Vancouver Whitecaps Academy are there, Montreal Impact Academy have made the move… Will Toronto FC Academy be next to join US Soccer Development Academy?
The current state of Canada’s four professional academy programs are at different points in their growth, but at the same time all show promise. This is something that has made major strides recently when looking at each club on an individual basis.
In the case of FC Edmonton, they have a reserve team competing in the Alberta Major Soccer League and are taking a calculated approach to developing different age groups with an eventual goal of teams ranging from U6, U8, U10, U12, U14 and U18.
When speaking of the three Major League Soccer sides, both Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact have made the move to US Soccer’s Developmental Academy. The Whitecaps Residency program joining in September of 2011 last year, with teams at the U16 and U18 levels, and Montreal Impact have become the newest members, with teams at U17 and U18 age groups.
That leaves the TFC Academy, which have grown fairly quickly in its four years of existence. They have hired an experienced mind in Thomas Rongen as Academy Director and are putting the final touches on a brand new academy facility. From a player development perspective, the club has made news both positively and negatively, the most recent being the release of highly touted academy prospect Stefan Vukovic.
Putting all of that to one side and taking into account the decisions of their compatriots there are two main questions that should now be posed:
Will TFC Academy be joining the US Soccer Development Academy?
Is this good/bad for the youth development of Canadian Soccer?
While my opinion on the former is pretty straightforward, my views on the latter aren’t so easily explainable.
As we presently stand, I believe TFC Academy will make a move to the US Soccer Development Academy within the next few years. This is simply because at the professional academy level players need to play as many games as possible against the highest quality in order to be judged. At the moment, outside of the Canadian Soccer League, some one off games against Universities and occasional appearances in cup competitions like the Dallas Cup, this requirement isn’t being met.
In addition to this, the MLS Reserve League as it is being run right now, in my opinion, is an absolute joke. As I’ve written previously, everything from scheduling to general organization is clearly done as an afterthought. Ideally a nation (in this case Canada) and its clubs would work hand in hand. Unfortunately due to the structure of Major League Soccer and its lack of proper working relationship between them and the Canadian Soccer Association, Toronto FC has a duty to primarily look after their own interests first. Until a proper option opens up in Canada, this move will eventually be made, if for no other reason than out of pure necessity.
However, with regards to whether this move to the American system will have a positive or negative impact on Canadian youth development, I have mixed feelings.
On the one hand, players being able to play top competition and be tested at an earlier age helps the domestic game and, by extension, the national program. Being able to play 10 months out of the year in a vastly more professionally run and organized environment is extremely helpful. So ultimately looking at this from a player or club perspective, this is a good move, especially in the short term where professional academies are judged almost solely on how many top quality players they nurture and promote.
That said, having to rely on an organization like US Soccer that has no vested interest in Canada (thus the name US Soccer) makes me nervous. If the top Canadian prospects aren’t being nurtured within their own country, this raises a bunch of red flags and will be a huge problem long term.
If we are to broaden out the issue to include grass roots soccer as a whole, then this may very well be the perfect time to address it with concrete action instead of just discussion and paper shuffling.
It wasn’t my intention to bring politics into this article but I believe the ongoing CSA Presidential elections will play a role in this matter. Whoever ends up being elected needs to finalize a plan, grab the reigns and start being proactive on what continues to be an ongoing game of tug of war. In my opinion, the minefield of issues surrounding youth development has to be a main priority on the table, and, personally, judging solely from the interviews I’ve heard, I’m in favor of Victor Montagliani.
The one thing I took away from all the interviews was when he said, “I’m in the business of developing Canadian players, not in the business of developing American players” (said in reference to MLS home grown rule).
That statement alone garners my ringing endorsement, as he’s the first person in a position of power to say anything of that nature in a genuine fashion. Ultimately, if he’s elected he’ll be judged once he’s in the hot seat, but at this point out of all the available options he displays the most positive outlook.
Change seems to be coming within Canadian Soccer and this is great news. Although I understand why the professional academies need to go this route right now, it’s my hope that these changes will mean being less reliant on any other system than our own and strengthening the pipelines within the game in this country.
Kamal Hylton is Owner/Freelance Soccer Writer at Hylton Sports Media,
he specializes in covering Youth Development in Canada and the
CONCACAF Region as well as European leagues such as Bundesliga, Serie A and UEFA Champions League. Follow him on Twitter to view all
his work.
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