A Pro Offer at 15 Does Not End the College Conversation

Jonny Shore's club proposed a professional contract when he was 15. His family did not sign that week. They took months. "This happened in September, and I didn't end up signing till March." His family valued academics, so the whole discussion, in his words, was between the contract and college.

He signed, he is a first-team player at 19, and he says he has no regrets. He also says this: "maybe one or two or three kids per age group actually end up making it professional. That's just the reality. So I think it's 100% smart to have a plan B." He would not recommend signing "a straight-up second team deal" by default. If the trajectory clearly points to the first team, take it. If not, he thinks college is the better opportunity, on the field and off it.

MLS Academy Contract or College Soccer: What Should a Family Weigh?

Chris Mueller watched the other outcome from inside a locker room. When he joined Chicago Fire, he remembers something like 10 or 12 homegrown players on the roster, and by his count only two of them made it. Some, he says, had given up college scholarships and were out of the league within a year or two. His advice to talented families is not to skip the contract. It is that a kid that talented would probably be well served by a good degree from a good school, because the pro career, when it comes, has to be transitioned out of.

Dr. Chris Platts, a career coach in professional football in the UK, tracked over 300 academy players for more than a decade. His headline is that "getting a professional contract at the age of 18 doesn't mean you get a career. It means you've got a first contract." In his data the hard part was not 18. It was 18 to 23, when the club stops developing you and starts evaluating you.

The three of them never met. They describe the same decision: the offer is real, the celebration is earned, and the college conversation should keep going right through it.

What parents can do

• Ask the club how long you have to decide, then use all of it

• Ask what the path from second team to first team looks like at this club

• Keep the college process alive until the contract is signed

Adapted from Episode 40. A Pro Soccer Offer at 15. A Family Decision (Jonny Shore), Episode 41. Chris Mueller on What the Soccer Dream Demands, and Episode 27. First Pro Contract at 18: Why It's Not a Career | Chris Platts.

Watch the episodes: https://youtu.be/ym9Vjac3wOs and https://youtu.be/PLiDKaPs5OA