SOCCER INSIDER: FC Dallas' latest venture expands talent base

Normally when a 16-year-old agrees to play for his club soccer team, there are no cameras, no shaking hands with professionals or meeting the general manager of the local Major League Soccer club.

But things are no longer normal in the multimillion-dollar-a-year industry of youth club soccer in North Texas.

Last week, FC Dallas brought 15 players to Pizza Hut Park and held a ceremony for them as the inaugural group of players in the FC Dallas Junior program.

The night was highlighted by a picture-taking session with midfielder Bobby Rhine and being presented personalized FC Dallas jerseys by general manager Michael Hitchcock.

For the past 10 years, club soccer has been dominated by the Dallas Texans and Dallas Solar.

The majority of top players gravitated to these teams because of their national success and high rate of college scholarships.

Now, FC Dallas is a power boat in the political swamp of club soccer because it has an advantage that neither Solar nor Texans can offer.

Players can now work their way through the FC Dallas youth system and be signed straight to the professional team rather than being subject to the Major League Soccer draft.

It's a proposition that caused highly regarded midfielder Alexei Reyes (Dallas Jesuit) to leave the Solar galaxy.

"Right now the academy team looks really strong," Reyes said. "All the tournaments they've been telling us about, it looks like the next level, the professional level. They're giving us a chance if we play good we can go to the professional level. So that's what changed my mind, because hopefully one day I'll be going pro."

Certainly, there's a danger if they are under the impression that all of them will turn pro under FC Dallas.

However, there are plenty of positives that break away from the politics and underhandedness that has tainted the local select leagues.

First, FC Dallas is picking up the cost of about $8,000 per player, so family affluence is no longer a factor.

Second, FC Dallas needs to develop players it can use at the next level.

Club coaches are under so much pressure to win they have to build systems, recruit players and focus only on the result and not the individual player development.

The final benefit to FC Dallas is the Abdus Ibrahim situation.

Ibrahim was the second-youngest player ever drafted in MLS when FC Dallas selected him at 15 last year.

"Ibee" hasn't been in camp since the first week of May.

Family issues have taken him to Toronto, and common sense says he may not come back.

MLS will no longer need to uproot young players and place them in unfamiliar surroundings.

Certainly, putting teenagers into a professional situation is full of pitfalls.

However, the select clubs have swallowed their own share of players already.

Perhaps this new option can help everyone find some direction.