En Route: The Forgotten League

[Torres]

A look at the forgotten lower league of US Soccer.



With the on-going battle between newly-(re)formed NASL and USL, there is one potential causality that could be lost as an after-thought. PDL has been a staple of the U.S. Soccer Landscape since 1995. A league that averages well under four figures in attendance, has turned into one of the major sculptors of MLS talent. Last year, seven of the first fifteen selections had PDL experience. PDL has supplied the league with three first picks overall and just as many Rookies of the Year. The success of PDL as a tool for MLS has been unmatched by any other avenue, and yet many soccer pundits cannot name more than a handful of teams. It is neglected more than a mid-week Wizards game. However, there are so many parallels between MLS and PDL that the loss of the league could be a huge blow to the development of players in this country.

So what exactly is the Premier Development League? It is a league for players under the age of twenty-three (there are exceptions to that, a few overage players are allowed). The vast majority of teams sign their players to no-pay contracts to retain their college eligibility in the summer.

Teams are broken up into regions and the season consists of league play and then a tournament for the top thirty-two teams in the country. Before more semantics about the league, think for a moment of a better introduction to MLS. A league where the players are not paid, given small per diems, and forced to travel coach (or take the bus). Lets take this further, a league where many teammates are roommates, players still work jobs in their off-time, and training sessions are once or twice a day. Which league am I describing? They are the perfect parallel.

With the loss of the reserve league, and the floundering of the Development Academy, PDL offers something to college players that they cherish. All the college players that I have interviewed this season credited their time with PDL teams as a stepping stone in their careers.

UNC junior midfielder Michael Farfan said, “it is the best competition outside of our college soccer season. It also gives you time to improve on whatever you choose to add or perfect in your game.”

Northwestern junior striker Matt Eliason added, “practicing with the (best) guys and the competitive nature of the team really improved my speed of play.”

The ability to practice with some of the top talent in that region of the country and the professional nature of games are the major reasons that college players love this league. Not to say some colleges don’t offer the same thing, but for the vast majority of schools, there is a gap in talent that can hurt training sessions.

A more thorough look at the players that have spent their summer nights in the league reveals some very impressive names. The list from last year’s draft which had seven first round selections includes Stefan Frei, Steve Zakuani, and Sam Cronin. A fairly impressive collection of talent also included the rookie with the most minutes last season, Darrius Barnes (third round pick). If we go back two years, the list is longer with nine of the fourteen first round picks having PDL experience that includes the rookie of the year, Sean Franklin.

This year, many of the players projected as first round selections have been part of the PDL as well (Ike Opara, Teal Bunbury, Andrew Wiedeman, Tony Tchani, Andre Akpan)

If you don’t think MLS cares about PDL, next time you get to ask your team’s GM a question ask what part of the country he likes to vacation in. You just figured out which PDL team he was watching for his third and fourth round picks. There were only seven players taken in the final two rounds last year that did not have any PDL experience. So seventy-seven percent of the players taken in the last two rounds are former PDL players. Yeah, I will say that a league with that much influence over MLS would be worth some attention.

The players and scouts may cherish the league, but the American soccer culture has yet to accept it. The average attendance of a game is around 500, and that is being generous on the gate. There is only one game shown per year on television, and that is the championship, which is typically broadcast on delay.

How does a league with such tremendous success at showcasing top level developing talent in U.S. soccer become forgotten?

Many things are working against the league, only a few teams have any built in fan support (unlike colleges), most teams don’t have the money to advertise games, and the public perception of second (or fourth) tier leagues turns them off (Americans love the best, and don’t care about the rest).

So, is there any place left in U.S. Soccer’s new landscape for a league that doesn’t turn a profit? That might be the main question in this cut-throat economy. The pending sale of USL and the growth of a substitute league leaves many questions remaining about the future.

The farm league for MLS is not financially stable to support itself in case the newly renovated USL doesn’t want to sink money into it. Will commissioner Don Garber be willing to sink more money into a bad business decision but an important accessory to MLS? A crucial question that remains an oblivious after-thought, but for the present, PDL is the most neglected minion of U.S. soccer and shrewd MLS scouts are fine with that.

[White Rose]

I'm very sorry, but I despise the MLS and all American 'soccer'.There are several reasons that I won't go into, but I absolutely hate it.

[lmno010]

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[lmno010]

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