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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Do youth leagues get same exposure if they are on MLSnext or EDP? what opportunities does you child even get with MLSnext?[/quote]

MLS Next is the highest league, therefore it will get the most exposure from college coaches.  A big percentage of players at D1 schools come from MLS Next league (old DA) rosters.  It also offers the highest level of competition.  It has Showcases that attract every major D1-D3 coach.

If the player wants to play college, play out of the country, or go pro (MLS or USL), it is the best option.  Otherwise, the negatives would outweigh the positives.  The negatives are:

1. Big chance player will get cut at any time including during the season.
2. Must compete with the best players in the area for playtime.  Typically the starting 11 play the majority of the games. Very strict substitution rules.
3. 4 days a week practice which is hard to juggle with school.
4. Expensive and lots of travel. 
5. Only a few clubs in the area have MLS teams so travel to practice may be extreme.
6. Can't play high school soccer or really do any thing else for that matter.[/quote]
Np. Thanks for providing a thoughtful answer. I have a follow up for you. My oldest played DA a few years ago on a decent team. He’s playing D1 now along with most of his DA teammates; a few of his friends in DA went pro. Is MLSNext basically the same as DA in terms of exposure for pro or D1 recruiting? My youngest is a couple years away, and I haven’t kept up. [/quote]

It's not a thoughtful answer.  It's a very bigoted one.

1.  There is not a big chance that a player will get cut at any time including mid-season.  In many years of my DS playing DA and now MLS Next I have never seen a single player get cut mid-season.  I have heard of it happening - so it is possible but it is very rare.

2.  Again in many years experience at more than one DA club I did not observe huge differences in playing time between starters and non-starters.  In fact my experience has been that this happens less on top teams - you are much more likely to see this on mid-level travel teams.

3.  4 days a week practise is true.  It has not typically been a problem for my DS or any of his teammates to also handle schoolwork despite pretty significant journey-times for some of his teammates.

4.  DA wasn't and MLSNext is not all that expensive.  You will pay ~$3K for club fees and team fees.  You may travel for a tournament, or you may not, depending on the club.  In several years we only had to take a flight twice.  Both times, some team members chose not to go because of the cost - and that was undertsood and accepted.

5.  Travel to practice can indeed be an issue.

6.  High school soccer is not impossible.  Yes you're not "supposed to".  But plenty of even DCU players even are playing Bolivian league and high school soccer.  Whether or not it can be managed depends to some extent on your high school.  If you have a high school soccer coach who benches players who miss a single minute of practise during the week then you probably can't play.  If you have a coach who is willing to play you when you are available then it can work fine.[/quote]

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