San Diego Teams bring players from over the border (Mexico)
- Thread starter TopNotch
- Start date
I wouldn't think so, as long as they have a legal birth certificate. As an example foreign exchange students have played on club teams in the past, and I have also seen where some college coaches have asked for their foreign players to red shirt and play on a local U19 club team.
justneededaname
SILVER ELITE
I doubt there are any rules on it. In San Diego the border is not some "thou shalt not pass" demarcation line. Lots of people cross every day. It is the busiest border crossing in the world. Soccer players from the US play in Mexico and kids from Mexico play in the US. For kids in Chula Vista it is faster to get to practice with a team in Tijuana than it is to get to practice with a team such as Surf. My son's high school is probably 25% kids commuting from Mexico. It has always been that way. I am 50 and have friends who lived in Mexico and went to school in the US when they were in high school. I have another friend who lived in the US and went to high school in TJ.
There's no citizenship or residency requirement that I'm aware of in USCS or USYS player eligibility guidelines. Closest thing I recall reading would be the "Travel Distance Concern" language for ECNL, but a kid coming over the border from TJ to SD isn't out of bounds when you consider the kids that travel from the IE to OC or SD.
I recall a situation where a Tijuana-based player on a San Diego youth team was not placed on the list for ODP tryouts, even though he was certainly in the class of the players who were invited.
My experience with border teams/clubs is that they're unorganized (usually direct only) + the players have questionable birth certs. Some really good players at the younger ages but by the time 11v11 talent will move to bigger clubs.
The parents all love soccer so they're easy to get along with because they recognize talent for what it is.
The parents all love soccer so they're easy to get along with because they recognize talent for what it is.
GLangevinito
SILVER
At one time Nomad's entire first team were Mexican nationals scouted and recruited by the Xolos and all lived in a house in Chula Vista.
Unlike all of the other area leagues, MLS Next follows FIFA rules and requires International Transfer Certificates for players moving from the jurisdiction of another member association. You basically can't do it under 18 unless you are moving with your parents for non-football reasons or, in Europe, have an EU passport. There is an exception to the rules, though, for players living within 50km of the border and going to a club within 50km of the border and continuing to live with their parents in their home country. That's how the Tijuana kids go to clubs like Chula Vista MLS Next teams. Both the Mexican and US federations have to give consent though.
That sounds like more of a restriction than it is.
Is it really that hard to think of a plausible "non-football reason" to explain a move to the US?
It's no problem to move to the US (other than immigration laws), although FIFA does investigate whether a move was initiated by contact about soccer, rather than about something relating to the parents, and rejects after the fact rationales (and most of the time this is about moves from US to Europe - think Ben Lederman and Barca, John Kenneth Hilton (Xuxuh) and Ajax). I think the OP was referring to players who come over the board just to train and play games, while continuing to live in Mexico.
Well-off Tijuana residents (doctors and lawyers and such) sometimes have nice US residences (think Coronado tower condominiums) and their children attend US schools and play on US-based sports teams.