I had a friend play for the Boulder Rapids Resrv. for a short period of time. I was very impressed by the talent level on the team after attending some games and practices. I know of two players that signed to pro squads from the BBR. Josh Simpson to Milwall ( Eng) and Nat Brochers to Rapids (MLS). I was curious of other success stories coming out of the PDL. I think the league has outstanding potential for the developement of pro soccer in the US. Also can anyone explain how the reserve teams work with MLS? With the national call ups it seems a reserve system would benifet the players, teams, league and fans. And should the A-league have a reserve or not? All feed back and commints are greatly apprieciated. ORbie
At present, and I mean this very second, there are no MLS reserve teams. At one point '98-'00, there was an affiliation between certain MLS teams and Division II teams (Division II was called the A-League, but now called Division 1, as it is the top division in the USL, a league completely separate from MLS.) PDL teams like the Boulder Reserves play in the USL Division three (although in the US, they are actually division 4...in hindsight I could've done a better job of explaining this but I'm rolling...) The PDL is primarily a league for university players to get additional summer league experience while maintaining their eligibility to play for their university teams. BUT! With the coming year, all MLS teams will have reserve squads. Although they will not be reserve squads in the traditional English sense, all MLS sides will have expanded rosters up to, I believe, 28 players. The additional team players that did not play during the MLS game that week will play another game during the week, the in-and-outs (who,when) of how the MLS reserve system will work are still forthcoming.
Canadian Olivier Occean played a couple of seasons for the Vermont Voltage and and is now doing pretty well for Odd Grenland in Norway (after initially being drafted by the MetroStars). He scored several goals during Odd's short UEFA Cup run.
There are a lot of "success" stories in the PDL since so many MLS players played summer ball. Eskandarian jumps to the front of my mind. Then again so does Billy Sleeth but that didn't go so well. GO to USLSoccer.com to find more.
Yeah, now that I think of it, there are a lot of success stories ... Shalrie Joseph played for the Brooklyn Knights, for instance. And then are stories like Casey Schmidt, who played for Cape Cod, had one wonderful pre-season for the Rapids, and then quit soccer shortly thereafter (I think).
There is not a direct link between the MLS and PDL teams such as Boulder Rapid Reserves and Chicago Fire Reserves. So players to not go back and forth between the teams, like those in Europe. The tie between the two is more of a sponsorship of the PDL team by the MLS team. Like stated above , these teams are made of college players. If there was a direct connection to the MLS teams the PDL players would lose their college eligibity. In the A-League the Richmond Kickers sponsor a team in the PDL and W-League. I'm not sure how it is setp up. But I'm going to guess that there is a seperate financial structure then the Division 1 (A-league) team.
Thank you for the information but many soccer fans would like to know how active is the MLS searching for homegrown talent thru USA
Thank you, I have a better understanding of division of these leagues. I only wish the USOC was taken more seriously by MLS and America as a whole. It's has the potiental to be such an amazing tournament and breakdown some of the division between the leagues.