Great piece on USSF's impending move to year-round development academy teams. This is bigger than just MLS but the implications for MLS are obvious, so I thought I'd post here. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/s...-forces-high-school-players-to-choose.html?hp Let the debate begin. Although I'm not sure there should be any debate. It's not like kids will be forced to join the academies -- they have a choice. But I can understand the reaction of high school coaches who are facing soccer irrelevance by losing their best players and having their programs regarded as second-rate...
well it depends if the kid wants no life by just playing soccer all the time, or a fruitful life being in school with thier friends and homecoming prom, and stuff.
Do the kids in Texas and California (both places that are already running the 10 month schedule) not have lives outside of just playing soccer?
Any kid who plays sports at a high level at that age practices+has games ~5 times a week mostly year around. Only now is soccer starting to catch up. Also to "let the debate begin", go to the YNT boards, its been going on for months.
Do you think these kids are going to be locked away somewhere away from society? What makes you think these kids will not have a life outside of soccer? Will they put in a lot of hours playing soccer? Yeah. But, some high school sports demand just as much time. When I swam in high school we had practice at 5AM and then again after school which sometimes lasted to the early evening and then with getting up at 4AM we had to go to bed earlier. Then, our Saturday meets sometimes lasted until evening. I still had time for friends, going to school events, having a girlfriend and doing everything else a normal high school kid does. Plus, some kids already choose to play ODP, on premiere teams, and other soccer teams rather than their high school.
Well, if we take the example of hockey, there is next to no high school prescience in the sport. Any good high school aged player will be with a club team already and play all year long. The good players then play some level of junior hockey (17 to 20 years old) and if they don't make it there, they then go to university. It's no big deal really.
For the Record this move is only made because of Klinsmann, mainly Eurosnobs love it because they feel its the best way to develop good players, but the uSSF is neglecting HS and practically College prospects because they want to clique development.... I dont see a problem embracing whats already their. Americans value Education so gain college schaorships are a big deal to folks, No matter what uSSF is shooting themselves neglecting that. I dont think tradional soccer fans understand the overall Value of a staudent athlete, and traditions and culture of College sports or american sports culture.
Kids can still go to college. This new rule doesn't affect university student athlete's in the slightest.
Academies are only the best and the institutes there are still soccer? If so i think it is a very good thing for football because there will be exchanges of players from one side to another, players to improve your game in the institute at the end finishes in a academia, and others that initially are in an academy and its level does not improve will return to a team of institute if they want to continue playing football. Football is football as we say in Spain and is the most important thing in the less important : ) in the united states also will be as well will take but it will be as well.
You just repeated your above post;it's just longer this time Some paths are different for certain players. There is no doubt that Dempsey and Davies would have been unnoticed for much longer had they not taken the college and draft route. The college system will be meant as a safety net for players that don't develop at a high rate. Prioritizing academies is the only way to go. While I despise Eurosnobs, let's name the last World Cup winner that doesn't prioritize academies. While we're at it, let's name the last dominate league that did not have an academy system of merit. What MLS and USSF are doing is taking the place of both High School soccer and the evil AAU. Removing kids from the WIN NOW mentality and moving them into the here are the skills to win mentality will only increase the talent level of American players. This will make MLS and USA better for it. Will it be removing a "winning the state title" experience? Yes, but these children will live normal lives and will be given an opportunity to practice a sport they hopefully love for free. The "this will remove their glory years" argument is pure fallacy, which will one day vanish.
That was 2011: I briefly blogged about soccer and interviewed an MLS academy coach about taking the youths to the Dallas Cup Supergroup, against a Brazilian team and a German team. Basically he told me one of the goals is for the Academy's young American players who are still in high school to play against 16, 17-year-olds who already have pro contracts in those international clubs and train as pros. They want the youths to experience a different level not seen in the USA. While American soccer prospects play in not so competitive high school and college and don't turn pro until 21-22, other powerhouses have been cooking talent years before and by 21-22 the good ones are VERY VERY good ones. Thus, the Americans are 3-4 years behind their international counterparts. What this USSF move aims to do is develop the best talent at the same pace as the Argentinas, Italys, and Spains. At this moment the current structure keeps the USA from ever going beyond the occassional World Cup Quarterfinal. College? Players can do that later and besides, colleges degrees don't do crap these days.
This is old news. Let's liven up the thread. If the USSF really wants to do something useful, any kid enrolled in an advanced program supported with USSF funds should sign a lien agreement giving MLS team and the US National teams "right of first refusal". For example, the kid who goes to an academy and joins the Mexican or Spanish program, or signs with a Barcelona youth team, has to repay the cost of his training. Why should any money that USSF collects from my soccer-related endeavors go to help another country?
Wow, somebody should tell Seth Trembly, who managed to sign with a pro club (the Rapids) more than 10 years ago and then still attend his prom, even though he had to skip a game to do it. (And you wonder why I recommend that posters with DCU and a number in their name be ignored...)
It's been in the pipeline for years. Klinsmann being the current MNT head coach is coincidence, not causation.
What a silly statement. My father never went to high school(due to WW2), and yet he still eats fruits every day.
Any hockey fans on here? Junior league hockey hasn't killed HS and College hockey. This is for elite level players not the majority of potential HS players.
Yes. In Canada (and small parts of the Northern U.S) Kids 15 years old and up are in full time professionally run hockey environments. As a result of this system of development, Canada has been the leading hockey nation in the world forever. Translate that into soccer, and this is what every established soccer nation in the world is doing (at a even younger age). You never hear Sidney Crosby or Rick Nash complain they didn't get to play high school hockey. However in Canada, after these players are finished their junior careers (age 19+20) their university education is paid for by their junior team and they can still play Canadian University hockey (no silly NCAA type rules in Canada).
This would be the model I would love to see in place for elite soccer players in the USA with the old HS to college model in place for everyone else.
This is such an interesting counterpoint... It was only a generation or so ago that HS coaches would prohibit players who wanted to play in HS from playing club in the summer and fall... turnabout is a b!tch...
I would love it if BS would allow DCU fans to vote for the DC to be removed from this idiots screen name.