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Message: [QUOTE="upstater, post: 3518880, member: 153"] U17/18? Do you mean U18/19? That is when most kids in the US leave for either college or the pros. A lot of the MLS clubs take their top DA kids and place them in the lower leagues like USL by the time they hit U18. The key divisions are the 15/16/17. When I see the U18/19 teams, I sometimes think they couldn't beat the U16s. I posted above the standings precisely to show that the non-MLS clubs are holding their own. In fact, more top players come out of the non-MLS clubs than the MLS clubs. So, I'm not understanding this comment: "Surely , when today’s youth u-15 and younger play at u-23, most if not all will be from mls academies." In the past, this hasn't been true. A lot of the non-MLS have produced a lot of pros. EVen on the USMNT it's not true. But now the point is moot. DA is dead. So we can't even talk about non-MLS DA clubs anymore because they don't exist. We can only talk about what they did in the past with the current 20 year olds. Most of those guys are from non-MLS. I am a big doubter in the idea that the MLS clubs will produce a vibrant soccer culture in the US. For the last 12 years, it hasn't been the case exclusively for them. I think the net they cast is too small and 12-13 year old boys are really too young for them to scout. By the time they notice someone at age 16, it's too late. Here's the standings again: [URL="http://www.ussoccerda.com/sam/standings/league/standings.php?leagueId=MTIzNg%3D%3D"]U.S. Soccer Development Academy[/URL] In the 16/17 northeast division, it's... 1. MLS 2. Non-MLS 3. Non-MLS 4. Non-MLS 5. MLS 6. Non-MLS 7. Non-MLS 8. Non-MLS 9. MLS 10. Non-MLS 11. Non-MLS The 2 bottom clubs are non-MLS and they are non-competitive. The couple clubs above them have at worst a goal differential of -1. Then look at the Mid-Atlantic division: 1. Non-MLS 2. Non-MLS 3. MLS 4. MLS 5. Non-MLS 6. Non-MLS 7. Non-MLS 8. MLS 9. MLS 10. Non-MLS Again, bottom 2 teams are not competitive. If they had decided to shear off the bottom 2 teams they would have been competitive top to bottom. [/QUOTE]

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