A Quakes Academy player takes on defender Oswaldo Alanis in an exercise at the Earthquakes’ preseason activities at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Photo credit: San Jose Earthquakes
Despite the video conference format as compared to the cozy confines of the offices of the San Jose Earthquakes, on a bright March morning in Santa Barbara, General Manager Jesse Fioranelli’s beaming face jumps through the computer screen as an informal online gathering with Bay Area soccer media begins, “The second team joined us yesterday evening,” he proudly proclaims.
The “second team” Fioranelli is referring to is a group of 18 Quakes Academy players who are getting the huge opportunity to train in Santa Barbara alongside the club’s first team during the MLS preseason. No doubt there have now been scrimmages and interactions to see which of these teenage players would demonstrate what it takes to become the next homegrown to sign for the San Jose Earthquakes. It has been over a year since the last homegrown signing. Then 14-year-old Emmanuel “Emi” Ochoa‘s signing followed the 16-year-old Casey Walls signing within a week of each other in November of 2019.
The inclusion of the Quakes Academy in Santa Barbara wasn’t to be just a couple of days to “check out the kids”, either — the plan for the second team was to be present between March 17 and March 27. This goes well beyond last preseason when Reno 1868 FC spent three days with the Quakes culminating with a scrimmage. “It’s a big step for our club as we try to create that linear pathway between [our] academy and first team,” Fioranelli continues. “It’s a bridge. It’s going to be an important bridge for years to come. We’re trying to improve and trying to grow.”
Rumors abound that Major League Soccer will be announcing a new U-22/U-23 league as the modern version of the former MLS Reserves League — just not for 2021, the current rumors tell us. However, it’s not too soon for the team to begin preparations to field such a roster. There’s just one issue: where will these players go this year? We’re not just talking about Quakes Academy players that could represent future U-23 team signings: we’re talking about the younger homegrown players and even the MLS SuperDraft picks who would qualify. In the recent past, these players have had a pathway through Reno 1868 FC.
The USL Championship side, previously led by former Earthquakes Assistant Coach Ian Russell, folded in the offseason due to the lack of revenue from fans in 2020. Given the Covid-19 restrictions, after the first couple of games of the 2020 USL Championship season, Reno 1868 was no longer an option for the younger players who would otherwise have gotten a lot of minutes there. According to sources back in June last year, Earthquakes Head Coach Matías Almeyda felt their development would be better practicing several times a week with the first team, and the cost of quarantine timings and moving players back-and-forth was too much to be worthwhile, despite Reno 1868 moving to a man-marking style of play to imitate the first team experience.
Without a Reno 1868 FC option, without a US Open Cup tournament, and without a U-19 MLS Next academy season, these younger homegrowns and SuperDraft players received very little, if any, game time in 2020. A total of 328 minutes were played by Gilbert Fuentes, Jacob Akanyirige, Siad Haji, Jack Skahan, and Eric Calvillo. No minutes were logged by Casey Walls or Emi Ochoa, although none were expected. Of the players under 22 years of age, only homegrown Cade Cowell and SuperDraft pick Tanner Beason saw any significant minutes in 2020, and Beason only saw minutes once pressed into service because of a multi-game injury to Oswaldo Alanís.
Some fans may wonder why the Oakland Roots, the new USL Championship side in the Bay Area, are not a loan option for the Earthquakes, but there seems to be little interest in any sort of relationship from either side. Given the uniqueness of the Earthquakes’ style, there is little to be gained by getting players minutes in a very different system in Oakland.
Stopping short of confirming the future of the rumored U-23 league, Fioranelli feels he has a plan for the younger players in 2021, “We’re looking to be able to have a year in which we will be getting between 12 and 18 very competitive games, perhaps even the ability to participate internationally. We’ve allocated those resources already that will allow players [starting at the age of] 16 all the way up to the first team, if they need minutes (younger players especially), to be able to gain valuable minutes.”
With MLS Next finally resuming for the various MLS academy teams, that could be one option for a few of the homegrown players that fit into the U-19 age group. But Fioranelli wants to make sure that his players are in the “right” competitions without losing the ability to grow under the first team coaching staff, “Our focus has to not only be in which competition we reside in but [also] assuring the players in San Jose are going to get the optimal development and support on a daily basis to be able to grow.”
Fioranelli continues to see the European model as the one the Quakes Academy wants to emulate, “Having a ‘linear pathway’ is something that you see across Europe be very successful with second teams, working hand-in-hand with the first [team]. That brings alignment when it comes to the technical area, the physical [area], and also from a coaching and tactical perspective. Being able to house that in San Jose is going to be a very important [strategy] for years to come, because that will allow us to have that linear pathway.”
It’s clear that the time for the younger homegrown signings and SuperDraft signings to show what they have is drawing closer, perhaps not in 2021 for some players, but not far off, either. “If you have noticed over the last [few] years that we have signed players that are relatively young…and we will want to ‘play up’ in our academy. So we don’t shy away from a 16-year-old measuring up against a 22-year-old: it’s going to help them. And our players need them.”
Fioranelli exudes pride in the ability to bring in these 18 Quakes Academy players to integrate with the first team for a week-and-a-half, “We just needed to find the right moment and also the right setting in order to create that. That’s a space that we want to invest in.”
