Kansas City Wizards defender -- and local product -- Ryan Raybould has already witnessed the impact made by the club's announcement of the forming of the K.C. Wizards Juniors Youth Development Program.
"They are all pretty stoked about the opportunity maybe in the future of joining that academy," said Raybould of the under-9 boys and girls that he coaches in the K.C. Legends soccer club. "There's a buzz around. You can't deny the fact that a kid wants to play at a higher level."
The program, taking root throughout Major League Soccer, will see the Wizards create and run three junior squads, one each at the under-15, under-16 and under-17 age levels. The squads will be immersed in the Wizards way of doing things at the professional level to give them a real chance to develop into senior squad players. Coming two years after the advent of the MLS reserve squads, this creation continues the crucial ladder of development.
"MLS, with the initiative of doing the youth development system, it is really taking the development side to another level," said Wizards technical director Peter Vermes. "It's also a neat idea that you develop a player within your area and then they go right into your system like they do around the rest of the world. I think that's a really important part of this process.
"With regards to us," Vermes continued, "it's going to be extremely important for the long-term success of the club based on the fact that since we are a small market, it's imperative that we are developing our own talent. In a couple of years when we move into our new stadium and have our own facility and all those other things around it, you'll see us take another step with our youth development."
Vermes and head coach Curt Onalfo will work closely with local William Jewell College coach Chris Cissell, who will direct the program, and former Wizards forward Paul Rideout, who will coach the teams. Onalfo's view on the program is especially significant considering his resume of experiences.
"I find myself in a unique situation because I played in the league, I coach in the league, and I also coached our national team program, so when you sit in that national team position, you really look at the development of soccer in our country," he said.
"Certainly, the league has been instrumental in helping us continually get better at an international level. But everywhere around the world, the players are developed by the club teams, the professional teams. And we now need to get to that point, and it's a great sign that we have teams that we are now unleashing. It's only going to get better."
Going further, Onalfo believes that with the staff's vast experience -- Rideout matured as a player in England's developmental system -- and the Wizards' investor-operator, OnGoal LLC, backing it, they will have something to brag about.
"For me, it's a great situation, and this ownership group is going to do it right. I believe that in the next four or five years, we are going to have the best overall organization from a kid who is at five starts playing soccer all the way through. I believe in the people who are putting the resources behind it," Onalfo said.
Relating the system to the U.S. national U-17 residency program located in Bradenton, Fla., that produced such players as the Wizards' Jose Burciaga Jr., Eddie Johnson, and Michael Harrington, Onalfo hinted at the impact this youth program could have for not only the Wizards, but the U.S. national team.
"I'm excited about it from being at the top here as the head coach, and I will have an involvement with that in terms of making sure, alongside with Peter, that they are playing in a similar sort of way that we're playing and that we're producing players who are exceptional skill-wise," he said. "We need to have defenders who can pass and get out of pressure, not only at our level, but at the international level. If you watch a Brazil and some of the best teams in the world, that is the difference."
The focus of training sessions and competitions will be the development of the player, not winning, an important distinction.
"Today's youth system ... can lose sight on the development aspect. [In the K.C. Wizards Juniors] you're trying to take a group of kids who all have a lot of the same goals -- very committed to playing soccer and are focused on a becoming a professional one day -- and because of that you are putting all of them together and training them in a certain way to hopefully get to that level they are looking towards. Not all youth teams are like that," Onalfo said.
Players who make the squads through the June 18-20 tryouts will be able to play high school soccer and will remain eligible to play college soccer. Another huge benefit is that the Wizards will be paying most expenses: those necessary to compete, including league and tournament fees and equipment. There will be no training fees.
"Any kid who has aspirations of playing at a higher level, it's a great opportunity to get class "A" coaching, play on a really nice field, and have access to some of the best facilities in the country," said Raybould. "From a youth standpoint, it's a great opportunity to do that and to see how it's done at the professional level. A lot of kids don't get that behind the scenes view, and it's a great opportunity to have access."
For the soccer youth of Kansas City today, the Wizards Juniors program could mean it is more likely that they will step on the field as a professional player tomorrow.
"I learned how many good players there are in my age group and you realize how much you need to work just to be on a different level," said Jose Burciaga Jr. of his experience at Bradenton. "It's a great experience and now with the youth development, it's a big plus for the league and for the soccer community here, not only here but in the U.S. period."
Bob Rusert is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
