The Philadelphia Union continue to be the standard for academies in Major League Soccer. They are unmatched when it comes to player recruitment and talent identification — the youth player pool is deep and ripe with top end talent. The Union not only collect high end talent, but they also have a strong track record of integrating academy players within the first team. They have also shown an ability to successfully export players to Europe.

As they continue to collect high end talent, the challenge will be keeping them all happy. How many first team contracts will they be able to give out? How many can realistically have a role on the first team? Quinn Sullivan and Brandan Craig are examples of top prospects struggling to have a significant role on the first team, which I am sure is frustrating for both players. Thankfully, the organization is very prospect friendly and are willing to play ball when it comes to allowing players to move to other academies if it isn't working out.

Philly continues to be the model franchise when it comes to development and everyone is chasing their top spot.

1. CM, Cavan Sullivan (2009)
2. CB, Brandan Craig (2004)
3. CF, Nelson Pierre (2005)
4. AM/WING, David Vazquez (2006)
5. CF, Anisse Saidi (2008)
6. WING, Christopher Olney (2006)
7. CF/AM, Quinn Sullivan (2004)
8. WING, Jamir Johnson (2008)
9. CF, Peyton Pressor (2008)
10. CB, Neil Pierre (2007)

RBNY have been a youth development club for as long as any club in MLS. They consistently rely on young talent within their first team. They continue to be aggressive in giving young players opportunity throughout their pathway and they are proactive about signing players to first team deals. Their 2008 and 2009 class are as strong as any in MLS. They are currently working on trying to sign their top prospect, Julian Hall, who does have a EU passport and could leave for Europe at the age of 16.

The biggest challenge I have with their program is that their play style is pretty unique and does not always set up players to seamlessly transition to more possession based and expansive play styles.

1. WING, Julian Hall (2008)
2. GK, Aidan Stokes (2008)
3. DM, Adri Mehmeti (2009)
4. CM, Gil de Souza (2008)
5. WING, Serge Ngoma(2005)
6. CB, Davi Alexandre (2007)
7. WING/CF, Tanner Rosborough (2008)
8. CM, Bento Estrela (2006)
9. RB/WING, Jaylen Lester (2008)
10. LB, Curtis Ofori (2005)

That's right, the New England Revolution are number three on my list. Why? They are developing top level talent, they are aggressively moving players through their pipeline and they are giving players an opportunity to impact the first team. They don't have as much depth in their academy system as some of the other top programs, but they are developing impact players in a territory that isn't as rich in talent as others.

The Revolution are an example of why removing territory rules could be beneficial for players and clubs that are doing a good job with their academy. The Revs should be a destination academy for top talent that are not getting what they need from their local club.

1. CM, Noel Buck (2005)
2. WING, Olger Escobar (2006)
3. LB, Peyton Miller (2007)
4. WING/CF, Cristiano Carlos (2008)
5. WING, Esmir Bajraktarevic (2005)
6. CB, Joaquin Garcia Zilinskas (2008)
7. CB, Tiago Suarez (2005)
8. AM, Jack Panayotou (2005)
9. WING, Malcolm Fry (2005)
10. RB, Eli Ackerman (2008)

Inter Miami have the benefit of being in one of the most talent rich territories in MLS. This does not always guarantee development success, but IMCF have done a great job of collecting talent and moving them through their pathway. They have done as good of job as any at leveraging MLS Next Pro as a solid bridge between their academy and their first team and have been able to sell their kids on hybrid Next Pro / first team deals.

This year, more so by injury circumstance, they are integrating their academy graduates into the first team. It will be interesting to see if they keep doing that now that Lionel Messi and Tata Martino have arrived. It's more likely that they shift to a win at all costs model that may not benefit their academy graduates.

