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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here,

Can someone tell me about DC United?  I'm not saying my kid would play for them, just curious what "lost some players to DC United" means.  [/quote]

DC United's MLS Next teams start at U14. So when they started up their U14 team from scratch last year, they took many of the best players from other teams in the area. 
Three players from PPA, two or three from Bethesda, a few from Pipeline, etc. [/quote]

When you say they "took" someone, does DCU recruit, or do those kids chose to try out?  [/quote]

They scout, recruit, and make offers through the coaches/directors of the various clubs.[/quote]

So would it be fair to say that the best players at each age group at the major clubs (or at least the clubs that have regularly sent kids to DCU) are already known to DCU maybe bc the club or coach have told them about these kids?

Is this something that a parent can ask a coach? Eg, is my kid good enough to be considered by DCU?[/quote]

The club does not tell them about good players and they do not want DCU taking their best players. They compete against each other in mlsnext. [/quote]

That doesn’t make sense. Isn’t one of the selling point of these big clubs is that they have track record of developing kids to be good enough to go to DCU academy or to get on a pro track?

Are you saying the club is actively sabotaging a kids chance of being scouted by DC United, for example, by saying a kid is not good, because they want to make sure the player doesn’t leave the club?

I mean that just sounds like the club didn’t think the kid was that good and DCU agreed, and then the parents thinking something nefarious happened as opposed to accepting their kid wasn’t good enough. That parent would probably pull the kid out of the club and find some other club. [/quote]
DP. The dynamic in the DC area is different than in most areas with MLS teams. With few if any other exceptions, the MLS team’s MLSNext program will be at the top of the pyramid, all the best players will seek to make their teams, and non-pro clubs will indeed brag about their success in developing players who make it to the top team.

DC for many years had the worst (or maybe second worse after MN United) youth program. It was one of two that was not free for players, and the stinginess of the DC United owners meant there was constant turnover in the coaching ranks as coaches left for better salaries and more serious development programs elsewhere. During those years, BSC and Baltimore Armour often had stronger teams than DCU in some age groups, as did some non-DA clubs.

DCU finally seems to be getting its act more together the last few years, and it’s finally free. But there’s no love lost among their MLS program leadership and that of several other local clubs, and I can guarantee that BSC leadership and Sal would tell you that BSC and Achilles, respectively, do a better job developing players than DCU (not saying that’s true, just explaining the dynamic).

The scenario you mentioned about sabotaging a player by talking him down to DC United wouldn’t happen. The clubs that don’t like DCU wouldn’t be in touch with them, and DCU can figure out a kid’s level with no help from their former club. But BSC and others are extremely unhappy when any of their top players leave. [/quote]

Thank you for that context. I had no idea although Ive always wondered why BSC and Achilles never posts about their kids that go to DCU academy. Would you still say that BSC, Achilles, Armour, etc. has good a chance of developing players to get into pro youth academies or clubs abroad without going through an MLS academy? Wouldn’t an MLS Academy have more connections and name recognition? I guess if a kid an option to go to DCU academy or stay with their club and the end goal was to go pro, what should they decide?

[/quote]

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