Don't diss seaman! He has been a great goalkeeper for years, although he should of retired on top after he left arsenal, but he loves the game so he wanted to carry on with man city. friedel isnt all that anymore, he used to be good. Tim Howard is a world class keeper tho, your best player by miles. In the fifa rankings, the usa are higher than england, on the record of the past three world cups. stupid really, as we are miles better, but ya know...our team is maturing but still yonug, so we shud win or nearly win euro 2004 and do the same with germany 2006 rooney will be 20 by the the wolrd cup. owen will be 25 i think becks will be 30 vassell will be 24 gerrard will be 27 all these players coming to the pake of there game or at the peak of there game, i think we cud win the world cup in germany.
help me im in the same situation as my european friend here, except i have actually moved canada. soccer is developing here, but im interested in pursueing my career into the usa. i used to play for a semi pro team in the south of england i may not of been played an awlful lot but u got to remember there are alot more clubs in england than you may think and pay usually goes to the pros,i played for 7 years and have develpoed well as a player. The chances of getting scouted are minimal in the south unless you play ina major city. now ive have joined barrie soccer clubs and indoor leagues and already have been refered to the reps which i have had one tryout with success. we a planning to play in the usa this year. is there any clubs which would be willing to give me a tryout? of course the aim is the major soccer league! is there any help you can give to me as you did to the european friend. Are the big clubs interested in new talent especially from europe or england? please help
pretty much every piece of advice that could be send from us has been said. yuo could also read back through some of the threads/articles about some of the open try outs that MLS team's recently concluded. But other than that it is what it is.
Hey everyone, first time messager Not sure if this is the right place to post but oh well, lol . Well anyways, My name is Mark Harris and I am 18 years old and I just moved to Orange County, in Orlando, FL all the way from England. Well I would like to join a local soccer team but Ive looked everywhere but cant seem to find one! Is there anybody out there that can help me in locating one for my age group for me to join?? Any help would be appreciated Thx Mark PS: Is 18 too old to possibly be scouted by a pro-team coz im not sure about the scouting age limits over here? thx
Look on this page to find a local league: http://www.fssa.org/leagues.html With the announced plans to expand MLS, there will be a demand for talented players. Even if you can't make it in MLS, note that many of the new players may come from the A-League, so those teams will need players. However, your location in Florida may hamper your plans, since no MLS or A-League teams are based there. Many teams have tryouts during the offseason (winter). Good luck, and let us know how you do!
Im just curious what areas in american do it as im heading over to new jersey and was wondering if its possible there. Also what does a trial consist of, what do you exactly do?
Start by looking at the Web sites for the league(s) you're interested in. US Soccer is divided up into the following leagues: First division: Major League Soccer (MLS). Run under a Single Entity Model, so all teams are owned by the league, with "investor/operators" running each team. There are 10 teams, with expansion to 12 or 14 expected in 2005 and/or 2006. Most games are televised, but mostly on digital cable/satellite networks most people don't receive. Stadium attendance ranges from 7,000 to 30,000 people. http://www.mlsnet.com/ Second division: A-League. Each team is independently owned. Number of teams varies as some fold and others are created each year. Very few games are televised, and then only when the league pays for the air time. There is no promotion/relegation in US soccer, but when MLS expands they have talked about buying out A-League teams for expansion (Rochester, NY is a strong candidate for this). Lower divisions: A-League and various semi-pro leagues organized under the auspices of USL (United Soccer Leagues). http://www.uslsoccer.com/ Amateur: leagues are all over the place, mostly under state associations that are part of the USASA (United States Adult Soccer Association). http://www.usasa.com/ College: Universities and colleges often have soccer programs, and this is where most Americans go instead of the youth academies offered by European football clubs. Strict non-professionalism rules prevent players from playing with pro and semi-pro leagues until after graduation, so most players joining MLS do so after college at around age 22. There are a handful of teenagers in MLS though, who presumably skipped this route. http://www.ncaa.org/sports/soccer/ There is also a soccer academy in Bradenton FL, where talented youngsters hone their skills. This is where Freddy Adu was for the past few years, taking high school classes so he could graduate at age 14. http://www.imgacademies.com/soccer/default.jsp As for trials, I don't know what they consist of, but I can imagine that you would be asked to perform various soccer-related stunts to prove your talent. Remember, in the US, soccer is a summer sport at the pro and semi-pro level. Amateur leagues operate in spring and fall. Tryouts would be during the off-season. If the MLS expansion is announced, they're sure to have open tryouts in the new cities. --Bill.
you have to know that in Europe (I think whole Europe), you can have a 3000 net in the fourth level. This goes up to 50000 net a month in first division. I think this kind of guy, 21year old, with (even small) experience level will contribute to US soccer growth.
