Critical Academy Question, Please Answer Honestly.

[[NBF]]

The TFC Academy takes in kids and loses kids every year, but where they go from there is my question. If a kid is not good enough to crack the 1st team roster, they're only other option is to go to University(if they have the grades).

The academy kids have a chance to go to university, but if they sign with a professional club, they can lose eligibility to become a student-player.

Question: So whats the use of an academy if its not for depth?

Is it to have better community relations and expose the game further in the community( Creating young TFC fans for the future).



Observation: If you have 21 of 24 spots filled on your roster and you're allowed 20 senior contract players and 4 developmental contract players, that means that 3 spots are available for any academy player to "fully" graduate from the academy and be training at the very least at the pro level.



Edit: Further explaining the question(FFS!)

A.) Apparently nobody understood that by saying TFC Academy I meant TFC's Academy.

B.) If we dont have a full roster(20 senior contract players + 4 developmental contract players), why doesn't TFC pick graduates from its TFC Academy to fill the 4 developmental spots?(Currently only Gabe Gala is a developmental player)

C.) Wouldn't you want to have a full roster of players? Especially if you want to build team chemistry???? How does 11 vs. 9 work???? You wonder why the chemistry sucks right now is because the roster is not full.

[sulfur]

Keep in mind that Gabe Gala is a university student (UofT) and part of the TFC first team.

[Shaughno]

It's my understanding you cannot actively play professional and play with the University.

[Parkdale]

Question: So whats the use of an academy if its not for depth?

it could be argued that it's for 'development of the sport and youth talent'.
you know.... giving back to the community.

Starting next year the MLS is following a bit of world soccer and starting MLS youth programs for each MLS team. This is something entirely new in US professional sports, and I think it will be a great benefit for the MLS all around.
The youth system works like this. Young players that live in an MLS home area for at least 1 year can join their youth teams. Each MLS team will have 6 different aged teams, from U15 to U25. As long as a player is the member of a youth team for 2 years, they can be signed to that MLS team without the team having to draft them.
This youth system can do nothing but good for the MLS and American soccer in general in my opinion. Teams will have a wider base of players to choose from, it will give players access to professional coaches that they might not otherwise have, it will create more home-town players in the MLS, and none of this will effect NCAA eligibility for any of the players who do not move onto the MLS before they could play college soccer.
Its nice to see the MLS taking a bit from world soccer. Most world soccer teams have similar youth systems. Manchester United probably had one of the best classes of players from their own youth system when they won the treble in 1999. Players such as David Becham and Paul Scholes came up from the Manchester United youth system. Without such youth system, you may well have never heard the phrase “Bend it like Beckham”.
Well done MLS. I fully expect to see the MLS become a respected league throughout the world and see the US national team win a world cup in my lifetime!

http://www.mlsfanblog.com/mls-youth-systems/

[ballerz]

But is Gabe Gala playing on the varsity team? There is nothing wrong with a professional athlete going to school.

[Rudi]

It's my understanding you cannot actively play professional and play with the University.

Players can be on the developmental roster and still play CIS.

This is how Gala, Attakora, Djekanovic and a few others were able to play CIS ball and still be on the TFC roster. Lombardo was on the senior roster and was ineligible to play for York (but still did), costing them four wins and one year of his eligibility.

[jloome]

Lombardo's playing in the Australian second division now.

Boy, that kid got way more stick than he deserved. He was a target man and was never gonna be much of a finisher, but with him often being our only fallback at the time, he was under way too much pressure to be a goal scorer.

[CoachGT]

We're still in the early stages of having an academy. This is the chance to identify prospects and put them into a situation where they can develop their skills. Will all of them make the roster? Probably not, but if one or two good prospects can make their way through, then that is a good thing.

Eventually, we might see the same sort of development that you see from European academies. Relatively few make it through all the way to the top rosters, but some do. They've had the chance to get an education in the sport. Good prospects look to the academy as a means to an end - much the same way that future NHLers look at Canadian junior hockey leagues. Go back 30 years and all of the junior teams were owned by NHL teams (Kitchener Rangers, Toronto Marlies and so on).

It is a development/feeder system, nothing more. No guarantees that you'll get anything more from a player than a couple of good years on the academy team, but every once in a while, you hope that a gem comes along.

I think as pertinent a question is whether players like DeRo, De Guzman and other Canadians would have seen an academy in Toronto as a viable development option when they were growing up.

[AL-MO]

Is this a question specifically about MLS and its clubs academies? Or just a general question about the purpose of a club having an academy?

If its just a general one, I think the answer is rather obvious....to develop players for the first team!

[RPB_RED_NATION_RPB]

as far as i understand....any club in the world can come a scoop any TFC academy players if they desire....without a fee to tfc????

OUr league has to find a way to protect these rising stars in its academy's....to the point if a club comes in looking for a player....that the team will at least be compensated $$$$..

[Section 117]

Lombardo's playing in the Australian second division now.

Boy, that kid got way more stick than he deserved. He was a target man and was never gonna be much of a finisher, but with him often being our only fallback at the time, he was under way too much pressure to be a goal scorer.

Really?? I saw him in Vaughan Mills working. I am suprised no one in the A League had a look at him

He did get more stick than he deserved he is a wide player not a target man. But from my understanding the FO does not rate Canadian players highly. Obviously with the exception of a few players that we have signed.

