NYCFC Academy - General Discussion

[Kjbert]

What's the point of signing kids unless you are absolutely sure you have a spot for them? These kids (many of them) are already practicing with our First Team more often than not. There's no difference between Joe Scally's training regimen today than 4 weeks ago. He's just getting paid.

Think about it from the perspective of the parent and child. Unless you are an absolute star, why would you give up your college eligibility to sign at 15, 16 or 17? Sands is a home run. He'll play in Europe. Scally is a star in the making.

Haak? Sure, good player now, but maybe he wants to go get a scholarship at UVA and defer the money for now.

 

[Kangaroo Jack]

What's the point of signing kids unless you are absolutely sure you have a spot for them? These kids (many of them) are already practicing with our First Team more often than not. There's no difference between Joe Scally's training regimen today than 4 weeks ago. He's just getting paid.

Think about it from the perspective of the parent and child. Unless you are an absolute star, why would you give up your college eligibility to sign at 15, 16 or 17? Sands is a home run. He'll play in Europe. Scally is a star in the making.

Haak? Sure, good player now, but maybe he wants to go get a scholarship at UVA and defer the money for now.

i think it locks them up, if we had signed Gio already it would make it much harder for him to leave for europe. Basically, insurance.

 

[Vallos]

 

[dannd23]

What's the point of signing kids unless you are absolutely sure you have a spot for them? These kids (many of them) are already practicing with our First Team more often than not. There's no difference between Joe Scally's training regimen today than 4 weeks ago. He's just getting paid.

Think about it from the perspective of the parent and child. Unless you are an absolute star, why would you give up your college eligibility to sign at 15, 16 or 17? Sands is a home run. He'll play in Europe. Scally is a star in the making.

Haak? Sure, good player now, but maybe he wants to go get a scholarship at UVA and defer the money for now.

Sign them so they don't even flirt with college or Europe. College education will always be there for them. Playing soccer at the highest level will not be. MLS has plenty of programs that allow you to get your degree while playing. Players like Jack Harrison are the exception to the rule about college soccer athletes in this country. It definitely stagnates your trajectory and is only good if you are a USL level player with a short shelf life. Then it makes sense to go to a place like UVA get a top degree and earn way more money than if you were playing footy.

I realize this is not a popular opinion in the US but we are the only country that really does athletics like this and it's entirely backwards.

 

[Kjbert]

Hold on - that's great for us and the team but it's not great for these children. This is a HUGE issue in England from what I understand but Falastur can speak to it maybe.

This isn't FIFA. These are still children with lives and developing psyches. They're not cattle.

 

[Ulrich]

Hold on - that's great for us and the team but it's not great for these children. This is a HUGE issue in England from what I understand but Falastur can speak to it maybe.

This isn't FIFA. These are still children with lives and developing psyches. They're not cattle.

I don’t think anybody has termed them as being like cattle. If they have even the slightest inkling of playing pro, then their teen years are the absolute most critical ones for development - Pulisic said in his 60min interview that the instruction he got when in Germany pushed him to make the technical advances he now enjoys, and without the training or game minutes, he wouldn’t be where he is now.

I’m all for every kid getting the college education they want, especially if they don’t see soccer as a “paying” future, but if they do, then they should take advantage of the pro route being given to them. An education can always be achieved, even later in life, but they’ve got 15 years to be as “elite” as their genetics will allow.

 

[dannd23]

Hold on - that's great for us and the team but it's not great for these children. This is a HUGE issue in England from what I understand but Falastur can speak to it maybe.

This isn't FIFA. These are still children with lives and developing psyches. They're not cattle.

Huh? I feel like we're talking about 2 completely different things. A player like Haak would be foolish to go to college over signing a HGP contract or exploring European options. Again, college soccer stagnates your growth, even if he were to only go for a year. His potential is clearly through the roof and his earning potential from the ages of 16-35 playing soccer are way greater than if he went to college and got a degree in business and was a member of the 9-5 from ages 22-35.

I don't think I suggested we sign every run of the mill academy player to a HGP contract. Anyone that has potential to be a real contributor in MLS should be signing one. If you're fringe MLS or a USL level player, or the potential or desire just isn't there, then the decision with the best ROI is definitely taking a scholarship and going to a top college and playing soccer there.

 

[Kjbert]

Yea but these kids are already practicing with the first team in many cases. There is no difference in how the team is developing Joe Scally today and Justin Haak. That's my point.

So Scally either really needs the money or his family believes that he's a sure fire big time pro. Maybe Haak isn't ready to commit to a future without college starting at 18? It's not like they are signing Pulisic type deals

 

[Kangaroo Jack]

Yea but these kids are already practicing with the first team in many cases. There is no difference in how the team is developing Joe Scally today and Justin Haak. That's my point.

So Scally either really needs the money or his family believes that he's a sure fire big time pro. Maybe Haak isn't ready to commit to a future without college starting at 18? It's not like they are signing Pulisic type deals

Nobody is forcing anyone to sign anything. if they dont want to they dont have to. Im not sure what youre getting upset over

 

[Mario]

these cattle eat tide pods and misread the constitution.

 

[dannd23]

So Scally either really needs the money or his family believes that he's a sure fire big time pro. Maybe Haak isn't ready to commit to a future without college starting at 18? It's not like they are signing Pulisic type deals

I don't think this is really accurate. Our HGP contracts in MLS for these 16-18 year olds are about what Pulisic got to start and are actually very competitive with European wages for that age group. Sure, he is on $23K/week now or something like that. But when he first started I am pretty sure he was only on $2k/week. Sands makes $73K/year.

