Lower divisions on the rise?

The US Open Cup resems this evening with four quarterfinal matches, three of which include lower division sides.  This has been an interesting year for the lower divisions.  It is not surprising to have some upsets in round three, but to have this many lower division teams in the quarterfinals may be an unexpectedly good sign for US Soccer.

The future of the US national team in someways is dependent on the strength of the lower divisions.  Soccer in the US is handled very differently then football is throughout the rest of the wold.  For the rest of the world, player development is handled by the club academies.  Good players are identified at a young age and forgo or delay a college education to develop their footballing skills at the clubs.  The better players are at the bigger clubs and end up debuting at a young age (Lionel Messi debut for Barcelona at 17, Wayne Rooney also debut for Everton at 17).  We do things very different here.  Granted, the top 1% (if not less) of our players head overseas to a club academy, but the majority head off to college.  NCAA stringent training rules actually limit the development of our players.  It is here where the lower divisions kick in.

The PDL is where our college players get some training in the summer.  NASL and USL Pro are where those who fall off the radar can still get developed.  The encouraging sign is that perhaps the divide between the divisions is not as great as one would expect.  I know that many MLS teams put our reserve teams in the early stages of the US Open Cup.  However, based on our current system, one should still expect that an MLS reserve team should rank above any of the lower divisions (especially the PDL).  This year, they did not.

Here is where my glass becomes half full.  Instead of looking at this years upsets as a weakness of the MLS, I am encouraged by the strength of the lower divisions.  If the lower divisions are actually stronger then we all thought, then perhaps the player pool of US Soccer is stronger and larger then expected.  If that is the case, the then future of US Soccer is good.  A lager pool means that there can be more teams (in all divisions) and better soccer throughout the country which intern might mean healthier clubs.  A larger pool means that there are more choices for the future of the national team - which can only be a good thing.

I know there needs to be a reality check here for a moment.  The lower divisions are struggling financially.  Most of the teams barely have any fans and are losing money.  But if this year is a sign of things to come, perhaps the lower divisions are getting stronger.  Strong, healthy lower divisions create a structure that will make soccer stronger and healthier at all levels.  Perhaps this year has been an anomaly.  But then again, perhaps this year has been a sign of good things to come.