US Soccer. As this move shows, in my opinion these goals are not necessarily aligned. Getting in bed, so to speak, with MLS at a time that MLS is experiencing enormous budgetary challenges and the viability of the league may in the short term be challenged, is possibly an even worse decision than cutting DA. Do not be surprised if even more teams pull out of the "MLS Elite" league until spring - essentially putting an entire generation of players in a position where they have done nothing but practice for almost all of 2020 and the front half of 2021. If there is any sort of heartbeat in the US soccer federation, these should all be red flags.
I mean, there is a global pandemic. I'm not sure kids should be playing soccer right now anymore than I think pros should be playing soccer. We're trying not to spread this thing ... well, at least some of us are. MLS and US Soccer are never going to be perfectly aligned, as no professional league and federation are ever perfectly aligned. But MLS has a lot more money and a lot more financial incentive to invest in development than US Soccer does. I have no idea what US Soccer was doing spending $12M on the DA, but if that's true, I understand why it was cut. That's a huge % of the budget, and if you can effectively get someone else to pay for those costs, you have to think about it.
Has this been confirmed that the MLS Developmental League are cutting U19 or are you just speculating?
They are letting teams choose whether they want to field a u19 team or not. A lot likely won't field a u19 team.
From an Athletic article: I expect it to vary club to club. There's been other commentary around using their MLS2 sides or equivalents as essentially where an 18 or 19 year old should go, so that's likely where David and I are making some assumptions around it.
'03 Daniel Edelman joins NYRB from PDA. https://redbullhub.net/2020/07/08/new-york-red-bulls-ii-usl-championship-return-to-play-preview/ Patrick Weah will be playing college soccer in the fall. He's attending a year early. I have no clue how that's possible, but its been done before (Ebobisse). Unlike Ebobisse (February birthday), Weah is a December birthday. He'll be 16 nearly his whole first season. He'll definitely face a good level of competition for a 16 year old. I don't mind this, if he only stays one season. The article also states that he only arrived in the USA in 2011, so either when he was 7 or 8 years old. https://www.stltoday.com/sports/col...cle_cf555bb4-7dc0-5df8-b9b2-0ec749b6f7d8.html
All you have to do is pass a GED test, generally. SLU is private; they can admit who they want. There's a decent number of football players and one or two basketball players who have gotten early starts on their careers.
There’s also a lot of HS that give college credit classes. Not sure if all or most transfer to out of state schools but in Texas I’ve heard of kids leaving with two years of college credits.
AP credits transfer country wide if that's what you're talking about, and of course you could take some community college or online classes as well to get advanced. It really depends where you go to school, though. Some public schools offer no AP courses, others offer enough to start college as a junior. They also aren't typically accepted for courses towards your major/minor but are useful for getting general education requirements out of the way. Source: recent college student. You can guess where.
#DTID is out of the MLS is Back? What to do, what to do?Ah yes, Academy talk! What else would I do?Who’s Who in the 2020-21 #FCDallas Academy https://t.co/IwCQui8KaT— 3rd Degree (@3rdDegreeNet) July 10, 2020
I'm too far removed now to actually know. I haven't watched one of their games for a while. There are folks who REALLY like the U17 goalkeeper Antonio Carrera. That's Nico Carrera's brother. There are people who love Matthew Corcoran, who may be playing up with the U17s. He's a central midfielder. So I'll go with those as the top two kids 17 or younger. Worth noting that there are players with FCD's first team and USL team that are still eligible for these squads. Ricardo Pepi, and Dante Sealy, for instance, are still only 17.
I'm working on a project that will help enhance viewing experience for fans when they watch youth games for the upcoming season. Are there any players (from the '03-'06 age groups, maybe a star '07 that plays up) around the country (in any league) that you think I should list? I'm at nearly 300 names, so off the radar names is my question here. They can be from any club. This is addressed to everyone who reads the forum. I know many read it and don't post regularly that are very knowledgeable. If you'd like to comment here with your response, please do so. If you'd like to send me a PM, you can also do that. I appreciate any help that can be given.
This #WestVan teen, who just wrapped up his Grade 12 year at Rockridge, is now signed with Bundesliga team FC Schalke 04, playing for their U19s. Interesting tale of how he got there, and definitely one to watch. ⚽️👀https://t.co/fMAUGRUIfY— Andy Prest (@Sports_Andy) July 24, 2020