On November 11^th, 2006, MLS announced a new Youth Development Initiative. This initiative seeks to establish a vertically integrated player development system for each of the 13 MLS teams. The initiative allows MLS teams to acquire, outside of the annual draft, top young players from their respective local areas.  These youth teams will give talented young players with professional aspirations an excellent opportunity to pursue their dreams, stay close to home, and continue their education. Players registered for at least 24 months in an MLS youth program become eligible to sign a professional contract with the sponsoring MLS team without entering the MLS SuperDraft.Teams that meet the established criteria may begin registering players to their Home Grown Player (protected) List this season. Therefore, the first "graduates" of these programs could move directly onto MLS rosters as early as 2008. Through 2010, teams will be permitted to sign up to two players from its Home Grown Player List per year.

MLS’ new Youth Development Initiative complements the existing MLS Reserve Division and Generation Adidas program (which provides scholarships for select elite players across the country). This year MLS is requiring each of its 13 teams to start at least two teams (U18 and U15). The long-range goal is for each club to have six youth teams (U25, U20, U18, U16, U15, U14). Each of these youth teams will have 18 players and at least one coach hired by the club. They will be younger versions of the senior team, wearing the same colors and carrying the same name.

Although this new program won’t help to identify latent talent at the earliest ages, it is a huge step toward developing our nation’s talent like many other soccer nations around the world. David Beckham signed a contract with Manchester United at age 13. Cristiano Ronaldo signed at age 11 for Sporting Lisbon. Wayne Rooney signed with Everton at 9. At age 7, Ronaldinho joined Gremio.

MLS teams in youth soccer-rich areas will compete for the best players with established youth clubs. Teams in areas were youth soccer isn't as competitive face a different problem. So MLS is allowing Real Salt Lake and Kansas City to stake ''Home Territory'' claims far outside the 75-mile radius it is limiting most clubs to. These clubs are allowed to affiliate with two clubs outside of their normal geographic zone. RSL has chosen clubs in Tampa Bay, Florida as well as Phoenix, Arizona.

RSL Florida

Ellinger has extensive connections in Florida given his experience with the Bradenton Academy in Bradenton, Florida. One of his connections is Adrian Bush, whom Ellinger previously coached on the 1992 US National B Team. Bush is currently the General Manager with the Tampa Knights. Established in 1997, the Tampa Knights Futbol Club has catered to over 1,500 youth in the Tampa Bay area.  On December 22^nd, 2006, RSL announced a five year partnership in which the Tampa Knights F.C. is now designated as a Youth Development Program of Real Salt Lake.  The Tampa Knights will now be known as “RSL Florida”.  The Knights will now be the exclusive Youth Development Program in the entire state of Florida for RSL. 

Bush is also Head Coach of Men’s Soccer at the University of Tampa, where he previously won a national championship in 1994. He took over the program following the untimely death of Tom Fitzgerald. Bush is uniquely qualified to manage an MLS developmental team. Prior to being the head coach at his alma mater, Bush held the position of executive director/director of coaching with HC United Soccer Club from 2001-05, working with over 2,200 youth players in the Tampa area. Bush had a total of four players who were named to the final roster for the men’s 2005 U-17 US National Team. His experience includes working as head coach for the Tampa Bay Kickers soccer club, head coach of the Tampa Bay Heather U-19 Girls Club Team, and the Tampa Arsenal U-19 Boys Club Team. During his career coaching boys and girls clubs from the U-13 to U-19, Bush has compiled 11 state championships.

The RSL/RSL Florida partnership entitles RSL Florida players to participate in youth clinics, camps, training sessions, tournaments and reserve player matches offered by RSL coaches. Additionally, RSL will provide financial support to the local club and its teams for travel and competition.  RSL Florida has teams that range between U8 and U17. RSL has already identified several outstanding U17 RSL Florida players that it might continue to develop.  

RSL Arizona

RSL’s other out-of-state developmental team is being headed up by former MLS star and RSL color commentator Robin Fraser. Currently he is the Director of Coaching of Arizona Futbol Club, a team co-founded by current MLS player Greg Vanney. Both Vanney and Fraser are defenders, attended the same college, and played for the LA Galaxy. The Arizona Futbol Club was founded in 1997, has about 20 teams, and serves over 500 youth players.

