Photo by Erin Nelson.
Ella Kappler, 13, heads the ball as the HVS-08 girls team plays soccer during the last practice of the spring season with Hoover-Vestavia Soccer at the Liberty Park Athletic Complex on May 7.
About a year ago, the Hoover and Vestavia youth soccer clubs merged to bring together the top players and coaches in the area in an effort to improve development.
Now, after seeing the success of the Hoover-Vestavia Soccer and recognizing the rich soccer history in the greater Birmingham area, Major League Soccer has chosen the club as the only club in Alabama to join its “MLS Next” league, a developmental league for male players, run by the country’s premier professional soccer league that features academy teams connected to MLS teams. There will be similar opportunities for female players, though it won’t be connected to MLS.
“It’s going to be challenging,” said Mike Getman, director of coaching for HVS.
The club’s various teams, split up by age, previously played in the National Premier League, and Getman said while it was helpful, it wasn’t a challenge for the teams, as each age group rarely lost.
“When you’re way better than everyone, you don’t know you need to get better,” Getman said.
The club has a U-12 team, which includes 11- and 12-year-old players, and goes all the way up through U-19, which has juniors and seniors in high school, Getman said. About 99% of their players go on to play college soccer, he said.
The coaches hired by the club when they merged made a major impact on that success.
“We went out and hired the best coaches to come and join us,” Getman said. “Our coaches have played on professional or national teams.”
Getman said the move to MLS Next, which will take effect ahead of the fall season, will push and challenge the players, and will have them playing against “elite” teams like the academy team of nearby MLS team Atlanta United. The players won’t sign a contract but will sign an agreement to play with the club, like other youth soccer leagues, Getman said.
The development opportunities for the players will help them learn to be professionals and help them train to be the best players they can be, Getman said.
There are four keys to helping players develop, Getman said. Those four keys have been met now with this announcement: best coaching, good players, good facilities and games that challenge players every week, he said.
Rocky Harmon, the co-executive director of HVS and the executive director of Vestavia Soccer, called the news a “landmark decision” in the history of Alabama youth soccer.
Playing MLS academies, he said, will challenge players with the “best of the best,” as academy teams are fully funded, and players connected to MLS teams have high-level opportunities that other youth players do not have. That challenge, however, will help players grow.
When the season starts in August, players will play one game a week, making the games more meaningful, similar to how professional league schedules are set, Harmon said.
For high school players, MLS Next will also provide academic support and nutrition planning, help them improve their athletic performance and their ability to recover after a game, and will help them connect with college teams, Getman said.
The club will also focus on community service projects and more, aiming to help develop players off the pitch as well, he said.
“We want to develop young people, not just young soccer players,” Getman said.
Photo by Erin Nelson.
Tomiwa Kukoyi, 13, passes the ball as the HVS-08 girls team plays soccer during the last practice of the spring season with Hoover-Vestavia Soccer at the Liberty Park Athletic Complex on May 7.
A History of Excellence
The greater Birmingham area has a renowned history of developing great soccer talent, Getman said. He credits the 1996 Olympics for that.
When Getman came to Birmingham to serve as the head coach of the men’s soccer team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1992, he said on average, there were one or two players in the entire state good enough to play for UAB. Now, there are about 10 to 15 players that qualify, he said.
In 1996, the city hosted an Olympic soccer match between the United States and Argentina, drawing 86,000 people to the city to watch the world’s most popular game. “People realized it was exciting,” Getman said.
Interest in soccer began to grow, and the city began hosting the men’s national team each year in some form or fashion, Getman said.
Many young players have gone on to play college and professional soccer, including several alumni of HVS or the individual Hoover Soccer and Vestavia Soccer before the merger.
Chris Richards is currently playing on the first-team men’s national team and is an alumnus of Hoover Soccer Club. Jaden and Brandon Servania both played for Vestavia Soccer, along with JJ Williams. Brandon Servania is currently with the U-20 men’s national team and also plays for MLS side FC Dallas, though he is currently on loan to an Austrian club. Both Williams and Jaden Servania play for the Birmingham Legion, the city’s United Soccer League Championship team.
While all those players, and many more, speak to the strength of the area’s youth teams, all of them went to receive better training and development elsewhere, Getman said.
“The best players in our state for the last 10 years have left the state,” Getman said. “No 15-year-old kid should have to leave his family and his home. … Birmingham hasn’t had a club that had what these kids needed.”
Now, with MLS Next in town and offering the competition, the on- and off-field help they need, and the continued training offered to an already well-respected stable of coaches, players don’t have to leave, Getman said.
“You just don’t have to leave your family,” Getman said. “The next Chris Richards doesn’t have to pack up his bags.”
Next Steps
Tryouts were held for the new MLS Next club in mid-May, and everyone had to try out to earn a spot on the new club, regardless of whether they were previously on an HVS team, Getman said.
“The tryouts are tough,” Getman said.
For the players who don’t make it, Getman said there will be “second teams” for each age group that will play in the NPL, allowing them to continue to train and grow.
The MLS Next club will play in the Southeastern Conference of the league and will play 20 games in the fall and 20 games in the spring, with three different showcases a year where all teams in the league come together to play, including teams from Los Angeles, Texas and more. At the end of the season, there is a national playoff which Getman said they are obviously hoping to qualify for.
The team will play most of their home games at the Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex in Liberty Park, with a few games being played at the Hoover Met’s turf field, Getman said.
