Outside of being the region's only free Development Academy program, a major allure of playing for the New England Revolution is the possibility of signing of a Homegrown Player contract.
That's inherent to being New England's sole MLS club, but the pathway towards top-flight soccer in America isn't always straightforward. Rather, it's two-fold (or three-fold if you have a USL side, unlike the Revs).
Young players can sign directly with the first team and bypass college soccer, just like midfielders Diego Fagundez (Leominster, Mass.), Zachary Herivaux (Brookline, Mass.) and Isaac Angking (Providence, R.I.) have. The other route is developing at the Division 1 level and then signing, a path former Akron midfielder Scott Caldwell (Braintree, Mass.) took.
While promising prospects are fast-tracked for the former route, the vast majority of Revs Academy alums take the latter and need several more years to develop. The college ranks, for all its flaws and promises, plays a massive role in that development pipeline.
Mindful of that, New England Soccer Journal has highlighted 13 Revs Academy alums in the college ranks who could trend towards a Homegrown Player contract. They're organized as "serious candidates," "possible candidates" and "wildcards" – reflecting the chance of each signing.