Fraser is qualified to manage a developmental team since he has been coaching youth soccer since 1991. His teams have won state and regional championships, and two teams appeared in the National Finals. The last U16 girls team Fraser coached was ranked 7th nationally and appeared in the final at Surf Cup and Disney. Fraser chose to be the Arizona Futbol Club Director of Coaching over many other offers including one as Assistant Coach in MLS with Houston 1836 because of his passion to work directly with youth.

This summer Fraser will participate for the second time in the prestigious Adidas Elite Soccer Program (ESP) camp at California State University – Pomona. Since 1997, Adidas ESP is the most recognized development camp in the country, serving the finest youth players across the U.S. At Adidas ESP 136 of the nation’s top high school age players come together to improve their soccer skills and get scouted by college and professional coaches from around the world (including Chelsea FC). No applications are solicited or accepted for Adidas ESP. The participants are selected based on recommendations from a national scouting network. The best 16 players from the camp get to travel to Liverpool FC to train against the Liverpool Academy team (the reigning Youth FA Cup champs). Graduates of the Adidas ESP program include: Josmer Altidore, Michael Parkhurst, Brad Guzan, Maurice Edu, Chris Seitz, Pat Noonan, Danny Szetela, and Jonathan Spector.  

Recently Fraser has met with coaches from youth programs such as Chelsea to discuss what their youth academies look like and what they focus on through their youth development programs.

RSL/Real Madrid Youth Soccer Academy

The other piece to the RSL Youth Development puzzle is the much ballyhooed RSL/Real Madrid $18 million Youth Soccer Academy in Northwest Salt Lake. It will be a residency academy with a school and will aim to lure the best young elite talent from around the nation to Utah. Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon has committed to assist with this endeavor. With the Real Madrid partnership, RSL will likely attract a higher quality of player to their academy. The site of the academy will also house the RSL practice facilities as well as a youth sports complex and youth soccer fields. The latest word from RSL CEO Dean Howes is that the academy would open around the same time as the new stadium.

 Super Y-League

Finally, RSL is collaborating with a handful of other regional clubs to create a Rocky Mountain division to the Super Y-League. The Super Y-League (SYL) is the top competitive youth soccer league in North America for elite level players. Established in 1998, the SYL is affiliated with United Soccer Leagues (USL) and US Club Soccer. The league is designed for talented youth players destined for professional or international careers and contains the youth academies of USL First Division, USL Second Division, Premier Development League, W-League, and MLS clubs, as well as many of the established premier youth clubs. Through Olympic Development Program status events such as the North American Finals and National ODP Camps, the nation’s top players are identified for selection to US National Team Programs. The 2007 campaign features over 800 teams within the U13 – U17 age groups competing within 10 geographic divisions of the U.S. and Canada.

So far the Rocky Mountain division includes AZFC (Robin Fraser’s club), Real Salt Lake, Colorado Rapids, Boulder SC, CISCO (Arizona), Neusport (Nevada), Colorado Rush, Classic FC (New Mexico), and Rio Vista FC (New Mexico). The Rocky Mountain division of the Super Y-League will be launched with two or three age groups.

Other MLS teams have had youth teams in the Super Y-League for several years. For example, DC United fields teams at the U13, U14, U16, and U20 levels. Last season, each of DC United’s teams qualified for their respective Super-Y League National Championships, with the U20 team finishing up as semi-finalists. In addition, United's U17 team traveled to Spain to take part in the Mundialito de Futbol tournament, taking on some of the world's top youth teams, such as Holland's Feyenoord, Argentina's Boca Juniors and Spain's Real Madrid.

RSL Director of Soccer Development

Central to RSL’s youth development efforts is Brian Kamler. On September 24, 2005 Kamler was named RSL’s first Director of Soccer Development. In that capacity, Kamler’s duties include scouting opposing MLS teams, developing relationships with domestic and international clubs and federations with the express purpose of identifying talent, and engaging the Utah and Rocky Mountain soccer communities with Real Salt Lake for educational and instructional opportunities.

While Kamler had a very respectable playing career, nothing indicated that he had a proclivity for player development. USSF coaching licenses are typical certifications for those who hold coaching or development positions. In fact, RSL head coach John Ellinger used to design the certification curriculum while employed by US Soccer. BJ Johnson, a current Assistant Coach for RSL, also briefly played at the professional level. Johnson was the previous RSL Director of Player Development and holds a USSF “A” License, the highest level of coaching certificate the U.S. offers.

