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"You were playing high school soccer and then college, so we weren't launching our pro careers until after we were 21 years old," Reyna explained about his generation of players. "Compared to the rest of the world, that is far too late. Those guys start acting and training like professionals at 15 or 16, which is the real difference between our players and the rest of the world."

Reyna watched the evolution up close, not only as the sporting director at New York City FC before arriving in Austin, but as a father. Reyna's son, Gio, is a teenage wunderkind who stars in the midfield for German side Borussia Dortmund. Gio, only 18, is already a starter for the U.S. men's national team. He joined the academy at NYCFC in 2015 and remained there until his move to Germany in 2019.

Wolff had a similar experience. He played college soccer at South Carolina before joining MLS after his junior season. He'd go on to set the MLS rookie scoring record, which has been broken, before heading overseas for a spell. He watched the differences in development at each of his stops and is back in MLS as a first-year head coach. Like Reyna, Wolff is the father of a young star who is training at the Austin FC academy.

Wolff recalls seeing Los Angeles FC coach Bob Bradley's young son, Michael, get an opportunity to train with senior players and how much that accelerated Michael's career. Wolff thinks teenagers today, regardless of last name, get those opportunities rarely afforded to American-born soccer stars in previous generations. It is no coincidence, according to Wolff and Reyna, that the U.S. men's national team is improving alongside the growth of MLS academies.

"The path is night and day. There weren't opportunities for us back then like there is today," Wolff said. "Now you can train alongside first-team players as a young teenager, and that is invaluable for development. To see the game at that level at an earlier age helps with the mindset, mentality and the hunger of young players. It gives them something to strive for."

Austin FC is working toward a full-fledged academy with more than 100 players spread across five teams from under 13- to under 17-year-old squads. Those players are set to start competing in the regular season of MLS Next, which will begin Sunday. MLS Next features nearly 600 teams competing in more than 9,000 matches over a 10-month period.

Nowadays, players are recruited as teenagers by professional clubs such as Austin FC. The Verde and Black built an academy slowly, adding more teams each year under the direction of Tyson Wahl. Most of the players in the Austin FC academy are local, but new training facilities and an opportunity to move to a thriving city such as Austin have attracted talent from across the county, including Nevada and California.

An academy offers clubs numerous advantages. First off, the goal is to elevate youth prospects into the senior team, which cuts the costs of transfer fees or trades. Second, the potential to make money from selling the young prospects to major European sides helps MLS squads pay for the academies across the United States. Austin FC wants to do both. The club wants homegrown players to eventually make debuts for the senior team of Austin FC, and it wants some of those players to fetch a hefty price.

"Short term, we're still a bit away from having a homegrown player from the academy move to the senior team, but from my experience, these things can change quickly. Players make jumps between 16 and 18 that start catching your attention," Reyna said. "It is really exciting to see what is happening in this country regarding the opportunities that young players have in this country."

Wolff and Reyna keep a close eye on the academy. Wahl said Reyna is at practice every day. Even Wolff's style of play trickles down to the academy. Wahl said that within reason, the young players are drilled to play in similar fashion to the possession-based senior team. The goal for the academy isn't just to win. The goal is to develop, and while development is improved by winning, the real goal is to export talent to the senior team and to the highest bidder.

"We were able to take our time and build the academy out right, starting with conversations with Josh about aligning our style of play so that a lot of the language is the same," Wahl said. "Our style is very similar, but there are differences because you can't teach an 11-year-old in the same way you teach a professional athlete."

SE	Sports
HD	Austin FC academy set for MLS Next
AU	Mike Craven
BY	Mike Craven
WC	889 words
PD	3 September 2021
SN	Austin American-Statesman
SC	AAS
PG	C.1
LA	English
CY	© 2021 Austin American Statesman. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All Rights Reserved.
LP	Regular season kicks off Sunday for future stars The soccer landscape in the United States has drastically improved since Austin FC sporting director Claudio Reyna and head coach Josh Wolff came up as hot-shot youth prospects who eventually starred professionally abroad and for the U.S. men's national team. The lifeblood of soccer development in America no longer is at the collegiate level. The new normal lives at Major League Soccer academies.
TD	"You were playing high school soccer and then college, so we weren't launching our pro careers until after we were 21 years old," Reyna explained about his generation of players. "Compared to the rest of the world, that is far too late. Those guys start acting and training like professionals at 15 or 16, which is the real difference between our players and the rest of the world." Reyna watched the evolution up close, not only as the sporting director at New York City FC before arriving in Austin, but as a father. Reyna's son, Gio, is a teenage wunderkind who stars in the midfield for German side Borussia Dortmund. Gio, only 18, is already a starter for the U.S. men's national team. He joined the academy at NYCFC in 2015 and remained there until his move to Germany in 2019. Wolff had a similar experience. He played college soccer at South Carolina before joining MLS after his junior season. He'd go on to set the MLS rookie scoring record, which has been broken, before heading overseas for a spell. He watched the differences in development at each of his stops and is back in MLS as a first-year head coach. Like Reyna, Wolff is the father of a young star who is training at the Austin FC academy. Wolff recalls seeing Los Angeles FC coach Bob Bradley's young son, Michael, get an opportunity to train with senior players and how much that accelerated Michael's career. Wolff thinks teenagers today, regardless of last name, get those opportunities rarely afforded to American-born soccer stars in previous generations. It is no coincidence, according to Wolff and Reyna, that the U.S. men's national team is improving alongside the growth of MLS academies. "The path is night and day. There weren't opportunities for us back then like there is today," Wolff said. "Now you can train alongside first-team players as a young teenager, and that is invaluable for development. To see the game at that level at an earlier age helps with the mindset, mentality and the hunger of young players. It gives them something to strive for." Austin FC is working toward a full-fledged academy with more than 100 players spread across five teams from under 13- to under 17-year-old squads. Those players are set to start competing in the regular season of MLS Next, which will begin Sunday. MLS Next features nearly 600 teams competing in more than 9,000 matches over a 10-month period. Nowadays, players are recruited as teenagers by professional clubs such as Austin FC. The Verde and Black built an academy slowly, adding more teams each year under the direction of Tyson Wahl. Most of the players in the Austin FC academy are local, but new training facilities and an opportunity to move to a thriving city such as Austin have attracted talent from across the county, including Nevada and California. An academy offers clubs numerous advantages. First off, the goal is to elevate youth prospects into the senior team, which cuts the costs of transfer fees or trades. Second, the potential to make money from selling the young prospects to major European sides helps MLS squads pay for the academies across the United States. Austin FC wants to do both. The club wants homegrown players to eventually make debuts for the senior team of Austin FC, and it wants some of those players to fetch a hefty price. "Short term, we're still a bit away from having a homegrown player from the academy move to the senior team, but from my experience, these things can change quickly. Players make jumps between 16 and 18 that start catching your attention," Reyna said. "It is really exciting to see what is happening in this country regarding the opportunities that young players have in this country." Wolff and Reyna keep a close eye on the academy. Wahl said Reyna is at practice every day. Even Wolff's style of play trickles down to the academy. Wahl said that within reason, the young players are drilled to play in similar fashion to the possession-based senior team. The goal for the academy isn't just to win. The goal is to develop, and while development is improved by winning, the real goal is to export talent to the senior team and to the highest bidder. "We were able to take our time and build the academy out right, starting with conversations with Josh about aligning our style of play so that a lot of the language is the same," Wahl said. "Our style is very similar, but there are differences because you can't teach an 11-year-old in the same way you teach a professional athlete."