Earlier this week my son’s club director emailed families of Development Academy players to inform them that US Soccer intended to terminate all operations associated with the league. The official announcement was released by US Soccer late this afternoon, effective immediately. Hundreds of teams, and thousands of players, were left without a soccer league.
The question now is where these teams and players land, and how it will effect recruiting going forward.
Another troubling development was the University of Cincinnati’s announcement that they were discontinuing their men’s soccer program, after 47 years, due to financial concerns.
Could college soccer as we know it be in jeopardy going forward due to lost revenue at colleges and universities?
I think a lot of college teams in non revenue sports will be looked at very closely over the next couple of months, based on the hit schools take with admissions in the next 12 months and the Money AD lost by not having march madness this year, if college football does not happen this year or is much smaller the fallout will hurt a ton of schools and non revenue sports will take a hit. I read a number of colleges have asked the NCAA to allow them to go under the number of teams needed to stay at the d1 level, IIRC it is 16 teams, Oof Chad 19 before they dropped soccer.
@gkunion you know I am always happy to talk about soccer! DA players are some of the best in the country, the leagues will all want the former DA clubs to join. I think youth soccer would be best served by having a clearer pyramid, with one league being considered the best.
Are the MLS teams having their own league, as has been rumored?
Recruiting-- doubt it will have that much of an effect. Coaches already know these are good players.
But it must have been quite a shock to get that email!
Isn’t Covid-19 just the final nail in the coffin for DAP? It’s had some fundamental, structural and operating flaws for awhile, IMO. Parent of former player here.
Sorry it leaves your son and others without a team but I’m sure they’ll be scooped up by clubs.
Articles I’ve read over the last two days intimate the DA is the first victim of the pending USWNT pay equity judgement. Whether or not there’s any truth to that, it’s obvious the DA was a money drain on US Soccer with little ROI.
@cinnamon1212 The MLS league announcement came immediately on the heels of the US Soccer one. Now the USL and ODP are trying to corral disenfranchised DA teams. Today several DA teams have announced their immediate defection to ECNL. It’s a complete free-for-all.
Our club released a statement today that they’ve coordinated with several other DA teams across a few states to form a unified front while evaluating all of the new options. They explained that they would notify everyone of the plan going forward in the next week.
My son has already made his peace with the situation. I’m not worried about him finding a place to play. He has plenty of time to make up his mind.
I believe this to be a non-issue, and so do the DA coaches I know. All the true Academy teams will still have the support of their MLS parent, while the pay-to-play academies are already landing in other leagues as you noted. In fact, clubs had already begun the DA exodus prior to this, so it’s not really a total shock.
What I found interesting is the discussions about possible travel limitations until 2021 - thereby effectively “cancelling” any fall club season. Will this result in more kids playing HS instead?
@eb23282 The MLS teams realized, given U.S. geography, that competition among only their academies simply wasn’t feasible. They need the non-MLS clubs. That’s why they quickly pounced and announced their new “elite” league. It’s a blatant money grab to help fund their free academy model with revenue generated from pay-to-play clubs. The problem, to your point, is that DA clubs are already jumping to different platforms. As I mentioned previously, our club has entered into an agreement with all of the other local DA clubs to create a division that would act as a single entity. If they choose not to participate in the MLS model that could leave a large geographic dead spot for that new league.
ECNL can not accommodate all of the newly disenfranchised DA clubs. The USL will likely grab several. Even ODP has come out of the ether to reach out to clubs with promise of a new league run by them.
For my son, specifically, he can’t afford to choose the wrong platform for his upcoming junior year. He needs to be involved with a league that will draw recruiting coaches. Is that the tried and true leagues that have operated for years, or will a new league emerge that captures coach interest?
As for high school, coaches were lying in wait for the DA obituary to officially come out. Within 45 minutes of US Soccer’s announcement I received texts from the high school coach at my son’s public school, and two NEPSAC coaches as well.
Well, @gkunion, if you decide on the NEPSAC route I’d be happy to share what I know.
@cinnamon1212 Thanks! I think that ship has sailed as a rising junior, but we’ll see. The former DA teams/clubs maintain that they want to continue 10 month programs. We’ll see if my son wants to forego high school for some new, unproven league.
My husband, who played D1 football, reminded me, when my son was younger, that cream rises to the top, and if there’s talent the coaches will find it. I do believe that. Plus, since your son is a rising junior, he can target schools and attend their ID camps, which I’ve found was the single best thing for recruiting.
It seems like there’s always some upheaval in youth soccer. I really wish there was a more uniform set of leagues, across the country.
Agreed on the unnecessary upheaval that seems inherent to soccer.
My son has received camp communication from schools that maintain essentially all of their recruiting will transition to their ID camps. That makes sense since every showcase has been, or will be canceled.
Let’s see if ID camps are even allowed to be held.
The U of Cincy shutting down MSoccer is not a great sign. I’d like to think that decision was less about soccer, and more about the weak finances and meager endowments many colleges have. We are already over-capacity for colleges, and with population demographics declining sharply, we will see more colleges (not just athletic teams) closing. On the bright, should make getting into Harvard a little easier.
Initial post asked if there would changes to college soccer. I think Covid-19 is… one of our local unis - St. Edwards in Austin announced yesterday they are shuttering 6 athletic programs… Mens and Womens Tennis, Mens and Womens Golf, Mens Soccer and Cheer (which will be moved to club). They are D2, they will honor the athletic scholarships without play or release any player who wishes to play elsewhere.
Wonder if other programs will also cut athletic programs.
I think U of C was just the start , if football does not play a mostly full season, colleges will lose a boatload of cash that they can not afford to lose , on top of the money they lost this year w closing dorms. Cincy wa sin a pretty decent conference (AAC) but the writing may be on the wall for a bunch of non revenue neutral sports. I think college Ad’s would be thrill if soccer and any of the other minor sports broke even, that would set them up well vs the ones who cost them money.
The MLS announced its new league today, the Elite Youth Development Platform(EYDP).
There will be 95 total clubs in the league this year. Of the 95, there will be 30 MLS clubs in the “Professional Player Pathway” and 65 non-MLS clubs in the “Elite Player Pathway” that will cater to players interested in college soccer.
The Professional Player Pathway clubs will offer U15 and U17 teams.
The Elite Player Pathway clubs will offer U13, U14, U15, U16, U17 and U19 teams.