Reply to Realistically, what’s the latest a kid can make the move to an MLS Next/ECNL team?

Forum Index » Soccer

Reply to "Realistically, what’s the latest a kid can make the move to an MLS Next/ECNL team? "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]is there an unwritten rule on older players being “too old” to begin playing for an elite team MlS Next/ECNL/USL or MLS Academy type team? If so, what is that age? I’ve heard very few players making that jump after u16, but have you seen or known anyone who has? Why would high level teams hold open if sessions if they didn’t plan on inviting players to join? What’s your take an experience on this? [/quote]

My kid is 15/U16 and just flares a foot over the past 8 months.

He’s a Freshmen and just coming into his own.

If it’s to be talent based, there should be no limit : up to U18/19.[/quote]

* grew, not flares.

So many boys don’t start showing their true potential until U16/17/18.[/quote]

Potential for what? By that age, you've long already identified whether they're a decent player. By god, in Europe the kids at 16-18 are already on their way to contracts and potential has to have popped up by 12 to have even entered any academies. [/quote]

Last part not true.  European academies continue to take new kids from outside the system at any age.  And as many pros come from outside academies as inside - although obviously your chance of becoming a pro is much higher inside.[/quote]

Slots in later years are significantly less. Plus "at any age" still means under the age of 16-17, which is well before the alleged blossoming period stated here by PP for US boys. So the point above was to the comment above saying that "So many boys don't start showing their true potential until U16/17/18". That's just not true.   That's pretty late in an athletic career and you're not just getting your engines running at 18. You've been passed up at that point if you didn't have talent prior. [/quote]

I agree with that.  I have never seen a kid suddenly show real ability at U16/17/18 where potential was not previously apparent.

[/quote]

I’ve seen really good players that for whatever reason not get picked for elite teams young, come back after being away bigger and better.  I think potential was always there.  But mostly the early developers, early birth months have the advantage which then can become eclipsed when other kids catch up, particularly if they were smarter players w/ high IQ and great technical skill.  Obtaining that testosterone/pounds and inches brings it all together.  They gain the speed too.

I think this is what people mean.[/quote]

I know what people mean but it's nearly all pipedreams and hopium.  19 times out of 20 the best kids are the best kids before puberty and afterwards.  If you start at age 5 or 6, then yes things change because a five year old is a long way behind a 6 year old in development so birth month really matters.

But, past about seven or eight things are pretty well set.  The best kids at 11 are the best kids at 18.  The top 5 are still very likely the top 5.  Sure - maybe #3 swapped places with #4 somewhere along that timeline - but #35 did not turn into #1 or even #10.

Now I would also agree that good players don't always get identified and selected - but that's far more often a failure in the selection process at that time than the kid improving dramatically later.

And none of this is 100% true.  Of course there are exceptions.  But that's what they are - rare exceptions - not the rule.[/quote]

This doesn’t account for the changes in dedication to the sport.[/quote]

PP.  Yes I agree with this.  A kid who puts in significantly more work can indeed move himself on the spectrum.  My point is that such changes do not "just happen" as kids grow.  I still think such moves are, to some extent, limited by innate ability and athleticism - but kids can certainly go a long way by practising hard.

[quote] There is a kid on ds’ team who has always been a mediocre kid since u10 but never really took the sport seriously. He started on an ODSL team and then went to NCSL, but would only play during team practice and games. Around u13-u14 he became very serious about soccer and does private training, athletic training, technical training (yes he’s privileged)  and basically gets 12-15 hours a week as a 13 year old. His development skyrocketed so much in 1 season that he is now being IDed by VDA. [/quote]

Sounds like this kid is a good example of practising hard although "being IDed by VDA" is quite a bit different to "starting for VDA" and VDA, while clearly a good club, is not amongst the top clubs in the region.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics