Measuring success
So how does one really measure the success of Bradenton's first nine years?
"There's obviously the results of the games," says Gulati, "but in a sense you can't properly evaluate some parts of it until a few years later.
"You look at all of it. You look at the preparation of the players, technically and tactically, and we let the experts do that. And also where the players end up.
"But it's always hard. It's not a question of is Player X a better player coming out of Bradenton than he was when he came in. The question is: Is he a better player than he would have been if he had done something else? And that's a very hard counterfactual to have an experiment for. It's an impossible one."
At least by fielding teams in the Academy league, the Bradenton boys will be consistently compared to the players from the nation's elite clubs. And those clubs will be measured against Bradenton in their ability to provide an environment that creates players for the next level.
"My own opinion is that one of the preferred outcomes of the Academy is that if it really works there's a lot less need for Bradenton," says Payne. "Maybe Bradenton becomes something a little bit different. Maybe it's not a pure residency camp, but something that's used to prepare for competitions like the rest of the world does."
Nichols believes that his Casa Mia Bays club already provides players an environment as beneficial to their development as Bradenton, where his club sent Onyewu, Alex Yi and Kyle Beckerman in 1999. But he feels he's had other players who have been overlooked. That's why Nichols believes the key to improving the performance of the youth national teams is better scouting.
"Hopefully with this Academy league we will touch many more players than we've ever currently touched," Hackworth says. "I firmly believe that. Does that mean residency becomes obsolete? It might. But right now, we're still in the beginning stages of the process and we need to see how it shakes out.
"Can we do on a local level what we do at Bradenton? That's the idea and the concept. There's pros and cons to Bradenton, but the way it is right now, our experience and travel is something you can't get anywhere else. And it's fully funded."
Mike Woitalla is the Executive Editor of Soccer America Magazine and is the
co-author of former U.S. national team captain Claudio Reyna's book, "More
Than Goals: The journey from backyard games to World Cup competition."
This article originally appeared in a slightly different form in the October 2007 issue of Soccer America magazine and is reprinted by permission.
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