I've heard from a number of credible sources that MLS Next is going to have a U18 age group next year and that at least in SoCal, the MLS academies are going to participate. Does anyone know how this will work? Will they still have U19? If not, what happens to the seniors that happen to be older than the cutoff?
MLS Next U18
- Thread starter focomoso
- Start date
From this post https://x.com/chai_asc/status/1772744500038779026?s=20
I am hearing that the decision to change the age levels (U15/U16/U18) within MLS Next has been approved today by the powers that be. What does this mean?
U16 becomes a required age group, it was optional before
U18 replaces the U19 age group (I am unsure if this is required because not all MLS clubs had a U19 team)
I view this as a positive change. Here is why:
If a U16 player was at an academy that didn't have a U16 club and was not an elite prospect, they often struggle for playing time during a key development year
For academies that did have a U16 team, the competition isn't as good
A U18 division can serve as a MLS Next Pro preseason of sorts for top U18 players. As of right now, those players scramble for playing time between the end of the U17 season and the start of MLSNP
This should make U18 level reasonably competitive whereas the U19 level was not—a lot of pre college players and guys who didn't have a strong pro future
U17 players will face better competition within U18 division
Overall I think it also gives elite players more viable options to play against older/more advanced players
More in line with global structure
I am hearing that the decision to change the age levels (U15/U16/U18) within MLS Next has been approved today by the powers that be. What does this mean?
U16 becomes a required age group, it was optional before U18 replaces the U19 age group (I am unsure if this is required because not all MLS clubs had a U19 team)I view this as a positive change. Here is why:
If a U16 player was at an academy that didn't have a U16 club and was not an elite prospect, they often struggle for playing time during a key development year For academies that did have a U16 team, the competition isn't as good A U18 division can serve as a MLS Next Pro preseason of sorts for top U18 players. As of right now, those players scramble for playing time between the end of the U17 season and the start of MLSNP This should make U18 level reasonably competitive whereas the U19 level was not—a lot of pre college players and guys who didn't have a strong pro future U17 players will face better competition within U18 division Overall I think it also gives elite players more viable options to play against older/more advanced players More in line with global structure
pitchplease
SILVER
what happens to the u16 age group that are not at a traditional mls academy? do they join the u18's, or stay separate?
My personal opinion is that MLS academies like the SJ Earthquakes will switch to fielding U16/U18 teams only. I believe MLSNext will still have a U17 and U19 age bracket for non-MLS clubs to continue to develop players. I honestly see this as an expansion to U18 age across the landscape no more squeezing 18s/19s together. MLS Academies can choose to field teams in U17/u19 ages or not. Some MLS academies field a U19 team today. The SJ Earthquakes haven't had a U19 since MLSNext started and I doubt they will start. Time will tell as I only know what I read.
pitchplease
SILVER
i was trying to make sense of what this means for the non mls academies. my son is at a non mls academy, with a u16 age group, and i was wondering how this was and is going to pan out for all of the players. we shall see!
Interesting. I see why this is good for the pro academies, but what about the non-academy MLS clubs? If they stop at U18, the kids who are old for their grade will have no place to play their senior year. If they try to have U18 and U19, they won't be able to field a U19 team because there aren't enough U19s to make a full roster.
Actually, it might make sense for the pro academies to stop at U18 and let the non-academies combine their U18s and U19s to make things more competitive.
Actually, it might make sense for the pro academies to stop at U18 and let the non-academies combine their U18s and U19s to make things more competitive.
I don't think that will change. U16s (and U18s) will have pro-academies alongside (probably with flex and league) the way the U15s and U17s work now. U15 and U17 will be "non pro academy years" the way U16 is now.
The reason for squeezing the U18s and U19s is that there aren't enough kids to field a U19 team. Only a handful of HS seniors are U19. Last year at my son's club, they would have had only 2 U19s. I think this year it's 8.
It will be interesting for the non-MLS academies thatplay in the current U17 Flex league today. In Norcal we have Silicon Valley, Breakers, Force to name a few that may need to field 17s, 18s, and 19s next year. The SJ Earthquakes would have zero local competition if these clubs did not have an 18s.
The potential for this has been percolating all year, and now it is confirmed that the MLS Clubs have decided that U-15, U-16, and U-18 is the best plan.