The “D” license consists of a 36-hour course. National “A”, “B” and “C” licenses require seven days of instruction and two days of extensive oral, written, and practical examinations. Many coaches with “B” licenses have five years professional playing experience and five years coaching experience. Many even have five years playing experience with U.S. National Teams. Kamler’s credentials consist of 10 years professional playing experience and although he trained on several occasions with the national team, he never earned any caps. Neither does he have any coaching experience. Kamler declined an interview with me.

By contrast, John Maessner, who is the Director of Youth Development at DC United not only is former professional player (3-time MLS Cup Champion, U.S. Open Cup Champion, and Collegiate National Champion) but also has a USSF "B" Coaching License and a USSF National Youth License.

Similarly, the Director of Youth Development at the Houston Dynamo is James Clarkson. Prior to joining the Dynamo, James was the South Texas Youth Soccer Association's Director of Coaching for nearly five years. He holds a USSF 'A' and National Youth License, a NSCAA Advanced National Diploma/GK Level 2 and English FA coaching certificates. He is also a national instructor for US Soccer and US Youth Soccer.

More to the point, RSL Florida’s manager, Adrian Bush, has a USSF National "A" Coaching License and was a staff coach for the FYSA Olympic Development Program (ODP). And Robin Fraser of RSL Arizona has held his USSF 'A' National Coaching License for 13 years. Fraser began coaching in 1989 as the volunteer Assistant Coach at Florida International University and has been the Assistant Coach at Denver University.

The Future of RSL Youth Development

While RSL’s current Development strategy and organization is far behind some other MLS teams, there is much to be lauded for the direction in which it is headed. With teams/organizations being organized locally as well as in other states and a world class youth academy being planned, there is cause for optimism. To see the potential of youth development, one needs only to look at some other MLS teams that are currently light years ahead of RSL.

Since their inaugural year, Chivas USA have had a U-19 team as a part of their development program. Additionally they are partnered with one of the nation’s top boys clubs as well as five PDL teams. Chivas has 17 coaches and coordinators at its Bell Gardens Academy and San Bernardino Academy. Likewise, FC Dallas’ youth program already boasts the first fully integrated vertical player development system in MLS, including 70 boys and girls teams and 40 academy teams.

However, other MLS teams are scrambling to be compliant with the MLS Youth Development Initiative. Such teams include Colorado, Toronto and New England. New York recently fired their Youth Development Director (Giovanni Savarese) and is currently without one.

 Q&A with Steve Pastorino

The latest news is that RSL is helping to create a Super Y-League regional league. Do you have the Utah-based teams identified already that will compete in the Super Y-League?

We will field one team at U16 and one team at U17.  The team is intended to be an “All Star” team representing the best young players from throughout Utah – with some guest players from out of state.  Greg Maas, Utah Youth Soccer Association (UYSA) Technical director, will coach the 17s.  More details will be forthcoming in the days ahead.  It will be the only Utah team in the “Rocky Mountain” division.

(Author’s note: Coach Greg Maas currently serves as the State Technical Director of the Utah Youth Soccer Association (UYSA), where he is responsible for player development, coaching education, and the technical direction of the state association. Coach Maas holds his USSF A License, USSF National Youth License and his NSCAA International Premier Diploma. Greg also serves as the Head Coach for US Youth Soccer's Region IV ODP Goalkeepers (Boys) and as a National Staff Coach with US Soccer.)

What is the timeline for the creation of the Rocky Mountain division of the Super Y-League? 

Again, aiming for an announcement in the next week or two.  USL is finalizing 4-6 teams, which will come from these markets: Phoenix, Denver, Albuquerque, Las Vegas.  RSL will also have an Arizona “All Star” team competing under our name in both U16 and U17 divisions.

Are there any hitches that could derail the eventual reality of the RSL Youth Soccer Academy? 

That’s a broad question J.  There are always potential hitches until the day the Academy (or stadium!) opens!  We continue to have very exciting discussions with Real Madrid.  We’re not prepared to make any announcements at this time.

Any idea what RSL will name it?

Funny you should ask… we’ve been throwing names around all week long.  We haven’t decided.  

