Sporting KC: Why Eliminating MLS Territory Rules Would Be A Good Thing
The MLS is considering getting rid of their homegrown academy territory rules; if this happened, Sporting Kansas City would be greatly benefited.
SKC academy director Jon Parry as well as multiple other club directors believe that this long-awaited move will become a reality in the near future, as reported by Paul Tenorio from The Athletic.
Right now, there are rules in place that prevent MLS clubs from going out and acquiring potential academy players outside of their designated local market. However, regions without a local MLS team are fair game for any club. This means that SKC can (and does) bring players into the academy from states like North Carolina and certain regions of California, but can’t sign any players from the Chicago or Houston area.
Small-market teams like Kansas City or Real Salt Lake have less people in their territories and less soccer talent to work with. Whereas large-market teams such as Chicago or Los Angeles have a hotbed of soccer talent to choose from but lack the developmental training capacity to sign and train all of these players up to the first team.
Large-market teams such as these two continue to bring young players into the academy but lack the ability to see them all the way through to the first team.
The Blue Testament highlighted another aspect to the problem as well, writing that,
"“Teams like the LA Galaxy who in are one of the most dense, soccer rich areas in US, don’t play their kids because they have to play their high priced superstars.”"
If these territory rules were to be eliminated, any club could recruit any player from any area in the country. This move would be huge for Sporting Kansas City, a top academy team with top-tier training and a full team of national talent scouts.
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The Blue Testament, as well as many other close followers of Sporting, are aware that when it comes to national scouting, Kansas City is ahead of the game. The club has already signed six out-of-territory players to their academy from neutral territory regions, which is how they were able to secure players such as Daniel Salloi from Hungary or Gianluca Busio from North Carolina. Sam Stejskal from the MLS reported that Sporting KC already has a team of scouts located around the country.
The club is already scouting all over the country, in both designated and undesignated regions, because when the territory rules are eliminated, Kansas City intends to be ready.
It won’t be hard for Sporting to sell players on their club. They already have a reputation for developing and playing their young homegrown players, as can be seen through the examples of Salloi, Busio, Jaylin Lindsey and Wan Kuzain. Team manager Peter Vermes has even said that it would be his dream to someday field a full starting squad of homegrown players.
Not to mention, the club’s academy and training facility is like none other. In 2018, Sporting KC was awarded the Academy of the Year and officially opened Pinnacle—one of the best soccer facilities in the world.
As penned by Robert Rusert from The Blue Testament,
"“Pinnacle is a first-of-its-kind joint-venture between Sporting Club, the U.S. Soccer Federation, and Children’s Mercy Hospital.”"
When I personally toured the inside of Pinnacle, my jaw dropped and I couldn’t pick it back up until we left the building. The SKC and U.S. National team training site has everything—top-of-the-line pitches, performance labs, and gyms, first-rate locker rooms and offices, and the highest quality nutrition and medical staff. No detail was spared in the multimillion dollar facility.
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If a young soccer prospect has the choice to pick any club to train with, Kansas City’s top academy program and successful first team, world-class training facilities, and reputation for developing and playing homegrown talent is going to be an extremely appealing option.
For these reasons, if (or hopefully when) MLS removes the homegrown territory restrictions—which could be this year—, Sporting Kansas City will be ready to reap the benefits coming their way.