Overall, I think this is the right call for a few reasons:
1. Players have a place to play in their U-18 year before they go off to college (there are more of these than those going pro).
2. Clubs are better able to retain players in their U-18 year who know they are going to college.
3. The "combined" age group gets shifted up one year from the U-16/U-17 year to the U-17/U-18 year. This gives players that extra year to develop before they face older competition.
It also gives clubs that extra year to see what they have in a player before deciding whether investing in their development (potentially at the expense of winning) is worth it.
4. MLS will be able to strengthen MLS Next Pro by seeing players matriculate up to the league a year later.
Who are the winners?
Winners: 07's win big-time. They will get two years as the highest age group. With that comes more eyes on their game, and more chances to increase their exposure.
You could also say that the 09's are small winners too in that the dreaded "two-time younger year of being the highest age group" won't fall on them. If this had come a year later, which was a distinct possibility, it would've happened to them.
Losers: 08's will now be the younger year of the two in the highest age group for two years in a row. This is tough for them. There's no doubt about it. This will cause plenty of 08's around the country to leave MLS academies to non-MLS academies. For the best 08's, it won't matter, but likely everyone else in the age group is hurt by it.
You could also say some of the slightly older youth age groups like '06, '05, '04 are small losers in that this change didn't happen earlier.
Other things to note:
-Some of the MLS clubs already had a U-15 AND U-16 team. They also had a U-17 team, and that will be going away. That U-17 will now be a U-18. These clubs already invested the money in this increased club, and quite frankly the results for the clubs that were investing this additional money it'll cost that not all clubs previously wanted to invest are extremely promising. DC's '06 age group, STLC's '06 age group, FC Dallas' '07 age group are all examples of how the extra age group helps.
-I have not fully investigated this, so anyone that knows more can correct me, but my read is that the non-MLS clubs are going to be pushed to eventually fall in line and make the switch. I don't think that they will be required to make the same change, but practically this will likely need to occur, whether for next season or down the road. From what I understand, this was primarily (maybe entirely?) a decision of the MLS clubs. MLS Next is run by MLS. Who runs MLS? Owners of MLS clubs. The key stakeholders in this were the MLS clubs.
-I've heard that part of the U-18 schedule will likely include a set number of games where the MLS U-18 teams are playing against non-MLS U-19 clubs. Most MLS clubs don't have U-19 teams, and with this you can be almost assured none will now. However, U-19's are a feature of a lot of the non-MLS clubs. I'd look for this as a major part of the schedule next season.
-I don't think we will see much initial change in when players integrate into the pros.
The 07's will get that extra U-17 season, but the majority of the relevant pro prospects from this age group are already playing MLS Next Pro or are training regularly with the MLS Next Pro team and close to making the squad. It is unlikely teams will tell them that they are doing a reversal and they will have to pause that for a year. If any do, you will likely see players who believe they are pros or on the verge of it leave. You can't pull that string, and I think the MLS clubs realize that.
While the 08's are losers in this switch, the majority of the players that clubs rate as future first team players are already training (and some playing) in MLS Next Pro. Like with the U-17's, it's unlikely that'll be paused.
There have only been a few 09's who've played in MLS Next Pro, and not many have trained at that level yet either. Few have even reached the U-17's. This change might push back the year they integrate into the MLSNP team, but few were close to that anyway, so it's not necessarily a change for them.
Conclusion:
Future age groups like the 10's, 11's, 12's we will likely see it fully fleshed out what it looks like. The age groups that are in the middle of these changes are likely to not deliver us the best results of what to takeaway from the implementation of these changes. However, I think the initial takeaway is that this is an overall positive for the highest level of youth football in this country.
Overall, I think this is the right call for a few reasons:
1. Players have a place to play in their U-18 year before they go off to college (there are more of these than those going pro).
2. Clubs are better able to retain players in their U-18 year who know they are going to college.
3. The "combined" age group gets shifted up one year from the U-16/U-17 year to the U-17/U-18 year. This gives players that extra year to develop before they face older competition.
It also gives clubs that extra year to see what they have in a player before deciding whether investing in their development (potentially at the expense of winning) is worth it.
4. MLS will be able to strengthen MLS Next Pro by seeing players matriculate up to the league a year later.
Who are the winners?
Winners: 07's win big-time. They will get two years as the highest age group. With that comes more eyes on their game, and more chances to increase their exposure.
