Anonymous
Post 04/20/2025 11:24     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:according to IG, the DC 2024 class had 11 kids go to good colleges, 4 of which are ivy league



You do understand that is an epic failure for a professional academy. There is no problem with kids wanting to go to college and play high-level soccer. That is what ECNL is for.

MLS academies exist with the goal of producing footballers for the first team of DCU or to sell to another club, NOT to send kids to college, especially Ivy’s. That boast may work at the country club for posh parents but is an insult for a professional academy to boast about.

Now I understand the defenses from this chat. It is coming from posh parents who know as much about professional soccer development as DCUA. Again, it is perfectly okay to want to go to college and play soccer. That is not what DCUA is supposed to be designed for and college is a nice way to say, “we failed miserably at making you a professional footballer but now you can go to college, keep hope alive and probably become the fittest Wall Street banker in your alumni association.”


Unless you know something we don't, none of the MLS academies are sending kids to teams at the highest professional levels in significant numbers

If you're going to choose playing in MLS for $60,000 versus going to an Ivy League university, more power to you


But more academies are sending players to the first team than DCU.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2025 11:14     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:according to IG, the DC 2024 class had 11 kids go to good colleges, 4 of which are ivy league



You do understand that is an epic failure for a professional academy. There is no problem with kids wanting to go to college and play high-level soccer. That is what ECNL is for.

MLS academies exist with the goal of producing footballers for the first team of DCU or to sell to another club, NOT to send kids to college, especially Ivy’s. That boast may work at the country club for posh parents but is an insult for a professional academy to boast about.

Now I understand the defenses from this chat. It is coming from posh parents who know as much about professional soccer development as DCUA. Again, it is perfectly okay to want to go to college and play soccer. That is not what DCUA is supposed to be designed for and college is a nice way to say, “we failed miserably at making you a professional footballer but now you can go to college, keep hope alive and probably become the fittest Wall Street banker in your alumni association.”


Unless you know something we don't, none of the MLS academies are sending kids to teams at the highest professional levels in significant numbers

If you're going to choose playing in MLS for $60,000 versus going to an Ivy League university, more power to you
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2025 09:49     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:according to IG, the DC 2024 class had 11 kids go to good colleges, 4 of which are ivy league



You do understand that is an epic failure for a professional academy. There is no problem with kids wanting to go to college and play high-level soccer. That is what ECNL is for.

MLS academies exist with the goal of producing footballers for the first team of DCU or to sell to another club, NOT to send kids to college, especially Ivy’s. That boast may work at the country club for posh parents but is an insult for a professional academy to boast about.

Now I understand the defenses from this chat. It is coming from posh parents who know as much about professional soccer development as DCUA. Again, it is perfectly okay to want to go to college and play soccer. That is not what DCUA is supposed to be designed for and college is a nice way to say, “we failed miserably at making you a professional footballer but now you can go to college, keep hope alive and probably become the fittest Wall Street banker in your alumni association.”


Agree with this. But to be fair most of the academies aren't producing a lot of pros. They produce more than DCU that is for sure but the overall numbers are small.. That said, and given how poor DCU is as an academy, DCU is effectively a higher level to play for an aspiring college player. That is the reality.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2025 09:30     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
This is one of the worst rules in the MLS homegrown system and to be honest, I strongly believe it is against the law. But no one has challenged it. How can someone place a restraint on a child's ability to contract with someone else with literally no contact with them or connection or contractual rights? This is where the MLS is pushing the boundaries of what is legal and since no one gives a sh#t about soccer in this country, no one cares. Try this in Europe... 😂
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2025 09:28     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
Anonymous wrote:according to IG, the DC 2024 class had 11 kids go to good colleges, 4 of which are ivy league



You do understand that is an epic failure for a professional academy. There is no problem with kids wanting to go to college and play high-level soccer. That is what ECNL is for.

MLS academies exist with the goal of producing footballers for the first team of DCU or to sell to another club, NOT to send kids to college, especially Ivy’s. That boast may work at the country club for posh parents but is an insult for a professional academy to boast about.

Now I understand the defenses from this chat. It is coming from posh parents who know as much about professional soccer development as DCUA. Again, it is perfectly okay to want to go to college and play soccer. That is not what DCUA is supposed to be designed for and college is a nice way to say, “we failed miserably at making you a professional footballer but now you can go to college, keep hope alive and probably become the fittest Wall Street banker in your alumni association.”
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2025 09:24     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
Anonymous wrote:Hypothetical. MLS has a homegrown rule that nine non-academy players may be designated by DCU to receive compensation from another academy simply because the player “lives” near DCU if the other academy wants to sign the DMV player.

IF a kid is good enough and has an opportunity to play for another MLS academy, is there a proactive way to tell DCU, “take me off your list?”

I know current DCU parents are really proud of your kids and kudos to you and your decision. Please spare the “are you even on the list?”

Is there a way to proactively tell DCU to F-off?

Asking for a friend.


