FRISCO, Texas – Although it would have made for a great story if the FC Dallas U-17s had beaten the LA Galaxy last Sunday morning to raise the 2011 Generation adidas Cup on their home field at Pizza Hut Park, the match simply didn’t pan out that way. As it were, LA shut out the home team to take the Cup back with them to Southern California. But that doesn’t mean Dallas walked away from the week empty-handed.
Aside from the accolades taken from FC Dallas players, like Richard Sanchez's Golden Glove award as best U-17 goalkeeper of the tournament and Alfred Koroma's U-17 MVP award, the tournament also provided FC Dallas coaches a chance to evaluate it’s talent against other MLS academies to see how the team stacked up against the best national competition.
The tournament also provided coaches a chance to evaluate which players within the club might be ready to make the transition to the next level. FCD’s U-17 roster featured several players from the club’s 2010-2011 U-16 squad. After graduating nine U-18 Academy players onto college programs, the Generation adidas Cup allowed coaches to see which U-16 players may or may not be ready to fill out that roster next year.
“It’s an evaluation I think for the coaches,” said U-16 defender Mark Ashby. “Everyone’s trying their hardest and wants to show the coaches who they are before the year, show some personality. There are a lot of spots, but just a few starting spots, so everyone’s working for that.”
Ashby said his development was aided by a trip he took earlier in the month of July. The young defender joined the FC Dallas U-18s at USSDA Finals Week in Milwaukee, Wisc. Although Ashby didn’t see any playing time at the tournament, he said the experience was invaluable.
“Watching from the sidelines more, you can learn a lot from the game,” said Ashby. “It helps me because those guys are older and they’re acting more professionally and now I can try to bring that attitude and work ethic back with me.”
And Ashby’s work ethic and attitude showed at the Generation adidas Cup, as he was part of an FC Dallas U-17 defensive corps that allowed just four regulation goals through five games at the tournament.
This year the Generation adidas Cup also gave FC Dallas a chance to better prepare for the upcoming inaugural Pre Academy season by featuring a U-15 competition for the first time in the tournament’s history. Pre Academy coach Francisco Molina said the tourney gave him a chance to acclimate new players to FCD’s style of play.
“Sixty percent of the team has already been in the club, the other 40 [percent] are new players who need to get used to our system, our concept, our style of play,” said Molina. “They need to learn how to defend the FC Dallas brand, that’s very important.”
The U-15 coach also said the competition was an opportunity to show his players what it takes to compete at the MLS Academy level.
“It helps us to see other MLS teams, to see how each of them plays and to see how we need to raise the quality for the MLS Academy and Pre Academy teams,” said Molina. “The competition is different in the Academy and Pre Academy, very different from the local league and even the premier league. The boys need to get used to that. We don’t want to rush anybody.”
Despite being in just its fifth year of existence, the Generation adidas Cup has proven to be a valuable tool to similarly young and growing MLS Academy systems. It will certainly continue to evolve and aid the development of MLS Academies.
“The Academy system still needs time to work, but I think that this is the path,” said Bazan. “The MLS clubs are doing a great job working with the kids and providing a path to play pro, or to get with a national team or to go to another country to play pro. I think that U.S. Soccer is very good and very well-organized in that way.”
