The New England Revolution took a rare trip last weekend when they played the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place. Not only did the first team travel to British Columbia, but three of the clubs academy teams joined them in a unique cross-continental road trip.
It was a trip a player like Chris Tierney never got to experience, with MLS academies coming into existence when the left back was 21 years old and already a star at the University of Virginia. The Wellesley, Massachusetts native, who suffered a knee injury on Wednesday against Atlanta United, wasn't able to interact with professional players unlike the players in academies today.
"For me it was really all club soccer so my mentors were more so my coaches. I played for John Kerr for years, Paul Mariner, who’s on our commentary team now, so I had some really good mentors," Tierney explained to MLSsoccer.com last Friday after training. "But I didn't have a lot of interaction with professional players when I was younger so for these guys now to be able to be in the same facility as we are watching us train, watching us travel, watching us play...that's invaluable experience."
The Revs' Under-19 and Under-15 teams were on hand to observe the first team train last Friday as the U-19 team had already completed their exhibition match and the U-15's played after training had been completed. The Under-17 team played concurrent with first-team training.
New England has produced four first-team players out of their academy, with Diego Fagundez and Scott Caldwell becoming regular starters for the team over the last handful of years. Zachary Herivaux, who signed back in 2015, is on the verge of earning more minutes under Brad Friedel while Isaac Angking has so far been sidelined during his first pro season due to a non-soccer related illness.
Revs center back Antonio Delamea is one of a few players on the current team to have come through an academy. He was a member of four different academies in his native Slovenia before signing as a 17-year-old with Interblock. That kind of experience could be invaluable for a player trying to earn a professional contract.
"I think the most important thing they need to learn is professionalism," Delamea said. "That’s the biggest difference between them and between us. You know there are some things that you can do when you’re in [the] academy, that you definitely can’t do when you’re a professional."
Tierney has appeared in 246 games for the Revs, good for third-most in club history, a career any academy player should aspire to replicate. So what does the 32-year-old try to pass down to them?
"When I speak to academy kids I tell them it's equally as important [when you’re at training] as things that you do when you're not at official training.
"So you know if you want to be a professional player, if you want to have a college or a professional career it’s about what you're doing when coaches aren't around, when people aren’t watching. There's so much more that goes into it. You have to have a passion for the game that goes beyond doing what you're asked and you know taking your own time and energy and being disciplined off the field. Those things that I'm trying to pass down."
