Quite frankly I think the early Quake’s academy was a marketing ploy to drag in the soccer Mom crowd. They were interested in affiliating with leagues that would buy tickets to the games. The players from those affiliations were not pro material, but they got to be ball boys and be recognized at halftime. Serious developmental clubs didn’t want to be involved with that nonsense. Things have changed since Paul Holocher moved on. I give Chris Leitch a lot of credit for revamping the feeder pool for Quake players. He worked hard to establish relationships with poorer blue color clubs in Napa and Salinas valleys. The Quakes already have started to reap the benefits of that work with the homegrown signing of Emmanuel Ochoa last year. He was playing for the Santa Cruz Breakers (where Ramiro Corrales and Tim Martin coach now) and lives in Salinas. I hope they sign another kid soon, Alejandro Cano, that played in Salinas Valley.
Yeah - I am glad they are looking locally more than they previously did - which at first during early MLS days was zippo outside of Stanford. There is a lot talent in this area that isn't in the 94305!
this may not be the right place to ask for insight so apologies in advance if it isn’t. does anyone have perspective on how SJE fill their youngest academy teams? are most players already identified prior to a tryout, etc? my son is not yet old enough but is a strong player with LFC bay area. would really appreciate any help as he is preparing for the next phase of his development.
Don't know, but I have to say that there is a coach or two at LFC (younger ages) that I would love to get in a boxing ring with no audience someday...
YNT-eligible MLS players: 2020/21 offseason thread https://www.bigsoccer.com/index.php?posts/39167351/ I agree with his homegrown picks for San Jose. All those guys should make good pro players.
USSoccer97531's 2020 Player Rankings https://www.bigsoccer.com/index.php?posts/39198002/ This guy is one of the most knowledgeable posters on BigSoccer about academy players. He watched tons of academy game film and compiled his best of age group lists. The players he chose are all US eligible. I think it’s impressive that he has so many Quake players on his lists. Only Philly, Dallas, Atlanta and Seattle have more. I think all of them have some sort of housing arrangements for their academy, so the Quakes are doing well to compete with teams that are nationally recruiting. Also, most academies not on the West Coast have been playing games, so he has seen much less of SJ players in action. Interestingly, he rates Casey Walls higher than Cade Cowell.
Thanks for that link! Here are the Quakes players extracted from the list: 2002: 25. Aaron Edwards-Wing/RWB/AM (San Jose Earthquakes) 35. Gilbert Fuentes-AM (San Jose Earthquakes) 2003: 6. Casey Walls-CB (San Jose Earthquakes) 15. Tarun Karumanchi-DM (San Jose Earthquakes) 35. Cade Cowell-CF/RWB/Wing (San Jose Earthquakes) 50. Benjamin Do-RB (San Jose Earthquakes) 54. Israel Carrillo-CB/DM (San Jose Earthquakes) 2004: 12. Tristan Viviani-LB (San Jose Earthquakes) 16. Alejandro Cano-CB (San Jose Earthquakes) 43. Damian Alguera-GK (San Jose Earthquakes) 50. Juan Torres-CB/DM (San Jose Earthquakes) 53. Allan Juarez-AM (San Jose Earthquakes) 2005: 15. Emmanuel Ochoa-GK (San Jose Earthquakes)
I believe Aaron Edwards has a scholarship to UCLA and I think Benjamin Do was also being recruited by them.
He certainly is. He comes from an attacking background so he needs to improve his defensive skills at left back but he has a legitimate chance to make the U-17 USMNT and maybe even play in the World Championship. Great left backs are hard to find. Perhaps he’ll end up being the guy to replace Lopez in the future.
One more thing to point out. He picked 10 players between 03 and 04. That’s almost an entire team that was eligible for U-17s last year. That team was SO good. 4 center backs, right and left back, keeper, D-mid, attacking mid and striker/winger in Cowell. Only Philadelphia Union had more with 12 players chosen. Of course many of the 2003s played up with U-19s, but they did have the eligibility to compete at U-17 events like Generation Adidas Cup and DA Cup. Wish the Quakes had gotten to play the Union last year.
