First I am very Pro youth development and really best way to sustainably maintain a top team, but very few can identify and develop youth into top talents and they get premium paid to do this. Rapids just don't have this at the current time. This is MLS 3.0, talent is driving force and there is not much in our youth academies, Perez even when aged rank wasn't even A top player and no national camp call ups at all. Shane was a fire sale and amount so low it didn't even meet the $500k MLS reporting minimum. I hope Serna proves me wrong but he is a best a supersub attacker to date. CB Quentin Pearson is the most likely next HG signing, started 18 games as a freshman http://www.gohuskies.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30200&ATCLID=210165720
Did Miguel Jaime ever play for Rapids Academy before going to college? If so, maybe he would be a home grown signing in the next couple of years. He plays at Florida Gulf Coast and I imagine he might be a 2nd or 3rd rounder in the 2018 Superdraft. I personally haven't watched the Academy team play in the last couple of years, so I don't know if there's any great talent. I'll have to check out at least one of their games this year.
Midfielder Gregory Tracey from the Rapids Academy was just named to the next U.S. U-18 camp (as were two Real Colorado forwards).
That's good because they have none on U-17 camp of 32 players http://sbisoccer.com/2016/01/u-s-u-17-coach-john-hackworth-calls-in-32-players-for-aegean-cup
I also saw that Griffin Dorsey, who played with Evergreen High School a couple of years ago, before going full time with Rush Academy, played in 2 U-18 games in October, 2015, scoring one goal vs Canada. We do have some good young talent in Colorado (most notably Mallory Pugh from Mountain Vista High School, the youngest player in the USWNT player pool right now).
Women wise its off the charts for Colorado, go through any age group national rankings (TopDrawer etc) and we have at least 1 in top 5 and one year we have 4 of top 10.
Anyone know if Quentin Pearson is still with Huskies? http://www.gohuskies.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=1332 Edit: he is listed on Roster so I guess they update the BIO after season is completed.
Quentin had a very good season by all accounts. He has been playing as a CB but something leads me believe he will be better suited as a RB professionally. Anyways, little birdie in the sky told me the Rapids have been in contact and he is weighing his options. How true this is or how reliable the birdie is, I am not sure. Quentin's name came up during a conversation regarding the Rapid youth pipeline.
More like a garden hose than a pipeline then. Really the whole youth initiative has been botched by the FO for 10 years. So that includes 2 Presidents, at least 2 GMs, and 4 coaches. For the amount of talent Colorado has the fact that we've only signed 3 HGs, one of which was a complete bust and another who's relationship with the team disintegrated, is appalling.
It's weird ~ they have the pick of the litter at every try-out. As a parent, I don't understand driving your U-something kid from Evergreen or Highlands Ranch to train several times a week at the Dicks, but there are PLENTY of families hoping to do just that. Is there just a huge divide between youth / academy & first team (not good at bridging young talent to train with first team), or do Colorado youth value a college degree before soccer? I know where our family stands: We all love soccer, but as far as profession ... "you are only as good as an injury away ... nobody can take an education away from you in an instant".
Even if they do the Rapids could work with them and claim them as HG as long as they do so before their class would be in the draft. So like Pearson they could go to college and get a full education and then sign with the Rapids as a HG.
True! So ... is this angle not worked hard enough? Basically, I do think there is a great pool of talent in CO.
How many MLS players from Colorado high schools have come through the draft in the last 5-6 years? (Or players who have gone on to play professionally elsewhere.) I don't know MLS enough well enough to know...so I only know of Akindele in the former category, Horvath in the latter.
Looks like we may have another in the pipeline: http://www.denverpost.com/2016/12/11/kortne-ford-colorado-rapids-denver-pioneers/
So should the Rapids sign Ford he is in effect replacing Greenspan on the roster. I would assume that should this take place the Rapids feel Ford is at least a good a prospect as Greenspan. Interesting. Because Ford is what 20 or 21 years old it would seem that he would need tome time with Charlotte to get ready to play at the MLS level. Of course Shane O'Neill didn't seem to need much seasoning before he made an impact.
There are a couple. Amadou Dia who now plays for Montreal but drafted and played most of this season for Sporting KC went to HS in Fort Collins. Jeb Brovski, a Lakewood native, who has played for Vancouver, NyCFC and this season in NASL with Minnesota United. Taylor Kemp of DC United is from Highlands Ranch. Khiry Shelton of NYCFC is a Colorado native and spent some of his youth in CO but i'm not quite sure he went to high school here. Another is Colleen Warner, of Denver, who plays for Houston. I know at one time, a year or so ago, I tallied up 15-18 guys spilt between USL and NASL as having CO roots.
I went to the last 7 or 8 DU games this season and I really like Ford. He is a tough kid that plays with a lot of heart. I have no idea if he'll end up being a good pro but good for him if he can make it onto the roster for the Rapids.
I saw games against St. Louis and UC-Riverside. Both games Kortne scored thumping headers off of set pieces. The dude is a monster on set pieces. Monster. IIRC, neither ball was really hit on the money yet he somehow adjusted himself to get on the end of those. As far as his defending, it looked raw. On the ball defending he was superb -- good footwork; quick to close space; appeared to know when to tackle / when to give a little space. Positionally - and this where the rawness comes in - he was caught shading to one side a bit; left some gaps open; and overall just needed to recognize faster where to plug holes. It was desperate defending -- if you will. Mind you Kortne was far superior than his other defenders so he was often covering their spots letting his athleticism take over. So that plays into the positional issue. it is always hard to judge college defending even if DU had one of the best defenses in the country. Nonetheless, in the right environment and professional coaching, the positional awareness will improve. Kortne is professional material - no question about that. But how quickly he can learn and adjust is the million dollar question.
Thanks! I thought someone had been tracking the CO guys but I couldn't remember where. Given the strength of Real and Rush, how likely is it for the Rapids academy to get more of these types of guys?
Given the extra money MLS is giving currently to teams regarding home grown players (use it or lose it), I suspect we will sign one of these 2 CB's.
I'd hope so. I agree, it is beneficial for the team to foster these player to develop a pipeline. I hate writing this, but Dallas has got to be the leading example of how this works within MLS. I watched the DU semi-final game over the weekend, Kortne played really well for a college defender. Positioning was good at most times and seemed to be great at communication for the players around him.
I heard that Ricardo Perez (SR Creighton) was invited to MLS Combine but can't seem to confirm from lists I can find on Google. He came up through Rapids youth Academy a year behind Serna I believe. Edit: Really think USL might be his level, he didn't stick out or star like Serna did.