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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 18 2001 : 09:51:54 AM
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...is well founded. Find below another article that supports arguments. There are some points of view that it is silly to argue against. Shatta's view that the JFF and or some other entity must develop de Academy is one such.
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Zeppo
MLS looking at youth academys
Tue Sep 18 07:43:39 2001
MLS LOOKING AT YOUTH ACADEMYS
17 September 2001 (Teamtalk) -- MLS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gazidis has stated that the league is looking at a form of Youth Academies to subsidize Project 40.
The U.S. top-flight's youth development arms know as Pro-40 takes the best of the up and coming youth players, and enters them through draft systems in the 12 MLS clubs.
However, Gazidis is pointing to expanding the scope of ensuring young talent is placed into a progressive production line of being able to have the opportunity to make their dreams come true.
The deputy commissioner spent a large section of his younger years in England, and that was the country that he pointed to when referring to a template for his and the league's plans.
"I think part of the English experience has been that in the end, although you can take the elite players and give them the best environment in which to develop, the thing that develops players better than anything else is competition, said Gazidis. "The best way to promote competition is by having a large number of players that are snapping at your heels, literally and figuratively, across the country.
"The more players that you have in elite programs, the more competition there is going to be and the higher the level of achievements are going to be," he added, whilst going further to note that the net had to be widened. "That speaks to widening the net as broadly as possible.
"Nike Project-40 is a very much a rifle, selecting the elite of the elite, and giving them the best environment that we can give them. If we could supplement that with youth development programs at our teams across the country I think that would be a positive step. However, there are many things to be said about that."
Clubs such as York City and Crewe make millions of pounds from selling on their young talent to the Premiership, with York linked with Manchester United and Sunderland, while Crewe are linked to Liverpool. But Gazidis pointed out the system in the U.S. is very different to the UK.
"The U.S. is a very different setup to a place like England," he said. " You have some very, very good youth development programs in place with some of the clubs here and you have a college system that is well developed and obviously the professional salary scale is not what they are in England.
"The dynamic and equation is very different here and we have to come up with a system that is unique for us and that works for the United States and makes sense for our young players. Project-40 is a great first step and we are going to have some terrific benefits out of that, but if you look at what we are doing in Chicago, New York and DC that is in the embryonic stages.
Those MLS teams have set up their own reserve sides, with the MetroStars bearing fruit with players like top-scorer Rodrigo Faria, and the Chicago Fire reserves coming close to making the U.S. Open Cup rounds proper.
"I expect those kinds of programs to broaden over time and spread to more of our teams so that we have more competition among the young players," added Gazidis.
"There is no question that for any young soccer player, being in a professional environment with some great players is the best place to be, and getting competitive games is a double whammy," summed up Gazidis. "That is almost a perfect situation in terms of development.
"The issues that you have in the States though are the alternatives for a young 16 or 17-year old. They can either make a decision at a young age to be a professional soccer player, or they can hold that decision for a couple of years while they go to college.
"The excellent college system here provides players with a great safety net educationally. With the limited number of players that are in Project-40, MLS and US Soccer can provide a safety net for them. But could you do that for hundreds of players coming through a youth development program? That would be more difficult.
"The equation, because of the college system and salary levels here is different for a player in the United States than it is in Europe."
Gazidis is certainly ensuring that the league doesn't allow major talent to slip through its net.
Karl
Edited by - Karl on Sep 18 2001 09:56:02 |
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Karl
Senior Member
USA
914 Posts |
Posted - Sep 18 2001 : 09:54:26 AM
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The only thing to do is put minds to adapting the most suitable model...or creating the most suitable model for our Jamaican circumstance.
Karl |
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ShattaCleve
New Member
USA
73 Posts |
Posted - Sep 18 2001 : 8:36:58 PM
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We cannot afford to be politically correct anymore Karl
First and foremost I did watch the US in one game and even thought they were technically very gifted they lacked the one on one skill you tend to see at this level.
Their crosses from the flanks would put our players to shame However they just didn't have too many gifted players.
this leads me to another problem we have. From time to time we have seen the US college system skim the cream of the crop (Andy Williams, Shavar Thomas, Winston Griffiths)
We simply cannot afford to lose our top players to the collegiate system if we hope to compete on the top level.
It is okay to be politically correct about education but we have to decide if we are in the business of education or football. I know it sounds harsh but if we are not prepared to take those tough steps then we should be prepared for continued under acheivement from those players.
We have to address this problem and soon, we don't have the depth of talent to just ignore this problem. Even one player is one player too much.
Karl an Academy nowadays doesn't not guarantee sucess all it does is allow one to be somewhat competitive. Right now having an academy is like having an high school diploma in todays work force. It is the bare minimum.
YOu wouldn't expect to produce engineers without technical schools would you? So too nowadays withouth academies you can't produce footballers who will compete with footballers from Africa and South America for contracts on European teams.
We have talent but they have talent and technical skills who do you think will get a contract first? It is the harsh realities of a global marketplace.
Either we prepare to compete or leave this business alone
respect
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