The path to the national team

Tomorrow, Wednesday March 1, 2006, the US National Team will face off against fellow World Cup finalist Poland, in Kaiserslautern, Germany. This is going to be a good test for the US going into the World Cup for a few reasons. 1) Germany is the site of this summer's tournament. 2) Poland was stiff competition for the US in 2002 and is also preparing for the upcoming Cup. 3) The "full" national team is together for the first time this year. I put full in quotes because there are the notably absent and injured players; Claudio Reyna and John O'Brien top that list. However, in this current team you do have a mix of MLS and European based players who all have a very good and real chance of making the final squad of 23.

The following players are in Germany getting ready for tomorrow's match:

Goalkeepers
Tim Howard	Manchester United
Kasey Keller	Borussia Moenchengladbach
Defenders
Gregg Berhalter	Energie Cottbus
Carlos Bocanegra	Fulham FC
Steve Cherundolo	Hannover 96
Eddie Lewis	Leeds United
Oguchi Onyewu	Standard de Liege
Jonathan Spector	Charlton Athletic
Midfielders
DaMarcus Beasley	PSV Eindhoven
Bobby Convey	Reading FC
Clint Dempsey	New England Revolution
Landon Donovan	Los Angeles Galaxy
Chris Klein	Real Salt Lake
Pablo Mastroeni	Colorado Rapids
Kerry Zavagnin	Kansas City Wizards
Forwards
Eddie Johnson	Kansas City Wizards
Brian McBride	Fulham FC
Taylor Twellman	New England Revolution
Josh Wolff	Kansas City Wizards

After looking over this list I wondered, who here started out in a college soccer program? After that some more questions came up we'll discuss.

- Does playing in College get you onto the National Team? This is a tricky one. While 68% of this team did play at an American university at least one season, the guys who didn't are the young up and coming stars. The guys who did were playing competitive soccer before the US residency program was created and before MLS was picking kids out of high school. So that makes me think the recently developing residency program and MLS are taking the best of the youth crop and bringing them into the professional fold before college. This is true for Landon, DaMarcus, Convey and EJ. Oguchi Onyewu played a couple years at Clemson before making the leap to Europe, skipping US but he did start at the residency program. To answer the above, I think playing in college was a prereq for the National Team but only because it was the only route available at the time. MLS, European Youth teams and the US residency program are all taking these kids out of the college mix. Their development is happening at a quicker pace and they can get onto the national team at a younger age. If MLS expands their youth development system and the US National program grows, it could be the end of college soccer as we know it.

- Does playing in MLS get you onto the US National team? This one is a little more convincing as 74% of the above players have played in MLS. Unlike our last question it is the older guys who haven't played in MLS. Guys like Kasey Keller, Gregg Berhalter & Steve Cherundolo all saw better options across the pond after college. They all started on our shores and moved over. Spector and Onyewu made the same jump but they're in the minority. Since the start of the reign of Bruce as the National team manager, MLS players have gotten a real chance with the full team. MLS has broadened the player pool for the coach and I don't think we'd see the success on the world stage we have seen.

79% of the above list has played on various youth national teams so it certainly helps to get into the player pool early. If you don't, you're going to have to depend on MLS success as Eddie Lewis, Pablo Mastroeni & Chris Klein did.

Good luck to the Nats over in Germany tomorrow. This squad could give you a very good idea of who is going to be in Germany in a few months.

Who is going to make it in their rookie season?

As I spoke about earlier with Mike Ambersley , making the jump from college soccer to the pros is tough. Many draft picks will slowly fall through the cracks as the season wears on. However, at this early point in the pre-season it is fun to speculate on who will make it and who will fall through those cracks.

Since the league kick-off is still over a month away it is hard to tell who is performing well in pre-season practice and who is not keeping up. On the other hand, the CONCACAF Champions Cup can provide us with some insight. The two "best" teams in the 2005 MLS season kicked their participation in the annual tournament Wednesday night with the New England Revolution taking on LD Alajuelense from Costa Rica and the Los Angeles Galaxy playing against Deportivo Saprissa, also from Costa Rica. Neither MLS club got good results, in fact they both tied without scoring any goals. Not inspiring, exciting soccer to say the least, but for our purposes we can take a look at the starting line-ups to see which rookies, if any got playing time and who played well.

Let's start with New England. They took seven players between the two drafts. With the constrained MLS rosters there is no way all these guys will sign contracts and play for the team in 2006. Did any of them play on Wednesday night in the first leg of the CCC quarter final round? Nope, but Willie Sims, their second round pick out of Cal State Northridge, did suit up and sit on the bench.

