As of now, yes. But the main reason is thst while there was a USSF DA dual track boys and girls, MLS Next is for boys only. Which is actually a good thing. First of all of course, MLS academies are for developing future MLS players. But more importantly, there was never a need for the USSFDA girls academies. There was an existing girls national platform called ECNL which was producing the best young women in the world. Beyond question. All the USSF dev system did was dilute it, for no good reason aside from USSF felt obligated to match the resources they were putting into the boys side. They didnt want to be accused of discrimination or whatever. Most observers were happy to see the girls academies go away. And the vast majority of the clubs, like the abovementioned Internationals, which has one of the best girls programs in the world and has for 20 years, simply rejoined their old leagues snd nothing much changed. MLS Next simply has a completely different focus and agenda. Hopefully, someday womens professional soccer will be big enough and broad based enough that an academy system for girls will be a natural evolution. But for now, everyone involved seems to feel this is the best solution.
This has been happening for a number of years now, I believe, whether it has been advertised or not. I don't know for sure but I would assume Aiden Morris and Juan Castilla were participants. Aiden is from Florida and Juan is from Houston.
That was my assumption but figured I would ask No one is confusing my daughter with the next Mia Hamm but this is a very cool opportunity for the young uns to get some additional training with quality coaches/players and some visibility to the next level. I would hop on that 10 times out of 10 for sure.
They did something similar to this a few years ago. Basically used it to find best players from local clubs and then moved them into academy. Interestingly the handful of player I know that went that route last a year maybe 2 and then left academy either were cut or left for other reasons. OP boys last year were loaded with former academy kids. The family I sit with at Crew games is hosting a U18 this year. My college son trained with him a bit at end of summer when he arrived. That team and a few others have several kids from other cities/states. The U18s are off to a pretty good start and seem to be a solid group with a couple potential pro prospects.
Agreed. The two programs have different goals entirely and combining them never made much sense. The goal for the boys is mostly to get a team to offer a contract, play with the big boys and start moving up the professional ladder. For.the girls, with few exceptions, the goal is a college scholarship. NWSL teams pay jack squat and nobody would leave a four year free ride to go make 13k. Now yes, for the 22 or so players the USSF has on salary you can make a good living, but maybe two or three players a year make that move up after one of the old dinosaurs retires. Its not a career path a rational person would count on.
Do you know if they've offered Chifamba? I was under the impression at one point that they had and he was either considering it or had said no, but I don't know that for a fact. Surely they have at least taken a swing with the kid. Hes the real deal.
I am not plugged into the team anymore so I have no idea. I will say my usual methods to learn about this have not told me anything about a deal being offered. However, I would not be surprised if that has not happened I don't know what his passport situation is for him to get overseas but I am sure he has interested parties
This was part of my reasoning for wanting to see him. 1. To see his real deal skill on display with pros 2. So the Crew doesn’t lose him for nothing when he inevitably goes somewhere overseas
I think MLS is now accepting solidarity pmts. So at very least Crew will hopefully get some money if he does go overseas.
Both of these initiatives will help grow this Academy to become a great academy. Building relationships with local clubs and working together to groom the talent will only benefit by building a pipeline of local talent into the Academy. As for the Billet program, it will allow the scouting network to seek non-MLS academy talent outside of its immediate geographical area and provide the env. to host these young players and supplement their Academy rosters. If both are executed well then this will be a recipe for success, in time.
Yup, 19s are solid and the 17s look good as well. Playing Crew soccer from top to bottom. At the younger ages, they aren't sacrificing development for wins but as the kids get older, the older age groups benefit from the development and "doing things the right way" at the younger age groups. The new Academy Director will continue that good work done previously and improve on it.
From Columbus Crew SC to #IUMS. Samuel Sarver is now a Hoosier! pic.twitter.com/H0KJNAD6Uy— Indiana Men's Soccer (@IndianaMSOC) November 18, 2020
Oh you thought we were done?!Welcome Tommaso Villa! ⚽️#GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/XBDPjvRpp9— Ohio State Men’s Soccer (@OhioStateMSOC) November 16, 2020
🗣 Shoutout to our newest Buckeye, Anthony Samways!#GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/BfaAwjYIFf— Ohio State Men’s Soccer (@OhioStateMSOC) November 13, 2020
There was a brief discussion of this in another thread (roster?) he is the prime example of a player who needs to be in a pro enviroment.
Interesting. I see 2 votes for Chifamba. How about the other two players previously selected to the U16 YNT, Sarver and Hall? Or how about the other Crew players currently in the college ranks. Or how about recent Academy of the year players? Any possibilities there?