PDL Feature
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
BRADENTON, Fla. – When Harry Shipp stepped onto the field at IMG Academy on Saturday for the Chicago Fire’s first preseason contest of the year, it was both the start of a new professional career and the culmination of a plan set in motion four years ago.
Shipp, a former standout at Notre Dame, and Chris Ritter, a standout at Northwestern, became the second and third Homegrown Signings in the Fire’s history this winter, having retained their eligibility through the club’s Super-20 and PDL programs since heading to college. That they were able to do so was a result of a new direction within the club that made both programs an extension of the club’s Academy system.
“We kind of felt our mission for the PDL team changed,” former Fire PDL coach and current Academy Director Larry Sunderland said. “We kind of made the decision internally that in the future we were going to use the PDL team to continue grooming our homegrown guys.”
The Fire U-23 continue to have a strong PDL squad, but gone are the days when the side would be populated by the top college players from throughout the country. Since the team’s first season in 2001 more than 60 alumni have been selected in the MLS SuperDraft, with most heading to other clubs to begin their professional careers. Players like Perry Kitchen, Ned Grabavoy and 2004 PDL Goalkeeper of the Year Brad Guzan are among the club’s alumni, with the Fire often unable to claim them in the SuperDraft.
“Some of those guys we could get and some of those guys we couldn’t,” Sunderland said. “If you go back through the years with all of our PDL drafts, we could have one of the best teams in MLS if we could have taken all of our guys.”
With the club’s new approach and players like Shipp and Ritter leading the way, the Fire will now have the chance to hold onto their top prospects and could have a steady pipeline of strong players available to join the first team. Shipp had the opportunity to train with the Fire’s first team as part of his development the past two summers, and is excited to have the chance to turn pro in Chicago.
“It was really exciting, especially this past summer training with the first team most days for the first half of the summer. I think it got me accustomed to playing with these guys, not just in the style of play, but to start to know their tendencies,” Shipp said. “I think a big part of my game is knowing where people are going to move on the field and I think playing with them the past couple of summers has really got me aware of what people like to do, especially in the attacking third.”
Shipp had a solid debut for the Fire’s first team as he recorded his first goal and an assist in a 2-0 victory against D.C. United on Saturday. Sunderland believes that the time Shipp has spent in the Fire’s system makes him different from a typical MLS rookie.
“We’re bringing in guys that know our culture now, that we’ve trained to play the way we want them to play, to understand the game, to be, quite frankly, a little bit different than what comes into the MLS system in the past,” Sunderland said. “I think you look at Harrison Shipp - he’s a different player. He’s an intelligent player, he’s very good on the ball, he’s a little bit different to the regular guys that are coming into the league, and I think we have more of those coming through the pipeline.”
“The longer you play in a program, the more you get a unified system where there’s kind of an attitude as to what you want to do on the field,” Shipp added. “I think we bring kind of a technical element to the game - we want to be a technical side - and I think getting those guys that come up through the youth system all on the same page makes it both exciting for the team and for the entire city of Chicago.”
Should Shipp shine this season he wouldn’t be the first Homegrown signing to have an immediate impact on his team’s fortunes after spending time in the PDL. 2012 PDL All-League selection DeAndre Yedlin had a standout rookie season for the Seattle Sounders FC last summer and recently made his first appearance for the U.S. National Team.
The Sounders are one of eight MLS clubs that have either a partnership with a PDL club or run their own franchise in the league, with the San Jose Earthquakes and Montreal Impact the newest entries into the league this season. Sunderland is happy to see the new initiatives being taken by MLS and USL to boost player development.
“MLS is forming a number of great partnerships with USL, which could end up being a tremendous, tremendous step for the development of players in this country,” Sunderland said. “We’ve had this hole from say, 17, 18 to 22 and it’s a hole with a lot of different things. You can say it’s a developmental hole - it’s a hole where you lose control of the players you’ve been developing - so this idea of bridging that gap not only with the PDL, but with USL PRO teams, is just a fantastic opportunity for all of us.
“As I see it there are very few players that can go from 17, 18 years old right into MLS, and this provides an opportunity to continue to develop as a soccer player, but also to physically mature, and I think that’s a big part of it.”
As far as Shipp and Ritter are concerned, the opportunity to make the jump together is hopefully going to make the transition to the Fire’s first team a smooth one. Alongside first Fire Homegrown Victor Pineda and the exciting addition of Benji Joya, the youth movement in Chicago could take a big step forward this season as the club is able to reap the rewards of the time it has spent cultivating its players.
“We’ve roomed together the past two camps down here and it’s really helpful,” Shipp said. “I knew [Ritter] a little bit in high school and playing against him every year in college with him at Northwestern. I think having that familiar face around off the field really helps me feel more comfortable on the field, both with him and the other players.”
“A guy like Victor had it tough because he was the only Homegrown at the time,” Ritter added. “It’s nice that Harry and I are both going through this for the first time together.”
With both players settling into their professional careers, the hope for the Fire is that both are able to bridge the gap between the PDL and MLS quickly and establish the club’s development model as one that could be emulated elsewhere.
Should that be the case, the club’s decision about the direction of its PDL and Super-20 teams four years ago will appear prescient.
“We felt that over a certain period of time we would be grooming our Homegrown guys through the PDL, through the Super-20, that were going to be draft picks,” Sunderland said. “We felt that by doing it this way we would have a steady stream of guys coming through our Homegrown system, through the 20s, through the PDL, and into the first team, and I think Shipp and Ritter is just the start of that.”