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**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 01:20 PM

If you don't play MLS Next or ECNL you probably will not get a look by NCAA D1 programs. Sad but true. However, most D1 programs are foreign born and or MLS Academy kids. Many of the D2 and D3 programs do have non MLS Academy players from MLS Next and ECNL but they tend to recruit locally - Montclair State and Rutgers-Newark recruit essentially from NJ.

**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 01:31 PM

Originally posted by Guest View Post

I saw some threads on this earlier this week and thought I give a different take.

Let me put some qualifiers out there - my son was with a MLS Academy and played D1 soccer on a full ride. He decided not to go pro and is enjoying working and playing soccer on the side.

Here are a few thoughts:

He wished he could have played HS soccer with his friends. They did not win a state or conference championship. His teammates at the academy were not "friends" but teammates. He missed the bus rides to and from games with his classmates/friends/teammates and bonding in the hallway about the games and practices he did not attend. His friends "respected" him but he did not have the same experience - and he would be the first to tell you that in hindsight he wished he could have played those 3 months a year. He does have memories of MLS Next but they are similar to his friends that played club soccer - ECNL, USYS NL etc.

If you play for a TSF, PDA, CSA MLS Next team you should know that you are a practice squad for the academy teams. Period. Good solid teams and top of the USY Soccer pyramid but you are essentially a practice squad and or potential player pool - more often where academy teams send cut kids. I know some of you will mention how PDA almost won the MLS Next Cup or something last year. Stop. That is the rare exception. PDA knows this so does CSA and TSF.

Again, you are playing the "highest" level soccer but, for almost all parents, you are "Paying" to play at the highest level soccer. And perhaps you are hoping your son will get the call to a trial at an MLS Academy. Yes. It does happen. But here is the other thing to note - if your son is good enough they will find him. Teams like Ironbound and Vistula - especially the Lewandowski team (2007) - produce more MLS Red Bull Academy players than the local MLS Next academies. PDA must know this and perhaps that is why they are merging or something with Vistula and Ironbound just became an MLS Next team. If your kid is good these academies will find your son even if they play EDP.

Am I hating on the MLS Next non league academies. No. Not at all. Some really great players and decent coaching.

Back to my son. If he was not at an MLS Academy we would have thought about other teams that allowed him to enjoy his HS soccer - enjoy his youth and memories.

Just something to think about

MLS soccer takes way too much time for too little potential reward. Red Bulls is now up to 5 days a week of practice. School is secondary to those kids. As someone who attended a European academy and came within a hair of making it to the Bayern Munich first team told me: "When I got cut, I woke up to the realization I did not have any real education, any tangible credentials, or any real skills. I wish I had spent my youth getting a real education."

**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 01:33 PM

Going to MLS Next events like Flex and Fest (Dallas) with the hope a D1 coach will see you is a stretch. Most coaches go to these events "knowing" who they want to recruit. Your average D1 coach has 9.9 scholarships for his or her entire roster. His or her focus is laser like - he or she is seeking to confirm the half a dozen players for his or her 2 or 3 scholarship spots for that year. Oh. And there are probably another coaches looking at the same cohort of players. Think of the IMG 150 by age group. This is not college football or basketball. They have at most 3 scholarships to offer on most years.

If you want an edge to get into a school without a soccer scholarship than that is a different story. If you have good grades, good SAT/ACT/PSAT scores, and start for an MLS Next team and your are a Freshman or Soph than email the coach and tell him/her you will be in attendance and you are interested in his school academically and for soccer. If you are a junior it may be too late.

**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 01:35 PM

Originally posted by Guest View Post

MLS soccer takes way too much time for too little potential reward. Red Bulls is now up to 5 days a week of practice. School is secondary to those kids. As someone who attended a European academy and came within a hair of making it to the Bayern Munich first team told me: "When I got cut, I woke up to the realization I did not have any real education, any tangible credentials, or any real skills. I wish I had spent my youth getting a real education."

