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    #16
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    When the US sees the development of full time academies that combine school with soccer and has training (of some kind) every day and maybe twice a day (fitness and soccer) then you will start to see real development. The IMG academy had made such an attempt but failed to sustain it with any great success. Americans simply don't buy into for soccer. Until that time, college will be the direction in more than 99.9% of youth players.
    Yes, but MLS will no longer be subsidizing those college aspirations.

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      #17
      Wrong kids

      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      In theory, sure. But most of the players MLS is developing 1) aren't good enough to go pro 2) don't want to go pro. College is a reality here. High level players have opportunities to play in college at a good discount, while going pro carries heaps of uncertainty and lousy rookie pay. If MLS splits off on their own they still have to grapple with those conflicting interests for many of their players
      Therein lies the problem. Chip is the mainstay of MLS academies. Kids who have nannies and LandRovers to drive them, being fed and WiFi-d after their elite schooling. Wrong kids are recruited to academies to begin with. Academies don't provide enough practice hours and full time practice for 16+.

      Initial recruitment is based in who can afford club soccer, futsal, trips abroad at 7- 10 years old.

      Wrong sector of the population.

      And Yes, the European/ South American model is tough, but that's how pro athletes are actually made. US doesn't make the cut for a reason.

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        #18
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        Therein lies the problem. Chip is the mainstay of MLS academies. Kids who have nannies and LandRovers to drive them, being fed and WiFi-d after their elite schooling. Wrong kids are recruited to academies to begin with. Academies don't provide enough practice hours and full time practice for 16+.

        Initial recruitment is based in who can afford club soccer, futsal, trips abroad at 7- 10 years old.

        Wrong sector of the population.

        And Yes, the European/ South American model is tough, but that's how pro athletes are actually made. US doesn't make the cut for a reason.

        You miss part of the picture as well....'....16+'. How about more practice for the younger ages? That is when the training and developing starts. Game learning starts around 14/15....the kids have to have already started and should be well into developing by then.

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          #19
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          Therein lies the problem. Chip is the mainstay of MLS academies. Kids who have nannies and LandRovers to drive them, being fed and WiFi-d after their elite schooling. Wrong kids are recruited to academies to begin with. Academies don't provide enough practice hours and full time practice for 16+.

          Initial recruitment is based in who can afford club soccer, futsal, trips abroad at 7- 10 years old.

          Wrong sector of the population.

          And Yes, the European/ South American model is tough, but that's how pro athletes are actually made. US doesn't make the cut for a reason.
          American football seems to generate exceptional athletes with zero club influence and certainly no residential nonsense. Those athletes come through both high school and college.

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            #20
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            American football seems to generate exceptional athletes with zero club influence and certainly no residential nonsense. Those athletes come through both high school and college.
            you can also never play football and still play in college with American Football, and even the NFL. Can't do that for soccer or hockey.

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              #21
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              American football seems to generate exceptional athletes with zero club influence and certainly no residential nonsense. Those athletes come through both high school and college.
              Even football is catching up a little bit to the pricey youth sports model, but not nearly to the extent soccer has. Basketball and track are other sports where you can still get noticed in high school, but also have travel programs, private trainers etc. For women, college soccer is the development path because there really isn't much of an alternative pro path to even chose from. Given the limited opportunities even after college as a female pro player (and financially) most will still go through college first and get that free degree. It won't help that rising star Mallory Pugh walked away from a free ride at UCLA to go pro and she was just knocked off the NT for the Olympics.

              But men who want to go pro aren't well served going to college. College training isn't nearly the same as the pros, even vs MLS let alone abroad. MLB and the NFL use college as their farm system. Athletes get excellent training and more time to develop at no cost to them. Soccer just doesn't have that. There aren't top coaches who could also coach professionally, no big $ being made by schools to pump into programs. As USL expands I think that becomes the equivalent of the baseball farm team system, but it's not there yet. The pay is even worse than MLS rookie pay and players will still be torn about going to college.

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                #22
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                All MLS should be about developing professionals. Promoting college is a conflict of interest.
                All well and good, but they won't have the scale for an entire league on their own of professionally focused players - or parents willing to take those risks. As it is most parents won't let their kids walk away from high school. Having residential academies, like some clubs have started, is one step closer to providing more training + broadening their scouting options, without walking away from school like young players do abroad. But school and college is a US reality and MLS clubs are going to have to deal with that reality.

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                  #23
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  Even football is catching up a little bit to the pricey youth sports model, but not nearly to the extent soccer has. Basketball and track are other sports where you can still get noticed in high school, but also have travel programs, private trainers etc. For women, college soccer is the development path because there really isn't much of an alternative pro path to even chose from. Given the limited opportunities even after college as a female pro player (and financially) most will still go through college first and get that free degree. It won't help that rising star Mallory Pugh walked away from a free ride at UCLA to go pro and she was just knocked off the NT for the Olympics.

                  But men who want to go pro aren't well served going to college. College training isn't nearly the same as the pros, even vs MLS let alone abroad. MLB and the NFL use college as their farm system. Athletes get excellent training and more time to develop at no cost to them. Soccer just doesn't have that. There aren't top coaches who could also coach professionally, no big $ being made by schools to pump into programs. As USL expands I think that becomes the equivalent of the baseball farm team system, but it's not there yet. The pay is even worse than MLS rookie pay and players will still be torn about going to college.
                  College doesnt have that because there are flat out better players every where all over the world than our college players. There a million low level professional and semi-pro leagues in every country and those players play a lot. While basketball gets lots of players (2 rounds) from NCAA, many more come from all over the world. Baseball too for that matter. Football can draw from nowhere else but you still see an occasional freakish body foreigner get pulled onto practice squads more and more frequently lately (from rugby especially).

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