SCOUTING THE 'HOME TERRITORY' MLS INVESTING IN YOUTH PROGRAM TO DEVELOP TALENT IN THE U.S.

Byline: MATT ZIMMERMAN Staff Writer

Eder Robles was ready to be just like everyone else.

Months after traveling to Costa Rica for a tournament as part of Chivas USA's Under-19 team, he enrolled at Long Beach City College and was set to join the Vikings' men's soccer team.

The St. John Bosco High of Bellflower graduate was going to continue a career that began with club and high school seasons and included a couple of stints with the U-17 national team.

But Chivas USA director of football Dennis te Kloese called to let him know the second-year club wanted to sign him. So in August, he became the latest to join one of the few MLS teams that had a youth development program.

``It's cool playing with these guys. I see them on TV, now I'm playing with them,'' Robles said. ``I'm still adjusting. It's different than what I thought it would be. MLS, I thought it would be like something easy, but obviously not.''

Robles is one of three players who less than a year ago were part of Chivas' U-19 team, and now are on the senior roster. And he, Carlos Borja and Estuardo Sanchez could be seen as pioneers in years to come.

Having just finished its 11th season, Major League Soccer announced in November an initiative in which every team would be required to have a youth system starting next season, with each team allowed to sign twoplayers per season from the system, but only after a player has been in the system for two years.

The clock starts now, meaning that the first group of players signed under the new rules will not be eligible to join the big clubs until 2008.

``You're seeing a lot of new investment in soccer and in MLS, beginning with our facilities, a number of which have a great many training facilities around them,'' MLS deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis said.

``You're also seeing a lot of new money coming into the game through television contracts and sponsor relationships. What we're doing is making sure that money gets invested in our product on the field, because ultimately we will stand and fall on that.''

When Chivas USA began its youth program in 2005, it joined a select group. Fewer than half of the teams in MLS had youth programs at the time. Te Kloese had worked in player development with Chivas' parent club, Chivas de Guadalajara, and came up as a player through the Dutch youth system.

``I think with a good organization, a good structure in Guadalajara, we had a lot of success with young players coming in through the senior team, because every time they step up they know what's asked from them in certain positions and in an environment which is very competitive,'' te Kloese said. ``In the very long run here, that's obviously the ideal situation, that you have young players locally which train in a certain way, in a certain position, playing a certain style. And as they move up the ladder, that they know what's asked in a certain position.''

Chicago, D.C. United, FC Dallas and New York were the other teams to have programs, and Gazidis noted last summer that without assurances that developed players would not be lost to the draft, there was little incentive to spend the time and money on development. The league's mandate includes the possibility of each team establishing squads in the U-14, U- 15, U-16, U-18, U-20 and U-25 age groups, with at least one coach for each team in each age group and a minimum amount of practice time.

Now those teams are ahead of the curve, with D.C. planning to field six teams in five age groups next season Dallas already has teams in every age group from U-11 to U-17 as well as U-19.

``I think you have to look at a kid's abilities, what his strengths and weaknesses are, what the kid's going to look like in the environment that we have,'' D.C. coach Tom Soehn said. ``Having an eye for talent is the big thing, you've got to be a visionary, see the kid and know that he's not a finished product. It's our job to finish the product.''

While Chivas USA held open tryouts and invited scouted players to train with the youth team, other teams gained a quick foothold by merging with a local existing club team or Olympic Development Program. At FCDallas, Shawn McGee's official title is senior director of Pizza Hut Park, but his role in the youth development extends beyond the senior team's venue.

McGee's knowledge of area clubs led to an alliance with Dallas Inter Soccer Club, the second largest club in Dallas.

``It just took MLS and FCDallas time to get it together and make sure the league was on solid footing first,'' McGee said. ``There's no American league, there's no aspirations. There's no aspirations, you don't have players sticking with the sport. You've got to have the whole system in place. The rest of the world has figured that out.''

For nearly a decade, major youth discovery in the United States has been limited to the 40players each year in the Bradenton, Fla., U-17 residency program, which has produced Borja and national team stalwarts such as Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley.

With each of the 13 MLS clubs starting a youth system, the idea is that more players will gain opportunities, and fewer will fall through the cracks.

``I think in some ways, paradoxically, the success of that program probably points to some problems we have with player development in the U.S.,'' Gazidis said.

``The focus on a small group and the level of success in that group, indicates to me there isn't enough competition in the youth ranks. I think there are other players that have as much potential as the super-elite that we select in this country who don't have the opportunities. I think the next step is to give more of those players opportunities.''

A major aspect of the league's youth initiative is that each team will have a certain ``home territory'' geographical area where it can scout players.

Reportedly, Chivas and the Galaxy each have a 70-mile radius around the Home Depot Center, while a team in a less populated area, such as Kansas City, might have multiple states.

With two teams in competition for the same area, Galaxy general manager Alexi Lalas said his team is not planning to merge with a local club, while te Kloese did not rule out the possibility of some kind of partnership with a club for the future.

``It's an enormous landscape in Los Angeles, and to have a network of contacts and people you can trust in different areas, that would obviously benefit us,'' te Kloese said. ``Where are the best talents, where are the best players, which would be the players that fit us? You need some people to help you out with that.''

Yet there are soccer players to be found in places beyond the 13home territories. Gazidis said a team must have an established academy presence in an area before it can sign a player, and a player must have resided in the area before he can be brought in either by the parent club or a satellite academy.

To that end, Chivas USA has established an academy in BellGardens, while Dallas has a presence in Oklahoma and the Chicago Fire has a foothold in Mississippi.

``While we do want to develop top talent and put them on the first team, we're also interested in player development,'' said Chicago Fire youth development director Roland Hahn. ``Yes, we want to have a kid come through the system that will play for the first team. But we're also trying to help the game of soccer develop as a whole. We help the kids with their college searches, we have a good network of college coaches that we've developed over the years.''

While MLS' wholesale entry into local youth development will create tough competition for clubs not affiliated with an MLS team, it might positively affect the college game. Players in the MLS youth amateur programs retain their NCAA eligibility, as they will not be paid unless they make the senior roster.

``Most of these players developed will go to college, they're not all going to be offered professional contracts by any means,'' Gazidis said. ``I think the college game will benefit significantly by having an influx of players who were trained by MLS clubs.''

In addition, the experience a young player receives training with a professional team extends off the field, like dealing with the media and public.

``If we're concentrating on producing quality professional athletes,'' Lalas said, ``we need to make sure that we are developing all aspects of them, not just how to kick a ball.''

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Photo:

Pedro Ochoa of Millikan High of Long Beach scrimmages with the Chivas USA youth squad against East L.A. City College.

Suzanne Mapes/Staff Photographer