San Jose Earthquakes Academy is on its way!

KK Spivey

Kaedren "KK" Spivey ('09) 🇺🇸 - Modern holding midfielder - @SJEarthquakes

A retrospective view for those who have never seen the kid play.

The first time I caught a glimpse of him was last year against LA Galaxy, him and Mathis Albert were really going at it. pic.twitter.com/ItaGuOs6Ay

— Falmouth Scout (@falmouthscout) November 8, 2024

 

April 8, 2022, I thought the new academy facility might open by next year, I was way off. Now I'd say that if we have the votes (big if) and this gets approved, construction starts late summer (next year) at the soonest, maybe 18-24 months on the construction, ready to open sometime in mid '27?

The academy might be on its way but it’s still a long way from becoming a reality.

 

The Quakes Academy has been a relatively highly ranked academy in MLS for years. They don’t need the training center to function. Of course that will be a big positive.

 

Having a state-of-the-art training center might be a good selling point for these local kids making it more attractive for them to stay in town over taking their chances in Utah say for instance.

 

I think we can make an educated guess that the quality and location of the academy facilities has nothing to do with why any potential homegrown signings left the Quakes and ended up with SLC...

 

I know it's a hip-hop culture thing but a little bit jarring for this old man to hear the "n-word" over and over in the KK Spivey highlight video.

 

Yeah, can’t stand that music even without the profanity, and turned it off after the first “n” word.

 

I mute 90% of these comp videos

 

Team resources overall are probably a big motivator for them to leave; access to better training staff and coaches, access to better field conditions and training facilities all combined with first-team culture, and greater opportunity to advance their careers.

Why do you think Bay Area kids would rather leave and take their chances with a team like SLC?

 

If you actually did five seconds of research on the internet before bombarding the rest of us with your latest takes you might actually know what you're talking about... if you had done so you would see that Diego Luna went to RSL from El Paso Locomotive, and Fidel Barajas went to RSL from Charleston Battery... meaning neither one went directly from the Quakes to RSL.
So, since you are the one making the assertion that they left the Quakes academy for Salt Lake because the Quakes lack "team resources"... do you think those random USL teams have better "team resources" than the Quakes? Really?
Even someone with the IQ of a flea who isn't informed about the specifics might apply occam's razor and guess that they probably left because they weren't offered MLS homegrown contracts (Luna) or because like 95% of players from MLS academies who don't sign homegrown deals they didn't want to be locked into a long term contract that would keep them from signing elsewhere (Barajas, see also those two kids who went to the Oakland Roots and are both now in Europe).

FROM YESTERDAY:

 

I forgot who I was dealing with for a second and thought you were capable of normal human conversation.

My bad.

 

Haji Wright left the LA Galaxy academy for the New York Cosmos in NASL because they have better team facilities I am very intelligent

 

FIFY

 

Hard to see any progress so far, or who on the Board will be leading the effort (now that Chavez is gone), or who specifically has said they will vote for this, etc., Quakes should walk away already, sounds like they're seriously considering this anyway and could've already had a facility built right next to PPP if they hadn't wasted years dithering around with the County...

Santa Clara County leaders skeptical of Earthquakes’ private soccer complex deal – NBC Bay Area

Same story, copied and pasted for a wider audience, highlighting the skepticism...

"Some county leaders on Tuesday slammed the Earthquakes' proposed terms as a "laughable" sweetheart deal that low-balled the public on community benefits -- and expressed little confidence in the Earthquakes as a "good faith" partner for the county.

For years, county supervisors have courted various athletic interests -- including track and field and Major League Cricket facilities -- to envision a new use for the 160-acre fairgrounds property. That vision has clashed, however, with that of affordable housing and homeless advocates who pushed for a plan in 2021 to open the fairgrounds for RV safe parking sites and prefabricated homes.

Other public concerns centered around the team's proposal to use artificial turf. A joint letter by a coalition of environmental and community groups urged supervisors to prohibit artificial turf in the project. Supervisors agreed that was a concern before the vote.

Simitian agreed there was a "kernel" of a good idea in the project -- on the condition the team came back with a "realistic proposal" that "puts serious money on the table."

...with all the problems facing this county related to poverty, homelessness, drug abuse, mental illness, etc., how do we justify using this last plot of public county land for a (mostly) private Quakes facility with 250 hours/year free field access for the community, and some cricket fields?

If the Quakes really had the option to get this done next to PPP and could've had it built already, they've just been time wasting. I mean seriously, they had another option but wanted more fields for the kids?? And then they offer 250 hours/year free for the community. It is laughable. And if the site next to PPP that Shawlee said was available and could've already had a facility built on it by now, if that isn't really a perfectly good option...why wave it in the County's face at a critical point in the negotiations. This all seems like amateur hour designed to go nowhere. Time wasting maneuvers by an owner who isn't at all serious about getting this done.

The County isn't going for this, not without major concessions on the public access and revenue sides...sounds like they're miles apart and the support isn't there.

Build it by PPP already.

 

$100 still says it’s gonna get built at the Fairgrounds, not PPP.

 

give me a time by which you think we will see a groundbreaking.

 

No.

 

Well then what kind of a bet is that? I think you know this is time wasting by Fisher and he's not serious about this. Plays to his advantage perfectly, all the time he's wasting floating ridiculous ideas with the County (knowing they're laughable) he's (still) not having to spend money on building a facility, he's not demonstrating that he's serious about keeping the team in SJ, he's not being a good faith negotiating partner with the County...and we are no closer to getting this done.

Do you really think he's going to come back with a far more realistic proposal that puts serious money on the table?

