Timbers Academy 2013-2014

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Oh no

It is worse the. We thought. I think a few are going to OSU not much better than a community college but D1.

Thank goodness for the Portland Timbers DA or OSU wouldn't have found these in state players.

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There is an academy player going to Stanford but he apparently didn't sign an NLI. That doesn't mean he isn't playing but it is certainly not what the Timbers would have you believe. Either way he's going to Stanford so good for him.

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Whoops

It is worse the. We thought. I think a few are going to OSU not much better than a community college but D1.

Thank goodness for the Portland Timbers DA or OSU wouldn't have found these in state players.

A few thought about going to play at UO, but they don't have men's soccer. Plus having another ball sport would probably confuse the other ball sport athletes. If you know anything about college soccer, you would know that PAC-12 soccer, for those colleges that have it, is pretty special. Your CC comment is simply ridiculous and shows your jealousy towards a program you or your DS couldn't play for. OSU did produce the number one recruit to MLS a couple of years ago and his salary is what a CC spends on its entire program in a year. Of course, you could play for UP, but even with a bad season for OSU last Fall they rank about 20 spots higher in season RPI. So, what program did you or your DS play for?

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Duke

A few thought about going to play at UO, but they don't have men's soccer. Plus having another ball sport would probably confuse the other ball sport athletes. If you know anything about college soccer, you would know that PAC-12 soccer, for those colleges that have it, is pretty special. Your CC comment is simply ridiculous and shows your jealousy towards a program you or your DS couldn't play for. OSU did produce the number one recruit to MLS a couple of years ago and his salary is what a CC spends on its entire program in a year. Of course, you could play for UP, but even with a bad season for OSU last Fall they rank about 20 spots higher in season RPI. So, what program did you or your DS play for?

Duke and didn't even need the DA

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D1

Lots of Oregon boy's have played D1 soccer from Oregon, the problem with this class is it seems the amount of players going on to college soccer is down. Not only to D1, but D2 and 3. I don't think the Timbers DA developed fast enough to push players into D1 this is a coaching issue, they had, and probably still don't have an idea of what they are doing.

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Lots of Oregon boy's have played D1 soccer from Oregon, the problem with this class is it seems the amount of players going on to college soccer is down. Not only to D1, but D2 and 3. I don't think the Timbers DA developed fast enough to push players into D1 this is a coaching issue, they had, and probably still don't have an idea of what they are doing.

The Timbers DA is not about getting players ready for college. It's about getting players ready to play pro soccer.

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Wrong

Then why are the two biggest events of the season called college showcases? And the most anticipated update is about what colleges the players are going to.

This program lacks quality that GW can not deliver. He has never been able to deliver consistance quality, Eastside, USL Timbers, ODP and now this.

They should make CP GM and head coach.

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This year's senior class has some good players but it lacks both the true standout player and the depth of some other years. It's been that way since U11. It's cyclical. Next year's class is substantially deeper and its standout player has already been identified.

The idea that the DA is supposed to be developing pros is a bit much. There are 80 of them. DAs should focus on creating the best level it can create. Every once and a while there will be a player good enough to have a chance at a professional career. To give it a little perspective, how many of the current DA players seem like better prospects than Brent Richards, Steven Evans or Erik Hurtado? Pros. Or Clark Phillips or Jamie Velasquez? Current college players. Not many, if any. Of that group, only Hurtado plays in a first team and they all went to college.

Most of the players on the academy teams won't be college players, only a few will be standout college players. Encouraging the players that if they make an academy team they are on a "pathway to the pros" does them a disservice. They should be using the academy to advance their ability as far as they can and for nearly every single one of them, that goal should be a college team.

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AFA?

Haha, compared to Stanford they are a rec program.

Trying Maryland, duke, Virginia.

ACC soccer

Soccer program anywhere should be the secondary reason for attending a university of college. Knowing players that went to AFA and Annapolis, the rigors of academics was tough enough, especially when required to take two engineering courses as core course requirements.

