MLS Soccer Academies: Death of men's college soccer?

A very interesting question indeed. It makes perfect sense, especially when competing with international counterparts being coached under the same professional system starting at the age of 12 or 13, the college game will take a huge hit. You gotta wonder if this progress and the level of talent available drops, will soccer programs move away from scholarship level to club soccer?

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6520002/mls-academies-kill-college-game-soccer

Well, the academies might siphon off players who have little interest in college and talent enough to go pro, but I think there will always be a place for college ball just as there is for baseball.

The college game might have to change, though.

I remember 15 years ago Clive complained in an article that the NCAA just didn't allow enough practice and playing time, and the two games In a weekend format hurt players. I think if the college game is to survive in the long run, they will have to go year round.

But keep in mind that there are more college programs than there have ever been, so there is a little chicken little talk going on here. People are confusing college ball with minor league soccer. They aren't the same. What might happen is that college programs go PDA, like BYU DID.

And, if I'm not mistaken, UO has fielded a club team as well on the men's side for a number of years... (And yes, as you would suspect, they are likely the best outfitted club side in the entire country)

Has MiLB killed college baseball?

As the Geezer says, there will be only 20 MLS academies at most. Where do the rest of the kids go? I promise you, even the smallest college program is more stable and has more resources than some of these PDL or USL Pro clubs.

At least we won't have the one and done charade basketball has. And since only one out of every 20 or so academy players will make it to the pro's, we might get better players in college that the club programs now provide.

Competition is good.

I suppose the biggest change will be college will no longer see elite players pass through its ranks. There are still plenty of kids wanting to play youth soccer (and perhaps progress to college), the better players will just be siphoned off sooner...

There will still be plenty of parents who will insist that an education comes first.

Louis Robles and Collen Warner are cases in point.

Purplegeezer wrote:There will still be plenty of parents who will insist that an education comes first.

Hahaha, that definitely wasn't readily apparent during my time on the bluff...

DaTruRochin wrote:

Purplegeezer wrote:There will still be plenty of parents who will insist that an education comes first.

Hahaha, that definitely wasn't readily apparent during my time on the bluff...

"Why spend energy walking to lunch when you can drive?" doesn't qualify as a life lesson to you?

Yeah, I don´t see this as the death of college soccer at all, and I have no idea of how you´re definining "death." Yes, the academies will strengthen US soccer, and it´s probably inevitable that more of the players will be drafted. But, there are some points that should be pointed out:

1) The players in the acadamies have no life beyond soccer. That´s not for everyone.
2) If you want to have a backup plan or are thinking about coaching, the education of college is probably a better road to take.
3) Beyond scouts for MLS teams, who watches the games of the acadamies...or even MLS reserve games for that matter?
4) Academic scholarships give players an immediate reward for their athletic abilities, and the cost of an education is not going to go down anytime soon.

I suppose the main supposition of the article is the best American players are no long going to play the college game. It still might exist for the second and third level players, but the stars won't see the NCAA pitch...

And as far as Reserve League games go, well they might not get much attention now, but that's because this is the first year they have had them in the last 5. In theory they should go a long way toward developing talent in MLS because players will always be playing inter-squad matches, even if not for the first team. Also with the expansion of the league and more games per team, you will need all the depth you can get. And you better believe that as soon as academies start being more established and whatnot, scouts will be all over them internationally.

DaTruRochin wrote:I suppose the main supposition of the article is the best American players are no long going to play the college game. It still might exist for the second and third level players, but the stars won't see the NCAA pitch...

And as far as Reserve League games go, well they might not get much attention now, but that's because this is the first year they have had them in the last 5. In theory they should go a long way toward developing talent in MLS because players will always be playing inter-squad matches, even if not for the first team. Also with the expansion of the league and more games per team, you will need all the depth you can get. And you better believe that as soon as academies start being more established and whatnot, scouts will be all over them internationally.

Well, if you want to play in front of a crowd, reserve games aren't the path.

I've watched them in Argentina and Spain with only a few hundred other folks. The timbers reserves actually play to larger crowds. Soccer starved fans here, I guess.

Hahha, well there isn't really much else going on sports wise in the summer.... But I guess at least you are getting paid if you are in reserve games??

I notice the reserves talk about riding bicycles to practice. I'm pretty sure none is bitching about their Lexus repair costs.

First year starters in the league ( Al-Hassan, for instance) are making under 35K)

Hahaha I have no pity for anyone getting paid $35K to play a game. Get it, no pity... I should patent that.

Anyway the RL is for development under the eyes of club coaches, and a place to prove your mettle before stepping in front of the big(ger) crowds.... And besides if you want to make boat loads money as an athlete in the states and you've chosen soccer? You might want to fire your financial adviser.