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Post by therussian on Aug 30, 2020 17:36:45 GMT -5
Has anyone heard about the status of the newly formed MLS Youth Academy Platform? Clubs like SSA, Lanier and Inter Atlanta were “allowed admittance,” but I have yet to hear of their season starting. As some may know, Atlanta United Academy teams joined ECNL for this season. This only tells me, they want to be assured “some games” as there is still uncertainty with the MLS Academy League. I’d hate to think SSA, Lanier and Inter Atlanta sold the players and parents a “bill of goods” promising great things when absolutely nothing had been figured out. Are these kids sitting waiting for a season to start when everyone else has started league play? Would love to hear the opinions.
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Post by oraclesfriend on Aug 30, 2020 17:53:32 GMT -5
A new league is always a bit of a risk, but especially so during COVID.
I thought the MLS academy was going to follow a different calendar than the rest of club soccer. Can anyone at those clubs confirm that?
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Post by footyfan on Aug 30, 2020 18:38:05 GMT -5
Has anyone heard about the status of the newly formed MLS Youth Academy Platform? Clubs like SSA, Lanier and Inter Atlanta were “allowed admittance,” but I have yet to hear of their season starting. As some may know, Atlanta United Academy teams joined ECNL for this season. This only tells me, they want to be assured “some games” as there is still uncertainty with the MLS Academy League. I’d hate to think SSA, Lanier and Inter Atlanta sold the players and parents a “bill of goods” promising great things when absolutely nothing had been figured out. Are these kids sitting waiting for a season to start when everyone else has started league play? Would love to hear the opinions. Change MLS for SCCL and same story. |
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Post by allthingsoccer on Aug 31, 2020 13:38:27 GMT -5
No word yet. crickets
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Sept 1, 2020 8:54:03 GMT -5
From what I've been told from a hodge-podge of contacts it looks like with the hiring of former US Soccer Chief Soccer Officer Asher Mendelsohn, things will start moving along for the MLS Academy in short order with a targeted start date of September 12th. BTW it won't be called the MLS Academy either. The issue at hand is Travel+Rona. And we're not talking about the costs but more the logistics associated with the different locales and the Covid rules attributed to each. The current proposal is to emulate the first team and not do any overnight trips. The initial goal is to keep the travel range small so maybe 3/4 hours out. There has been talk of those within a similar region playing within a mini-league of their own outside of the national MLS league. So something similar to what AU hosts to close out the fall season with a showcase/scrimmage/friendlies weekend with clubs like Orlando/Miami/Nashville/Charlotte/etc. Talking about Showcases, for this calendar year there are currently no plans to host one, again because of our friendly Rona logistical issues. The one smart thing is the release of schedules for only 4 weeks at a time in anticipation of the ups and downs of the outbreaks for Covid. Finally, the hope is to return to a regular schedule for the Spring Season 🤞🤞🤞
Now IMHO, I think the MLS/USL league is trying to mitigate and balance the needs of playing these highly motivated athletes versus the fears of Covid since anyone getting it within those ranks just looks bad from a PR sense. Teams are using glue, duct tape and spit to harness some type of season with the constraints of Covid to just make it through the fall with the hopes they can get on track for their regular schedule moving forward where they are in lock step with the first team (February/March to October/November). That is why some MLS teams are in ECNL, some just playing friendlies while others have no idea as to what they are doing. Currently on the lookout to see if the MLS will still put on the Generation Adidas Cup(GA Cup) this year which usually encompasses the U12s, U15s and U17s...
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Post by hateallthesechanges on Sept 1, 2020 9:09:05 GMT -5
At SSA being told season will start 9/12. Tentative schedule shows Atlanta United, Florida Rush, Jacksonville FC, and Orlando City. This is for U18/19. Think the 13/14s have more teams to work with. But I agree with the original poster, I'll believe it when they step foot on a field.
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Sept 7, 2020 14:16:06 GMT -5
Just found out that the MLS League is currently on a public video call about the new MLS League New MLS League Name: MLS Next! Website: www.mlssoccer.com/mlsnext |
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Post by bogan on Sept 7, 2020 14:29:43 GMT -5
Just found out that the MLS League is currently on a public video call about the new MLS League New MLS League Name: MLS Next! Website: www.mlssoccer.com/mlsnextJust hope it doesn’t turn into: MLS? Next... |
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Post by allthingsoccer on Sept 7, 2020 14:35:36 GMT -5
At SSA being told season will start 9/12. Tentative schedule shows Atlanta United, Florida Rush, Jacksonville FC, and Orlando City. This is for U18/19. Think the 13/14s have more teams to work with. But I agree with the original poster, I'll believe it when they step foot on a field. AU vs SSA this weekend |
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Post by hateallthesechanges on Sept 8, 2020 14:00:47 GMT -5
At SSA being told season will start 9/12. Tentative schedule shows Atlanta United, Florida Rush, Jacksonville FC, and Orlando City. This is for U18/19. Think the 13/14s have more teams to work with. But I agree with the original poster, I'll believe it when they step foot on a field. AU vs SSA this weekend Do you know what age's from AU are playing what age's from SSA? Are all AU teams playing up? |
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Post by allthingsoccer on Sept 8, 2020 17:00:57 GMT -5
Do you know what age's from AU are playing what age's from SSA? Are all AU teams playing up? I don't think it will be full team play ups. I think it will be mixed for sure. AU is playing in MLS and ECNL so lot of game a head and really no need. |
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Post by GameOfThrow-ins on Sept 9, 2020 10:48:04 GMT -5
Too bad MLS did this. Obviously they think the top talent will migrate to the clubs that GET to play against MLS teams - totally narcissistic “if you build it, they will come” mentality. They all should have just joined ECNL and played whatever MLS schedule they wanted during high school soccer hiatus. The egos and hubris involved wouldn’t allow it. It just sets up another top league pissing contest that is NOT in the interest of the players or the state of U.S. soccer in general. It’s not rocket science.