How about LA? I was able to watch some of this game so I know first hand that at least one rookie got the start last night. Nathan Sturgis, LA's first round pick out of Clemson got the start at left back in the place of injured Todd Dunivant. Sturgis looked strong in tackles and confident on the ball. There was some rookie sloppy play but this is the first game of their season and only a two months into pre-season. Sturgis is a former US residency program player and played very well last summer at the U-20 FIFA World Youth Championships, so it should be no surprise that he can play the game. My surprise came when I saw his stature last night, in his first pro game. If he can continue to improve and play the way he did last night, there is no reason he won't have a good MLS career. It also shows why Steve Sampson may be willing to part with recent US National Team revelation, Todd Dunivant, since he and Sturgis are playing the same position. So there is one of the nine draft picks getting some early playing time.

This is obviously not an indication of the upcoming season and which rookie will play well, but it does give us an idea of who isn't going to get cut.

What is this residency program all about?

In my last post I talked about the kids joining college teams from the U-17 US residency program and I realize that some of you may not have heard of it before. The program was started in 1999 by US Soccer to help develop American soccer players for the National Team. 40 players live on campus at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. The kids go to school and play soccer. The best of the best around the country are given this chance.

Around the world clubs run youth academys where young soccer players train with professional coaches and play competitive games year round. In the US the youth coaching ranks are filled with little trained soccer moms and dads coaching kids who are told playing is more important than winning. US Soccer realized that they needed better coaching and training for the top talent to help this country move forward in the sport.

The residency program has had great success. The first class, 1999, has names everyone familiar with US Soccer will recognize: Nelson Akwari*, DaMarcus Beasley*, Kyle Beckerman*, Danny Bolin, Filippo Chillemi, Jordan Cila*, Bobby Convey*, D.J. Countess*, Steve Cronin*, Kenny Cutler*, Landon Donovan*, Adolfo Gregorio*, Bryan Jackson*, Kellen Kalso*, Greg Martin*, Oguchi Onyewu*, Raul Rivera, Matt Roberts, Seth Trembly* and Alexander Yi*. The (*) indicates player was a member of a FIFA U-17 World Championship roster. Players in bold are currently playing in MLS. Then there is DaMarcus Beasley who is a starting member of the best team in Holland and the only American to play in the semi-finals of the European Champions League. Bobby Convey who is helping Reading destroy the competition in the Coca-Cola League Championships where the winner automatically joins the Premier League next season. No one in England doubts Reading will win. Oguchi Onyewu has become a dominant defender in Belgium and will most likely be part of the 2006 World Cup team. So out of this first group of 20, 11 players are still making a living in professional soccer. D.J. Countess has been playing in MLS but was recently cut.

As you look down the alumni list of this exclusive program you see many of the top national team players and most of the "future stars" we've already heard of; Beasley, Donovan, Convey, Eddie Johnson, Chad Marshall, Heath Pearce, Santino Quaranta, Eddie Gaven, Mike Magee, Justin Mapp, Freddy Adu, Jonathan Spector, Michael Bradley and Daniel Szetela...just to name a few. Who else is on that list we haven't heard of yet? Many are still in college or have gone abroad to battle through a top club's youth system. It will be exciting to see who else pops up off that list.

The results are clear, the US residency program is helping to develop the top American soccer talent. Our World Cup hopes rest at the feet of Donovan and Beasley, two graduates. The fact the rosters doubled in 2002 and 2003, from 20 to 40, further shows people believe in it and want to see it grow. Maybe a second residency program can be developed to further expand the player pool. Maybe MLS clubs will take the reigns from US Soccer and the cream of the crop will come up through professional clubs. That is one of the biggest issues on MLS' plate right now.

Bring on the fresh meat

The 2005 seniors have been drafted and the juniors who didn't jump ship early are getting ready to step into the leadership role in the small spring season. But those depleted teams are going to need some fresh blood in the fall and the talent has decided where to go.

Soccer America has put together a master list of the young guns and where they're going to school. As you look through this list remember the big club teams we talked about earlier. You know the kids from Chicago Magic and Dallas Texans were highly recuited and should feature at their new school in the fall. Also look for the U.S. U-17 residency program label. These are the kids who have lived and breathed soccer for the past two years in Florida at the special center for gifted American players. These are the guys who are already on Bruce Arena's radar as well as the radar of most MLS coaches.