1. CM, Benja Cremaschi (2005)
2. CB, Tyler Hall (2006)
3. CF, Bryan Destin (2006)
4. CB, Nicholas de Almeida (2007)
5. LB, Noah Allen (2004)
6. WING, Miles Perkovich (2006)
7. AM/WING, Kobi Thomas (2005)
8. AM, Santi Morales (2007)
9. CF, Matthias Vieux (2009)
10. LB, Cesar Abadia-Reda (2006)

FCD is probably the most well known academy in MLS. They have the most success stories in terms of developing and selling talent to big clubs in Europe, and that talent having success on the global stage. Many MLS clubs have caught FC Dallas, which was to be expected, but they still do a good job of developing talent and moving their top talent through their pipeline. I was particularly impressed with the growth of their 2006 class this past season.

On the other hand, the talent acquisition trend is a bit concerning. Now more than ever they are struggling to acquire the top talent in North Texas. FCD should be higher on this list given their reputation and territory. This is definitely a trend to monitor over the next couple of years.

1. RB, Malachi Molina (2006)
2. GK, Antonio Carrera (2004)
3. GK, Julian Eyestone (2006)
4. CF, Nayrobi Vargas (2006)
5. CB, Zach Molomo (2008)
6. WING/CF, Tarik Scott (2005)
7. CM, Ale Urzua (2006)
8. CB/RB, Caua Scabin (2007)
9. AM, Caleb Swann (2007)
10. AM/WING, Bryce Outman (2007)

Orlando has quietly put together one of the deepest youth pools of talent in MLS. Their 2008 and 2009 class are very strong and they have started to integrate their U19s and U17s into the first and second team. If Orlando can show that they can develop and integrate their up and coming top talents into the first team, Orlando has the potential to be a perennial top five academy in MLS.

1. WING, Jakob Garcia (2009)
2. CF/AM, Justin Ellis (2007)
3. CM/DM, Dylan Judelson (2008)
4. RB, Alex Freeman (2004)
5. AM, Gustavo Caraballo Delgado (2008)
6. DM/AM, Alejandro Granados (2006)
7. LB, Tahir Reid-Brown (2006)
8. CM, Caleb Trombino (2009)
9. CB, Thomas Williams (2004)
10. AM/WING, Favian Loyola (2005)

Real Salt Lake is building a pretty impressive pool of talent in their academy. They don't reside in a talent rich territory, but they are as aggressive as any club in recruiting talent from afar. They have done particularly well in San Diego, Arizona and Las Vegas. The missing piece for RSL is showing the ability to continue to improve their players through the pathway and to successfully integrate academy graduate into the first team. I'm a little concerned with how their 2006 and 2007 class have developed from the U15 to U17 level and I will be interested to see if the same challenges occur with their talented 2008 and 2009 classes.

1. LB/WING, Linkon Ream (2009)
2. WING, Omar Marquez (2008)
3. CF, Axel Kei (2007)
4. WING, Zavier Gozo (2007)
5. RB, Gio Villa (2008)
6. GK, Gavin Beavers (2005)
7. CB, Camron Estala (2008)
8. AM, Luca Moisa (2008)
9. GK, Fernando Delgado (2006)
10. LB, Luis Rivera (2007)

Each LAFC class seems to be getting stronger and stronger. I have not fully scouted the 2009 class, but that is expected to be a very strong group as well. LAFC have one of the deepest talent pools and have high performing academy teams up and down their age groups. For the first time this season, we are also starting to see their academy graduates get opportunities with their first team. None of the current homegrown contract players have star potential, but that could change with some of the young players that are coming through.

One situation to monitor is the relationship with Decarlo Guerra and Kyrome Lumsden. There were rumors that both players were trying to leave the program last year, but were not able to because of territory rules. If they can retain some of their academy stars and get them into the first team, this could be an academy program that could be a top three program for many years to come.