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Post by allthingsoccer on Sept 9, 2020 13:16:15 GMT -5
Too bad MLS did this. Obviously they think the top talent will migrate to the clubs that GET to play against MLS teams - totally narcissistic “if you build it, they will come” mentality. They all should have just joined ECNL and played whatever MLS schedule they wanted during high school soccer hiatus. The egos and hubris involved wouldn’t allow it. It just sets up another top league pissing contest that is NOT in the interest of the players or the state of U.S. soccer in general. It’s not rocket science. I'm glad they did. You can ask the same a few years ago why ECNL came out with boys. We had DA at that time, why did we need another boys league then. The fact is that DA needed to be replaced and no one better would be MLS. If MLS is going to dump money into a league why would they dump in into one that isnt their brand nor control. I just wish they didnt have non-MLS clubs in the MLS league. If they could have had some sort of cross league competition that would have been amazing. Like national championships or something. Top 10 MLS vs Top 10 ECNL. ..... Like it or not, MLS/USL is the best pathway our young players have her in the US. Its extremely hard to play overseas, let alone before you are 18. The brand (AU/MLS) alone will garnish eyeballs from international clubs. You are sadly mistaken if you dont think it will, it already has. Pretty much a handful of ways to get onto that path. HighSchool/Club to College to Super Draft MLS Academy to USL to PRO (Home Grown status) MLS Academy to College to PRO (Home Grown status) MLS Academy to College to Super Draft |
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Post by bogan on Sept 9, 2020 13:35:33 GMT -5
Too bad MLS did this. Obviously they think the top talent will migrate to the clubs that GET to play against MLS teams - totally narcissistic “if you build it, they will come” mentality. They all should have just joined ECNL and played whatever MLS schedule they wanted during high school soccer hiatus. The egos and hubris involved wouldn’t allow it. It just sets up another top league pissing contest that is NOT in the interest of the players or the state of U.S. soccer in general. It’s not rocket science. I'm glad they did. You can ask the same a few years ago why ECNL came out with boys. We had DA at that time, why did we need another boys league then. The fact is that DA needed to be replaced and no one better would be MLS. If MLS is going to dump money into a league why would they dump in into one that isnt their brand nor control. I just wish they didnt have non-MLS clubs in the MLS league. If they could have had some sort of cross league competition that would have been amazing. Like national championships or something. Top 10 MLS vs Top 10 ECNL. ..... Like it or not, MLS/USL is the best pathway our young players have her in the US. Its extremely hard to play overseas, let alone before you are 18. The brand (AU/MLS) alone will garnish eyeballs from international clubs. You are sadly mistaken if you dont think it will, it already has. Pretty much a handful of ways to get onto that path. HighSchool/Club to College to Super Draft MLS Academy to USL to PRO (Home Grown status) MLS Academy to College to PRO (Home Grown status) MLS Academy to College to Super Draft True. Only a few ways to get there. Consider this-only 1.8% of college soccer players make the pros. Only 2% (worldwide) make more than $720k./yr. (Forbes) Enjoy the ride-regardless of the eventual destination. |
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Post by GameOfThrow-ins on Sept 9, 2020 17:51:23 GMT -5
“I just wish they didnt have non-MLS clubs in the MLS league. If they could have had some sort of cross league competition that would have been amazing. Like national championships or something. Top 10 MLS vs Top 10 ECNL.”
That’s pretty close to what I said they should have done. Play a 20 game ECNL schedule as well as a 20 game MLS schedule (or however many games they want). Alternatively, had MLS immediately said they wanted to merge MLS/DA into ECNL and pressed the issue, ECNL would have been happy to set up a tiered league with their top clubs - they’re doing it anyway with ECRL. Everyone would have been happy with either of those scenarios.
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Post by allthingsoccer on Sept 9, 2020 21:35:06 GMT -5
“I just wish they didnt have non-MLS clubs in the MLS league. If they could have had some sort of cross league competition that would have been amazing. Like national championships or something. Top 10 MLS vs Top 10 ECNL.” That’s pretty close to what I said they should have done. Play a 20 game ECNL schedule as well as a 20 game MLS schedule (or however many games they want). Alternatively, had MLS immediately said they wanted to merge MLS/DA into ECNL and pressed the issue, ECNL would have been happy to set up a tiered league with their top clubs - they’re doing it anyway with ECRL. Everyone would have been happy with either of those scenarios. Yeah. I guess we will never know behind the scenes of what actually transpires on phones calls and emails. I mean, all people involved in US soccer are money motivated and control freaks. Its all business at the end of the day, everyone gots something to sell. Oh how I miss going to my local club and hanging with friends, parents eating and drinking, Sunday league in full swing, eat, sleep and bled for the club. All monies went back to club for the club and its future. Free play. |
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Post by rifle on Sept 10, 2020 5:34:00 GMT -5
Another new “we’re the best “ league that builds a fence and won’t compete outside the fence... seems so familiar.
My theory: we’re doing it wrong. Open the damn pyramid.
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Post by Futsal Gawdess on Sept 10, 2020 19:56:06 GMT -5
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