On paper UCLA has one of the top, if not the top, class of incoming freshman in the country. Some people thought Kyle Nakazawa would go to MLS and a generation adidas contract, others thought he'd go abroad to a club youth program, but he ended up with the Bruins. After a good performance in the U-17 World Championships, people expect a lot from Nakazawa. Add in three players from top 20 club program Pateadores of California and you've got a strong group. Three players from the Bruins' 2005 defensive unit are making a go of it in MLS, so there are some holes to fill. Returning players and this batch of freshman are going to be fighting it out for playing time.

Indiana University continues their legacy as the top college program in the country. Letting the College Cup slip through their hands was obviously very tough on a program that typically wins it. Don't let the small freshman class fool you, signing Kevin Alston and Ofori Sarkodie is huge for the Hoosiers. Ofori is a standout player who had options to go to MLS and abroad. Ofori and Kevin are teammates from the FIFA U-17 World Championships.

You can look through SA's list of recuits and see who got big classes, lots of guys from the top clubs and cross reference this US Soccer website to see who is from the residency program.

Another step forward

In my last post about Mike Ambersley I mentioned the United Soccer Leagues. For those who don't know, the USL are the second tier league in the US behind MLS. USL has been around in different forms longer than MLS, but they never made the big investment made by MLS' founders and they continue to play in the shadow of their big brothers. Many MLS players have come from USL and USL has given some college players a home for some needed additional development. Check out the USL website as there have been some exciting developments in their world recently, further enforcing the idea that soccer is prospering in the US.

The most relevant development to this blog is the announcement that USL will have a new U-20 league. In fact, MLS teams will be fielding squads for this new league. It is great news that there will be another league for up and coming American players to play highly competitive matches. At this point only the New York Metrostars will be fielding a team in this new league, and the players who play in it will not be the same players who play weekly in MLS, but this will give the Metros another place to support and develop area youth.

Good for USL. In many ways they are doing the dirty work MLS doesn't want to do right now.

It is a tough road

Getting from college soccer to the pros is a tough road, just ask Mike Ambersley. Yesterday the 4th round SuperDraft pick out of the soccer powerhouse Indiana University was released by FC Dallas.

Mike was not a nobody going into his senior year and the MLS SuperDraft and frankly it is a little surprising to see him released a week before MLS rosters have to be set. Mike's soccer career has been a strong one. In 2000 he was named the Missouri player of the year for his outstanding high school play. He was also a high school All-American. He was a starter throughout his career at IU but redshirted his Junior season. He has played for the US Youth National team at the U-20 level. If I recall correctly he scored the winning goal for IU in the College Cup a year or two ago to seal another College Cup trophy for his school.

On paper he should be able to make an MLS side. Maybe he's too small at 5' - 7". Maybe he didn't work hard enough in the pre-season games he participated in. Maybe he didn't see eye to eye with Dallas coach, Collin Clarke.

Ambersley was in a crowded group of Rookies down in Dallas. At one point Dallas had 13 newbies training with them. With the roster constraints imposed by MLS there is no way many of these guys will get a contract when the day is done.

This just goes to show that being a starter and good player at the most storied US Soccer university is no guarantee of a spot on a MLS side. Competition for those 28 spots is fierce. There are plenty of people who laugh off MLS saying it is a second tier league, but Mike Ambersley should be able to play in a second tier league. And here he is a couple months before the season without a team.

I think Mike being cut shows that MLS is improving the level of talent every year and making a career out of it is not an easy thing to do. Good luck to Mike. Maybe another MLS side will invite him into camp or, more likely if he wants to keep the soccer dream alive, he'll get a contract with one of the United Soccer Leagues teams.

Where does it all begin?

So now you are probably asking, where does this journey from college to the pros begin? There is a simple answer, youth club soccer. I don't care who you are or where you grow up, if you want to get seen in our current developmental system you've got to be playing on a solid club side. High school soccer is nice, but the coaches are often poorly if not untrained. High school gives the kids additional competitive games but the real action goes down during the club season and on the weekends. The big youth soccer clubs have big budgets, highly trained coaches and draw kids from entire regions. To get into a good college program, the Olympic Development Program (ODP), or the US National Team Residency program, you've got to play on a competitive soccer club...and you better start at a young age to make sure you learn all you can.

Soccer America publishes a ranking of the top clubs in the country. Here they are for 2006:
1 Chicago Magic (Ill.)
2 Dallas Texans (Texas)
3 Sockers FC (Ill.)
4 Arsenal FC (Calif.)
5 FC Delco (Pa.)
6 Scott Gallagher (Mo.)
7 So Cal United (Calif.)
8 Casa Mia's Bays (Md.)
9 FC Greater Boston (Mass.)
10 Washington FC Premier (Wash.)
11 Sereno SC (Ariz.)
12 Crossfire Premier (Wash.)
13 Nomads (Calif.)
14 HC United (Fla.)
15 CASL Elite (N.C.)
16 Irvine Strikers (Calif.)
17 Concorde Fire (Ga.)
18 Solar (Texas)
19 Potomac SA (Md.)
20 Colorado Rush Nike (Colo.)
20 Pateadores (Calif.)

