Major League Soccer announced today that United States U-17 National team forward David Arvizu has been signed to the Generation adidas program. As a member of the U.S. Youth system joining MLS after the annual SuperDraft, Arvizu will be made available to all twelve MLS teams through a weighted lottery on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.
Arvizu becomes the third member of the U.S. U-17 team that advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Peru to sign a Generation adidas contract in 2006, joining defender Blake Wagner and forward Josmer Altidore. In January, Altidore was selected by the MetroStars (17th overall) and Wagner by FC Dallas (18th overall) in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft. The U-17 team advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating South Korea and Italy and tying the Ivory Coast before falling to the Netherlands to finish in fifth place for the second straight FIFA U-17 World Championship.
A team's chances of winning the weighted lottery are determined by a formula which combines each team's performance over its last 32 regular season games (points earned) with points that are assigned based on each team's performance in the most recent postseason. Playoff point values are assigned as follows: failed to qualify for playoffs (0 points), eliminated in Conference Semifinals (2 points), eliminated in Conference Championship (4 points), MLS Cup runner-up (6 points), and MLS Cup Champion (8 points).
The team with the lowest combined regular season points (over last 32 games) and most recent playoff point value will have the greatest probability of winning the lottery. A set percentage chance is attached to each team giving teams with lower point total a higher percentage chance of winning. The following table details the order of this lottery based on all twelve teams participating:
Team |
2005 pts. |
Playoff pts. |
Total |
Set pct. chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Chivas USA |
18 |
0 |
18 |
22.5% |
Real Salt Lake |
20 |
0 |
20 |
18.8% |
Columbus Crew |
38 |
0 |
38 |
15.4% |
K.C. Wizards |
45 |
0 |
45 |
12.4% |
MetroStars |
47 |
2 |
49 |
9.7% |
Colorado Rapids |
45 |
4 |
49 |
7.4% |
FC Dallas |
48 |
2 |
50 |
5.4% |
Chicago Fire |
49 |
4 |
53 |
3.7% |
L.A. Galaxy |
45 |
8 |
53 |
2.3% |
D.C. United |
54 |
2 |
56 |
1.3% |
New England |
59 |
6 |
65 |
0.7% |
Houston 1836 |
64 |
2 |
66 |
0.4% |
Teams are not required to participate in the lottery. Any team assigned a player through the lottery in any particular season shall not be assigned another lottery player that season unless and until all teams have received a lottery player or have agreed to waive their option to participate in a Lottery. If a team elects to not participate in a lottery, the chances of winning will be adjusted accordingly.
Other members of the 2006 Generation adidas class are: Marvell Wynne, the first overall pick by the MetroStars in the 2006 SuperDraft; Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA - 5th overall); Dax McCarty (FC Dallas - 6th overall); Patrick Ianni (Houston 1836 - 8th overall); Kei Kamara (Columbus Crew - 9th overall); Nathan Sturgis (Los Angeles Galaxy - 12th overall); Jed Zayner (Columbus - 13th overall); Jacob Peterson (Colorado Rapids - 21st overall) and Willie Sims (New England Revolution - 23rd overall).
