The Red Bulls have extended invitations to the following non-roster invitees who took part in this week’s mini-camp:
- Marshall Leonard
- Tighe Dombrowski
- Teddy Niziolek
- Martin Nunez
- Chris Megaloudis
- Ricky Schramm
- Bill Gaudette
- Kevin Mesa
- Scott Palguta
Those of you wondering about Matt "Boy Wonder" Kassel, the Red Bulls are still looking into whether he can go to training camp without risking the loss of his college eligibility. He is set to play for the University of Maryland if he does not wind up on the Red Bulls.
The Red Bulls depart for training camp in Carson, California on Saturday.
Kevin Mesa is a good kid and he has what it takes to make it. He is strong, fast and very determined. Played together at college. He is a true professional. All the best Kevin lad
i knew i had heard of KEVIN MESA!
http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/article.php?article_id=8163
left the US for the swiss axpo league. i wonder what happened that he is back already
Onionsack,
I agree. The Red Bulls have much more to lose by passing on him now than by just signing the kid and continuing to develop him in house.
If the pass on him now, he goes to Maryland and either will go to Europe from there (no transfer money for NY), or goes into the MLS Draft where our chances of getting him are like 1/15, 1/16, depending upon what year he comes out of college.
Why would NY gamble like that? If the player has obvious talent that they have acknowledged and he’s been called up to U-18s, he’s at least worth one of our roster spots. Even if he never ends up playing for our first team, I would think its possible that the Red Bulls could develop him into someone that can be sold to a European club, netting us some allocation dollars.
Just quit waffling and sign the kid!
NM,
I think he is trying to say that the kid has obvious talent and should be signed anyway. I agree. College is overrated, the quality of soccer is poor and evenworse you can’t even train and play certain times of the year. Its development hell.
We have 10 dev spots used on players that suck and have no hope of staying in MLS or getting senior deals. Why not start using them on guys like Kassel, guys that WANT to be here that we can have on the dev roster a couple years to give year round professional training to.
All this “eligibility” crap should just be a non-starter anyway. He wants to be here, he has great talent for his age, SIGN him already and lets move on.
Alex – I think you are missing the point. The Red Bulls aren’t trying to decide whether or not to send the kid to college for more seasoning – they are trying to decide if he is good enough to make the first squad. By waiting a few days to clarify that he will still be eligible to play in the NCAA if for some reason he is not good enough, they are watching out for their own prospect. Imagine if they took him to camp, he didn’t make the team, and the NCAA declared him ineligible – what then? Where does the kid play now? The likelihood the kid is off to Europe goes through the roof. Seems to me that waiting a few days is the prudent thing to do… NM
This whole situation with Kassel has gotten me disheartened with the system of US soccer. In any other country this kid who has obviously proven his talent would be retained and offered a contract. Instead, the Red Bulls may decide to let him go to college to get “more experience.” It doesn’t make sense. Why would you send one of your star prospects somewhere else to develop? How about developing him yourself within your own program?
Ives,
Didn’t MLS come to some kind of resolution regarding NCAA eligibility when they changed the youth academy rules last year? I understand this is the first year where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, but I thought MLS had looked into this issue in advance of allowing teams to promote players out of academies.
If these prospects will lose their NCAA elibility, it’ll really hurt the whole youth academy concept.
That said, I hope the Red Bulls just sign Kassel and get beyond this whole “checking him out” process — how much can they not know about the kid, considering they developed him?!
i always liked marshall leonard when he was with NE. i think he has a shot at making the team.
Ives,
What do you make of Gaudette’s invitation? Is he going to push for 3rd on the depth chart or even push Zach for #2?
Hey Ives, when are you going to continue your look into Academy teams; you’ve already done NY and DC of course. I quite enjoyed those. Cheers.
Here is the link to my Shaquille Phillips note:
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2008/01/mls-combine-d-3.html
Sorry, I missed that…Damn job and school stopping me from keeping up!
Thanks for the repeat explination anyway.
Ricky Schramm should not even make the reserve team…Good kid though.
I clarified that point a while ago. If a player has spent one year in an MLS youth program and then goes to U.S. Residency they remain a member of the original MLS team’s program. I actually clarified that point with Shaquille Phillips weeks ago.
Ives,
You had mentioned that youth players would not be tied to their MLS teams if they went to US Residency, but 2 of DC’s players (Shaquille Phillips and Julio Arjona) have and they appear to still be tied to United. I am a little confused how this works.