"Major League Soccer today announced the initial list of 54 college seniors from 33 Division I schools who have been invited to participate in the 2008 adidas MLS Player Combine. The annual player combine will be held at Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Jan. 11-15, 2008."
On the list is Joseph Lapira, Louisiana native who went to St. Louis High School. MLSNet did a quick profile on Lapira as a top college prospect for the MLS. For some reason, he appears to be choosing to play on the Irish national team rather than the US MNT. He is eligible to do so because of his Irish mother. If you were good enough to play international soccer, would you pick to play for Ireland or the US?
Here is his Notre Dame player profile.
11 comments:
When I was on my road trip this summer, I was in NY the day he played for Ireland. Unfortunately we didn't find out about it until the next day. I think he's been shunned by the USMNT, that's why he chose Ireland. I hardly ever remember him being on any ODP or U-17 teams.
Had to have a local coach call the state ODP coordinator when he didn't make the team as a junior in H.S. Ended up being put on after injured player had to resign...Says something about the state of Louisiana soccer.
mdeclouet: "Says something about the state of Louisiana soccer"
Meaning that there were that many people better then him? Or that we don't recognize good talent when we see it?
In not recognizing good talent. There is also a lot of politics at play in La. soccer. Being from the Lake Charles does have its' disadvantages as it is not known for being a hotbed for soccer talent.
If you were a pool player w/ the Irish National Team, and this guy from the US shows up at camp becuase he has an Irish Grandmother, trying to take a spot on the team, how do you think that would go over? As far as I can remmeber, the David Regis experiment didn't really sit to well with alot of USMNT regulars at the time.
And ODP is completely political throughout the country. I played club ball in NJ w/ a kid who ended up w/ a full scholarship to a D1 school, and never made it past the first cut of state tryouts. His Dad and one of the directors didn't get along.
The thing is, too much hype is put into the ODP program. From what I saw, it never got the best players, at least not in NJ. My club team regularly scrimmaged the NJ State Team in our age group, and I don't remember losing...ever...so it is really quite a mismanaged program in my opinion.
While the ODP program may be a wreck, you can't argue that the road to the USMNT doesn't go through it. I started looking up the U-23 team that is in China right now, but since I'm at work I didn't finish.
I looked up about half of the players. Of those, I only found 2 that had not been on their state and/or regional ODP teams. One of those played for Trinidad and Tobago youth teams (Robbie Findley) and the other was born in Scotland(Stuart Holden, not sure when he came here, couldn't find it).
So if Lapira wasn't being invited to the ODP camps, he was bound to have a rough time getting into the U-20, U-23 or USMNT. He saw he had a better chance at playing for Ireland since they actually showed interest in him.
Just a though, but why can't ODP state teams be selected like National Teams, with the coaches scouting players and inviting them into a "camp" atmosphere for a few days. Keep it open and fluid. Be able to add and release players based on needs. A scenario like this would end an open tryout, with coaches deciding to cut or keep players based on an afternoon of scrimmaging. It seems more logical. Camps become invite only.
Theoretically at least, that sounds more efficient.
But if it went to an invite only "camp", then wouldn't the politics play an even bigger role in who's chosen? An open tryout has two advantages in my mind:
1) With multiple coaches watching, even only for an afternoon or weekend, there is less chance one coach with an agenda can help/hurt certain players.
2) Players who play for crap teams and wouldn't normally be seen get a chance to impress.
Honestly, you'll never avoid politics no matter what method is used. It is a fact of life regardless of the endeavor. Can you minimize it? Maybe, but I think that this is a function of leadership in charge of the team or program rather than a function of the system you put in place to evaluate, pick, and groom players.
They should probably do some sort of open invites and tryouts...and for all I know, they do. I never made my ODP team so I am pretty ignorant on the mechanics. Bastards.
This was my experience, I went one year as a rec player.
You start out with an area tryout, which is a giant free-for-all basically. Probably over 100 kids there. A few coaches walk around and choose players that stand out.
Then you goto a district tryout, which is an afternoon of scrimmages and drills. Again probably over 100 kids there. A few coaches choose about 10 players that stand out.
State tryouts are a weekend in a "camp" atmosphere. You stay in dorms at a local college or HS. There are nightly scrimmages, daily practices and drills, and also class sessions. You eat as a group during specified times. There are about 50 kids there. The coaches choose 20 players and 5 alternates.
Don't know about regionals or above as I never got there. Mark probably knows more about this than I do.
To me this system makes it hard for a coach to have enough bias to make a difference. The hardest part was being chosen initially since you're trying to stand out amongst so many kids with only a couple coaches trying to watch everyone. Only at that level can I see a coach making a difference.
Lapira not selected for the first two rounds. Ticket to Europe must be booked.
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