This is obviously too big a project for a couple of free hours on a Sunday evening, but I thought it'd be interesting to at least put a name to every state ... for a few states there were tough decisions, for several others, the hard part was even finding college players. Alabama Michael Ritch Alaska Richard Jean-Georges Arizona Pablo Mastroeni Arkansas Jacob Harris California Landon Donovan Colorado Conor Casey Connecticut Kyle Martino Delaware Rob Smith Florida Robin Fraser Georgia Clint Mathis Hawaii Brian Ching Idaho Joe Cannon (born) Illinois Brian McBride Indiana Damarcus Beasley Iowa Tom Parratt Kansas Braeden Cloutier Kentucky Scott Budnick Louisiana Jason Garey Maine Roger Levesque Maryland Oguchi Onyewu Massachusetts Mike Burns Michigan Alexi Lalas Minnesota Tony Sanneh Mississippi Justin Mapp Missouri Steve Ralston Montana Brodey Simkins Nebraska Jason Kreis Nevada Herculez Gomez New Hampshire Jay Heaps (born) New Jersey Claudio Reyna New Mexico Jeff Rowland New York Chris Armas North Carolina Eddie Pope North Dakota Kris Overby Ohio Brad Friedel Oklahoma Joe-Max Moore Oregon Ryan Cochrane Pennsylvania Ben Olsen Rhode Island Michael Charles South Carolina Erik Ozimek South Dakota Chris Houser Tennessee Richard Mulrooney Texas Jeff Agoos Utah Todd Miller Vermont Corey Bronner Virginia Steve Jolley Washington Kasey Keller West Virginia Karim Boukhemis Wisconsin Jesse Marsch Wyoming Martin Kleppe
How long before Eddie Johnson knocks off Robin Fraser? I might put Wolff a nose ahead of Mathis or I might not. I'm guessing Jeff will get passed by somebody before too long, with Clint Dempsey as the most obvious candidate.
Back in 1999, the Seattle Times listed the all-time prep team for Washington. It was: Forwards: Jason Farrell (Shorecrest), Brent Goulet (Foss), Chance Fry (Sammamish). Midfield: Chris Henderson (Cascade), Peter Hattrup (Seattle Prep), Nick Downing (Eastlake). Defenders: Jeff Stock (Stadium), Jeff Durgan (Stadium), Bernie James (Bellevue). Goalkeepers: Kasey Keller (North Thurston) and Marcus Hahmemann (Newport). With the exception of Keller and Goulet, all played in either the NASL or MLS. Keller's managed to do alright regardless , whiile Goulet was in that mid-80s group that had no league in which to play, but fashioned a reasonable career in Germany, getting as high as 2. Bundesliga. He's now coaching in the regional leagues in Germany.
For the most part, it's easy to make the list by running down MLS rosters. I believe that Namoff was raised in Illinois (link below), which is why I didn't count him. Nice catch on Colaluca. http://www.wtvo.com/Global/story.asp?S=2570000&nav=7k8ETA8n
Thanks, that's very interesting ... while many states' lists would've changed in the past five years, this one is still pretty close. Perhaps you'd add Ian Russell (West Seattle) to the midfield, or Brandon Prideaux on defense. Presumably, Preston Zimmerman from Spokane won't count, since he left to join Bradenton residency. I'm familiar with most of the high schools listed but not all of them ... are there any from eastern Washington?
I'd put Brian Carroll ahead of Steve Jolley for Virginia--but I could be a wee bit biased on that one.
reyna over tab ramos? or are you not including tab because he was born in uruguay? reyna's fantastic, don't get me wrong, but Tab is like the patron saint of north jersey soccer. and hopefully buddle eventually passes armas...
There's got to be somebody better than Steve Jolley from Virginia. I know both Adin Brown and Wade Barrett went to William and Mary. What about all the UVA guys. Any of these people actually from Virginia?
Is there a timeframe to this as there was a lot of talent coming out of Missouri in the 50's and 70's. You could say Harry Keough or Frank Borghi over Ralston, hell, even Daryl Doran except they never had the opportunity to prove themselves in a domestic outdoor league. Or Mike Sorber who had far more international success but far less MLS success (Was he hurt?)