Q&A with Robin Fraser

Mike Woitalla (from Soccer America) says that you will create a Real team with select players in Arizona. What is the nature of this team?

The details remain unclear.  I think it is going to be a select U-17 boys team from this area, that will play an 8 game season in the summer. 

Is RSL creating a partnership with Arizona Futbol Club in much the same way that it created a partnership with Tampa Knights in Florida? If so, will you change your club’s name to RSL Arizona like the Tampa Knights changed their name to RSL Florida?

No.  Creating a partnership has never been discussed. 

What benefits do you anticipate with this partnership with RSL?

See above.  I am solely doing this to help John and RSL with the identification and development of players in their designated territory. 

Will your participation in Adidas ESP help you to funnel elite young talent to RSL or will you use it solely for the purposes of AZFC?

I am not using ESP for anything.  That is again a way for me to reach talented kids, and help in their development process.  I am not sure why you would think that there is some ulterior motive. 

You recently met with coaches from youth programs around the world (including Chelsea) to discuss their youth academies. What were some of the most important things that you learned that you can apply to your RSL team/partnership?

There was a coach from Chelsea's youth program last year.  One of the things that I did learn was that we are not even in the same ballpark as those organizations. They get the cream of the crop coming to their youth academies, and we don't necessarily have that luxury.  They deal with kids who grow up in the atmosphere, and watch a lot of soccer.  That helps them a great deal.  They are able to just let the kids play at a young age, because they watch so much soccer that they are playing according to the picture they have in their minds.  We have to allow them to play here, but we also have to provide them with the picture, because our kids aren't watching soccer.  Our task is considerably difficult.  

Q&A with Adrian Bush

How was the first contact made regarding your partnership with RSL?

It was back over the summer.  I’ve known John pretty well. I played for him on the National B team. He was very close with Tom Fitzgerald who was a coach of mine. When he was the U17 coach, I was a coach of a club in Tampa called HC United, where I was before I moved over to Tampa Knights. We had sent him four players from our club for the U17s. I think he felt comfortable with me and seeing what we were able to do at the other clubs. He knew he would not have to micromanage, he could trust what was going on.  There were a lot of emails that went by. We presented a brief thing from Steve Pastorino and John to our board with bullet points on what opportunities it might create. He flew down in October and met with the board of directors. We presented some things that were very attractive. Our board was very small. John knew a lot of our coaches. It’s something he wanted with the program.  

Does RSL Florida already have RSL kits that they play with?

Yea, this year our state cup teams (boys and girls) from U13 to U17 will be in the actual RSL kits. We will wear the same uniforms as Real Salt Lake. We will be in those kits effective this year. All of our teams at the club (all the way down to U8) will be in the Real Salt Lake jerseys next year.  

How has your organization benefited so far from the RSL partnership?

It gives us more structure. I’m also the head coach at the University of Tampa. Our (Tampa) women’s coach (Bobby Johnston) is our girls Director of Coaching at the club. The Assistant Coach for the men (Maurice Loregnard) is our boys Director of Coaching. I’m the General Manager of the club. We have a recreational, a developmental, and a competitive program for the more advanced players. We have an affiliation with a college. We have a paid staff guy (Jim Cote) who just handles the college recruiting process for all of our senior level players. We hope to get a PDL team. But now we have an affiliation with a professional franchise so from top to bottom we have a structure that every club in the world looks to have. Real Madrid – they have their youth system, their competitive program, and their professional ranks. That’s the makings of a club. We have that. Real Salt Lake now has that. It’s a phenomenal thing that MLS is doing. It’s the closest thing we’re going to get in this country to how it is overseas. I think we will see players within the youth development program play for Real Salt Lake in the near future. I think we’re four year away from that with this just starting but I definitely feel that you will see that with the level of players, the talent that is here, in Salt Lake and also in Phoenix. I think its great potential for them as well.  

The press release stated that this was just a five-year partnership. What happens at the end of five years?

