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Posted - Aug 15 2003 : 09:57:08 AM
Mac
This is a must read, I repeat a must read!!
Friday, August 15, 2003, 6:36:10 AM
IP:130.91.17.222
Taken from www.washingtonpost.com
U.S. Soccer's Ultimate Goal
Youth Programs Are Developing World Class Talent
By Jason La Canfora
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 14, 2003; Page D01
HELSINKI -- Last spring Jonathon Spector was struggling for playing time on the U.S. under-17 national soccer team, confined to the bench behind a bountiful group of forwards. Four months later Spector -- since converted to a defender -- impressed officials at Manchester United so much during a tryout that they offered him a contract.
Such is the robust state of youth soccer in the United States. Spector and his teammates will be among the most closely watched youngsters during the Under-17 World Championship beginning Thursday in Finland. The U.S. squad, which features 14-year-old phenom Freddy Adu of Potomac, opens play against South Korea and there is a strong possibility Spector will not be the only young American heading back to Europe after the tournament.
The U.S. Soccer Federation made a renewed commitment to youth development in 1999 as part of its goal to win the World Cup in 2010, launching a residency program in Bradenton, Fla., to provide free training, housing and education to the best under-17 players in the country. Landon Donovan, who starred at the 2002 World Cup and was signed by German powerhouse Bayer Leverkusen at age 16, and Bobby Convey, who is in the process of being transferred from D.C. United to English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, were among the first group of 20 players to enter the program.
Two members of the U.S. team here in Finland -- Eddie Gaven and Guillermo Gonzalez -- already play in MLS, and Adu is one of the most sought after young players in the world. The residency program, which has been expanded to 30 players per semester and could reach 40 invitees by the fall, has led to 15 players graduating into MLS. That program, along with the efforts of MLS to identify, integrate and nurture talent into its teams, has helped bring the U.S. toward the vanguard of youth soccer.
'I've gone on record as saying that I think the USA will win a World Cup before England does,' said Les Kershaw, director of Manchester United's youth academy. 'The Americans are doing it the right way. They are coaching kids to understand what this game of soccer is all about, and they are doing it at a young age. One thing about America, if it does something it will research it fully and do its homework fully, and that's what has happened with its soccer.'
Kershaw's scouts discovered Spector when the U.S. under-17 team played in a tournament in Northern Ireland last May, and he is scheduled to take the field for Manchester United's under-18 team in September. Spector, an Illinois native, is not the only American prospect vying for playing time at one of England's famed clubs; Frank Simek (St. Louis) and Danny Karbassiyoon (Roanoke, Va.) are playing for Arsenal's youth teams.
Soccer Schools
Only a handful of American-bred players have enjoyed long-term success in Europe, most of them goalies such as Brad Friedel of Blackburn Rovers (England) and Kasey Keller of Tottenham Hotspur, and that stuttered migration did not really begin until the 1990s. After the demise of the North American Soccer League in 1984 and before the formation of MLS in 1996 college soccer was the only option for top players and the only feeder system for national team players.
A last-place finish at the 1998 World Cup intensified the need for bold action, and the residency program has quickly transitioned players from promising teenagers to paid professionals, filling that void. In soccer-mad countries most teams have well-established youth academies where potential stars are often identified and scouted before their 10th birthday, and the U.S. residency program takes that model but focuses it on developing talent for the national team.
The intense program includes an educational element as well as the opportunity to train daily in pristine facilities with a superior coaching and training staff. Players have sports psychologists at their disposal and are groomed on how to conduct themselves in public and deal with the media, all the while facing international competition and traveling the world.
'Going to Bradenton was the single most important part of my development,' said Donovan, who was named the best player in the 1999 Under-17 World Championship and led the U.S. team to a best-ever fourth-place finish. 'The best part about it is that we trained every day and it was a professional environment. You go to school in the morning, train in the afternoon, get back to do your homework and after that you could just go outside and kick the ball around for five or six hours. That's what we loved to do; just doing that helped me so much.'
John Ellinger has coached the under-17 team since the advent of the residency program and is at the heart of the program. Ellinger, who coached and taught in Maryland before moving to Florida, does much more than merely instruct soccer tactics. With players as young as 13 under his care he must serve as a surrogate parent and cater to their off-the-field needs as well.