I like Wolff, but he's never done anything like what Mathis did in 2000 and early 2001. Until he stays healthy for an extended run, I don't see much reason to prefer him. As for Mia, if you can figure out what state she's from, by all means, write her in. Milbrett (Oregon) and Wambach (New York) would be pretty strong choices, too.
I think you've picked two particularly interesting states ... as I understand it, they're among the major sources of talent for our other outdoor sports, but they haven't done much for soccer, yet. Dempsey and Johnson could be a sign of big things to come.
It's not meant to be anything particularly polished ... if somebody played in the 50's or 70's, I never even saw him, although my prejudice is that US soccer wasn't very far along in those days. As for Sorber, I think he only lasted one season as a starter at Pumas. Apart from being Bora's favorite, he didn't accomplish all that much. Ralston isn't glamorous, but he's been awfully productive for an awful long time.
Due to my built-up frustration with Chris Armas, I'd like to see him displaced. Is Tony Meola from New York or New Jersey?
In (what I consider) the old days, Ramos was the national team regular who I most enjoyed watching play. At the same time, I just don't think he measures up to Reyna. I'm pretty sure that Tab never even appeared in a European first division game.
It's possible. I did a rather sloppy survey of the historical MLS player state distributions last night. I can't say for sure how accurate my list is, and I'm sure there are a lot of holes, but I think it's indicative. In 1996, California accounted for 28% of American MLS minutes played (that I've assigned states to). That's declined steadily over the last 8 years, such that they currently account for 17%. New York and New Jersey, in 1996, accounted for 15%. They've seen a small decline, and currently stand at 12%. Florida was at 7% in 1996, and has also declined, such that it stood at 4% last year. Obviously, other states have had to make up this deficit. All other states have increased from 50% in 1996 to 68% in 2004. Whether that's because of improved scouting or increased participation in non-traditional 'hotbeds', I don't know. Of particular not, however, while the other most populous regions have all decreased, Texas has climbed quite sharply in recent years. It stood at 5% in 1996, at 3% in 1999, but has risen to 10% in 2004. There's a whole bunch of talented Texans in the league - Arnaud, Burciaga, Dempsey, Garcia, Agoos, etc., mostly pretty young, and there's several more, Arturo Alvarez and Ramon Nunez, who are likely to break in relatively soon. Although Florida seems to have some prospects in college and Bradenton - Ababio, Hidalgo, Dax McCarty, they've got nobody worthwhile in the pros. Although I understand where you draw your expectations from, I'm not sure they're being borne out.
I believe Chris Carrieri (Stafford area) was college player of the year one year. Jeff Causey had a nice college career, too. Brian Bates was pretty good. Let's just go with Grant Hill, though.
Thanks for putting those numbers together. In particular, the trend towards less MLS reliance on California is an interesting one. Most of the other percentages are probably too small to have much meaning, though. As an example, if MLS brought Reyna and Berhalter back from Europe, New Jersey's percentage could suddenly erase its decline. And while I'm writing, EJ is certainly a worthwhile player from Florida.
Point taken. I wouldn't have put much credence in it if it were just one state, but the broad decline in "major" states seems to be indicative or something going on here. I'm going to try to put something together by geographical region, to get larger samples, later. Worthwhile prospects. EJ and Gibbs are obviously very good, but we already know they're good. It doesn't look like Florida is producing as many young MLS players as Texas is. I'd also like to point out that Arizona produces much better players than I'd realized - Borchers (sort of), Garlick, Mastroeni, Whitfield, Vanney, and Buete are the only Arizona players in the league. One sees a similarly high hit rate with Georgia, which has produced Rico Clark, Kyle Martino (sort of), Matt Reis, Josh Wolff, and Clint Mathis; Minnesota, which has produced Manny Lagos, Tony Sanneh, Kyle Singer, Leo Cullen, and Tom Presthus; North Carolina, which has produced Matt Crawford, Will Hesmer, Logan Pause, Eddie Pope, and Roy Lassiter; it seems to imply that MLS may not being the best job of giving players opportunities who not only aren't from traditional powerhouse colleges, but also traditional powerhouse states.