This is a great and REAL question because it is a scenario that could easily play out. Call or email the academy director or the head scout of DCU and ask for a meeting to discuss. These are the avenues to try first.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2025 08:18     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
Hypothetical. MLS has a homegrown rule that nine non-academy players may be designated by DCU to receive compensation from another academy simply because the player “lives” near DCU if the other academy wants to sign the DMV player.

IF a kid is good enough and has an opportunity to play for another MLS academy, is there a proactive way to tell DCU, “take me off your list?”

I know current DCU parents are really proud of your kids and kudos to you and your decision. Please spare the “are you even on the list?”

Is there a way to proactively tell DCU to F-off?

Asking for a friend.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2025 04:24     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:according to IG, the DC 2024 class had 11 kids go to good colleges, 4 of which are ivy league



That's great! They all went thru that online program via DCUA?


No. The online program was just introduced this season. Check back in two to three years to see how those kids fare that have been in DCUs online school for the bulk of their high school years.


Will they graduate? Yes for sure. But still very much tbd how the online school positions them against traditional schools in terms of college entrance. I would say the online school doesn't give them an edge and it may hurt a bit in terms of the rigor of their classes compared to top public and private schools in our country. The online school isn't about producing academic stars. It is about allowing the kids the flexibility to train twice a day so that DCU can have a better chance at producing a pro. The incentives aren't aligned. If you know that, then you understand that the online school is what it is.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2025 04:16     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
Anonymous wrote:One win for DCU u16s at the ga cup (in six matches) against literally the worst academy in the country (Minnesota United) and they barely won at that. And this was in the consolation bracket which is basically the last place teams from all the groups during the group stages (so the worst teams from the group stages).. I can't say it is a poor showing for DCU. Att this point, it is what everyone expects from the club when you're talking about competing on a national scale. DCU can't compete because they don't know what they are doing and this was obvious in the matches. They had no strategy, no tactical approach, no way of scoring other han kicking long (this is why they scored no goals in the group stages and had minimal goals for the tournament), they mostly defended to try and keep the games respectable. If they actually played football against these teams and tried to move the ball, they would get absolutely demolished because the teams aren't able to connect and would lose possession every second or third pass (this already happened this week and the results speak for themselves). If this doesn't tell you something is wrong at DCU, then you just don't want to believe it no matter what is put in front of you. Bottom line is, DCU is not the place to be if you want to become an elite level footballer in this country. They have the MLS badge and that is it. Without that, they are marginally stronger than local DMV clubs and that is just the truth.


The goals that DCU usually scores against local teams by bullying smaller and/or slower players didn't happen this week against teams that are bigger and faster and more skilled than them. FACTS. They needed to play football to have a chance and they just couldn't do that. DCU isn't teaching them how to play and this was obvious. The DCU teams didn't have a strong understanding of positional play or how to attack as a unit or even defend as a unit. Just nothing. They ran hard, had some individual moments here and there but nothing else. Even if they won all the games it would be the same critique. Sad for our area to be honest. DCU is squandering one of the most talent rich regions in the country. The only ones losing are the kids and for that it is truly a travesty.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2025 04:03     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:according to IG, the DC 2024 class had 11 kids go to good colleges, 4 of which are ivy league



That's great! They all went thru that online program via DCUA?


No. The online program was just introduced this season. Check back in two to three years to see how those kids fare that have been in DCUs online school for the bulk of their high school years.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2025 04:00     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
Meaning the bulk of their grades and transcripts came from public or private school educations.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2025 03:59     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
Anonymous wrote:according to IG, the DC 2024 class had 11 kids go to good colleges, 4 of which are ivy league



They would have gone to these schools without DCU and this was done without the online program which just started this season.
Anonymous
Post 04/20/2025 03:56     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
One win for DCU u16s at the ga cup (in six matches) against literally the worst academy in the country (Minnesota United) and they barely won at that. And this was in the consolation bracket which is basically the last place teams from all the groups during the group stages (so the worst teams from the group stages).. I can't say it is a poor showing for DCU. Att this point, it is what everyone expects from the club when you're talking about competing on a national scale. DCU can't compete because they don't know what they are doing and this was obvious in the matches. They had no strategy, no tactical approach, no way of scoring other han kicking long (this is why they scored no goals in the group stages and had minimal goals for the tournament), they mostly defended to try and keep the games respectable. If they actually played football against these teams and tried to move the ball, they would get absolutely demolished because the teams aren't able to connect and would lose possession every second or third pass (this already happened this week and the results speak for themselves). If this doesn't tell you something is wrong at DCU, then you just don't want to believe it no matter what is put in front of you. Bottom line is, DCU is not the place to be if you want to become an elite level footballer in this country. They have the MLS badge and that is it. Without that, they are marginally stronger than local DMV clubs and that is just the truth.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2025 15:51     Subject: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
Anonymous wrote:according to IG, the DC 2024 class had 11 kids go to good colleges, 4 of which are ivy league



That's great! They all went thru that online program via DCUA?
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2025 14:40     Subject: Re: DC United Academy - aa strong academy or not
first win for our boys went to the bench for this match