[Shaughno]

I was one of a few people who actually stuck up for Lombardo on a regular basis. He was overused and in the wrong positions. His best game was when he played a wide attacking role against Villa... LOL fancy that.

[Parkdale]

yep... people were expecting way too much from Lombardo.
I'm not saying that he'sa great player, or that he would make the current squad,
but he was used improperly, not coached effectively and was part of a losing team.

he made some bad mistakes, but he sure as hell wasn't the only one making them.

[Roogsy]

Ditto on the criticism for Lombardo. I felt sorry for the kid. An average players on a crappy squad used ineffectively by someone who really wasn't a coach.

What exactly were people expecting from him?

[Beach_Red]

Ditto on the criticism for Lombardo. I felt sorry for the kid. An average players on a crappy squad used ineffectively by someone who really wasn't a coach.

What exactly were people expecting from him?

He might be back someday, right?

[Rudi]

Lombardo's playing in the Australian second division now.

Different Lombardo.

[Parkdale]

Different Lombardo.

then the mistake is on his Wikipedia entry too

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Lombardo

Andrea Lombardo (born May 23, 1987 in North York, Toronto, Ontario) is an Italian-Canadian soccer player who is currently playing for Whittlesea Zebras.

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

The TFC needs a reserve team playing in the CSL instead of an academy team (maybe they'd be better in the OSL or Super Y). It would a place for the reserves to play, a place for players to graduate from the U18 academy team to play for a year or two to get ready for the senior team, and a place to a few older prospects (the like of John Hurtis and Lammie). The Whitecaps use their PDL team this way, as both a top team for their youth setup and as a reserve squad, and the Impact are moving towards this model with Attak.

[ArmenJBX]

I have a classmate who plays on the TFC Junior academy. Well, he moved schools but I keep in touch.

[Rudi]

then the mistake is on his Wikipedia entry too

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Lombardo

Andrea Lombardo (born May 23, 1987 in North York, Toronto, Ontario) is an Italian-Canadian soccer player who is currently playing for Whittlesea Zebras.

It is a wiki mistake.

There was a discussion about this a few weeks back at either the U-Sector or Voyageurs boards.

[Shway]

The TFC needs a reserve team playing in the CSL instead of an academy team (maybe they'd be better in the OSL or Super Y). It would a place for the reserves to play, a place for players to graduate from the U18 academy team to play for a year or two to get ready for the senior team, and a place to a few older prospects (the like of John Hurtis and Lammie). The Whitecaps use their PDL team this way, as both a top team for their youth setup and as a reserve squad, and the Impact are moving towards this model with Attak.

I HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS
Glad someone else is mentioning this

They need to put a U-23 squad in the PDL division.
For players to keep form, and when they are needed they are still capable of being game shape.For instance where does a player like Ashton Morgan go, if he has potential, but didnt go to NCAA because of grades. His career is basically done, and thats the way i look at it, your career is done if you havent signed to a university in the states by your last academy year. And its sad to say that he will probaly never get a legit opportunity

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

There's an obvious need some sort of bridge between the academy team (esp. if the top level is going to be U18) and the senior team. TFC also needs some form of reserve team playing regular matches.

There's a new rule where a team can carry two extra development spots, as long as the players don't play in MLS games - that would be perfect for a player like Ashton Morgan. Get some minutes with the senior team in a competitive context (Canadian Cup games, friendlies, CCL games) and continue to develop.

[Shway]

Another example would be from Kyle Hall's stand point. He was drafted by TFC basically for the hell of it. If there was a Reserve team, he could have played there and have gotten a legit chance to prove himself.

Another example would be from OBW. He was injuried, and when he was considered to play , i personally think its a bit of a shock to put him in to play an MLS game, with having played anytime before. Not even the best players in the world, get to come back into a first team regular season game, without having a reserve game in them. If this was the case for OBW, he wouldnt look the way he is now, his confidence would be up, and he wouldnt look slow as he is today, and wouldve gained his college form back. FACT

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

I'd like to think that the powers that be at the team are working on the reserve team problem, might be an issue of the league's constrictive rules rather than the team's desire.

[Shway]

thats what they want us all to think....its the leagues fault
is it the leagues fault why the academy is literally called the `TFC Academy`,
and have unofficial kits

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

I'm willing to give them some time. I'm actually impressed with the quality of the academy team's and their staffs.

The real problem is that the academies in the MLS are never going to be the primary means of player development as long as there's a draft. I actually think the leagues secret agenda is to use the academies as means to produce better NCAA college players.

[scooter]

hear you but its better than what we had a few years back
lets keep up the discussion but positive to keep improving the opportunities for players
i blows my find to think of how many good canadian players dropped out of this sport because there was no opportunity to play
more $$ are needed but i hope with 3 canadian mls teams all with development programs we can really bring along a lot more players and not just to feed the main team how about mens and womens national teams

[scooter]

oh and yes lets not forget about developing the young ladies
girls soccer rocks
canada should have a super wnt in a few years

[TFC07]

I'm willing to give them some time. I'm actually impressed with the quality of the academy team's and their staffs.

The real problem is that the academies in the MLS are never going to be the primary means of player development as long as there's a draft. I actually think the leagues secret agenda is to use the academies as means to produce better NCAA college players.

Bingo! Hopefully TFC does a good job of producing players. We need more Canadian kids in the draft.

[T_Mizz]

I think specifically with regards to TFC, we are at a disadvantage because many other academies have U-20s and U-23s in some cases. They have that bridge that people have been talking about.