With MLS launching its new elite competition to take the leading step in youth development following the closing of US Soccer's Development Academy, many believe there's an opportunity for the league to move the player development effort forward.
And since the news broke, the league, its academy directors and non-MLS academy directors have been in constant conversation about best to do that, says New York Red Bulls academy chief Sean McCafferty.
“Ultimately for us, we’ve tried to be as much as an influence as possible (on the new league,)" McCafferty told reporters during a video call on Friday. "We’ve been trying to be as much of a part of it we can, plotting the structure. We’ve been on countless calls with MLS, their head people structuring this league, and academy directors. What do we want this to look like? How are we getting meaningful games?"
That last question is perhaps the biggest one for McCafferty.
He joined the Red Bulls last summer after leading Barcelona's residential academy in Arizona, where the Southwestern climate allowed his teams to play more games year-round. He said that showed results in terms of how quickly players developed.
“More games. We don’t play enough games here. When I was at the Barca academy, they played like 10 more games than on the East coast," McCafferty said. "The weather has something to do with that. ... The biggest negative was the break of the season. It was far too long for our youth players. … It slows the development down of players when they’re just getting going.”
McCafferty also hopes the new league brings more competition, a desire that has been echoed elsewhere around MLS. He referenced when one of his Barca squads played in the youth International Champions Cup recently.
"We played Tottenham, PSG," McCafferty said. "They’re just invaluable experiences for the players. The No. 6 for PSG is just different, you don’t see that type of player very often. It was hugely advantageous for the players and staff to say ‘okay, that’s what a top European pro-to-be looks like.”
One of the first changes McCafferty made at RBNY was making the squads smaller for every academy team to increase playing time. As for the players who were let go, he said it benefits them as well because RBNY helps them another club that has more minutes available.
“We have so much talent here," McCafferty said. "It’s just getting the environment to a place where we can accelerate that. We’re so fortunate with our facility: First team, second team, academy. Everybody’s there.”
It's an arrangement McCafferty believes is essential to take advantage of. Earlier this year, a number of academy standouts had already been training with the second team, with more planned. There were also plans to integrate academy players into some first team training.
In other words, no matter which squad you're playing for, you're part of the club first.
“Teams don’t walk out at Red Bull Arena, players do," McCafferty said. "We’ll all enjoy maybe a beer and celebrate when an academy player walks out (with the first team) at Red Bull Arena, everybody plays a part in that.”
