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Sam Craven’s decision to come to the United States to play collegiate soccer in 2007 was one of the best decisions he’s ever made, he said. He had been abruptly released from an academy team in England, but Craven had taken the initiative to earn a scholarship at a Division II school in Florida, then a rarity among young English soccer players.

The decision not only spurred Craven’s professional soccer career, but it also revealed a major flaw in soccer’s youth development system — that young international players were not prepared for a life after their career, he said.

It became the inspiration for Craven’s recruiting and scouting organization, Vertex Soccer, which allowed Craven to become good friends with Syracuse head coach Ian McIntyre. McIntyre believes in development from a personal perspective, helping a player’s development on and off the field.

“Ian McIntyre understands that he’s signing a young man and not just a young player,” Craven said. “If that level of care is provided and acknowledged by the young man that plays for Ian, he will undoubtedly get a greater return from that individual because he knows he’s looked after, he knows he’s genuinely cared for.”

This philosophy has earned Syracuse a reputation of being a pathway to the pros. Since becoming head coach in 2010, McIntyre and his staff have guided 16 players into the Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The SuperDraft has gone from four main and two supplemental rounds to just three main rounds over the last decade. A combination of MLS’s growth and its inability to properly develop American players has diminished the value of the SuperDraft, creating a gap between college and the pros that may never be bridged, Craven said.

Craven created Vertex Soccer as a way to bring overseas players to American colleges and help give players an opportunity to pursue a professional career while also pursuing a degree. It seeks to give college soccer a new identity, Craven said. 

Former Syracuse midfielder Mo Adams grew up in Nottingham, England, the same town as Craven. Through Vertex Soccer, Craven helped Adams pursue collegiate soccer with the Orange. Like Craven, Adams was released from his academy at the under-18 level, but immediately began training with the Blackburn Rovers, a second division club in England. But an injury sidelined him for seven months, and he pursued a different pathway — a collegiate one — toward a professional career.

“Everybody looks at Jamie Vardy and these players who have gone from non-league to the Premier League, and you want to hold onto that hope,” Adams said. “When you really think about it, you don’t have a degree, you don’t have anything of that sort, it’s very tough to take it somewhere from there.”

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When Adams arrived at Syracuse, he was focused on leaving school as early as he could to turn professional — like every other English player, he said. Players either take the soccer route or the university route in England, and school was an afterthought to Adams during his academy years.

Syracuse’s squad in 2016 was a combination of players who chose both routes. Although Adams wanted to become a professional, the majority of SU’s roster hadn’t even considered it — an environment Adams struggled to adapt to when he first arrived on campus.

“You have to kind of be patient with some guys,” Adams said. “You can’t just expect everyone to have the same mentality as you.”

McIntyre doesn’t just bring in a group to develop on the field, but to develop off the field, too. But he doesn’t guarantee his players will reach the professional level.

“My job is not to prepare players for Major League Soccer,” McIntyre said. “I hope we create a supporting, helpful environment that helps our players become the best version of themselves, not ultimately the best version, but the best version of themselves during their time here.”

Adams was intrigued a year before he joined the team when Syracuse produced its first SuperDraft pick under McIntyre, Alex Bono. Bono, SU’s former goalkeeper, was drafted sixth overall in 2015 by Toronto FC after signing a Generation Adidas (GA) contract with MLS.

Signing as a GA is one of the only ways a college player can leave school early and become eligible for the SuperDraft. It’s a contract six Syracuse players have signed in as many years — including Adams in 2018, who was selected 10th overall by the Chicago Fire.

Bono became SU’s first player to sign a GA contract and to be drafted under McIntyre. But Bono didn’t even consider playing professionally until his junior season at Syracuse, which ended up being his last collegiate season.

Bono had already accumulated MLS interest at the beginning of that collegiate season. He joined the Empire United Soccer Academy in 2010, three years after the U.S. Soccer Development Academy League (DA) began, and got drafted into the MLS at a time when he believed the SuperDraft was still relevant.

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“I’m fortunate that when I was around, the draft was still a big deal and players were consistently making the jump and playing first-team minutes,” Bono said. “It’s going to be difficult for whatever direction (the draft) decides to go.”

When Bono played in the DA’s early stages, the U.S. player development had begun its gradual transition to a more European approach. Rather than focusing on preparing players for a college scholarship, U.S. academies — MLS ones in particular — have began offering professional contracts at a younger age.

The DA — now known as MLS NEXT — has established itself as the main pathway for players to pursue a professional career. Bono said its training environment is more competitive, a reason why academies’ top players are moving straight into the pros rather than pursuing a college scholarship. It has also decreased the level of domestic talent in college soccer, Craven said.

“If a player is good enough to make a career in the MLS, you’re going to be able to have identified that before the age of 18,” Craven said. “What we’ve seen in the last two or three years is the quality of the domestic players in college soccer has decreased, but the quality of international players has increased.”

The quality of draft stock has decreased in part because the league’s scouting priorities are becoming more internationally focused or focused on their respective academy systems, Bono said. Teams have more money to spend on players from around the world, with the goal of developing and flipping that player to another club for a higher price tag.

It’s turned into a situation where NCAA talent is becoming increasingly ignored, and it’s not something college soccer is willing to change at the expense of getting its players professional opportunities. 

“College soccer has to decide whether they want to focus on putting talent into the draft and into the professional ranks, or if they want to mold young men and get them set up for a post-playing career and something that they can be really successful in,” Bono said.

Published on October 28, 2021 at 12:06 am

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu