MLS: Competition makes future bright for youth

In the void left by the Development Academy, MLS’ Elite Youth Development Platform will face competition from other leagues. That competition only brightens U.S. soccer’s future.

In place of the now-defunct U.S. Development Academy, U.S. Youth Soccer, the largest youth sports organization in the country, now partners with Major League Soccer to organize and support soccer players and communities throughout the country. This collaboration will manage 95 separate academy clubs, 30 of which are represented by the soon-to-be 30 MLS teams.

When U.S. Soccer jettisoned their Development Academy earlier this year, MLS jumped in and pledged to fill the void. However, they were not the only ones. Other organizations almost immediately announced their intentions to fill player development needs, room.

More from MLS Multiplex

• Javier Milei Elected in Argentina: Potential Impacts on MLS and Signings of Argentine Players
• Orlando City and New York City FC in the Battle for Matías Arezo; Grêmio Enters Negotiations! Who Will Come Out on Top?
• USA, Honduras, Panama, and Canada Close in on a Spot in the 2024 Copa America
• De Gea Turns Down Al-Nassr’s Lucrative Offer: Speculation Points to Possible Reunion with Messi at Inter Miami
• Messi’s Magnetic Impact in the United States

This competition for youth development soccer started long before the dissolution of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. With complaints that girls’ development was lacking, the Elite Clubs National League grew to meet those requirements.

More recently, the Development Player League launched the Girls Academy League and pledged to tailor their program to what the individual teams need. These alternative leagues promised they would find ways to solve any problems identified in youth development.

But with this move to broaden the youth development scope, MLS remains committed to ensure every player in the nation has the ability to reach their potential. So, Fred Lipka, the technical director of player development, said the league will absorb all expenses for players at select age levels to attend regional tournaments.

However, even in the face of these new, strong developments, MLS’ financial commitment to youth players gives them a leg up on the competition. The league also plans international competition for United States youth players ready to take their game to a new level. This would pitch their academy players against Liga MX juniors in Mexico. The combination of these two elements is hugely attractive.

The league’s proposal to cover expenses to travel to tournaments for selected age levels of youth blasts apart a major concern for competition in previous youth development efforts. A selling point of the Development Player League’s Girls Academy League is to give member clubs more say-so in important commitments such as tournament travel.

So if MLS can indeed commit to getting deserving players to nationwide tournaments, let alone some international competitions, this provides a selling point for their youth development program that becomes overwhelmingly irresistible.

The interruption of sport has been difficult, but a great development during the suspension has been the development of great competition in MLS and beyond in youth development soccer. The U.S. youth’s soccer future has never been brighter, and that is because of the competition at place.