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USL, Alianza Partnership ‘Extremely Successful’ in First Year

By NICHOLAS MURRAY - nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, 10/27/16, 7:27PM EDT

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USL clubs joined MLS, Liga MX at Sueño Alianza National Showcase this past weekend


Photo courtesy Alianza de Futbol

As the Sueño Alianza National Showcase brought together 56 of the top young players in the country for Alianza de Futbol’s final event of the year in Miami this past weekend, it also marked the end of the first year of a partnership between the organization and the USL that is likely to be a very fruitful one for players and teams in years to come.

“It’s been extremely successful on a couple of different fronts,” said USL Operations & Technical Development Director Gordon Bengtson this week. “To have seven of our teams participate in the National Showcase was tremendous from the technical perspective.”

Clubs as varied as Arizona United SC, OKC Energy FC, the Swope Park Rangers and Real Monarchs SLC were among the USL clubs in attendance, as the top players who had been identified from 12 regional showcases around the country over the past six months were brought together to impress scouts from not only the USL, but also Liga MX, Major League Soccer and others.

For the teams that were present, the weekend offered a chance to get an up close look at players in three age-groups, with the U22s, U19s and U16s all competing throughout the weekend. As players tried to catch the eye of the scouts, those in attendance were impressed with not only the product on the field, but the growth the Sueno Alianza program has made since it began more than a decade ago.

“They were on top of every detail and the size of it and the scope, the amount of sponsorship and support they got from their partners and from that the ability to put on a quality event was incredibly impressive,” said OKC Energy FC’s Scott Rezendes. “I know Alianza Sueno had been around for quite a long time, but I didn’t really understand how large it had grown to where it is now.”


USL Operations & Technical Development Gordon Bengtson/ Photo courtesy Alianza de Futbol

That strength was in part what brought about the partnership with the USL this year, as the league looks to provide new avenues to its teams for player recruitment. As the league continues to grow, so does the opportunity for players to break into the professional ranks.

“Ultimately we’re looking at utilizing league resources to supplement identification and scouting initiatives for the clubs, so this is a way to identify the players that aren’t in the traditional channels, the Development Academy, U.S. Club Soccer, the Super Y League and the college system,” said Bengtson. “These players are typically hard to find, but they’re out there, so it was a successful first year in terms of getting our clubs participating in the local events, as well as having seven of them down at the national showcase.”

With teams regularly scouting throughout the year, partnerships like the one between Alianza and the USL can provide more opportunities for a player to be uncovered.

“I think the opportunity for the league is to open up some new doors,” said Bengtson. “There’s obviously no shortage of players, and channels from which to identify and recruit players from for our professional teams. What we’ve been tasked with in the Competition and Technical Department is to continually raise the standard of play across the league, whether that’s from player identification and recruitment, coaching education, or moving forward on the USL Academy initiative.”

There are other benefits for the USL clubs as well. With the large number of clubs from Liga MX present at the event, USL teams can take the opportunity to network and build connections that could be beneficial for many seasons to come.


Photo courtesy Alianza de Futbol

“[We wanted to build] bridges to those clubs on a variety of levels, whether it be a loan player or one of these kids that was in the combine this past weekend, or players that they’ve scouted in the U.S. in the past and signed,” said Rezendes “If there’s a loan opportunity for us in the coming season, international friendlies and relationships, and also just to have contacts with scouts to be able to cross-reference players we may be looking at compared to who they’ve seen in the past, if they have any feedback, you have all of those intrinsic benefits from an event like this which are key and important to a club like us that’s developing our contacts on the other side of the border.”

For Bengtson, the hope now is that some of the players that performed well will get their chance to perform in the USL in the upcoming season. With the league’s growth, and the level of interest shown in some of the players by USL clubs this weekend, Bengtson believes that may happen sooner rather than later.

“I think the more resources we can utilize and the more dots we can connect from around the country – whether it’s organizations like Alianza or connections with local Development Academy clubs – ultimately we want to raise the standard on the field,” said Bengtson. “The way we do that is by creating opportunities for our clubs to identify more players, and for our clubs to have more opportunities to have professional prospects to come into their developmental pyramid.”

After a successful first year, the potential for growth between the two organizations is clear, and is welcome development for the USL’s clubs.

“For us, Arizona United, with USL and Alianza it’s all about trying to get the best players possible, and trying to get the avenues to see these players,” said Arizona United SC assistant coach Marc Bircham. “That’s what Alianza is providing by showing up players we might not have seen or who might have slipped through the net.”

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