MLS: Why USSF Development Academy demise is a positive

This week, the USSF announced that the Development Academy would be disbanded. Here is why it can be a positive for the USMNT and MLS.

This week, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced the Development Academy would be disbanded.

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“It is with profound disappointment that U.S. Soccer has made the determination to end the operation of the Development Academy, effective immediately,” a statement published on Wednesday evening said. “This was an incredibly difficult decision to make, but the extraordinary and unanticipated circumstances around the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in a financial situation that does not allow for the continued of the Development Academy program into the future. We know that suddenly discontinuing a program that has been with U.S. Soccer for many years is shocking, but these unprecedented times required acting now.”

The decision has been met with a mixed response, some happy that an outdated and watered-down system will be rid off, other upset that the coronavirus was used as an excuse to bin off a league that offers young boys and girls across America the chance to play soccer.

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However, while such complaints regarding the lack of opportunity are valid ones, the DA was formed not to offer kids the chance to play, but rather the opportunity for Major League Soccer teams and the U.S. Men’s National Team to grow and develop elite professional players.

That meant spreading the net wider and incorporating a larger search, meaning more kids got to play, of course, but it was with one goal in mind: to develop talent, and that goal was routinely failed.

While in principle the DA is a smart idea, in practice, it had become watered down. The standard was not high enough to challenge the high-level teams. Sons and daughters of the right people were fast-tracked into particular teams. Professional academies fielded their younger teams above their age limit simply to find a competitive match.

What comes in place of the DA remains to be seen. As this piece in The Athletic outlines, there are several opportunities, though they all come with a caveat or two. Higher the standard and you increase the cost with more travel. Localise leagues and you get more kids through the door but you water down the concentration of high-level players.

Nevertheless, something will appear, as Sporting Kansas City head coach and technical director Peter Vermes explained:

"“MLS is committed to player development. They’ve shown that since 2007. And the quality has gotten better, the investment has gotten bigger and the space has opened up for us to establish a new, broader, more inclusive competition and structure that fills the void of the dissolving of the Development Academy, which ultimately is going to ensure young players an ability to have a consistent competition of high-quality games going forward.”"

Quite what form this league will take is unsure. Does it go all the way up to under-19s despite some teams not fielding a team at that age group and many of the best players being fasttracked into the senior team? How localised do you make the league? Do you include the USL clubs or even academies not linked to a team? And if so, where do you draw the line at ability and competition level?

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These are all questions for another day, and Vermes, MLS and others will have to come to an agreement on the new system. But the DA was not working and its absence offers opportunity and growth in the development of young American players across the country.

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