MLS Next News
- Thread starter WuTang
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Likely its about racial slurs at games by players. We had our meeting last Thursday and were given a handout from MLS.
RedDevilDad
GOLD
Yeah... banned words.
This is a fluff piece from the MLS site, but it is an article about MLS Next and its priorities, so I thought I would pass it along and this looked like the appropriate thread. It does confirm a few details (e.g., Winter Showcase, Summer Playoffs, plus Generation Adidas in Spring) and the creation of a cadre of Scouts working the MLS next games is discussed some.
www.mlssoccer.com
Four priorities for MLS NEXT's second season & what the future holds | MLSSoccer.com
MLS NEXT was born amid crisis, the product of Major League Soccer’s race to pick up the baton when the U.S. Soccer Federation shuttered its Development Academy youth league in the dark early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
www.mlssoccer.com
I've been pleasantly surprised with MLS Next. The MLS appears to be more vested than US Soccer ever was in the DA.This is a fluff piece from the MLS site, but it is an article about MLS Next and its priorities, so I thought I would pass it along and this looked like the appropriate thread. It does confirm a few details (e.g., Winter Showcase, Summer Playoffs, plus Generation Adidas in Spring) and the creation of a cadre of Scouts working the MLS next games is discussed some.
Four priorities for MLS NEXT's second season & what the future holds | MLSSoccer.com
MLS NEXT was born amid crisis, the product of Major League Soccer’s race to pick up the baton when the U.S. Soccer Federation shuttered its Development Academy youth league in the dark early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There's some truth to that, although MLS Next is woefully under-staffed for the scale and size of this league. From an incentive perspective, though, it makes sense that MLS would be more likely to become invested. Even apart from the cost savings from enabling local play, the league's owners need to find LOTS of great players, while US Soccer really only needs to find a relatively small number of tippy top best players. Plus, from both a short and long-term perspective, the league benefits if kids grow up feeling a part of it.
This is a fluff piece from the MLS site, but it is an article about MLS Next and its priorities, so I thought I would pass it along and this looked like the appropriate thread. It does confirm a few details (e.g., Winter Showcase, Summer Playoffs, plus Generation Adidas in Spring) and the creation of a cadre of Scouts working the MLS next games is discussed some.
Four priorities for MLS NEXT's second season & what the future holds | MLSSoccer.com
MLS NEXT was born amid crisis, the product of Major League Soccer’s race to pick up the baton when the U.S. Soccer Federation shuttered its Development Academy youth league in the dark early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Very fluffy especially the scouting part but yeah let's see how thing go for 21-22. In July hit this thread up again and see how things really turned out.
MLS academies seem to be exploring other options beyond U17 as UPSL has been expanding, Atlanta, LAFC, Orlando, Barca fielding u19ish teams vs adults.
New 2 league starting in 2022 and they gave separated themself somewhat in NEXT with the pro division.
NEXT might become or already is more of non MLS league vs not it seems after certain ages.
Yet as exciting as the broader youth movement may be, the significant disagreements of the DA’s final years have not magically disappeared. Chief among them is schedule balance, homegrown territories and players migrating from elite youth academies to MLS sides, hot-button topics that linger in youth circles.
They're front of mind for Lipka, Eskandarian & Co. as they seek to build a system that meets everyone’s needs and advance the big-picture objectives. It’s a complex and often messy process, but they’re bullish on the future.
“As a country, maybe we have failed in the past, with just so many different egos and politics and this and that. I'm really proud of our group and what we're trying to establish just in terms of our professionalism, communication, inclusivity,” said Eskandarian.
“We truly try and do things the right way and do what's best for the players in North America to succeed. So that's something that I'm proud of and I hope that we can get more and more influential people in the youth game to buy in and be a part of it, because at the end of the day we're all on the same team.”
I appreciate what they are saying here, but the pay to play system would have to go away to truly achieve this.
They're front of mind for Lipka, Eskandarian & Co. as they seek to build a system that meets everyone’s needs and advance the big-picture objectives. It’s a complex and often messy process, but they’re bullish on the future.
“As a country, maybe we have failed in the past, with just so many different egos and politics and this and that. I'm really proud of our group and what we're trying to establish just in terms of our professionalism, communication, inclusivity,” said Eskandarian.
“We truly try and do things the right way and do what's best for the players in North America to succeed. So that's something that I'm proud of and I hope that we can get more and more influential people in the youth game to buy in and be a part of it, because at the end of the day we're all on the same team.”
I appreciate what they are saying here, but the pay to play system would have to go away to truly achieve this.
One aspect I've already seen is that the movement between non-MLS teams and MLS Academies is definitely not a one-way street with the MLS Academy teams just sucking up the best players from the non-MLS teams. The non-MLS teams provide landing spots for players who Galaxy or LAFC let go, especially in age groups where they don't field a team. That's attractive for the non-MLS teams because they are getting darn good players and its attractive for the players to stay in MLS Next as a league in terms of competition and the opportunity to play with players they perceive as being at their level from being at one of the academies. They also may position themselves for moves elsewhere by staying in the league. It's too soon to know if this will repeat itself in MLS Next, but there are players who moved to other MLS Academies elsewhere in the country or to Mexico after a year spent playing with a non-MLS team in DA.
