A rumor that has been floating around the San Jose Earthquakes twitter-sphere has come to fruition. Many voices mumbled about the possibility of a partnership with USL team Reno 1868 for months. Now the announcement has come. The Earthquakes will officially partner with Reno, starting in 2017.
San Jose will have full technical control over the team, which now allows them to control player development from age four to the full senior MLS team. It’s a move that many wanted to happen with their current affiliation deal with Sacramento Republic FC. There are many benefits here for both sides, but likely the average fan won’t see the fruit of this type of deal until the future. So what exactly are the benefits and detractors to this deal?
San Jose Earthquakes Announce Partnership With Reno 1868
Sacramento Republic Relationship Falls Apart
The San Jose Earthquakes and Sacramento Republic’s deal will expire at the close of this season, which led to them searching elsewhere for a partnership. The end of the contract will finally put an end to a rocky relationship between the two clubs. Disagreements on player loans, the ambition of the front office to gain technical control, and of course the stubborn nature of former Republic Manager, Preki, all were major factors in the tried relationship between the two organizations. If you want a full list, take a look at Republic writer, Evan Ream’s, twitter timeline. While they were able to relatively repair their relationship and get along the last couple years, it was doomed to fail from the start. Now the Earthquakes finally get exactly what they want, control.
Benefits
Control Over Player Development
The Earthquakes’ academy has begun to bear fruit, with multiple players now a part of US Youth National teams. The technical control the Earthquakes will have over this USL team will be beneficial. This now allows them to emulate the LA Galaxy, New York Red Bulls, Vancouver Whitecaps, and sign youth players, then loan them to a USL affiliate. The control over the technical running of the club also allows them to hire the coach, the training staff, and bring in players that will fit their overall philosophy of the club. It will be the equivalent of an SJ2 type club, without the financial responsibility. Reno makes their own money, while the Earthquakes control the product.
Benefits the US Soccer System in General
A major problem that has hindered the development of the American soccer player has been the focus on getting youth players ready to integrate into college soccer, rather than the club’s first team. We are one of the only countries who still push college prior to professional level, especially in soccer. The goal of every clubs youth system? Get them ready to walk into a spot on the team by age 18. Now obviously those are insanely high expectations for teenagers, especially when the level of coaching in the US is severely sub-par. The more academies that train and develop players with that mentality are bound to create players who are ready to integrate into the league by age 18. The college system and SuperDraft should be used with the sole purpose of making sure talented players don’t fall through the cracks.
What happens when players aren’t ready by 18 though? Obviously the majority aren’t going to be, so what do the big clubs do with those kids? They loan them to the lower levels. The more clubs that are trying to get players up to top level as quick as possible ensures a competent development process for players within the US. Obviously at the youth level you need good coaches to help develop talent as well. But that article will be saved for another day. Ultimately this puts more talent at younger ages into the U.S. player pools. Germany, Spain, and France have made it a point to spend money on coaching, and develop the youth levels. That is how you create a player pool full of talent.
Detractors
There Are Virtually No Detractors
All sides should be happy here. Reno needs something to make a splash in their town. Bringing in good youth players and occasionally getting MLS players on loan will help get the franchise a little bit of rep in their town. They also don’t have to be concerned with hiring incompetent people to run their soccer operations. The San Jose Earthquakes get what they want out of a USL affiliate, and Sacramento Republic get their independence they so greatly desired. The biggest detractor, and really the only detractor? Distance.
It would be pointless to have technical control over a team and still loan players to other teams. The only detractor for the Quakes is that they are locked into their deal with Reno and really won’t send players elsewhere. Sacramento was a nice two hour drive for a player. From San Jose to Reno? Four hours and sixteen minutes one way. Fortunately, it’s only a fifty five minute flight, so the drive thing becomes pointless.
Final Thoughts
My final thoughts on this are that the ‘Quakes have finally begun to make good soccer decisions. They have a history of making relatively business savvy, off the field moves. Unfortunately, they have had only two seasons in the postseason since the return of the club eight years ago. This decision however, doesn’t help their business directly. It does help the product on the field, and the future on-field product get up to a higher standard. This move, coupled with the introduction of the expanded academy complex coming, will solidify their on-field product for the for-seeable future.