The SuperDraft isn't the only way

This morning I was thinking about the whole college to the pros thing and I realized I left out a piece of the puzzle yesterday when explaining the MLS system.

First, you may be asking how MLS teams scout all these college players across the nation. Most of the year that is a mystery to us all. Clubs coaches have mainly relied on relationships with different college programs and the opinions of those close to those programs. The American soccer world is tightly knit and people talk about the players they've seen and liked. This is all a very informal process. The league gets involved in January when they invite the supposed top of the college ranks to the MLS Combine. If you want to learn about the 2006 event, here are some stories. During the combine coaches get to see the players in a few matches. Most people I have read say that the combine is a tough place to see players in a true soccer environment. The teams are artificial and there is little to no chemistry between the players and coaches.

Because of this imperfect and mostly informal system good players can slip through the cracks. Most if not all MLS teams have found a "diamond in the rough" type of player who slips through the coaches phone network and doesn't get an invite to the combine. Some who get to the combine don't have an opportunity to impress and never hear their name called during the drafts.

As a Colorado Rapids fan I immediately think of Nat Borchers when this topic comes up. Nat graduated from the University of Denver in 2003 as an unheralded defender. He's a Colorado native and worked his way into a try out with the Rapids. Upon signing a developmental contract he continued his studies towards a masters in accounting to make sure he'd have a career when this soccer dream played itself out. An injury to a starting defender gave Nat the chance of a lifetime. Nat came in and grabbed the starting position for the rest of the season. Successful 2004 and 2005 seasons saw him become a rock in the center of the Rapids' stingy defense. Surrounded by defensive masters Robin Fraser, Mike Petke and Pablo Mastroeni, Nat learned how to control the back line. Life got more exciting for Nat with a call up to the US U-23 National Team which was unsuccessful in qualifying for the Olympics. In January of 2006 Nat went over to Norway for a training stint with Odd Grenland. When the coaches at the club got a look at Nat's ability they quickly decided to purchase the player's rights from MLS. Nat is now getting settled into a new club and has been added to the growing Yanks abroad directory.

Nat's story shows that you don't have to play for the big University and go through the US residency program to become a stand out in MLS and move abroad to further your career. Nat will now be able to learn in a strong professional European system and potentially grab the attention of a bigger club looking for bargains in Norway. Every year MLS teams are scouring their local try outs for fresh talent not seen by other clubs. Every year a new Nat Borchers will pop up and beg the question, "where did he come from?"

Need to catch up???

Major League Soccer held their annual drafts in January. First was the 2006 MLS SuperDraft. This featured most of the big names and held some surprises. Click here to see a complete list of who was drafted. After the four round SuperDraft, MLS held the backfilling Supplemental Draft. To be honest, I don't understand why there are two drafts, but MLS likes it that way and so be it. Here are the guys who were available in the Supplemental Draft. MLS hasn't released a list of the supplemental picks, so once the rosters are final we'll see who made it from this secondary draft.

Many of the players drafted will not make their MLS squads final rosters'. MLS has strict rules about roster sizes and there are only 28 roster positions available per team. Competition is tough for those spots so during spring training the players must prove their value. March 1, 2006 is the roster compliance deadline where teams have to fit inside the salary budget and within the roster size limits.

Draft picks are most likely fighting for a developmental roster spot. MLS splits teams into two roster categories; Senior and Developmental. The senior roster has 18 spots and the developmental 10. If you want to learn more specifics, check out the MLS rules and regs pages here.

We'll soon be able to look at who makes the cut and who doesn't.

edit: Thanks to a visitor I found the Supplemental Draft results on MLS' website. Here they are.

Welcome

Welcome to a soccer blog dedicated to following youth American soccer players coming up the professional ranks. The current American set up has most young soccer players aspiring to play college ball before getting drafted by Major League Soccer. That could all change with the creation of a MLS youth development system but for the time being college is the predominant American development system between youth soccer and professional clubs.

We'll keep tabs on up and coming freshman, the sophomore avoiding a second year slump, the juniors who have made their mark and the seniors looking for final year glory. Everything will come to a head around here in January when MLS has their yearly drafts. To the extent possible we will also monitor college stars moving abroad, the US Soccer residency program, USL bound players and anyone else making a name for themselves in US College Soccer.