Devils advocate. Soccer doesn't work out for Sands. He plays for NYCFC for 3 years. he earns close to $200K in that time. He'll have his college fund there.

 

[Kjbert]

Huh? I feel like we're talking about 2 completely different things. A player like Haak would be foolish to go to college over signing a HGP contract or exploring European options. Again, college soccer stagnates your growth, even if he were to only go for a year. His potential is clearly through the roof and his earning potential from the ages of 16-35 playing soccer are way greater than if he went to college and got a degree in business and was a member of the 9-5 from ages 22-35.

I don't think I suggested we sign every run of the mill academy player to a HGP contract. Anyone that has potential to be a real contributor in MLS should be signing one. If you're fringe MLS or a USL level player, or the potential or desire just isn't there, then the decision with the best ROI is definitely taking a scholarship and going to a top college and playing soccer there.

How many Homegrown players have ever made more than $150k a year playing soccer?

If my son was 16 and he was a star in an Academy, I would be very wary in letting him sign an HGP deal. Soccer is unique in that many of the best colleges in soccer are also top of the line universities - UVA, UNC, Princeton etc.

Look at Mickey Lopez. He played two years at UNC. Has he ever made more than $60,000 a year playing soccer? Average starting salary for a UNC grad is $56,000 a year. Average kid career pay for a UNC grad is $96,000.

He will NEVER make that much money playing soccer.

So yea, Justin Haak should wait.

 

[Kjbert]

Nobody is forcing anyone to sign anything. if they dont want to they dont have to. Im not sure what youre getting upset over

I'm responding to the posters on here who don't understand why signing a HGP deal may not be in a child's best interest. People are taking about signing a kid like Gio or Haak and then flipping them for transfer fees. This isn't an f'ing video game. These are children and as a father I think it's borderline repulsive that some posters here look at these kids like pieces of meat.

Joe Scally's decision to sign a professional soccer contract at age 15 will define the entirety of his life. What if he tears his ACL at age 19? What if his developmental path doesn't pan out and he's the next Josh Yaro. What if falls out with PV like Diskerud did?

 

[Mario]

anyone can go back to school at any time, if they choose.
you only get one chance to become a professional soccer player with a limited window from about 16- 25 years old.

 

[Ulrich]

I'm responding to the posters on here who don't understand why signing a HGP deal may not be in a child's best interest. People are taking about signing a kid like Gio or Haak and then flipping them for transfer fees. This isn't an f'ing video game. These are children and as a father I think it's borderline repulsive that some posters here look at these kids like pieces of meat.

Joe Scally's decision to sign a professional soccer contract at age 15 will define the entirety of his life. What if he tears his ACL at age 19? What if his developmental path doesn't pan out and he's the next Josh Yaro. What if falls out with PV like Diskerud did?

I don’t think anybody is looking at these kids like a piece of meat.

What if one of the academy kids goes to Harvard, gets picked up by Goldman Saks, and after a few years of trading is the root cause of a massive loss of trading funds (I’m spitballing, but you can fill in the technical gaps)? An event like that will also define the rest of his life.

 

[Kangaroo Jack]

I'm responding to the posters on here who don't understand why signing a HGP deal may not be in a child's best interest. People are taking about signing a kid like Gio or Haak and then flipping them for transfer fees. This isn't an f'ing video game. These are children and as a father I think it's borderline repulsive that some posters here look at these kids like pieces of meat.

Joe Scally's decision to sign a professional soccer contract at age 15 will define the entirety of his life. What if he tears his ACL at age 19? What if his developmental path doesn't pan out and he's the next Josh Yaro. What if falls out with PV like Diskerud did?

They alongside with their parents need to decide if its in their best interest. If they dont think it is maybe the professional soccer route isnt for them. It may not be a video game but it is a business. If you dont want to be a part of that business you shouldn't get involved in it and choose a different life path. Most life choices dont come with a guarantee.

 

[Mario]

Look at Mickey Lopez. He played two years at UNC. Has he ever made more than $60,000 a year playing soccer? Average starting salary for a UNC grad is $56,000 a year. Average kid career pay for a UNC grad is $96,000.

He will NEVER make that much money playing soccer.

So yea, Justin Haak should wait.

mikey lopez fucking sucks, thats why he made 60k a year.

 

[dannd23]

I'm responding to the posters on here who don't understand why signing a HGP deal may not be in a child's best interest. People are taking about signing a kid like Gio or Haak and then flipping them for transfer fees. This isn't an f'ing video game. These are children and as a father I think it's borderline repulsive that some posters here look at these kids like pieces of meat.

Joe Scally's decision to sign a professional soccer contract at age 15 will define the entirety of his life. What if he tears his ACL at age 19? What if his developmental path doesn't pan out and he's the next Josh Yaro. What if falls out with PV like Diskerud did?

I think we fundamentally disagree. If Scally tears his ACL at age 19, he will have made close to $250K and can use that money for college OR can recover and continue to pursue soccer.

Let's not cloud this thread anymore. Let's get back to the academy as they are currently playing SKC. I respect your opinion just don't agree.

 

[Kjbert]

anyone can go back to school at any time, if they choose.
you only get one chance to become a professional soccer player with a limited window from about 16- 25 years old.

If my son was Jordan Morris, I would recommend that he start at college and play it year by year. Jordan Morris got a free degree from Stanford. Anyone can go back to school but it ain't free

 

[Kjbert]

mikey lopez fucking sucks, thats why he made 60k a year.

He also left college after two years and was a first round draft pick. So obviously enough people thought he didn't suck. He should have stayed in college