BY MICHAEL GARDNER – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
“This place needs to make a serious statement about us, our franchise and the game in Canada.” Such was the quote that Maple Leaf Sports and Enterainment Executive VP and Chief Operating Officer, Tom Anselmi offered up when describing Toronto FC’s investment in its Academy program and facilities.
For those not familiar with what an Academy is, there are essentially two routes a North American player can get to the MLS. TheY can come through the MLS Superdraft which is where the NCAA grads come from and through Academies which are club owned development programs. TFC Academy is a development program where the team owns the rights to the player in exchange for their training commitment. For youth development in this country it is a well needed investment in our future.
Time will tell if it pays off for the team itself but the marketing engine is in full swing. In addition to Anselmi’s glowing words, TFC’s official web site offered that “young players who show total commitment to the club, making TFC proud on and off the pitch, will be rewarded handsomely.
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Let’s explore that premise of “rewards” and the “serious statement” as it is what is being fed to kids and their parents as the Academy seeks players as young as 12. As they say, sometimes actions speak louder than words and based on the following actions, I’m not sure that I would be rushing to sign up.
Consider the case of current TFC defender Ashtone Morgan. He is a product of our well hyped Academy system having joined in 2008 as a 16-year-old. Just a few years later was playing for the first team, earning 23 appearances through the 2011 and 2012 campaigns, many of those in a starting role. He has also earned a call from the national team as well. If ever there was a success story to be written about local talent earning a place on to a professional roster, Morgan is a prime example.
So, what was his handsome reward?
According to Major League Soccer Player’s Union salary disclosure his reward was an annual salary of $44,000 a year. The league minimum, including all bonuses.
The same salary that other academy graduates like Oscar Cordon, Matt Stinson, Nicholas Lindsay, Keith Makubuya, and Doniel Henry make.
What of our other rookies, like NCAA first round pick Luis Silva? He makes $79,000 in guaranteed compensation, nearly double that of Morgan and his fellow Academy grads.
What serious statement is MLSE making here? Work hard so that they can exploit local talent?
These are players that have forgone their education in order to pursue professional opportunities in Toronto. Many of these salaries are not guaranteed meaning a player could be released without funds due.
Further, given the MLS’s Domestic Roster Rules which state that a Canadian player counts as a coveted “International” roster slot for US based teams, opportunities to work in any city other than Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal are severely limited. In fact, of our 66 player moves since 2008 only six Canadians have ever been traded from Toronto to a US destination. Dwayne De Rosario, Adrian Serioux, Kevin Harmse, Chris Pozniak (picked in expansion draft), Josh Janniere and Nana Attakora.
Attakora is also worth mentioning in that he joined TFC as an 18-year-old Canadian. He was as close to a homegrown Academy product as we have and for three years he played for $30,000 per year. He is currently out of contract and playing for no one at the tender age of 23. No education. No nest egg. Nana has nada to show for his progress.
Sounds like a perplexing value proposition for parents and kids thinking of the Toronto FC as a career option doesn’t it? Work hard and you will be rewarded with the league minimum. You will graduate into a system with severely limited work options and we will pay other rookies nearly double what we are obligated to pay you.
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