MLS NEXT adds five clubs for 2021-22 season

1. humble 1, March 5, 2021 at 10:57 a.m.

   Impossible dream. MLS needs to pair back to or even U17 and have only two teams, three at most, but they cannot compute this because of greed, knowing that the register starts ticking at U12.  Think of the USL Academy design - they have just one team to each Academy.  USL Academy setup is brilliant, but it may struggle somewhat because of the existense of ECNL and MLS Next.  ECNL Boys, did not exist before 2017, now with over 100 teams, they have crushed any chance MLS Next had at density and reduced travel.  Think about this, U13 is 12 year olds, middle school boys.  Going to U12 by boys DA was the straw that broke the camels back, that was absurd, they reached back for 6th graders.  If you ever delivered you son to middle school, you know the 6th graders look like boys and the 8th graders like men, and puberty is just beginning.  Complete nonsense was that U12 implementation because you cannot ID age, there is tons of literature and studies that show this.  They must be coffee table clutter in MLS and USSF offices.  The only way forward is if ECNL boys and MLS Next play in the same league.  USSF would have to perform a leadership role, this would be counter to their recent history of dividing and interfering.  In a nutshell, in spite of the expansion reported above, the future will be the sameñ slight improvement in training possibilities through clubs, not by systematic design or quality, but by sheer volume/quantity, and, we will continue to produce good players, but always via some bespoke pathway and from a few exceptional academies that are successful inspite of, not because of, the system overseen by USSF.  Leave this to market forces and you will get a shite stew, invest some resources, form a vision, apply some leadership and you may have a chance to stear this giant ship called youth soccer.  Do it for the kids, please.   

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2. Soccer Bloke replied, March 5, 2021 at 1:48 p.m.

   There are good clubs that should be in MLS Next but are excluded because local competitors blackballed them, for commercial and competitive reasons. That should not be allowed - the the good of the game in the US is the criterion.

3. Marty Apple, March 5, 2021 at 1:38 p.m.

   I believe you are right oh humble 1.  The rest of the world invests in academies and not leagues.  While we have a geography problem the solution is not disparate leagues for more games.  Players do not grow during games, they grow through coaching.  More games spread out so the cost is higher and higher for parents is not a sustainable solution.  We are losing more and more excellent raw talent simply because they cannot afford our 'system'. USSF must stop standing on the sidelines and become involved in shaping the landscape of clubs under any program aimed at truly affecting player development. More leagues is not an answer to developing more players consistently. Money first decision making is ruining our place in the world.  

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