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    #31
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    16-18 isn't fatal but it only snowballs at the college ages. Going pro, especially in the MLS, is not only risky but rookie pay is terrible. A kid good enough to go pro will have heaps of great college offers. Players who opt for college hit developmental brick walls relative to their international peers. It's a canyon that can't be crossed. Not enough US players are strong enough to move overseas at 18 to help the overall US soccer scene.
    The snow balling starts at 16 and picks up speed in the college years. Most high level European pros have spent years being a professional from 15 onward. The college years is when many of them are making or breaking into first teams

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      #32
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      The snow balling starts at 16 and picks up speed in the college years. Most high level European pros have spent years being a professional from 15 onward. The college years is when many of them are making or breaking into first teams
      OP here and obviously I completely agree. Problem is, what can be done about it? at 16+ virtually no US parent is going to allow their kids to ignore academics. Abroad kids are theoretically still in school but if they sign with a club, school pretty much goes out the window. Academies also toss out thousands of young players who can't make the grade, then those young men are left with no career and a poor education. Since few US players could make a top international squad, the best opportunities are here in the US with MLS. But most middle to upper class soccer families (face it, that's who most of soccer is) won't ever pass up a substantial college scholarship for lousy MLS rookie pay. One option is the club guarantees a verifiable scholarship amount so that if they want to go to college after their career ends that money is there. What else? Better rookie pay?

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        #33
        Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
        OP here and obviously I completely agree. Problem is, what can be done about it? at 16+ virtually no US parent is going to allow their kids to ignore academics. Abroad kids are theoretically still in school but if they sign with a club, school pretty much goes out the window. Academies also toss out thousands of young players who can't make the grade, then those young men are left with no career and a poor education. Since few US players could make a top international squad, the best opportunities are here in the US with MLS. But most middle to upper class soccer families (face it, that's who most of soccer is) won't ever pass up a substantial college scholarship for lousy MLS rookie pay. One option is the club guarantees a verifiable scholarship amount so that if they want to go to college after their career ends that money is there. What else? Better rookie pay?
        Increased rookie pay in first division
        Viable second division
        Residential academies
        Deferred scholarships
        Requirements and incentives to play first team minutes for U23 players
        Solidarity payments

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          #34
          Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
          OP here and obviously I completely agree. Problem is, what can be done about it? at 16+ virtually no US parent is going to allow their kids to ignore academics. Abroad kids are theoretically still in school but if they sign with a club, school pretty much goes out the window. Academies also toss out thousands of young players who can't make the grade, then those young men are left with no career and a poor education. Since few US players could make a top international squad, the best opportunities are here in the US with MLS. But most middle to upper class soccer families (face it, that's who most of soccer is) won't ever pass up a substantial college scholarship for lousy MLS rookie pay. One option is the club guarantees a verifiable scholarship amount so that if they want to go to college after their career ends that money is there. What else? Better rookie pay?
          doesn't MLS have a partnership with Southern New Hampshire University for current and former players?

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            #35
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            doesn't MLS have a partnership with Southern New Hampshire University for current and former players?
            So do Phoenix and Grand Canyon :)

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              #36
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              OP here and obviously I completely agree. Problem is, what can be done about it? at 16+ virtually no US parent is going to allow their kids to ignore academics. Abroad kids are theoretically still in school but if they sign with a club, school pretty much goes out the window. Academies also toss out thousands of young players who can't make the grade, then those young men are left with no career and a poor education. Since few US players could make a top international squad, the best opportunities are here in the US with MLS. But most middle to upper class soccer families (face it, that's who most of soccer is) won't ever pass up a substantial college scholarship for lousy MLS rookie pay. One option is the club guarantees a verifiable scholarship amount so that if they want to go to college after their career ends that money is there. What else? Better rookie pay?
              This is exactly the USA detriment at hand.

              Soccer is an elite sport (such as tennis) and can't be supported in the development stages by the exact players who would become pros.

              {free} MLS residential academies would fix that given the age of entry wouldn't shut out the lower classes again.

              In the USA the wealthy want it all. They want to hog the sports spotlight then shaft them to go - admittedly where they belong- to college.

              Let's hear from the poor little rich parents now how they're always being targeted.

              Comment


                #37
                Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                This is exactly the USA detriment at hand.

                Soccer is an elite sport (such as tennis) and can't be supported in the development stages by the exact players who would become pros.

                {free} MLS residential academies would fix that given the age of entry wouldn't shut out the lower classes again.

                In the USA the wealthy want it all. They want to hog the sports spotlight then shaft them to go - admittedly where they belong- to college.

                Let's hear from the poor little rich parents now how they're always being targeted.
                But as said before, MLS clubs get so little benefit out of running DA teams to begin with, let alone running residential academies. US laws aren't going to change just so teams can make more money from kids they develop. Not surprisingly not many parents want to send their kids away either, or trust a club or questionable school to educate their kids.

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                  #38
                  Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                  But as said before, MLS clubs get so little benefit out of running DA teams to begin with, let alone running residential academies. US laws aren't going to change just so teams can make more money from kids they develop. Not surprisingly not many parents want to send their kids away either, or trust a club or questionable school to educate their kids.
                  Not rich elites destined for college, anyway.

                  Therein lies the difference. No opportunity for athletes such as Beckham, Ronaldo, Messi, et al coming from lower class families.

                  Comment


                    #39
                    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                    Not rich elites destined for college, anyway.

                    Therein lies the difference. No opportunity for athletes such as Beckham, Ronaldo, Messi, et al coming from lower class families.
                    No opportunity for athletes such as Beckham, Ronaldo, Messi, et al coming from lower class families who would advance in life and status becoming pros.

                    Comment


                      #40
                      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
                      No opportunity for athletes such as Beckham, Ronaldo, Messi, et al coming from lower class families who would advance in life and status becoming pros.
                      Yes, elsewhere going pro is the goal, there is no fallback option. Here it's college.

                      Comment


                        #41
                        Good article in the (failing) NY Times about Pachuca, the Mexican club of Hirving (Chucky) Lozano. Key grafs below:

                        “They are a factory churning out good players,’’ said Hérculez Gómez, a former star for the United States national team who spent several years playing in the top Mexican league, including briefly with Pachuca.

                        The club has 16 scouts across Mexico and a tryout system to hunt the best prospects, occasionally finding them in the United States. Like other Mexican clubs, Pachuca offers scholarships for housing, training and academics. (Lozano is still enrolled at the university through online courses; he is studying physical education.)

                        “What we really want is for them to amass the 10,000 hours to become an expert,” Garcés said, referring to a belief among some social scientists that it takes that long to master something. “By the time they’re 18, they have those 10,000 hours.”

                        Once players are admitted to the club, Pachuca seeks to funnel them through the ranks to its team in the nation’s top-flight league, Liga MX, or to other teams, and sometimes to bigger professional leagues, including those in Europe.

                        Pachuca had netted more than $100 million from the sale of players over the past four years. And 65 of Pachuca’s 250 players were on national teams of all levels.

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                          #42
                          And the best part of the article is the reveal of the origin of the Chucky nickname...

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                            #43
                            And compare that to what our BDA boys do. That is why we will never be a soccer powerhouse. The handful of US clubs that have started residency programs aren't sufficient to make a big difference, plus they can't make the same kind of money off home growns the way international clubs can. Clubs can only afford to invest so much in youth development and some don't want to invest any. The annual costs to develop 80-100 players to get one home grown every few years makes little financial sense.

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