1. DM, Decarlo Guerra (2008)
2. DM/CM, Jude Terry (2008)
3. CM, Kyrome Lumsden (2007)
4. LB, Pedro Guimaraes (2008)
5. RB/CB, Shakir Nixon (2006)
6. CB, Tony Leone (2004)
7. WING/CF, Nate Ordaz (2004)
8. CM, Erik Duenas (2004)
9. WING, Adrian Wibowo (2006)
10. LB, Javen Romero (2006)

The Earthquakes have one of the most solid programs in MLS and they look like they are going to commit to a first team model that relies heavily on academy graduates. They have a very balanced and consistent talent pool from the U19 level down to the U15 level with no noticeably weak age groups. They have also shown logical decision making in who they are promoting from U17 to Next Pro to the first team. I was expecting a bigger jump forward from the U17 team this year, which has been a little disappointing, but the development of Niko Tsakiris has been impressive. Overall this is a solid program with a good territory to draw from. One concern is that I believe they significantly downsized their scouting department, so they may struggle to recruit outside of the Bay Area in the future.

1. CM/AM, Niko Tsakiris (2005)
2. AM, Cruz Medina (2006)
3. CB, Kevin Jiminez (2008)
4. RB, Oscar Verhoeven (2006)
5. RB, Oliver Tan (2008)
6. WING, Kaelen Dougan (2008)
7. CM, Kaedren Spivey (2009)
8. GK, Emmanuel Ochoa (2005)
9. DM, Edwyn Mendoza (2006)
10. DM, Luka Rosic (2008)

NYCFC have some top young prospects and teach a very expansive and modern style of soccer. They are aggressive in how they push and develop their top talent and are not afraid to commit to their top academy players early. They are on the verge of having three players signed from their 2007 class and one player from their 2008 class. They have had challenges in keeping their top academy players long enough to see the field for the first team, both Joe Scally and Gio Reyna left for Europe early and they recently lost 2007 born striker Dino Klapija. If NYCFC could retain talent a little longer and deepen the talent pool a little more, , they could move up this list in the future.

1. AM, Maximo Carrizo (2008)
2. LB, Christian McFarlane (2007)
3. CF, Zidane Yanez (2008)
4. RB, Drew Baiera (2007)
5. CM, Jonny Shore (2007)
6. RB, Mitja Ilenic (2004)
7. WING, Lucas de Pinho (2008)
8. CB, Sebastian Chavez (2008)
9. CB, Klevis Haxhari (2005)
10. GK, Alexander Yagudayev (2006)

The Sounders have a strong talent pool that is fairly balanced throughout the program. They teach a winning and cohesive philosophy and have done well to find top talent in their region. The knock on Seattle has been that they don't always have a great plan once their academy graduates reach the first team, but that seems to be changing with Obed Vargas becoming a key player and someone that is already earning interest from Europe.

1. CM/DM, Obed Vargas (2005)
2. AM, Christopher Aquino (2006)
3. CB, Duncan Green (2009)
4. RB, Reed Baker-Whiting (2005)
5. CB, Stuart Hawkins (2006)
6. AM/WING, Kelvin Luis-Brito (2008)
7. RB/WING, Etienne Veillard (2007)
8. CB, Gallatin Sandnes (2008)
9. WING, Abad Vargas (2008)
10. WING, Omar Hassan (2009)

The Fire are underperforming for their territory, but still have some fantastic success stories coming from their academy. They have done a great job developing their top talent and integrating them into the first team and they were able to sell Gaga Slonina for a big fee to one of the biggest clubs in the world. They have replaced Slonina with another academy graduate that is putting up even better numbers in Chris Brady. The U17 team was disappointing this season and while there are some exciting young players at the lower level, the talent pool trend line isn't looking super positive.