We look to get it going again. Both sides are very much committed to this. They have been very supportive. They want to see this thing grow. I think five years was a smart thing because it is new. You don’t know what changes are going to be made with Real Salt Lake or within the youth development programs. One or two years is kind of a waste but we felt five years was something that was comfortable to go with. I think it’s a good decision because it is something that’s new. I think we reevaluate it after that. But we’re 100% committed to RSL Florida. Our name has now been changed. Our website has been changed. It is something that has been very new to a lot of people within our club. Tampa Knights was really a neighborhood type of club for many years. And now they’ve grown. We’ve basically tripled in size in less than two years. Has that been because of Real Salt Lake? We won’t know those answers – how the partnership has helped our numbers – until next year because we basically went into this partnership based on what we have this year.  We’ve added the women’s coach. The staff we have. You look at the structure within our program. There are phenomenal coaches and a great structure in place for the players to really develop. Each area has a certain person that is responsible for that program. You don’t get that in a lot of places. In a lot of places you have people that are spread too thin. Here we feel it’s worth the money to pay people to run the recreational program, to pay someone for the developmental program, bring in a college liaison that just works with the recruiting process. That’s a huge thing for us.  

How much financial support is RSL providing for this growth in your organization?

I will let them speak on that. I don’t think it’s my place. I just deal with running the club. I try to stay away from the financial side. But they’ve been very supportive with us getting into the Super Y-League. We’ve talked about co-operating a PDL team. There are a lot of things that are in the works. But it’s probably their place to speak on that.  

Did you have any negative local reaction to this partnership?

It creates a certain buzz in the area. It has people more alert. I think we were the very first club to go outside of the area of an MLS team. DC United have one, the Red Bulls have one. Chicago has one. But we were the first to go outside their actual hometown, where an MLS team is. It’s a first in Florida. I think it’s positive. I think its something that needs to happen. I think down here it’s a little different than the other clubs. Down here we have way too many clubs. Just in our region, which is probably four counties, we have about 58 youth soccer clubs. It way to spread out. We need to centralize Tampa so there just one program in Tampa. In Tampa we have probably 10 clubs.  

Have you and/or RSL been able to identify any promising talent from your organization that might continue on developing in the RSL franchise?

MLS has launched a new program in which they “tag” home grown players. You establish a home grown team. Our team is our U17 boys who were state champions from last year, lost in the regional semis. That’s our home grown team. Between the three areas (Salt Lake, Phoenix, Florida) they’re going to be able to tag up to 8 players where they will have their names protected. These players will go on to college and when they graduate from college Real Salt Lake will have the option of selecting those players prior to the draft. They have already identified four kids off of our U17 boys team as tagged players and there could be four more by June. The four kids that have been tagged by RSL as of right now are: Santi(ago) Alexis, Karl Swan, Christian Silva, Sebastian Thuriere. I definitely see a bright future for those players. The potential for those guys going on is very high.  

(Author’s note: To get an idea of the potential of these tagged players, check out the photos of Alexis. Alexis was a forward with Jesuit High School and was named to the 2006 NSCAA All-South Region Team before moving to England to train with Shrewsbury School. Swan is a junior who plays for Countryside High School in Clearwater, Florida and won a state championship last year. Countryside High was ranked #1 in the nation by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and was featured in Sports Illustrated. Thuriere is a junior who plays for Seminole High and is being heavily recruited by every Division 1 program. Christian Silva is a senior with Wharton High and is ranked #38 among Florida High School soccer players. He has 11 goals, 7 assists in 15 games. These four players have all played on the RSL Florida U17 team.)

 What other positive things do you anticipate in the future because of this partnership?

It’s tremendous. We feel honored to be a part of this. RSL has been very professional in everything they’ve done. I credit our board. We have a small board of about 6 members. This would have never happened at my previous club. There were 30 board members on that board. In youth soccer a lot of times boards can get in the way of growth. This is a board in which the soccer people make the soccer decisions. Our board has bought into this. They’ve wanted to make this happen. John [Ellinger] did an excellent job of selling this to them when he flew down here. We went to dinner where he presented it to our board. Our president said that normally we like to meet as a group and then we’ll get back with you. John told him to get back with him whenever he could. Our president asked John to step out of the room so we could talk about this right then. John and I stepped out. When we stepped out I said, “This is done John. This is going to get done for sure.” We came back in and they said, “We’re 100% behind it.” We’re very excited to be with Phoenix and Salt Lake City. I think the opportunity that’s going to create – traveling to those different cities and being affiliated with MLS is going to be great for our kids, and that’s what it’s all about.

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