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I somehow mistook this forum as a place to also highlight some of the accomplishments of hardworking kids. Despite what you're "hearing," the exposure to quality collegiate programs these kids have had thru the TA program is tremendous, whether the kids are in the game or not. The ability of these kids has certainly been developed thru their youth programs and teams, along with their drive, thus earning them the opportunity to be a part of the Academy. However, without the exposure the TA has given some of these kids, they would have struggled to secure commitments to their schools of choice. Getting into college is extremely competitive, as I'm sure as a "know it all" you're aware of, but grades and ability are not always enough to put your name in the top 5-10 choices of programs like UW, Stanford, OSU, AFA, etc. I challenge you to ask any of these kids if they felt the Academy helped their chances or not. Better yet, try calling a D1 coach and ask if being part of an Academy would help. No, it's not the only way to get attention, but it certainly helps.

By the way, without GW/MP, there wouldn't even be an academy, so hate as you will, there is a positive to all this, but clearly this concept is too difficult for you to grasp.

You might want to call me a "know it all," but the DA is not to be seen as the deal-maker for these players. I have too many years under my belt and know the coaching staff well. I can think of two players right off the bat that were originally listed as committed to D1 schools. No true as their academics were not enough even with their club/ODP/Timbers DA to get them in. Instead they will go on to two-year programs where hopefully they will be better prepared to enter four-year programs elsewhere.

Don't forget that the former Oregon youth players currently playing in the MLS got their starts through club and ODP. In Oregon, the youth coaches acting as scouts, are also involved in the TDA. You have to look outside of the DA to see the big picture. Of course, if you want your tunnel vision to acknowledge the program as the direct path to your son's collegiate career, then so be it. Good luck. Either he will thrive within the collegiate realm and find a career that he is happy with, or perhaps he will be one on many young players that were never really meant to attend D1(or even D2, D3, NAIA, NJCCA) schools because they can be signed to the MLS. See how long that career choice lasts.

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What is the Timbers DA?

It's billed as a pathway to the pros.

At these DA programs Los Angeles Galaxy, NY Red Bulls, FC Dallas, Chivas maybe a 15- 20% chance to be 'that' player (pro).

In the Portland Market the chance for the DA to be a pathway to the pro's is about 1%, which might be generous for 40+ kids involved each year.

Does it help their expsoure to Division I coaches, without out a doubt.
Does that mean they will be recruited to play Division I..maybe.
But the fact remains more top level D1 coaches will have their 'eyes' on the Portland Timbers DA player than any club team player from Oregon.
The challenge for the Portland Timbers player who is playing in this enviroment is to shine/stand outagaisnt the other DA players. Something that is difficult to do when your side is merely an also ran in the pool of DA teams.

The Timbers DA reminds me more of the movie 'Trading Places' with Eddie Murphy you get to perform on a stage that you have no business being part of, but in this case unlike the $1 bet to see if Murphy could pull it off, the bet/investment is over 12K per kid.
Do the math $12,000 invested in let's say 40 kids per year over 5 years. That's 200 kids x $12,000= 2.4 million bucks spent. Let's hope the next Neymar comes though the Timbers DA. If not, it's no wonder why GW is looking for revenue from the youth soccer masses of Oregon to help subsidize the pathway to the pros.

It don't pencil out folks.

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For sure

Why do you think the DA got the coaching it has, cheap !!!!. The DA is a money pit.

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Ha

more like arm pit

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Investment

I would think that with the type of money being invested in the DA for maybe one player every few years MP would hire the coaches needed to develop and capture the best the talent.

By the look of the staff and results of this year it is just something that needs to be done to fullfill a requirment.

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I would think that with the type of money being invested in the DA for maybe one player every few years MP would hire the coaches needed to develop and capture the best the talent.

By the look of the staff and results of this year it is just something that needs to be done to fullfill a requirment.

The "that type of money" post was perhaps a little overstated. The infrastructure is already in place - they train and play at the Timbers facility. That costs the club very little in additional overhead. They might treat it differently in their own accounting, but the facility was going to be there whether they had an academy team or not. The additional cost is the coaches and travel/lodging/food. It's not millions.