You could also say that the 09's are small winners too in that the dreaded "two-time younger year of being the highest age group" won't fall on them. If this had come a year later, which was a distinct possibility, it would've happened to them.
Losers: 08's will now be the younger year of the two in the highest age group for two years in a row. This is tough for them. There's no doubt about it. This will cause plenty of 08's around the country to leave MLS academies to non-MLS academies. For the best 08's, it won't matter, but likely everyone else in the age group is hurt by it.
You could also say some of the slightly older youth age groups like '06, '05, '04 are small losers in that this change didn't happen earlier.
Other things to note:
-Some of the MLS clubs already had a U-15 AND U-16 team. They also had a U-17 team, and that will be going away. That U-17 will now be a U-18. These clubs already invested the money in this increased club, and quite frankly the results for the clubs that were investing this additional money it'll cost that not all clubs previously wanted to invest are extremely promising. DC's '06 age group, STLC's '06 age group, FC Dallas' '07 age group are all examples of how the extra age group helps.
-I have not fully investigated this, so anyone that knows more can correct me, but my read is that the non-MLS clubs are going to be pushed to eventually fall in line and make the switch. I don't think that they will be required to make the same change, but practically this will likely need to occur, whether for next season or down the road. From what I understand, this was primarily (maybe entirely?) a decision of the MLS clubs. MLS Next is run by MLS. Who runs MLS? Owners of MLS clubs. The key stakeholders in this were the MLS clubs.
-I've heard that part of the U-18 schedule will likely include a set number of games where the MLS U-18 teams are playing against non-MLS U-19 clubs. Most MLS clubs don't have U-19 teams, and with this you can be almost assured none will now. However, U-19's are a feature of a lot of the non-MLS clubs. I'd look for this as a major part of the schedule next season.
-I don't think we will see much initial change in when players integrate into the pros.
The 07's will get that extra U-17 season, but the majority of the relevant pro prospects from this age group are already playing MLS Next Pro or are training regularly with the MLS Next Pro team and close to making the squad. It is unlikely teams will tell them that they are doing a reversal and they will have to pause that for a year. If any do, you will likely see players who believe they are pros or on the verge of it leave. You can't pull that string, and I think the MLS clubs realize that.
While the 08's are losers in this switch, the majority of the players that clubs rate as future first team players are already training (and some playing) in MLS Next Pro. Like with the U-17's, it's unlikely that'll be paused.
There have only been a few 09's who've played in MLS Next Pro, and not many have trained at that level yet either. Few have even reached the U-17's. This change might push back the year they integrate into the MLSNP team, but few were close to that anyway, so it's not necessarily a change for them.
Conclusion:
Future age groups like the 10's, 11's, 12's we will likely see it fully fleshed out what it looks like. The age groups that are in the middle of these changes are likely to not deliver us the best results of what to takeaway from the implementation of these changes. However, I think the initial takeaway is that this is an overall positive for the highest level of youth football in this country.
I have heard from a non-MLS club that they're going to continue to play U17 and U19 next year which suggests that they will play against the MLS U18s as you suggest. Makes sense to me. (But I still wonder about college-bound players at MLS clubs that won't be able to play their senior year.)
3253
SILVER
If they're college bound, they can/should play for NextPro (LAG2/Fusion or LAFC 2) in their senior year.
There is no change to the non-MLS teams.
For the MLS teams, the 15s/17s travel PPP years are now the 15s, 16s and 18s years... giving an extra year of playing vs other MLS opponents. Those games tend to be a significant increase in competition vs the standard EPP game. So, from a development standpoint, this is an increase in meaningful games against more rigorous opponents.
The PPP games will be vs other MLS opponents in the same 15/16/18 bracket home and away. The u18s of an MLS team will play versus the u19s of a non-MLS teams once per season home or away. The MLS academies tend to play players up versus non-MLS academies. For example, LAFC has regularly sent entire 08 squads to an 07 game... or at minimum significant numbers of 2008s for a non-MLS opponent. So, I think the MLS clubs are happy about fielding u18 in a u19 bracket.
3253
SILVER
Yes, it will change the age groups for GA. But, not sure if all three PPP teams will go or only two.
That's good for the 07s, but sucks for the 08s...
3253
SILVER
Yup. The 2006s got jacked up by Covid and Guinea pigs…. 2008s are the new 2006s.