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USA’s size is just as much of constraint as it is an advantage in optimizing youth talent

By on October 27, 2014

If there is one thing I have learned in playing in and around the USA’s developmental academy system, is that until the ages of eighteen or so, a developmental academy is more or less just a label. That is not to say that the label is useless – it attracts talent and pools the regional talent. The problem is that, in Major League soccer there are only nineteen clubs in the league across all of the United States. Even if each club has an academy, that leaves the majority of states and areas without an academy of a professional club to join. In Europe, almost every child joining an academy will join one of a professional club, which will have much better facilities and in some cases coaches. In the US, that is not the case. Even the handful of academies not connected to MLS clubs only even cover half of the 50 states and a small portion of the talent pool the US has. Which is why the academies are much more a label than anything, until the age of eighteen or so. Unless a player has real intentions of going pro or playing in college, they will not join an academy until that age. In many cases there are not many differences between academies and regular youth clubs until that age, aside from the label.

For most youth players, even joining at that age takes its toll. Current USMNT captain Clint Dempsey had to drive 170 miles in his youth playing days to enter an academy. This is why playing college soccer is often a necessary selection tool. Under-18 academies will pool the best talent from the club level, colleges will pool from the academy level, and finally MLS clubs will pool from the college level. In turn, this will have youth players hopping from club to club to get the best chance of turning pro. The fist MLS “developmental player” to make onto a USMNT World Cup roster as Jurgen Klinsmann brought him to the World Cup the past summer, DeAndre Yedlin, played for youth teams including West Seattle Magic, Emerald City Football Club, the Northwest Nationals Soccer Club, before joining one of the only two academies in Seattle, Crossfire Premier Soccer Club, all before he joined the Seattle Sounders’ academy and finally a college team. This is hardly the best way to optimize youth talent. Largely, this is because of the pay-to-play nature of club level youth soccer, but that is an entirely different argument. The point is, the US’ size makes it a challenge to pool youth talent. U14 academies are not much different to the best club level teams.

And credit should go to US Soccer, MLS, and Jurgen Klinsmann for tackling these problems. Moreover, they are in the right direction and are doing the right things. For a start mandating MLS clubs to have youth academies, and further launching Under-14 developmental academies. The problem is turning these programs nationwide. In the end, you simply need more pro teams per-person like they have in Europe to make everything work. The U13-U14 level is a good place to start. That is really where the gap begins to form between European academies and those in the US.

First off, joining a professional club’s academy at this age is a huge advantage. It means that you don’t have to change clubs or get lost in the road up to college and professional levels. This can’t be the case for most US talent, though. Even developmental academies in each region would be next to impossible to pull off. Thus, it would be better to implement a system like the Player Developmental Acadamy of US Club Soccer. It takes the best talent from all the club teams, and brings them together for regular meetings in a regional or in some cases statewide pool of talent.

I don’t have the answer to these problems. MLS has at lead addressed them by deeming a developmental player only as one which has played at an academy for at least a year. Very few players who go pro play at professional academies much longer than that. This is why at the moment, it is easier for European clubs to optimize talent, and easier for American talent to go to Europe. US Soccer is taking the right steps but still have a ways to go.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.