FRISCO, Texas — As MLS academies duke it out on the field at this week’s Generation adidas Cup, the players won’t be the only ones tested by international opponents.
The event provides a challenge for the academy coaches as well. And just as the improvements in the player pool and infrastructure have catalyzed domestic development in the league, coaches have played a massive factor.
Part of that has stemmed from Fred Lipka, MLS's VP of player youth & development. Under his stewardship, the league has sought to improve coaching education, launching the Elite Formation Coaching License in partnership with the French Football Federation. Those efforts have helped lead to a shift at the youth levels, away from winning games to producing pros and tweaks in player identification.
A change in player identification is one of the many facets Lipka’s noticed during his time in the league. When he first visited MLS academies in his capacity as a consultant roughly six years ago, he noticed that teams emphasized players physical abilities too much but not enough on the technical or tactical parts of the game.
“We are more focused on the potential of the kids and not their current actual performance. It’s potential versus performance – sometimes it’s a match,” Lipka said. “But sometimes it doesn’t, because when you are a late developer, you don’t grow at the same pace. And sometimes you have two or three years of difference physically between kids that are exactly the same age.
Originally from France, Lipka’s background at Le Havre’s Academy gives him a unique perspective on the American game. The connections he possessed played a role in establishing the EFCL. Among current or former academy directors to complete it include Marc Nicholls (Seattle Sounders), Brian Scales (New England Revolution), John Parry (Sporting Kansas City), Tony Annan (Atlanta United), Greg Vanney (Toronto FC) and Luchi Gonzalez (FC Dallas).
The aim there is to raise the level of the educators in order to improve the quality of how each specific academy operates.
To gauge the progress that’s been made, among educating coaches and identifying the right kind of player, the Generation adidas Cup serves as a specific, on-field measure.
And while Lipka noted the progress of players like Paxton Pomykal and Brenden Aaronson are encouraging, he didn’t think that there is any need to mandate younger players getting minutes in the first team for now. He thinks that with the progress made at the academy level, those players are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to those ready to make an impact.