Second this. Really helpful information on this thread. I think k you can tell who knows what they are taking about and who doesn't just by the quality of the posts. |
Tell that to all the families that take their kids to Europe thinking their kids are going to get signed under the age of 16 |
If your kids are trying to play at a pro.club the club will need to prove that you moved for non football related reasons if they want to play right away. If not at a pro club they can play at a local club right away with no issue. Spanish federation much harder to crack into than some other countries. Spanish federation doesn't believe they need a ton of outside players under the age of 16. Of there are exceptions but Spain is one of the tougher places to navigate.from a footballing perspective. Just ask Ben Ledermans's family. https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/37505927/how-us-prodigy-ben-lederman-career-was-almost-ruined-barcelona |
Oh gosh that story was so heartbreaking!! I think about it when people talk about trying to take their kid to Europe to go pro. It’s tough on the whole family!! Believe it or not I have a son who has the skills and potential to go pro but i would never send him away or separate our family so it will depend on if he makes it into dc united next year when he’s eligible. We will see!! Our family has to come first! |
So is Bethesda still going down? |
Yeah I got to know.
Is Bethesda on the way down? In other news, my son turned on the US youth soccer championship finals this morning, and we ended up perusing all the teams nationwide that made it to the championship, and there was no Bethesda on the list anywhere to be found in any age group. Thoughts? |
Srsly does that really happen often? Sounds insane |
You are asking if local P2P clubs are assisting players to make in-roads into legitimate European academies? NO! Avoid the MLS Pro Academy in a desire to find a path to professional academy in Europe? Nonsense. You think Athletic Bilbao knows and acknowledges Bethesda over DC United? Get serious people. |
The old rule is still true...if they ain't hating you, you ain't doing anything productive. Only clown parents equate winning youth trophies with development. A Homie The Clown Parent would expect a Bethesda team in the USYS championships... Go check the post on the pyramid Homie and learned the landscape...lol Thanks for the poster for filling in the details on the transfer rules. Great discussion and very valuable. Let the trolls have their thread back. |
No BSC is not helping with the effort. BSC coaches train my player. You, the parent, are responsible for your kids path. Not BSC, not any club. BSC has gotten our foot in the door with guesting around the country. Other local clubs do not have great reputations around the country with coaches we have guested for. Once people see your kid and they can actually play, the world gets small. From the tone of the people in this chat, this is WAAAY above your heads. Drop it and register for the "new RDS program with DCU" get developed in the "DCU methodology." |
It does |
P2P clubs care about money only. Some do help with European contacts. Achilles and Paragon have helped their players get to Europe. This is a fact. Pro academies acknowledge talent not club brands. DCU is irrelevant on an international stage. All that matters is whether the player is good enough. If they are good enough, they will get looks. Period. It doesn't matter where they come from. And for the record, Athletic Bilbao ONLY recruits and signs players from the Basque region of Spain. They don't have players from outside this region or that don't have a connection to this region One of the only clubs in the world to operate this way and have success. So, your Bilbao reference is really bad. The MLS academy path in the US is about filling rosters for the MLS. A weak, but getting better, league. If you follow that path, you will be going toward a MLS career as your ceiling. The sooner you get out of that path, your ceiling changes. Just like in Germany the youth academies are producing players for the bundesliga. The big difference is that the level is exponentially better in those academies and pro leagues. |
Spot on. |
We’ve been told by a local coach that many non-MLS academy clubs do have contacts abroad - not necessarily always direct contacts at certain clubs but contacts they can reach out to if they need a contact here or there. However, reputation is everything and that network is not tapped unless a coach can stake their reputation on a player they are recommending. In other words, it happens very rarely. |
We will skip over the Athletic Bilbao reference as I have only met one person here in the State from the Basque Country who would qualify to play for them. Let's say you have two kids, one from BSC and one from DCU, trialing with Tottenham. Both equal players and have shown equally in front of scouts. BSC does not get any fee but DC United wants $50k from Tottenham. Who is going to get the nod? You can replace BSC with Achilles, Armour, Arlington, etc. Based on the details in this conversation, if my kid is approached by a MLS academy, I may try to determine what they would like me to pay as the "cost of his training" in order to maintain his right to transition for free. This is business and negotiations and it does not hurt to have these conversations. PP mentioned "legitimate" academy. The most "likely" route for most Americans will be a Category 2 academy per the UK system or equivalent in other countries and then work your way up. That is how many of the current Americans have done it. It feels like we forget the word, development, and think everybody is supposed to be a can't miss prospect. |