MLS youth league

That's a tough decision for a coach to make, choosing between an athletic kid capable of handling the current level or choose a skilled kid currently being knocked off the ball all the time. How will he know what the future holds? What if the big athletic kid puts in the work to learn the game and become skillful? What if the small one never grows and always has beautiful touches but can't keep up with speed and strength?

Playing down or on the second team is a great solution for smaller players but parents are too prideful to put our small skilled player in the B team until they're fully developed and can handle the physicality of the A team.
RAE really does nothing to solve the "what ifs" in your first paragraph. RAE would really just prolong the inevitable. I'm also not saying just always take the small kid if he is more skilled, but there needs to be better balance.

100% in favor of playing on the 2nd team which makes way more sense than RAE. Unfortunately, an issue with playing on the 2nd team is it can "stigmatize" (in the eyes of other coaches) that player as a second team player. How many times have you heard "Oh yeah he plays for (insert uber club name here)" with the response "Oh but he plays on the second team". That's a mentality that needs to change. Unfortunately, there are many SoCal coaches that do a poor job of talent identification.
 
"No Club has exclusive territory rights. Clubs may recruit players for participation on Clubs from any geographic region.”

Does this mean that any player from any area is now able to play for any MLS team? I know prior to this announcement, there was always the territory rule for the MLS academies.
 
"No Club has exclusive territory rights. Clubs may recruit players for participation on Clubs from any geographic region.”

Does this mean that any player from any area is now able to play for any MLS team? I know prior to this announcement, there was always the territory rule for the MLS academies.
Yes.
 
Where’s San Diego Surf? And Golden State and Pats?
Those clubs moved to ECNL before MLS announced it was forming a youth league, although some of the players from those clubs migrated to clubs with MLS teams (and a few vice versa).

What's noteworthy is that at least this season (which is influenced by Covid factors tending toward more local play) there is a Southern California division and a Southwest division. The former is the LA clubs, plus Murrieta Surf, VC Fusion, and Santa Barbara. The latter is the AZ clubs plus the San Diego clubs. Not sure where the Nevada teams are placed. Perhaps they aren't because of Covid travel restrictions.

This means that the Southern California division plays the two MLS Academy teams, while the others don't, at least in league play.
 
just did a little dance.

(probably oversharing)

thanks!
Yeah, its at least something to look at... Not much news these days so anything new posted in this thread is fun. I've tried using that gotsport eventid to track down any rosters, etc. but nothing yet. I saw Sounders released their roster the other day, so hopefully more and more teams follow suit asap.
 
Those clubs moved to ECNL before MLS announced it was forming a youth league, although some of the players from those clubs migrated to clubs with MLS teams (and a few vice versa).

What's noteworthy is that at least this season (which is influenced by Covid factors tending toward more local play) there is a Southern California division and a Southwest division. The former is the LA clubs, plus Murrieta Surf, VC Fusion, and Santa Barbara. The latter is the AZ clubs plus the San Diego clubs. Not sure where the Nevada teams are placed. Perhaps they aren't because of Covid travel restrictions.

This means that the Southern California division plays the two MLS Academy teams, while the others don't, at least in league play.
Not to be a wet blanket, but the early-mid-October start date ain’t bloody likely in LA County.
 
Not to be a wet blanket, but the early-mid-October start date ain’t bloody likely in LA County.

The socal bracket teams are painting into a corner but for those in the southwest brackets could play out of state.

LA Galaxy apparently vdecided not to enter u19 so U17 is there oldest in SoCal U17 but with only 4 other teams to play in that bracket not sure if that is going to work all that well or get players motivated to play the same teams 4x or whatever
 
Not to be a wet blanket, but the early-mid-October start date ain’t bloody likely in LA County.
Gonna go glass half full...

Couple of different vectors are converging on 10/5 as a key day for things to start to shift. Will see.

Key is what sectors - youth sports, Disneyland, pac 10 football, hair salons etc???? - are priorities for Newsom.
 
The socal bracket teams are painting into a corner but for those in the southwest brackets could play out of state.