It would seem to me in the next couple of years you won't be seeing MLS academies playing in MLS Next after U15. They already don't field teams in the U16 age group and I suspect the MLS academies will have their best U17 players in the proposed MLS second league and likely not field a U17 team.
MLS Next announces new clubs, which include LA Bulls and LA Soccer Club, both for U13 and U14 only. Makes a certain amount of sense geographically, since they are located in areas that are near existing MLS Next clubs and can reduce travel at these younger age groups.
www.mlssoccer.com
MLS NEXT Announces Expansion for the 2023-24 Season | MLSSoccer.com
Nine new clubs that exhibit a commitment to player development, high-quality coaching, and promotion of key diversity, equity, and inclusion values will enter MLS NEXT in Fall 2023
www.mlssoccer.com
Geographically it would have made more sense to add a valley team. Rumor had been it might be Valley United. LASC is a bit of a blow to SoCal Elite who (despite being dropped by SoCal) had been pushing for it, and also is fairly close to Surf LA and TFA. LASC had been pushing for full inclusion so that's probably a bit of a disappointment for them too. LA Bulls makes sense geographically but is a bit out of left field...not a huge club and hasn't made much of a mark on the boys end.MLS Next announces new clubs, which include LA Bulls and LA Soccer Club, both for U13 and U14 only. Makes a certain amount of sense geographically, since they are located in areas that are near existing MLS Next clubs and can reduce travel at these younger age groups.
MLS NEXT Announces Expansion for the 2023-24 Season | MLSSoccer.com
Nine new clubs that exhibit a commitment to player development, high-quality coaching, and promotion of key diversity, equity, and inclusion values will enter MLS NEXT in Fall 2023
LA Bulls has definitely been second (or really third) rate on the west side, behind LA Breakers and Santa Monica Surf, including having an awful field at Paul Revere Middle School for years, but field access has gotten a little better in the area (plus they have had Pali HS for older age groups). One advantage they may have had is that they are one of the very few youth clubs run not just by women, but by women with pro and international credentials. Their coaches as a whole are very uneven, which kind of makes sense when you have flight 3 teams, but they can attract better coaches with better players. Their location also makes them a decent starter club for kids who ultimately travel farther for bigger and better clubs as they get older. This is probably a situation where if you built it they will come. Just getting the club into MLS Next immediately makes them an option to get and keep players they were losing from the area before. My guess is kids in the South Bay/El Segundo area may migrate north for it as well if they don't make LA Galaxy, although it may depend whether they stay limited to U13/U14 or get older age groups.
RandomSoccerFan
GOLD
The LA Bulls entrance is somewhat unexpected. Their current top U13/2010B team is 317th in state. Top U14/2009B team is 538th in state, and the 2010 team would be expected to beat the 2009 team. Recruiting with the MLS Next name is undoubtedly going to up these numbers quite a bit, but there is a ways to go. That said, the U12/2011B team that would be entering that MLS league for 2023/2024 as a U13, is currently showing 86th in state (and would be expected to beat both the U13 and U14 teams straight up right now).
LASC is a bit closer to the pointy end, especially with the 2009s. Their top U13B/2010 team looks to be ~230th in state. Top U14B/2009 team is all the way up to 11th in state, 24th nationally. But their top U12/2011B team still shows only 178th in state, so it has a bunch of ground to make up as well.
On paper, the South Valley United teams are stronger in most of these age groups. Top U12: 10th in state, Top U13: 114th in state, Top U14: 67th in state.
Not sure if you were referring to Valley United instead; they show as Top U12: 628th in state, Top U13: 229th in state, Top U14: (none with enough recent games to rank)
I'm not sure which it was. I just heard a "Valley United" had submitted an application and had been evaluated. As to LASC, do the 2009s get included? Aren't they U15 next season? They've been really doing a good job of recruiting this year. Will be a blow to the olders not included.
RandomSoccerFan
GOLD
Here's the info from that link:
- Los Angeles Soccer Club (West Covina, Calif.) – U13, U14
That's a shame. My son has friends on that team. LASC has done a lot of work on their recruitment in the hopes of getting this. My guess is the olders teams will now blow up (and 2009 will be officially olders) and go elsewhere. The other issue with the build it and they will come thing is they'll need a place to put their second team/ leftovers/want-to-bes...for most MLS teams it's the EA, but LASC was turned down for EA a while back, so had to settle for E64 which hasn't been everything it was promised to be. I wonder now if EA will reconsider (but may force them into EA2....the soccer announcement boards are awash with recruitments for new EA2 teams).
In any case, it's weird that 2 clubs which aren't even in the EA and were passed over would now be given MLS Next promotion.
At best the LA Bulls would rank 5th on the westside (at least for 2010 boys). I think the other westside clubs B teams regularly beat the Bulls first team. Maybe this will help them rise up.
CruzControl
BRONZE
Santa Monica Surf also applied for MLS Next this year. Their 2010 boys team has been a top 10/20 team in CA for years and is the top ranked 2010 Elite Academy league team in the country. Their 2011 boys team is a strong mid-table EA team that won the Flight 2 state cup last year. Their practice fields are all turf and located close to freeways for easy access from the east, north, and south. Unclear how they didn't get the West LA slot for MLS Next.
Interestingly there adds for MLS Next tryouts are already up. The thing that caught my eye is a line that girls are welcome to try out. That's odd, because of all the discussion on the transgender thread, U14 is the year when the boys begin to pull away from the girls physically.