So basically to be spotted for a chance of a trial, you have to be playing for a team over in the usa for example? Is there any other ways, maybe sending a note to some team which may pay cash in new Jersey/New York for example(where im staying)
Long Island Rough Riders http://www.rough-riders.com/ Westchester Flames http://www.westchesterflames.com/ Check out these two teams.
Re: How do I get into an MSL or USL Team?? Well it's not going to be easy to convince an MLS team that you're good enough for a special trial without some sort of backer or connections with a club. MLS isn't as high quality football as the English Premiership, but don't kid yourself, it's quality football on par with English Div 1. It's every underrated by people outside of the U.S. The individual salary cap is 280,000 dollars per year for an MLS player. So noweher near the amount paid in many European countries. However allowable bonuses can be tacked on. Freddy Adu is the league's highest paid player at 500,000 USD per year. That being said there are many loopholes in the cap and star players actual salaries are considerably higher. I really don't know what playing level you're at but there are other options. First of all there is the A-League which is like our Div 1. Still a good quality of play though, don't kid yourself. A try out would be much easier to come by though. Personally I would recommend deciding where you want to live and how you're going to obtain a work visa and then contact the team office where you want to live. A-League salaries can range anywhere from 100 bucks a week to about 5,000 a month depending on how valuable to the team you are. Then after that there is the PSL which of course is American Div 2. You can be paid anywhere from 50 dollars to 500 dollars a week or thereabouts. There's a local team here. California Gold Football Club. www.calgoldfc.com If they paid you let's say 300 dollars a week you could afford to live in Modesto. There is another PSL team in California. The San Diego Gauchos. San Diego is a great place to live, but you'd probably need to be paid the league maximum to be able to afford to live on your playing salary alone. San Diego is very expensive. www.sandiegogauchos.com Anyway, if you're interested I would recommend contacting these teams. If you need anymore help let me know! P.S. There is also the PDL, but it's entirely unpaid.
Re: How do I get into an MSL or USL Team?? is it possible to get a trial, like say im just heading to new york in the winter for a few weeks and just get a trial possibly?
Re: How do I get into an MSL or USL Team?? Anything is possible. Likely? No. MLS teams are really only looking at players who have pro experience now. Like I said your best chance is to try and impress one of the lower league teams and try to get noticed there.
I am 17 and from the Uk and am looking to go to an American university. I've just finished my As Exams in the first year of college. Is there any chance at all i could be accepted on a Sports Scholarship or a Soccer Scholarship if there is such a thing? I've played County level and with some professional teams that include: Cambridge United; Colchester United; Ipswich Town; and Norwich City. Is there any chance at all that something like this could happen? I've been looking at Universities in California such as UCLA and USC becuase i have relatives in San Diego and Los Angeles. If Anyone could answer this for me i'd be very happy but if not then not to worry. Much obliged!
I'm ont an expert, but I believe that having professional experience will actually disqualify you for college soccer in the US. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has a strict anti-professionalism policy. You can attend college, but you wouldn't be able to play for the college team at all, much less do so on an athletic scholarship. Of course you can attend college and play for a pro team in one of the United Soccer Leagues (A-League, PDL, etc.) as described earlier in the thread.
It depends how many years of pro experience you have (if any). In colleges here for every year of pro experience you have you forfeit one year of college eligibility. But you are only 17 so I doubt you ever signed a pro contract. Explain you experience here and these people will be able to tell you if you have any eligibility or not. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=43
I never signed a full contract just played for the youth teams nothing serious, gained quite a bit of experience from doing this, and from Col Utd i got transferred and so on from team to team but never signed a proper contract.
Well that helps. But the fact that you might have played against professionals might be a problem too. Maybe not as big as I think. But you really should check out the college forum to see what they think of your eligibility. They are pretty knowledgable about the issues and can point you in the right direction. Good Luck!
Re: I'm from country Jamaica and I want to play Soccer in the US (trials, etc) Am a Jamaican soccer player trying to get to the MLS.
I was talking with a Brazilian kid last week, he spent the last year in Kentucky, and he was phenomenal. For his high school, he scored 27 goals in 10 games. He got scholarship offers from LMU and Lousiville, the former a full scholarship. This seems like a good option if it is viable.