Another US youth goes pro -- Zach Archer

I saw this earlier and I just don't know what to say. Anyone know the background on this kid and his skills? How good is Unaio Badeirante and what level of league do they play in?

 

Maybe Soccerscout can give some info on the team

 

So, do we call him Zachino?? Or Zacharinho?? Or just Zach??

p.s. How many freakin' Everton's are there in Brazilian soccer??

 

He's from Washington state and plays for the Irvine Strikers??? Irvine's a California based team, so someone's got some wrong information.

 

Evidently it's a 2nd division Paulista team, whatever that means.

 

I think it means they're in the second division of teams in Sao Paolo state.

 

I also didn't see his name on the club's website or mentioned among the goal scorers. Perhaps he's scoring and playing with their reserve team? He is only going to be turning 17 this year, so that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

 

Re: Re: Re: Another US youth goes pro -- Zach Archer

Awesome. This kid's got nuts the size of JOB's.

 

Zach Archer did play with the Irvine Strikers from summer 2002 through fall 2002. Zach and his family had moved from Washington to Brazil and had lived there for a year. They came back to the states last summer chosing to live in SoCal and have both their sons (Zach and his younger brother) play for the Irvine Strikers.

The experience proved less than satisfying for the family. The father seemingly thought his kids would be stars after their experience in Brazil. That didn't prove to be the case. The Strikers weren't overly impressed and no one from ODP came knocking. The family is as soccer crazy as you can get, with the express intent of having their sons become professional soccer players. The fact that few U.S. players and their families have the same expectations seemed totally lost on the family. The father complained about the fact that the team didn't practice every day, that the substitution rules allowed many players to play, the team only played one game a week, etc.
At the end of the fall league season the family announced that they were moving back to Brazil.

Having seen Zach play a number of game with the Strikers it is my opinion that Zach will play pro soccer at some level if for no other reason than the family is entirely focused to that end. Maybe Zach will be another Johnny Walker....

 

...or another Todd Marinovitch...

 

No one from ODP came knocking? You mean for the U17 residency program? Otherwise he's listed on the Region IV site as one of the top players in the region.

His complaints are very valid IMHO. With the invention of MLS and the success of players like Convey, Quaranta, Bealsey and Donovan, it's only natural that some kids are going to want to follow in their footsteps, even if they aren't picked for U17 residency. Kids should have a place to train 6 days a week for free, limited substitution rules etc. and not have to go and live in a boarding academy on the other side of the country to get it.

I'd say it's lost on the other clueless American families, and not on the Archers. Tony Sanneh was a million dollar earner in the Bundesliga last season folks. Landon's on probably 300K plus endorsements, and Convey, @ 19 is on 65 or 70K IIRC, sure to cash in when his current MLS deal expires either with the league or in Europe.

I guess many of the guys on this board are inherently wealthy or something, but I'm only going to hit 300K if I start up a business. If I end up moving to management I may hit 100K when I'm 40 or something. And even then does that really compare to training for four hours a day max at a child's game, going to other countries for tournies, etc.?

The archer situation kind of reminds me of Juan Pablo Montoya's (Williams F1 driver). Racing is more expensive than soccer is, and his dad ended up taking out a second mortgage so his son could go to Europe. I'm not saying that Archer will even end up making it, but I personally believe it's better to dare to achieve great things and fail than to have never tried at all.

 

When Roy Rees was coaching the U16 men's national team he chose players to play for the team that were neither in the national pool, nor on a regional team, nor even in the regional pool 8)

An example of this is Gabe Serta (sp of last name?) who Roy Rees brought in for the 74-75 U16 nats. However it happened more than once. Roy's complaint was that the regional teams select 16 central midfielders, 4 forwards, 1 defender, and 2 keepers btw 8)

Anyway just a precedent for ODP coach's selecting players that weren't in the direct pool for selection.

 

Uniao Bandeirante.

Tiny small 2nd division club that has never made any impact in Brazilian soccer.

Well you asked.


Paulista League is the Sao Paulo State Championship. Each state in Brazil has a championship in the first few months of the year. They are going on right now. A Paulista is a person born in Sao Paulo as a Carioca is a person born in Rio de Janeiro and a Gaucho is a person born in Rio Grande do Sul state. That would be me.

 

In other words a perfect place for a 17 year old player to launch a pro career. If he can't break into the side he probably won't have a very long career.

 

ha!!

Classic.

 

Geez, not to be too moralistic and judgemental here but this is bigsoccer.com so here I go ...

This kid is 16, right? Why the heck go pro if the best you can do is 2nd division in a regional league in Brazil when you can just be a kid, enjoy life, finish school and probably qualify for a college scholarship somewhere? OK that may not be the best track if you are or can be the next Landon Donovan but that doesn't sound like the case to the extent the previous post is accurate.

 

2nd division at 16 does not always equate to 2nd division at 21.

 

This typifies the attitude and depth of understanding that too many have in this country about the game of soccer. Just cannot believe that a kid would really want to pursue it as a career.

This kid wants to train with aspiring pros and is getting the chance to do so. Probably some journeymen pros there, too, who have made a run at the top level then slid back down.

He will be learning by doing things that he simply cannot learn in our current system. He is 17, right? This is a step in the right direction, it is not common for 17 year olds to break into top clubs, so of course they have to do so at a lower level. He has his chance to prove himself, and I wish him success.