1. GK, Chris Brady (2004)
2. CB, Christopher Cupps (2008)
3. CM, Oscar Pineda (2008)
4. WING/AM, Dylan Borso (2006)
5. RB, Kruz Held (2008)
6. GK, Patrick Los (2007)
7. CM, Sergio Oregel (2005)
8. CF, Michael Ramirez (2006)
9. WING/CF, Aaron Ineh (2008)
10. RB, Jayden Quezada (2007)

St. Louis City should be really proud to be this high on the list so early in their academy lifecycle. It really speaks to the vision of the club and the rich soccer territory that is St. Louis. They have already locked in two top prospects to first team deals and integrated one player into the first team. The U17 team has a ton of talent and it will be interesting to see if more players get first team deals. The U15 team looks like a slight step down, but we will see how the academy team develops them into the U17 team.

1. CF, Caden Glover (2007)
2. AM, Aaron Heard (2006)
3. DM, Miguel Perez (2005)
4. WING, Jackson Delkus (2006)
5. LB, James Buebendorf (2006)
6. WING, Mykhi Joyner (2006)
7. DM/RB, Tyson Pearce (2007)
8. CB, Bijan Champagne (2008)
9. CM, Braydon Sellers (2006)
10. CB, Gavin Netzel (2006)

Atlanta has consistently had high end talent, but have struggled to develop consistently over the years. Wiley is a great success story in how they've moved and developed someone through the system and he is now a key contributor on the first team. Torres signed to a first team deal this year, which shows great talent identification and decision making by the front office. Beyond those two players, there may not be any surefire first team players, but a lot can change in a couple of years.

1. LB, Caleb Wiley (2004)
2. CM, Adyn Torres (2007)
3. CB, Ethan Degny (2009)
4. CB/RB, Pedro Villalobos (2008)
5. CF, Ashton Gordon (2007)
6. RB, Shawn Lanza (2006)
7. LB, Seamus Streelman (2006)
8. WING, Luke Brennan (2005)
9. AM/WING, Jonny Villal (2005)
10. WING, Michael Howard (2006)

Austin is another young academy program that is doing a lot of good things. They can't take full credit for their top two prospects because they were partially developed by other academies, but they can take credit for getting them to Austin and moving them though the player pathway successfully. Wolff has been very good for the first team and could be their first export. The 2008 class has been strong and may also have some future homegrown players within it.

1. CM, Owen Wolff (2004)
2. AM, Micah Burton (2006)
3. AM, Viggo Ortiz (2008)
4. CB, Gavin Wolff (2008)
5. DM, Ervin Torres Jr (2007)
6. AM, Abner Zuniga (2008)
7. LB, Anthony de Anda (2005)
8.WING, CJ Fodrey (2004)
9. RB, Daniel Wright (2009)
10. WING, Izaiah Garza (2006)

D.C. United should not be this low on the list. They have a top 3 talent rich territory, so they are doing something wrong. There should be more talent in the academy and the development of the talent they do have has been up and down. Rooney has definitely come in and been willing to sign and play young players, which is very positive. Akinmboni, Fletcher and Hopkins have all played for the first team and seem to have a bright future with the club. Turner has long been appreciated within the organization and has a decision to make about his future with the club. Outside of the top five, things get a little murkier.

1. CB, Matai Akinmboni (2006)
2. WING, Kristian Fletcher (2005)
3. WING, Gavin Turner (2007)
4. WING, Nacho Alem (2006)
5. WING, Jackson Hopkins (2004)
6. CM, Nelson Hernandez (2007)
7. CB, Alan Flores (2008)
8. LB, Graham Jones (2006)
9. WING, Reginald Gainer (2008)
10. CB, Dash Papez (2006)

The Crew are an ascending academy that will likely continue to rise up this list in the coming years. The 2006 class has been their first hallmark class and as they get an opportunity to impact the first team. As their younger classes come through the system, they should be a top 10 program fairly soon. The reason they are here now is because they haven't done much with their 2004 and 2005 class and they have done very little in the way of academy graduate to first team integration.

