When is Crew management going to show they are capable of running a professional sports franchise? Every year we hear about this player and that player possibly coming to the Crew and it never materializes. I understand Columbus is not a desirable place to play in compared with other U.S. cities so the Crew of course is going to happen open up their wallets and open wide. I mean think about it our head coach doesn't even live in the city in the off-season. That's why for years I have been saying signing regional players (with ties to the Midwest) is the only way to go. Chicago has blanco and more than likely will sign another mega star at forward so why hasn't the Crew looked into trading for Rolfe who is a proven goal scorer. Rolfe is from Kettering and probably would love to play here. There's also Seth Stammler one of the most versatile players in the league with Red Bull who is also a native of Gahanna. All I'm saying is Columbus is a great place to live in but when was the last time you heard any foreign player say "man I want to play in Columbus, Ohio in the MLS." At least players from around the region have lived here, won't be shocked by our weather, and know Columbus has more to offer compared with their foreign counter-parts who see it as just a cow-town.
further evidence that Ohio contains quality talent that can be grown... I agree that columbus would do well to put up the fences and keep it's talent at home...
You could include Dasan Robinson from Elyria, Marc Burch from Cincinnati, Sinisa Ubiparipovic from Mentor, Xavier Balc from Hudson, and Eric Brunner from Dublin. The Crew do have Danny O'Rourke from Worthington. I won't mention Chris Leitch.
How many times have we heard the players who are here say that the couldn't imagine a better place to live than Columbus? Also how many times have you heard of NHL players that make more $ than MLS players choose to live here after their careers are over? I hear about it all of the time and I agree with those who have already said that it is the responsibility of the front office to dispel that myth to any prospective imports.
When I read the list of names, it just makes me wonder when the hell is the Crew going to get their academy in order so that we can get these kids in there for free (non-paying memberships to academy) and then per MLS' desire to move in this direction, we could sign them w/o them ever getting thrown into the draft and being grabbed by other teams. Imagine if we were adding those kids into our roster just because we had our academy in order and cranking these kids up to play in the big time. And here's the other part that isn't exploited to its potential. We have OSU here in Columbus, so why not get the academy going, and when the parents say, don't go play pro-soccer, get your degree so you have a career after you're done playing soccer. Well, why not make sure that any of these kids that we bring up through the academy are enrolling in OSU. It's not like they can't find a major to study that they'd like, with the size and options available at OSU. You can provide these boys with the full package, getting them through high school at the minimum while at the academy and then getting a degree at OSU while playing w/ the Crew... so if they don't pan out or blow out a knee or something when they're 25 or 32, they've got something they can do after their soccer days are over. It just seems like we could use this to our advantage and harness the talent in Ohio.
$5000 a year in tuition and room and board (you could have a summer camp style bunkhouse at your training facility) and you'd lock up the most talented kids in the state every year.
Sure, it sounds like a great idea to "put up fences" and keep the Ohio talent in-state, but you can't really talk too strongly about the past, but have to focus on the future. I mean, I guess one could argue that Columbus could have drafted players like Rolfe, Robinson, and other Ohio-based players...but I shudder to think of the teeth gnashing over the Crew drafting kids from Dayton who weren't highly-touted players. Moving forward, however, is a different story. It seems like MLS's rules regarding promoting kids through the team's youth structure would allow the Crew to really clamp down on the better in-state talent.
I don't have any objection to trading for Rolfe but it's because he's a good MLS scorer, not because he's from Ohio. We shouldn't strive to become the MLS team for good high school and college players from Ohio. We should strive to become the best team in MLS regardless of where our players come from. If some of them are local fine, but I wouldn't cut Marshall in favor of Robinson.
Good news for you: Crew Soccer Academy (their top level program above Crew Juniors in the pyramid) is free for players.
yeah, but what is that top level and how many other levels below it are for a price (and what price)? If they're about making up their money, the then camps should run the summer camps and the like for a fee for the random kids around the area and use that as an additional tool to identify local talent and offer them a place in the academy where the academy would be free. If parents of little 12 year old Johnny can't afford it, he won't go, but he could be the next best thing. The kids that catch your eye, you have to bring them in to the academy, and making it free helps promote getting them there. Not just when you're 16 and you're folks have probably already sunk 10k into camps and club fees and such.
The whole home grown thing is nice and all for the players and anyone who knew them or saw them play from time to time, but otherwise having home grown players does not mean that much, it is just a tool for saving money on trying to lure away players from other developmental systems. Having said that, as an american, it is important for the crew to develop local talent so that they have a chance to become the best players possible and potentially contribute to the national team or even earn the league a few bucks in a transfer. The national team is dependant upon the league and the league is dependant upon its developmental systems.