LA Galaxy apparently vdecided not to enter u19 so U17 is there oldest in SoCal U17 but with only 4 other teams to play in that bracket not sure if that is going to work all that well or get players motivated to play the same teams 4x or whatever
Would assume LAFC and LAG - across age groups - have plans for lots of games outside MLS Next, yes?
 
Not to be a wet blanket, but the early-mid-October start date ain’t bloody likely in LA County.
Not bloody likely in SD County and we're technically ahead of LA. MLS Next has zero control over when we play our first games.

I like Kante's optimism though.
 
Not bloody likely in SD County and we're technically ahead of LA. MLS Next has zero control over when we play our first games.

I like Kante's optimism though.

Hard to see start of games before November since we still haven't even started practicing in the small groups yet. Going to be at least October before we even see the whole team together.

Son is going to miss playing there rival since the don't even have a team any longer in our bracket.

USL academy starts in spring but it's only 1 combination team per club but it's a big $$$ investment so will see. MLS still needs to address a plan for u18-23 players besides just seeing them walk to college, USL is costly and doesn't have a lot of depth so maybe the spring academy will help but likely only to about u19.

The college gap are prime years but only playing 3 months out of a year is not going to get it done to develop players.
 
RAE really does nothing to solve the "what ifs" in your first paragraph. RAE would really just prolong the inevitable. I'm also not saying just always take the small kid if he is more skilled, but there needs to be better balance.

100% in favor of playing on the 2nd team which makes way more sense than RAE. Unfortunately, an issue with playing on the 2nd team is it can "stigmatize" (in the eyes of other coaches) that player as a second team player. How many times have you heard "Oh yeah he plays for (insert uber club name here)" with the response "Oh but he plays on the second team". That's a mentality that needs to change. Unfortunately, there are many SoCal coaches that do a poor job of talent identification.

I rarely see coaches care what team a player is from, unless they're trying to weaken a competing team. If the player can compete with the existing players or appears better, coaches don't care. I see a lot of B team players get moved up to the A teams after developing for a year or two.

I do see A LOT of parents get very upset and even offended about their kids being moved down to the B team or placed on the B team.

Coaches that look into a player's previous team is lazy and not confident in his/her own ability to develop or scout and we should stay clear of those coaches regardless of what club team they are coaching.
 
Are we really all okay with these organizations creating all these separate leagues completely for their own benefit that requires out of state league play when there is plenty of competition in our own areas? Are we really okay with subbing rules that don't foster development? No re-entry? The coaches aren't capable of managing their own subbing?

None of these leagues/rules are about the kids. Apparently I need to stop expecting youth organizations to serve the youth.
 
Are we really all okay with these organizations creating all these separate leagues completely for their own benefit that requires out of state league play when there is plenty of competition in our own areas? Are we really okay with subbing rules that don't foster development? No re-entry? The coaches aren't capable of managing their own subbing?

None of these leagues/rules are about the kids. Apparently I need to stop expecting youth organizations to serve the youth.

I agree - make them come here. What is missing in So Cal is a really big tournament, something that lasts a week or 9 days in the Spring or Summer and is not confined to one field complex. Cal South's National Cup almost does it, except that they only play on weekends and out of staters are excluded. Look at Dallas Cup, Gothia Cup, or Disney's holiday tournaments as examples.
 
Are we really all okay with these organizations creating all these separate leagues completely for their own benefit that requires out of state league play when there is plenty of competition in our own areas? Are we really okay with subbing rules that don't foster development? No re-entry? The coaches aren't capable of managing their own subbing?

None of these leagues/rules are about the kids. Apparently I need to stop expecting youth organizations to serve the youth.
It's over the top with all the different leagues. The creation of new leagues the last few years has been insane. My hope is that we will see some consolidation of gaming circuits as clubs realize this is unmanageable...but I'm not holding my breath. The flip side is you have choice and you can choose to travel or not. For our family, we have great memories of the road trips we have taken whether for soccer or BMX racing. Do we remember the games or the races, rarely, but we remember the good times on the road, seeing new places and hanging out with teammates and their parents.

When adults are involved its rarely about the youth, just like public schools controlled by teachers's unions and the politicians that have put a disproportionate burden on our children during Covid. It's awesome when you find an organization that truly puts kids first.
 
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