With the U.S. men’s national team crashing out of qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the development of American players has come under scrutiny.
A major part of that, in turn, is how the Development Academy performs in terms of producing top-end players for the “next level.” That could manifest as Division 1 players or professionals in Major League Soccer or another pro league. Some of this analyzation is fair and others not, with the finer points up for debate at another time.
The big takeaway, then, here in New England – at least in terms of the DA – is how the New England Revolution, Seacoast United, Boston Bolts, Beachside and Oakwood are doing. Based on the first six weeks of the 2017-18 season, they seem to be doing largely just fine. Some of the region’s top scorers – Issac Angking of the Revs’ U-19 team and Christian Pulselli of the Bolts’ U-17 team – call the region home and the level of play is overall high.
To get a full sense of how the clubs are holding up, let’s take a spin around the region.