Academy Contracts: Part One

From where I sat in the stadium on Saturday night against FC Tucson, I had a great view of Tucson right back, Tommy Silva, constantly chirping at the referee, like he was the star of a U-19 team. Well, not too long ago Silva WAS the star of a team of high school players, playing for Jay Mims in the academy at RSL. Silva was supposed to go to UCLA in the fall, but instead signed an academy contract with FC Tucson. He made his pro debut against Union Omaha when we played in Tucson and played the full 90 against us last weekend.

For those unfamiliar with the academy contract here is what our friends at League One Fun have to say about it: “USL Academy Contracts: Academy players who are added to USL League One rosters can sign an “academy contract” which allows them to maintain college eligibility under NCAA rules. Such players, however, are considered full members of the team except for the specific items that would preclude them from being NCAA eligible. These players must be under 21 years of age at the start of the season, play for the team’s academy or a youth club affiliated with the team, and not more than five players on academy contracts can be on game day rosters.”

The seed of this column was watered and fed as we played a game last week without a backup goalkeeper. I do not want to speculate why Brian Holt wasn’t on the bench for the game against FC Tucson, but it does demonstrate a crucial truth about us this season: we’re potentially missing a little depth. From a roster construction perspective it makes sense, we were saving spots to sign folks who fell out of MLS camps and were looking for a chance to play immediately. However, with the country shutting down in early March and club finances surely being affected it doesn’t seem like we are going to pay any more players this year. That is fine, our squad is great and each player has made meaningful contributions so far.

Let’s take a look at our depth chart as I see it right now:

Left Forward: Elma Nfor, Juan Mare
Right Forward: Ethan Vanacore-Decker, Elvir Ibsevic
Left Midfield: Evan Conway, Sebastian Contraeras, Manny Lira
Left Center Midfield: Tyler David, Sebastian Contreras
Right Center Midfield: Devin Boyce, JP Scearce
Right Midfield: Sebastian Contreras, Christian Molina, Austin Panchot, Ferrety Sousa
Left Back: Dami Viader, Jake Crull
Left Center Back: Jake Crull, Dalytn Knutson
Right Center Back: Illal Osmanu, Nathan Aune
Right Back: Luke Hauswirth, Ferrety Sousa
Goalkeeper: Rashid Nuhu, Sam Howard, Brian Holt

While this sort of exercise is best as a debate over a beer or Discord, it does highlight two things for the purpose of this article. One, Jay did a really good job of getting versatile players in the side. Sebas, Jake Crull, Ferrerty Sousa have all already been able to play multiple positions for us. I’d imagine in a pinch eUSL Champion, Daltyn Knutson could play central midfield like he did in college. Two, although not very likely given the multiple layers of overlapping reinforcement it is possible to imagine a depth crisis at some point in a season as fast and furious as this one. 

So I’ll repeat my assertions from above, we are potentially missing a little bit of depth, we don’t have the budget to add paid players, and there are a greater number of players than usual available to sign academy contracts. So the obvious answer is to add some players on academy contracts to fill out our depth, right?

I think it is actually, even if the next paragraph is a big disclaimer about how this isn’t going to work. To prepare for this article, I have talked to half a dozen folks around town including former staffers, fans of UNO soccer and Creighton soccer, and Iowa Western Community College Head Coach Mike Brown. I’ve poured over rosters, dug into backgrounds, read press releases, and watched far too many poorly filmed highlight videos. Today, I will feature ten of players that are interesting, but wouldn’t fit my mold of “academy contract contributor for 2020.”

NOTE: This is just for fun and to fill some time in your work week, but before we dive into the players, I want to note that I did work in the front office for a while. At the start of my time with the club, I pitched Jay on many players, none of whom are currently on the roster. After helping with three rounds of tryouts and then player signing announcements I have a general idea of what the player profile is for this league, but I am a terrible judge of on-field talent. So not only am I not applying any inside info here, but I’m bad at this. Additionally, the sheer complexity of getting a player on an academy contract is probably prohibitive at this point in the season, so please don’t go tweeting at leadership asking when the club is actually going to do this. Point is, this is for fun and if you are fun hater, sorry!

Fit the template, but I’m not confident enough to say: “Sign them!”
These guys have the general pedigree but I don’t know enough about them to make an indication either way. Additionally, it would be unlikely they could contribute immediately.

