Chris Canetti has a good idea where he wants the Houston Dynamo’s USL PRO team. Now things just need to fall into place.
The Houston Dynamo president (pictured above) has identified a partnership with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, based in McAllen, Texas, as the ideal fit for a development outfit.
The potential Dynamo affiliate's place in US third division is contingent on them meeting league standards, namely building a soccer-specific stadium. According to McAllen news outlet The Monitor, those explorations are ongoing, but the Dynamo are encouraged by the pace of those talks.
“We haven’t signed any agreements that commit us to the [deal], but we highly value the organization there and their leadership team,” Canetti told MLSsoccer.com Friday. “These are big deals, building a stadium and getting approval to an expansion franchise. We think the plan is excellent, and we’re staying close to the vest with them as things develop.”
Canetti told MLSsoccer.com that he is confident a deal will get done in South Texas, which would allow the team to begin play in 2016. If the McAllen club materializes, Rio Grande Valley will handle the business side, while the Dynamo administer the soccer side of the outfit in a model that most closely fits that used in the NBA, where the Vipers are the D-League affiliate of the Houston Rockets.
Houston has struggled to bring along Homegrown Players through the organization. Out of five such signings, only Tyler Deric – the club’s first Homegrown signing, who joined the academy system late in high school – has found regular success.
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The Rio Grande Valley plan works from a business side and certainly has positives form the soccer side, despite the obvious negative of having the team stationed an hour's flight away. Without the ability to monitor training daily or integrate players, Houston will not get the full benefit of the USL PRO model used by the LA Galaxy currently and to be implemented by other clubs next year.
Building a better structure, however, is top of he team’s list and something new Dynamo general manager Matt Jordan is eager to jump into.
“Youth development, including starting USL PRO franchises under MLS clubs, is something I wholeheartedly believe in,” Jordan said. “I led the [USL PRO] initiative with the Montreal Impact, and now, with the Dynamo it is something I am very excited about."
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
