Chicago Fire FC will guarantee all new academy players at least three years in its program.
The MLS club announced the “groundbreaking initiative within youth soccer” on Thursday, citing player development and well-being as factors.
Most academies nationwide offer one-year registrations with renewals based on annual assessments and other metrics.
New U13 players will be registered through their U15 season starting this year. Those players will then receive another three-year commitment — through U18 competition — if they are retained.
The model “emphasizes security, trust and mental well-being,” according to the club.
[P]layers will now have the space to develop without fear of being released at the end of each season, which is an often-overlooked mental burden in competitive youth sports.
The initiative also takes into account each player’s physical, psychological, technical, and social development, recognizing that talent and potential emerge over time. It ensures that critical evaluation and decision-making periods align with key developmental stages, including the transition from small-sided to 11-a-side games, and avoids unnecessary disruption during major academic milestones, including high school transitions for players in the Club’s in-house education program.
The news comes amid renewed discussion about national talent identification and development systems in the sport.
The Athletic recently profiled U.S. Soccer Sporting Director Matt Crocker and his efforts to implement the new “U.S. Way” development vision.
Two takeaways here — one surface-level and one more in-depth.
1) Youth sports are becoming more professionalized. No one wants to play (or coach or GM) on one-year deals at the highest level. Why should youth athletes and families be any different? This seems like a natural place for things to move.
2) One of the big issues a recent academic review of Canada’s national soccer systems mentioned was how talent ID and development programs often work against late bloomers.
The approach the Fire is taking does a good deal to protect against that inefficiency.
It won’t be perfect — there will be U15 players that are let go and then come into their own elsewhere. But it will improve long-term outcomes on the whole. As will the emphasis on mental health, etc.
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