MLS draft?

[Canadienfan]

Can someone explain to me how thw MLS draft works!

[SABuffalo786]

Us MLS fans are not completely sure.

Pretty similar to any other pro sport draft, except for the league stepping in and sending certain star players where they want them to go.

[beachesl]

Here are the Rules for the January, 2004 Superdraft ( the next one will be January 14, 2005) which I assume are current. The super draft is the general draft where they go after college players.

http://mls.ampmsports.com/mls/draft/011604_overview.html

Make no mistake: Canadian players are discounted in the MLS college draft because they are foreigners subject to quotas, and would be picked much higher if they had similiar status to their Ameircan colleagues.

There is also a Waiver draft, a date in late November not set, for current MLS players. This year there will be an Expansion draft just prior to this (date not set). There is also a Supplemental Draft held later in the winter to scoop up players drifting around from othe leagues or countries after all of this.

Apart from the waiver draft, there is a waiver list system throughout the year through which players may be transferred within teams. There are also "Discovery" drafts" and Discvoery lists through which developmental players may be protected by teams and

transferred between teams at various times. Read the last section of this page for some MLS explanation:

http://mls.ampmsports.com/mls/draft/011604_overview.html

Here are the rules for the expansion draft for the Salt Lake and LA Chivas teams:

http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20040714&content_id=8259&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp

I still have an open mind about a Canadian MLS team being a good thing for Canadian soccer in the long run, especially for Canadian college graduates of both the NCAA and Canadian college system (and I still think this is the right option for most of those who can make it to college) who may be too old to make the full transition ot the European system. But, with US team with foreign quotas against Canadians (two strikes), and kafakesque controls involving all players, the whole idea of "Impress the MLS" now is a joke.

[SamIAm]

quote:Originally posted by beachesl

Make no mistake: Canadian players are discounted in the MLS college draft because they are foreigners subject to quotas, and would be picked much higher if they had similiar status to their Ameircan colleagues...

But, with US team with foreign quotas against Canadians (two strikes), and kafakesque controls involving all players, the whole idea of "Impress the MLS" now is a joke.

Why would Canadian players be picked higher in the draft if they have similar status as American players? It doesn't seem to me like having Canadians counted as foreigners is anymore of a strike against them than if they were from Jamaica or Costa Rica. They're MLS's international rules, should there be exceptions?

[redhat]

If compared on even terms with American college players, I think the parity would allow

Canadians to be drafted higher than they already are. Look at the old NASL.

Comparing the old NASL to MLS is night and day for Canadians. It was a North-American league

where Canadians were not subject to foreign quotas and treated the same as Americans. It also

helped in the development of our players and the qualification into the 1986 World Cup.

[beachesl]

quote:Originally posted by SamIAm

Why would Canadian players be picked higher in the draft if they have similar status as American players? It doesn't seem to me like having Canadians counted as foreigners is anymore of a strike against them than if they were from Jamaica or Costa Rica. They're MLS's international rules, should there be exceptions?

Welcome to the forum SamIAm.

You are right, having Canadians counted as foreigners is not anymore of a strike against them anymore than other foreigners. Nor am I complaining about this, I think that the MLS is an American league and they should set their own protectionist rules just as a Canadian league (such as the CFL does now) could. There should not be exceptions (unless of course there was a Canadian team in the MLS, and the rules would then be inverse for that team).

The point was made with respect to a longstanding debate in this forum as to the viability of the MLS for Canadian players , as opposed to going to Europe (and, less importantly, concerning the separate issue of whether there should be a Canadian team in the MLS). There is also a misconception amongst some Canadian fans that if a Canadian player went to an NCCA team, they somehow were on equal footing with an American teamate concerning the MLS, a myth that a certain soccer tv show here in Canada adds to. A NCAA scholarship is one of the best avenues from a life choice side to make for good Canadian footballers. I have spoken to many Canadians who have taken this avenue, and they certainly have no regrets about it. Foreigners do do well in the MLS, but the quotas (now the most restrictive in the world, but that is up to the MLS and is not a criticism of the US) do make it difficult for foreigners to break in. Again, as one of the primary purposes of the the MLS is to be a development league for American players to improve American soccer validity ( at which it has been very successful), that is fine, but the restrictiveness is a factor to consider for prospective players there, especially foreigners like Canadians.

Obviously, if Canadians were not counted as foreigners in the MLS (an unlikely scenario that I was not advocating), they would each be given more potential to the team and picked higher to reflect that comparitive value. Occean, for instance, should be proud that he was picked as high in the last draft as he was, considering that as an import it would be a higher cost to the Metrostars (in terms of taking up the quota) if he was selected to be signed, especially considering the very good foreigners that the Metrostars have at his position. As fans on the Metrostar forums have said, he may not have been able to break their line-up anyway because he was a foreigner.

Cheers.

[youllneverwalkalone]

Quotas seem inherently un-American. If the NCAA represents the primary player pool for MLS, NCAA appearances should dictate a player's foreign or domestic status -not nationality.

[Free kick]

quote:Originally posted by beachesl

Make no mistake: Canadian players are discounted in the MLS college draft because they are foreigners subject to quotas, and would be picked much higher if they had similiar status to their Ameircan colleagues.

Correct me if I am wrong or if I have misunderstood the rules. But since Canadian college players are consider foreigners as far as the quota and yet, they must still go into the draft. Then wouldn't that be highly discriminatory against these Canadians. An international from from say, Mexico or El Salvador, can sell his services to any MLS team and can choose to refise offers. But a CND NCAA college kid can only sign for team that holds his right. Yet he is still considered a for foreigner.

[beachesl]

I think you are right, Free Kick. I think all graduatin college players anywhere and unsigned undertagers around the world are subject to the Superdraft (similiar to the NHL June draft). Other internationals though are subject to teh Supplemental draft, though I haven't found details on how that works, so that the Mexican or Salvadoran pro is not necessarily free, unless he falls through the cracks in terms of the Supplemental Draft.

The Draft is almost against the world ethos of soccer, but of course it is a part of North American sports business. FIFA is probably internally opposed to the whole draft idea, but are more worried about being seen as anti-US.

[Canadienfan]

I'm just wondering how hard the draft would make it for any potental Canadian MLS team to aquire the best Canadian talent.