You nearly made the Bayern Munich 1st team?? And then what? Just stopped playing? Name please, Id like to google you lololol

**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 01:37 PM

Red Bulls will soon have a dorm. Once the dorm is there they will only dorm those kids fully committed to being a professional - and education will be secondary at best. MLS teams are professional teams not D1 scholarship programs. Pretty soon these academies will recruit only dual citizens from Central and South America (and elsewhere) for their teams and it will be all about going pro or nothing. For a Red Bulls sending a kid on a full ride to Rutgers was a waste of money, time and resources.

**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 01:38 PM

Here we go again, PDA U18/19 MLS Next made it to final 8, losing today in PK, to New England Revolution.

The other thread was heated because U15 and U16 teams from NJ, NY, PA, didn’t do well, even the top ranked Philly Union U15’s lost.

Losses occurred on Jun 17 and Jun 18, prompting this same argument of waste, experience and HS.

These threads pointed out:
1) MLSNext teams play each other (20 games Fall and Spring) and 2 MLS Flex tournaments. So what was this all about?
2) It prompted lies, there’s no true ECNL in NJ, only 2 clubs. And THIS YEAR, MatchFit ECNL teams at U17 and U18/19, NEVER beat an MLSNEXT team. In fact, best ECNL team at U17 is Pipeline, who beat MF 3-0. Mercy rules at Jeff Cup.

Now you’re up to speed. I don’t think it’s a waste, great experience.

**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 01:53 PM

to the OP and commenters - thank you! most useful post I saw here in a long time.

What is a chance of an EDP player getting an edge for an admission at an academically strong D3? Stellar grades, etc., but lower level EDP competition. Would it need to be EDP I? Is it even worth trying?

**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 02:06 PM

Originally posted by Guest View Post

Red Bulls will soon have a dorm. Once the dorm is there they will only dorm those kids fully committed to being a professional - and education will be secondary at best. MLS teams are professional teams not D1 scholarship programs. Pretty soon these academies will recruit only dual citizens from Central and South America (and elsewhere) for their teams and it will be all about going pro or nothing. For a Red Bulls sending a kid on a full ride to Rutgers was a waste of money, time and resources.

Even at a school like Rutgers a kid will have a hard time getting all As while playing soccer. And then what? He will be competing for slots at grad school or for an entry job at Goldman with kids who had all As at Harvard or Princeton?

**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 02:15 PM

Originally posted by Guest View Post

to the OP and commenters - thank you! most useful post I saw here in a long time.

What is a chance of an EDP player getting an edge for an admission at an academically strong D3? Stellar grades, etc., but lower level EDP competition. Would it need to be EDP I? Is it even worth trying?

There are only a handful of academically strong D3 schools -- Williams, Amherst, U Chicago, Johns Hopkins. Look up their rosters and see where those players played before college. That will answer your question.

**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 02:20 PM

Originally posted by Guest View Post

You nearly made the Bayern Munich 1st team?? And then what? Just stopped playing? Name please, Id like to google you lololol

Are you 10 years old and think that playing soccer at an academy or the second team of a European club will qualify you for a real job once you are one of the 98% who don't make it at soccer? Look at how many kids' soccer coaches or assistants to assistant college coaches (making $50k) were at once at soccer academies or played for second teams. LOL

**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 03:18 PM

Originally posted by Guest View Post

Red Bulls will soon have a dorm. Once the dorm is there they will only dorm those kids fully committed to being a professional - and education will be secondary at best. MLS teams are professional teams not D1 scholarship programs. Pretty soon these academies will recruit only dual citizens from Central and South America (and elsewhere) for their teams and it will be all about going pro or nothing. For a Red Bulls sending a kid on a full ride to Rutgers was a waste of money, time and resources.

Imagine what the "education" at the Red Bulls School will look like.

**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 04:24 PM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Iiaaypkey9c

**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 04:32 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p39rOxt-izg

**Guest** · 06-21-2023, 04:50 PM

Originally posted by Guest View Post

There are only a handful of academically strong D3 schools -- Williams, Amherst, U Chicago, Johns Hopkins. Look up their rosters and see where those players played before college. That will answer your question.

Wow you know very little. You must have gone D2. Plenty of mediocre D1 schools but yeah D1!!!