'He is a father figure to us,' co-captain Corey Ashe of Virginia Beach said. 'We rely on him a lot for our strength. He is a great guy and great coach. He knows everything about us, all of our strengths and weaknesses, and he's constantly making our strengths better and our weaknesses our strengths. He's made me a better person and a better captain.'
Ellinger must also be stern when necessary. The second time a player does something to embarrass himself, his team or his country he will be expelled from the program -- no one has met that wrath yet -- and the teenagers must earn the right to stay in Bradenton from semester to semester with their play and academic performance.
'They put a lot of pressure on themselves to do the job not only on the field and in the classroom, but to be disciplined young men as well,' Ellinger said. 'My staff and I take a lot of pride in the fact that we see these guys move on to be future national team players or advance in soccer or as people. It's very rewarding for us.'
Pleasant Surprise
There is no shortage of Ellinger's former pupils around MLS, and that list will only grow in coming years. The relationship between the eight-year-old league and the USSF is strong -- in many countries there are fissures between leagues and the national federation over the usage of players in international competition -- and has been mutually beneficial.
MLS began its own developmental program -- Project-40 -- in 1997 to provide an alternative for young players. Players signed into the program, generally between 16 and 22 years old, earn the minimum annual salary during their initial season and are awarded a five-year academic package covering college tuition (players sacrifice their NCAA eligibility by turning pro). Each MLS team generally has two or three Project-40 players -- D.C.'s Alecko Eskandarian is a member of the 2003 class -- and they do not count against roster limits. Many of these players have made an immediate impact.
'It's been one of the real pleasant surprises for us,' Commissioner Don Garber said. 'The level of play and the quality of the American soccer player has been accelerated by the fact that MLS has been in place for somewhat less than a decade. Young American players are getting professional experience and performing in the wide variety of competitive environments that is necessary to become a world soccer power.'
The league has gone to great lengths to ensure a healthy environment for its young players -- former D.C. United general manager Kevin Payne moving Convey into his home as a 16-year-old rookie is but one example -- and being able to funnel young players into spots vacated by European-bound Americans will be essential to MLS's stability to growth.
MLS also benefits financially by selling top U.S. talent to foreign clubs.
'In the past we've had world-class teams at the youth levels,' deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis said. 'And then there was a huge gap between those players and the ones who became young professionals. Now we have a continuum for the first time ever, and these players are developing in a way they really cannot develop anywhere else.'
The league continues to seek more young stars and officials hope that in coming years each MLS club will have a reserve team of young players and something approximating a youth academy, although there is no timetable as of yet.
'This is a massive country with 20 million registered participants in soccer,' Gazidis said. 'It's not possible to go out there and get your arms around that in any short time frame.'
European Play
For all of MLS's progress, heading to Europe remains the ultimate goal for many of America's most talented players. The continent's thundering passion for the sport and its legion of prestigious teams make it a coveted destination, but there are several obstacles to overcome.
American players are rapidly shedding a reputation for failing to make an impact abroad, and they are more sought after than ever. However, in 2001 FIFA, soccer's world governing body, enacted legislation to prevent players from being transferred from one country to another before their 18th birthday in response to horror stories of young African and South Americans being stuck penniless in foreign countries after their contracts were not extended.
There are also difficult work-permit laws in many European countries.
England has the tightest restrictions. There, players without a European passport and who have not participated in 75 percent of the games played by the full national team over a two-year period are not eligible for permits.
Mitigating circumstances, such as whether a parent will be traveling abroad with the player, can be of benefit in the appeal process, and there are various ways for resourceful teams to circumvent the rules, although in the case of someone as well known as Adu there might be additional problems doing so.
'He is so high profile now that it actually inhibits us,' Kershaw said.
'We couldn't get him over here other than through the proper channels.'
A likely scenario for Adu, and one that could become increasingly popular for young American players, is to sign with a European team before age 18 and then be loaned to MLS for a year or two before meeting other transfer criteria. Should players keep developing at the current rate, and the U.S. under-17 team continue to shine, Spector could have some company at Manchester United in the near future.
'I know they have interest in other young American players coming over here,' Spector said. 'They know we can play; just look at what our country did in the last World Cup [reaching the quarterfinals]. I think a lot of American players could play over there, but they're not able to get the work permit. I was lucky enough to have a German passport.'
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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