Major League Soccer’s MLS Next program prides itself on the development of talent on the pitch, but there are many in Palm Beach County that believe the program is slowly killing high school soccer.
MLS Next’s Allstate Homegrown Division touts itself as the “pinnacle of youth player development in North America,” but the contract that parents sign carries with it a significant decision local student-athletes and their families have to make.
When pen goes to paper with the MLS Next program, those student-athletes are no longer allowed to participate in high-school soccer programs.
To some extent, this is nothing new. That clause in the contract is not fresh news.
But this year, an anonymous email was sent to an MLS Next club suggesting that a Somerset Canyons student-athlete was double-dipping in both his MLS club team and high-school program, and that kickstarted a widespread email reminder and a local crackdown on contracted players.
“When that email got to their club, which is based out of Boca, they started to question everybody in the club and started sending out messages to the players, ‘if we catch you, you won’t be allowed on this team anymore,'” Somerset Canyons athletic director John Quinto said. “They pretended to be from the state of Florida.”
“Over the next couple days and next couple weeks, they started showing up to games of other teams and telling kids they can’t play,” Quinto said. “At the end of the day, we have high school kids, 14-17 year-olds being asked to make this decision when they really shouldn’t have to. They should be able to do what they want. If they want to play high school, they should be able to play high school.”
Representatives from MLS Next responded to The Post’s inquiry but decline a request to comment.
While there is some support for MLS Next programs helping student-athletes develop and make connections within the sport, there is just as much anecdotal evidence that suggests student-athletes can make connections with college and professional clubs with their high-school programs, especially with a coach that is able to facilitate those conversations.
That argument is echoed by another Palm Beach County coach who spoke on condition of anonymity. They said that another issue with the MLS Next programs is that the contract stipulates ‘ownership’ by the local club. For local MLS Next players, that means Miami owns the contract rights to its players in South Florida.
“I know a parent once who said, ‘I’m not having my son play for the academy because I’m not allowing for anybody to own my son,'” they said. “See, what happens is, let’s say there’s an excellent player in this area. He doesn’t even have to go to the MLS draft. He’s already owned by Miami. They sign him as a homegrown player. How do you think that might affect his leverage?”
As student-athletes and their families grapple with whether or not to forego high school soccer in favor of an MLS Next contract, the state rankings support the idea that boys soccer, specifically, is suffering.
While Palm Beach County girls soccer programs are among the very best in the state, one has to look outside the Florida’s top 50 boys programs before coming across a local name.
While there is an ECNL (Elite Club National Level) for girls, there is no MLS Next equivalent.
“They’ll never, ever, ever tell a girl, ‘You can’t play high school,'” the coach said. “They won’t hear it.”
A number of boys soccer players in Palm Beach County are playing “on the down-low,” leaving high-school practice early to attend MLS Next events and playing for their club teams — such as the South Florida Football Academy — and multiple coaches around the county say the athletes request their names and photos to be taken off of online rosters.
One county coach said he had “eight or nine” players participating in MLS Next this year.
“And that hurts, not to have them at practice,” the coach said. “I was missing guys for like 2 weeks straight. And it showed. It showed on the field. Because they’re not practicing with their teammates. And when come game time, they’re not all on the same page.”
“It killed me this year,” the coach continued.
He said the club coach showed up to an away game against West Boca Raton and multiple homes games, necessitating at least eight of his athletes to call out, some of whom did not even show up for fear of it costing their roster spot on the MLS Next club team.
Flavio Guazzatti, a senior at King’s Academy, recently quit his MLS Next club because he was “losing love for the game.”
“I just started practicing with my high school team and was balling out and I found the love for the sport slowly again,” Guazzatti said. “Last year, I regret not playing. I love my high-school group so much, and I want to impact my school in a good way.”
While the MLS declined comment on the apparent discontent growing within Palm Beach County, Guazzatti says that his club coach did not view high school soccer in a positive light.
“My coach found out that I was playing high school, and he told me directly that high school isn’t going to do anything for me,” Guazzatti said. “He would tell me a lot that high school doesn’t do a lot for my development and that no college coaches are going to want a player that plays in high school.”
King’s Academy boys soccer won the district title for the first time in Guazzatti’s time playing for the program.
“I just want to spread awareness to as many kids as possible to not be scared and follow their heart with the game, because the last thing you want is losing love for the game and staying on a team for a name,” Guazzatti said. “A team name doesn’t matter. A league name doesn’t matter. If you’re having fun, someone is going to find you. It’s okay to play high school.”
Alex Peterman is a high school sports reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at apeterman@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Is MLS Next a silent killer of high school soccer in Palm Beach County?
Reporting by Alexander Peterman, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