And do you think it was smart for Shawlee to basically tell the County that the Quakes could've had this built already, right next to PPP, if the County wasn't wasting their time? A sentiment that Cindy Chavez apparently echoed?

Quakes don't seem to understand how this process works and what the competing interests are.

Can you name a single Supervisor who's said that they're ready to support the Quakes proposal, as it stands? I bet you can't.

 

Again about Plan B, you are acting as if there’s nothing in this for the county at all, not the lease revenue, not the existence of badly needed playing fields, not the proximity of the community to pro players, not being able to finally put blighted land to use after many years of just toxic wasteland? If it was purely a charity project, yeah sure it doesn’t help to say there’s another option. But clearly there are several things in this for the county. The only argument for nixing it are if they think they can suddenly come up with a better use of the land for the county after many many years of failing to find such a use.

 

Do you know what the lease revenue would be? On the playing fields, we know there's concern about turf vs grass, we know the 250 hours/year free public access is a joke, we don't know who's going to pay to play, the proximity to pro-players is not much of a benefit really, and "they don't have a better plan for the land" isn't going to garner much support.

This plan is DOA. Quakes will have to revamp the whole thing SIGNIFICANTLY for it to have a prayer. And it sounds like they're running out of patience AND have a much better option available, right next to PPP, where they could've had this thing built already, if the County was wasting their time.

Quakes are time wasting. This reminds me of how Fisher toyed with Oakland, wasted a bunch of time, found a better offer and left town.

I know, he built a stadium here but apparently, it's too small and can't support a competitive MLS team, according to the man himself.

 

"They don't have a better plan for the land" is a valid point because the land has been unused for many many years. If they had alternate proposals on the table (nothing was mentioned) it would be another story.

Remember, the choice here is to 1) continue to pay $2M a year to upkeep blighted land that has sat unused for many many years or, 2) getting lease revenue, and badly needed playing fields for the community, not to mention getting out of the $2M uptook for blighted property business, The lease amount, hours of free public use, and turf vs. grass were all issues discussed, and 3 of the supes seemed ready to move the proposal forward modulo negotiations on those details until Simitian decided to throw a wrench into the whole thing.

As for the playing fields benefit, if you were actually at the meeting to get the context, probably at least 50 people spoke at the beginning of the meeting - members of the greater soccer community, about the dire need for fields. It's a major community need and the county is supposed to be helping to meet community needs.

At the end of the meeting Cindy Chavez, who's been a community political leader for many years in SJ, expressed frustration - she's watched that land sit blighted for many many years. Other proposals have come up, they've nixed them or they fell thru for whatever reason time after time, and here they are, still paying $2M to upkeep unused blighted land. So let's nix another one! Why the heck not! Yeh?

 

yeah, I don't think the "it will still be sitting there unused, and you'll still be paying the upkeep" angle gets much traction. As you say, it's been sitting there unused for decades, they're in no hurry, they'd rather do nothing than do something that looks like a big win for Fish.

I don't doubt that there's a need for fields, but this proposal doesn't really address that much because (a) it's kind of a remote location, (b) the 250 hours number is laughable, (c) we don't know who will be willing to pay to play...maybe nobody? Clearly public access is an afterthought for Fish who's trying to get a sweetheart deal at the expense of the greater public good.

Again, it's the last big parcel the county has, and we have far more pressing needs than soccer and cricket, to be frank.

So now the ball is back in Fisher's court, he has to sweeten his proposal, considerably, making it far more favorable for the public, at large, and what...it will be back on the agenda 4 months from now...

...and around and around we go.

 

It's already got traction. If you were actually there, you would have heard Cindy Chavez express that sentiment exactly towards the end of the meeting, and I'm sure most or all of the other supes would concur. It's ridiculous to pay $2M a year to upkeep blighted land. They were kind of aghast that we were paying anything to upkeep blighted land - it's abolutely absurd.

They should be looking out for the community, not worrying about whether or not it's a "favor" to the other party. Of course they have to negotiate terms that both can live with.

What do you propose they do with it? What is more valuable to the community than having a place for kids to play organized sport where they can stay out of trouble and learn the value of teamwork and dedication?

Remote for whom? The rich kids in Saratoga? There are neighborhoods right there near the fairgrounds. That's why there was talk of guaranteeing use for the immediate local community. And as I've pointed out, some of the soccer community people talked in the public statement part of the meeting about the absurdity of having to drive 2 or 3 hours to get to a field to play on.

 

Absolutely right, and they're a long way from that, clearly, which is why the can was kicked down the road and nothing was decided last week.

Hmmm, homes for the homeless, shelters, treatment centers for substance abuse and mental health disorders, healthcare services for the poor, soup kitchens, I could go on. You could build out these services and build some county parks which included free soccer fields, all day everyday...for the people! Imagine that.

Have you been to the fairgrounds site, right there off Monterey Highway? It's in the middle of a commercial area, not a residential area. It's not a great location for public fields but that's a lesser consideration for me, the 250 hours and the who's going to pay to use the fields would be bigger concerns for me, if Fisher was asking for my vote.

 

Again if you were actually there, not just throwing stones from a distance, they set a timeframe for going back to the table and reconsidering. I think it was March or so. It's not going to be an indefinite period of time. Either they can agree on terms or they can't and they go their separate ways.

Um, who's going to build all that stuff. Where's the money going to come from for that? They could take the revenue from the lease and build out those services elsewhere. Remember, that land is costing them $2M a year to be blighted property and someone is offering to come in and clean it up, use private capital to develop it, and then return revenue for the county. Win win win.

It's commercial in the immediate area, but not in the surrounding area. Again, who are we optimizing for? Kids in Saratoga? Once again, the 250 hours can be up for negotiation.