Homegrown or Academy: The Question Is Whether Your Kid Is Playing
A parent DM'd us with the version of this question a lot of families are turning over in the car: two offers, one from an Academy Division club, one from a Homegrown Division club two hours farther away. Better badge, longer drive, no guaranteed minutes.
MLS NEXT Homegrown vs Academy: Which Is Right for My Kid?
Luis Robles is General Manager, Sporting, for MLS NEXT, and a dad with a son in the league. He would not give a blanket answer. The first thing he said is that the age of the kid "is very important" and that it is not a straightforward call. Then he told a story from a late game at a tournament. A mother came over to his golf cart with the same question. He asked her three things. Is he having fun? "Yeah, he loves it." Is he playing all the time? "Yes, he's playing most of the games." Does his coach give him good feedback? "He loves his coach." His answer to her: "Then it sounds like he's in a great development experience."
Her son was 16, and Robles was direct about what that means. "At this point, if he wants exposure, he has to play. He cannot be on the bench." He also said every situation is different; that family was in Southern California, where there is density and plenty of strong teams nearby. A family in a region with one club in reach is making a different decision.
The person who runs the league said one more thing that cuts against the anxiety driving most of these decisions. Staying local, training in an organized setting two to three times a week, and "just playing soccer to play soccer the rest of the time, that's a really good thing." Families, he said, sometimes overcomplicate it because of social media and FOMO.
So the question is not which tier. It is whether, at your kid's age, the offer in front of you delivers minutes, a coach who talks to them, and a kid who still wants to go.
What parents can do
Ask how old your kid is before you ask which division is better
Choose the offer where they play most of the games, not the bigger badge
Add the drive time to the decision, then ask if it works every week
Adapted from Episode 42. Is Moving Up in MLS NEXT Worth Risking Playing Time? (Luis Robles).
Watch the episode: https://youtu.be/323PcclNXUw