Sad news for several promising players at the academy. FIFA cancels 2021 editions of the men’s U17 and U-20 World Cups due to the pandemic— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) December 24, 2020
The water is flowing in Dallas: https://www.goal.com/en/news/juvent...-dallas-right-back/1oa4louipvq1y1e36eyy1y05ze Only salary caps are preventing the Quakes from getting blown away by transfer money.
the difference is Phili and Dallas take their academy seriously to the point of being homegrown factories theres no reason San Jose shouldnt be doing that
You mean other than the reasons that Fish won’t invest in an actual academy facility and Quakes are a tough sell to young, talented, ambitious kids based on track record and league standing?
This year might turn some heads from many teams on player development. Clearly all clubs suffered financially with Covid restrictions, but Philly and especially Dallas were able to profit from their homegrown players by selling them. Since the MLS rules have been skewered to return a much higher percentage of profit to the individual owners of the team selling the homegrown player, a guy like Fisher who is financially driven (as opposed to emotionally driven to own the team) will realize he makes more money selling Lima than say Magnus. He got it last year when he extended the contracts of Jesse, Alex Covelo and Chris Leitch under the mandate to build the team roster through the academy (which Jesse trumpeted in media interviews). I know the Quakes have expanded their spending in the academy by hiring more coaches and fitness and nutrition trainers. They also have invested in the fitness technology (those “man bra” things that Quake players wear are also worn by the youth academy players in trainings and games). I imagine that any plans for a permanent academy facility is most likely on Leitch’s plate, but I don’t know where that might be at right now. I’m pretty sure Covid has put plans like that on the back burner. I think the good news about that might be Fisher seeing a lot of money being made by Philly and Dallas this year. He’s realizing he’s missing out on that (never mind that both teams finished higher in the league with lower payroll than him).
Here is something I’m going to file under “weird”. "La Liga, in collaboration with the North American agency ISL, has launched La Liga Next, a platform that will provide North American soccer players between the ages of 13 and 18 the opportunity to demonstrate their talent and begin their professional careers in La Liga." https://t.co/ne2jnuTsoL— ChuckMe92 Soccer (@ChuckMe92Soccer) January 14, 2021 I don’t understand why they would do that unless the wild rumor that Liga MX and MLS might merge is true. Is this the first step in adopting MLS structure? Will salary caps and league owned contracts be next?
Okay, I was informed that this “La Liga Next” thing will be more along the lines of a rebranding of Sueño Alianza.
Quake’s academy keeper named by Hugo Perez to the El Salvador Olympic qualifying team. Congratulations to 2004 Edgar Damian Alguera! I have a feeling this kid is going to Europe after his 18th birthday. 2 Quake’s keepers in Olympic qualifying. Pretty cool.
I heard that Alguera made the Salvadorian Olympic Team. That's very impressive considering he's a U17. He might end being the youngest on all the qualifying Concacaf squads. We haven't heard if JT has made the US team yet. Would be crazy if an academy kld did and he didn't.
The 2-week preparatory camp for U-23 Olympic qualifying does not even start until tomorrow. The first game is March 18 against the Dominican Republic, so we will know if JT made it by then, for sure.
As a follow-up, mlssoccer.com reports that JT is recovering from an ankle injury he sustained in the January camp so he is on a "slightly modified training program". Let's hope he recovers in time to compete!
Weird seeing college soccer highlights this time of year. Andrew Paoli with a nice assist in this covid spring ncaa season. 11' | UCLA goal!Grayson Doody gets the Bruins on the board with a highlight-reel score off an Andrew Paoli pass. UCLA 1, OSU 0📲 | https://t.co/LWvsMXuQMh#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/MzoOVTNuCy— UCLA Men's Soccer (@UCLAMSoccer) February 27, 2021