Name: Jovany Herrera
Position: Midfielder
Currently playing: Iowa Western CC (Freshman)
Video: http://www.hudl.com/v/2E6TLy
Summary: When I talked to Coach Brown, Jovany was one of the players he specifically mentioned as being incredibly skilled. Watching video, Jovany looks like a creative, goal scoring midfielder. 

Name: Nathan Schnur
Position: Goalkeeper
Currently playing: Creighton University (Freshman)
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-dz9wbvKGA

Summary: Creighton has a reputation for quality goalies and Barca Academy is a prestigious DA program. Additionally, the Creighton press release (https://www.soccerwire.com/news/creighton-university-mens-soccer-announces-7-player-recruiting-class/) about his signing mentioned that he trained with Phoenix Rising at one point. 

The Fan Favorites
For this group of players, I’ve included folks that would be popular picks with their respective local fan bases and would fill a need but lack the bona fides of folks in the first group. 

Name: Abdi Adan
Position: Midfielder/Forward
Currently playing: Iowa Western CC
Video: http://www.hudl.com/v/2BKCGT
Summary: The 2019 Nebraska Player of the year as a HS junior at Omaha South when he led his team to a state championship, Abdi was the only prep player on stage as the UO crest was revealed. Scoring 21 goals with 12 assists his junior year, Abdi lost his senior season to COVID.

Name: Stevie Siy
Position: Right back
Currently playing: UNO
Video: https://www.hudl.com/video/3/7297725/5724efc94df61203bc2fd2a1
Summary: Every UNO fan I talked to brought up Stevie as their dream signing. As a leading figure on the Mavericks team and an Omaha native, it is easy to see why he is a fan favorite. 

On target, but they’d need pro contracts
These folks seem to me to have enough potential to warrant a look, but their country of origin, age, or both mean they would not be eligible for an academy contract. However, this group is the most likely on track to get a look from the UO coaching staff for the 2021 or 2022 seasons. 

Name: Callum Watson
Country of origin: England
Position: Midfielder
Currently playing: Creighton (Junior)
Video:

Summary: Transferred to Creighton after two seasons pulling the strings for the Hastings Broncos. Hard to see Callum accomplishing more in his 38 games at Hastings: 14 goals and 28 assists, 2019 NAIA All-America First Team, 2019 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship All-Tournament Team leading Hastings to a runner-up finish, Ranked sixth in NAIA Division I with 15 assists this fall. Remember we have an NAIA player starting for us at center back right now.

Name: Fitzroy Cummings
Country of origin: Jamaica
Position: Centerback
Currently playing: UNO (Junior)
Video:

Summary: Fitz was a NJCAA All-American at Iowa Western last season and I find it promising that he stayed in the metro area. Bob Warming heaped him with praise recently: “He is a very good leader on and off the field. I know he can continue to develop, help Omaha win championships, get his degree and have an opportunity to play at the next level. Fitz blocks shots, can get out of trouble on the field, has huge technical range with a variety of textures on the ball with both feet, is feared in the air by opponents on set pieces and has extraordinary power.”

Name: Jassem Koleilat
Country of origin: UAE, Canada
Position: Goalkeeper
Currently playing: Iowa Western CC (Sophomore)
Video:

Summary: The 21 year old goalkeeper made 33 saves and kept 14 clean sheets at Iowa Western last season.

Name: Jacob Lønne
Country of origin: Denmark
Position: Centerback
Currently playing: Iowa Western CC (Sophomore)
Video:

Summary: Jacob was Fitz’ centerback partner last year and will look to fill his shoes organizing the defense at IWCC this season. He has 3 caps for the Danish U-16 national team.

Name: Benjamin Cam
Country of origin: Chile
Position: Midfielder
Currently playing: Iowa Western CC (Sophomore)
Video:

Summary: Coach Brown said Benjamin was one of the three best attacking players he has ever coached. He has five caps for the U-17 Chilean national team.

Name: Rohan Goulbourne
Position: Left back
Country of origin: Canada
Currently playing: Iowa Western CC (Freshman)
Summary: This TFC product has six caps at the U-17 level of Canada. He will look to replace Dami’s boots in the left back spot at IWCC this year.