I was reading the YNT thread about yanks playing for other YNTs, and, as was expected, the subject of NCAA eligibility from youth academies came up. I then thought of Mexico, which sports two teams in their top division, UNAM Pumas and UANL Tigres, who are both universities. Would it be possible for one of two situations: 1) All of the teams that secceeded become some sort of an expedited professional team with college education. The biggest advantage is no limit on time they can spend training and playing, while also receiving their degree. Each club would have two or three "affiliates" from the MLS where the MLS team can loan players Under23 to the club. Another plus would be the clubs would have to compensate players with little to no cash. And if they were related to MLS, travel costs would be minimal. 2) Maybe the MLS inserts one of these teams into the league, as team #20. Each MLS team can loan one player to the squad, the rest being the best college players and a few veterans to help the squad. My criteria for these teams would be players who 1) are under 23, with maybe a few slots for veterans to guide young players 2) would be loaned out by MLS squads to join this team and get their education 3) Players straight out of high school who spend their "college years" on one of the teams. The distribution of these players once they "graduate" would be difficult, maybe just make them wait until the next draft. What do you guys think?
Sounds too much like the PDL. I have a better idea. If the TOA people think they're so hot snot, let them pay the expansion fee, build a stadium, and just go into MLS rather than trying to compete with them. Either way, the emperor has no clothes.
I'd like to think of it as more of a Bradenton-PDL sort of thing. If guys like Dillon Powers, Zac MacMath, Ike Opara and such were not subject to only a three month season and a certain amount of hours per week they can practice, not to mention playing the higher competition, wouldn't it just make sense?
I really don't understand this proposal. Where are they getting their degree, exactly? And how are they expected to get an education while training full-time? Even if the team didn't have to pay wages, college tuition is expensive. Where is that money going to come from? If it comes from the college as a scholarship...the college will be kicked out of the NCAA, meaning they will not be able to field any kind of athletic team other than a soccer team. If it comes from the USL team, they'd probably be better off paying salary. If it comes from MLS, they'd be better off (it seems to me) signing these players to Generation Adidas instead, which includes college money but doesn't make the kids try to do both at once.
It would hire teachers, in a Bradenton sort of way, and have them go to school, play soccer a lot, train with the best in their age group, and get their degree.
It costs a hell of a lot more to run a halfway decent college than it does to run a minor league soccer team. And when you graduate, who is going to hire you? "Where did you go to school?" "Austin Azteks." "Huh?"
May as well go to college, and play PDL. Either that, or go to college, play pro soccer, and use the soccer gig to pay you way through school. Your idea, while well-intentioned to be sure, is just too complicated and too expensive.
And then the guy would say "they can't even spell Azteks right" lol. Really this idea is too complex to ever happen. However one of the TOA's options is to try and join MLS as a standard second division/minor league. Depending on how the on-the-fence and USL loyalist clubs go if the TOA does break away, as many as 14 clubs could join as MLS-2(Miami, Atlanta, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Rochester, Charleston, FCNY, PR Islanders, Cleveland, Austin, Minnesota, Vancouver, Montréal and Carolina). Even without pro/rel, this would only help strengthen the North American game IMO. Keep the teams independent, but they could have a loose affiliation with one or MLS teams(kind of like the NBDL, one or two NBA teams share an affiliate).