1. RB, Owen Presthus (2006)
2. CM, Taha Habroune (2006)
3. CM/AM, Cole Mrowka (2006)
4. GK, Stas Lapkes (2006)
5. CM, Austin Su (2008)
6. AM, Isaac Tortola (2008)
7. WING, Brent Adu-Gyamfi (2006)
8. CF, Chase Adams (2008)
9. WING, David Salukombo (2008)
10. LB, Jhostyn Jimenez (2008)

Charlotte have been aggressive in identifying and signing their top talent and it shouldn't be too long before their academy graduates start to impact their first team. They reside in a good territory for soccer talent and seem to be committed to moving their players through the pipeline. Their challenge right now is depth. The talent drop off from their top one or two players in each group is significant.

1. WING, Nimfasha Berchimas (2008)
2. CB, Jaydus Camacho (2008)
3. CB, Panagiotis Fotinos (2008)
4. WING/AM, Brian Romero (2006)
5. AM, Ethan Curtis (2008)
6. CB, James Nyandjo (2007)
7. GK, Brandon Jenkins (2008)
8. CB, Jack Neeley (2005)
9. CF, Chandler Young (2006)
10. CF, Brando Bedolla (2007)

For a club with a storied history and proximity to talent, there is no reason that the LA Galaxy should be this low. They are losing the talent recruitment and identification battle to LAFC and will soon have another competitor in San Diego. The U17 team recently won MLS Next Cup, but I see that as more of an anomaly than a positive sign of things to come. They still have some players that could potentially impact the first team, but not many, and they may not have any long-term impact players or European exports.

1. AM, Paulo Rudisill (2006)
2. AM, Alex Alcala (2005)
3. RB, Harbor Miller (2007)
4. WING/CF, Ruben Ramos Jr (2007)
5. DM, Nathan Sanchez (2008)
6. CB, Enrique Martinez (2008)
7. WING, Mathis Albert (2009)
8. LB, Riley Delgado (2006)
9. AM/WING, Sergio Villalpando (2006)
10. CM, Jose Magana (2007)

FC Cincinnati has been losing the recruiting battle to Columbus for the last few years, but they have made some big changes to the academy staff and if the front office stays committed, I expect this program will be on the rise. They seem willing to play young players alongside their vets and they have shown that they are willing to fast track players they believe in, like Stiven Jimenez. Valenzuela was also a very underrated signing who I think has a very good future in MLS.

1. AM, Gerardo Valenzuela (2005)
2. CB, William Kuisel (2008)
3. CM, Nico Burns (2008)
4. DM, Stiven Jimenez (2007)
5. RB/WING, Matthew Schenfeld (2006)
6. DM/CB, Ben Manfroy (2007)
7. CB, Conner Cockayne (2008)
8. AM, Jio Gabriel Mora (2006)
9. WING, Manuel Dipres (2008)
10. GK, Donovan Richardson (2008)

The Rapids do a decent job with the little that they have. They don't invest a ton in the academy and they don't recruit that heavily outside of their immediate region. With all that being said, they still have a good track record of integrating academy players into the first team and selling to Europe, which is impressive. Nonetheless, the talent pool is one of the weakest in MLS and that likely won't change unless they shift to a Real Salt Lake type model where they invest in a residency program and really start to scout and recruit outside their region. For a club that doesn't like to spend big, this could be a viable path forward for them.

1. CF, Darren Yapi (2004)
2. GK, Adam Beaudry (2006)
3. WING, Joel Ineh (2006)
4. CB, Parker Sturgis (2008)
5. Jackson Travis (2004)
6. LB, Miguel Alvarado (2008)
7. DM, Andre Romo (2006)
8. RB, Tadeo Razo Sanchez (2006)
9. Cristopher Madera (2008)
10. LB, Patrick Dormoh (2007)

The Timbers have long been somewhat of a laughing stock when it comes to academy prioritization. They care very little about signing first team players and don't really see it as part of their roster construction philosophy. This is a shame because they actually have some decent talent in their academy — players that are good enough to earn first team deals. This is an organization that is an example of why territory rules should change. These players should get to go to other MLS clubs that are willing to invest in their talent.

1. CB/DM, Adrian Pelayo (2006)
2. CF, Noah Santos (2007)
3. RB, Fidel Banuelos (2008)
4. CF, Dario White (2008)
5. RB, Sawyer Jura (2006)
6. AM/WING, Grayson Carter (2007)
7. CB, Michael Dunne (2006)
8. CB, Maximo Nystrom (2007)
9. CM, Ian Shaul (2006)
10. CM, Victor Enriquez (2006)

Sporting KC has been a club that has been negatively impacted by new clubs in MLS. They use to heavily recruit in the Carolinas and throughout the midwest, but that well has run dry. They have also struggled to improve their players from the U15 level through to the first team — many promising prospects have faded. I really hope that changes because they have one of the top prospects in MLS Next in Ramiz Hamouda and they have a few others that have the talent to be homegrown players.

1. CB, Ramiz Hamouda (2008)
2. GK, Jack Kortkamp (2008)
3. LB, Leo Christiano (2007)
4. CB, Ian James (2008)
5. GK, Carlito Saylon (2006)
6. RB, Nati Clarke (2005)
7. AM, Johann Ortiz (2007)
8. DM, Troy Lor (2008)
9. DM, Edgar Bazan (2006)
10. AM, Ozzie Cisneros (2004)

Nashville's academy development has been a slow burn, but there are some signals that things are starting to pick up. They signed their first ever academy homegrown player this year in Adem Sipic and they have another promising young talent from their 2009 class that could be the first Nashville academy player to be capped to a U.S. Youth National team. They do not reside in a rich talent area, but they are adjacent to some regions that could be fruitful.

1. LB/CB, Liam Devan (2009)
2. CF, Adem Sipic (2006)
3. RB, Charly Dealmonte (2008)
4. WING, Connor Stretchen (2006)
5. CF, Marshal Gunter (2008)
6. AM, Alejandro Velazquez-Lopez (2006)
7. CB, Scott Cheevers (2007)
8. WING, Donovan Wilson (2006)
9. CB, Luke Mullvain (2008)
10. RB/CB, Zion Jones (2008)

Minnesota famously shut down their academy in 2020 during the pandemic and many of their top talents moved to other MLS academies. It's been a slow rebuild since that time and while there isn't much to be excited about within their older groups, they do have some intriguing talent coming through within their younger levels. It will be important to see how they develop and push that talent through the pathway. The next few years will be an indication of whether Minnesota intend to grow their academy program or continue to see it as a none critical aspect of their organization.

1. WING/CF, Prince Forfor (2009)
2. WING, Tim Dennis (2009)
3. CM, Alisa Randell (2007)
4. DM, Justin Arias (2006)
5. CB, Mohammad Bojang (2008)
6. WING, Bryan Espadero (2007)
7. CF, Noah Banks (2006)
8. CF, Prince Massaquoi (2008)
9. GK, Fred Emmings (2004)
10. DM, Rylan Vue (2008)

The Houston Dynamo have become a model of what not to do at the academy level. Houston is a top five to ten region for talent, but they have a bad reputation with local clubs in the Houston area. These clubs should be feeder clubs, but instead they undermine them. They have had an immense amount of turnover within the academy staff and they have not been able to convince their top end talent to commit to a first team deal.

They have lost both Gitau brothers and Luis Moreno in the last year. Their top remaining talent won't be able to be signed unless Houston can work something out with both LA Galaxy and LAFC. It appears that things will continue to get worse before it gets better.

1. CF, Zeke Soto (2007)
2. CM, Brooklyn Raines (2005)
3. CM, Juan Castillo (2004)
4. CB/LB, Micah Harris (2008)
5. CF, David Garcia (2008)
6. DM, Omar Bolanos (2008)
7. LB, Brian Alanis (2006)
8. CM, Matthew Hinds (2009)
9. LB, Joshua Jaimes (2008)
10. CM, Parker Jackson (2006)