Orlando over the past three years has been graced with 3 new soccer clubs, with the largest revolving around the jump of Orlando City from USL to MLS. After it’s first successful year, the club turned to other opportunities in the soccer space by adding not only a women’s side but also a youth team in Orlando City B. The idea of the youth team was simple: take young players from the academy system, super draft, even free agency and help them grow in their development with plans to have them make the jump to the main team. Players such as Mason Stajduhar, Pierre Da Silva, Joe Gallardo, Tommy Redding among others, have all benefited from some piece of the Lions internal system of Academy-OCB-First team.

So why can’t the Young Lions gather more interest or even respect from the Orlando City faithful and why have rumors been swirling that OCB could be taking a one-year hiatus to join USL Division 3 in 2019? Orlando City B is a key part of the youth system and needs to be preserved, even strengthened for Orlando City to be successful.

If Orlando City B takes a one-year hiatus, it could have a detrimental effect on the academy system as well as the first team. If you look around the league at the premier MLS clubs, there is a trend with clubs who are consistently competing for playoff spots. Their youth systems are organized and well funded with a clear path from youth soccer to the professional level. Clubs such as New York Red Bulls, FC Dallas, RSL are all pushing out prospects from their academies yearly leaving other clubs in the dust. But the thing they have in common is a clear connection to the first team. Each has their well-respected academy directors, each has a 2nd team that works in conjunction with their first team, and above all else, they sink time and resources into their systems.

The pay off can be huge and if nothing else provide depth in a league that can become quite congested in its playing schedules. Some of the dominant teams in Sporting KC and Toronto FC have shown that depth goes a long way and the academy can help you get there.

Orlando City’s prospects appear to grab some national attention. According to Will Parchman with Top Drawer Soccer, Orlando City is ranked 9th out of all MLS teams. So the talent is there as is the player pool so why are they at 9th on the list? Parchman claims "wait for an Orlando City academy kid to crack the first team before moving the club further, but Orlando City gets high marks". How do we get those kids up to the main team? Using OCB as the catalyst to get there.

So if other MLS giants are taking on these tasks to improve their youth systems, why is Orlando City a step behind?

It must be attributed to the fact that this team is fairly new, only being in the league for 3 years. But that hasn’t stopped Atlanta United, who many believe will be in the top 5 of academy systems in the next five years. Oh and not to mention they are adding a USL squad in 2018.

If it’s not time then it must be the complexity of USL, a league different from MLS in its structure and build. This can’t be the case either, with Orlando City coming from USL and experiencing its pitfalls and successes, the front office should be more than comfortable with this setup.

What it boils down to: the attention the front office gives to the system. This is not to say that Orlando City has neglected its B side. Former skipper Adrian Heath would bring players up from OCB (such as Ambrose and Rocha) and work with Anthony Pulis to develop some of the young talents the team had.

Some would argue that there was a shift when Jason Kreis took the helm as head coach and Niki Budalić took over as GM. The emphasis turned from the entire process to the final product with many moves taking place to affect the first team. However, players such as Richie Laryea, Tommy Redding, PC Giro, Hadji Barry, and Pierre Da Silva all benefited from consistent minute playing in OCB. Chemistry can be a challenge with those kinds of moves but other MLS sides tend to weather the storm.

Where this club could improve: get the positions of academy director and OCB filled as quickly as possible with the right candidates for the job.

Since August, AD chair has been empty with coaches having to fill in for the void created. Since the end of the OCB season, Anthony Pulis stepped down leaving the post of OCB coach vacant as well. These things happen and sometimes not at the best times but Orlando City has to take the responsibility by filling these positions in a timely and effective manner. What they need to look for is a coach and an athletic director whose focus is on development. Not wins and losses, not how exciting the product is on the field, but the development of players.

Being a soccer fan for most of my life, I have seen some uninspiring soccer. It is not the most fun to watch but is that really the point of OCB or the Development Academy? It should focus on honing the skills of these young men, preparing them for the inventible job to 2nd tier soccer or even possibly 1st division soccer in MLS.

OCB has been given an unfair situation in its expectations, especially when it comes to some of the fans commenting on the squad. The first season played by the B squad, found them in Melbourne, a good distance from the main squad. Training was still in conjunction with the main team but all home games were played in Melbourne.

When the 2017 season came rolling around, the front office decided to move Orlando’s second team to Orlando City Stadium where they would share the pitch with the main squad as well as the Orlando Pride. This move was an attempt to raise the poor attendance of OCB in its first season as well as continue to have players from both squads train together in some fashion-it was also reported that USL had implemented strict rules as to the size of the stadium you could play in, the area in which you played among other things. The results were quite marginal. In 2016 the Young Lions averaged about 958 supporters while playing in Melbourne which resulted in being the 3rd worst in the league. In 2017 the club had a marginal uptick ending the year with an average attendance of 1,175. With an increase in attendance and being the second most frequented II team, you would think that more attention would be given to these young men but that would not be the case.

Just check social media right before or even during an OCB game. You’d be lucky if you see a few fans commenting on it. Go to an actual game itself watch some of the game and try to talk development with seem fans: not much is discussed or they explain how they scored a set of free tickets.

Moving the team to Orlando City Stadium seemed like a good idea at the time but its time for the B squad to have its own home, close enough to the main team to remain effective without costing the front office a loss in revenue. This could be the final piece of the puzzle to correct some of the issues that the development part of the team is missing and could be solved after the construction of the new training facility. But where is it? Ever since the announcement by legendary owner Phil Rawlins back in January of 2016, the club has been mysteriously silent about this project with many fans reaching out to the front office trying to figure out what is going on. The only response has come from CEO Alex Leitao who stated on Twitter "We will have big news on this VERY soon !".

We will have big news on this VERY soon ! — Alex Leitao (@alexleitao) October 14, 2017

So here’s to hoping that the training facility comes sooner than later.

What impact could this have on development? Not only will this provide a more central location for players and staff of both OCB and the main squad but it will also be able to house the club’s elite youth academy. All three teams under one roof? Sounds like a good deal to me. It also will provide 6 pitches to play on as well as two of them being lighted; not to mention all of the state-of-the-art amenities given to players and coaches. If the club made one minor adjustment, by adding a place for supporters to watch, OCB could have a quaint but very effective playing space that would allow them to grow and develop on their own schedule without conflict from Orlando City or the Orlando Pride.

Not to mention costs for the club would be slashed.

So how does the contribution of OCB truly effect the youth in the system as well as some of the players on the main squad who are lower on the depth chart?

Minutes First Team/Youth Player Pierre Da Silva 2180 First Team Earl Edwards Jr. 2070 First Team Austin Martz 1991 Youth Zach Carroll 1843 Youth Zach Ellis-Hayden 1843 Youth

Youth players played about 56% of the minutes providing many of these young men minutes to prove themselves at a higher level. This is evident based on the number of minutes put in by Austin Martz, Zach Carroll, and Zach Ellis-Hayden.

Minutes Goals Assists Games Played First Team/Youth Player Austin Martz 1991 2 2 30 Youth Zach Carroll 1843 2 1 24 Youth Zach Ellis-Hayden 1843 1 0 24 Youth Jordan Schweitzer 1699 1 1 24 Youth Timbo 1352 3 1 19 Youth Paul Clowes 1160 1 0 16 Youth Albert Dikwa 1153 3 2 22 Youth Scott Thomsen 1102 0 1 15 Youth Danny Deakin 1028 1 0 20 Youth Michael Cox 922 2 3 17 Youth Jake Fenlason 720 0 0 8 Youth Ryley Kraft 515 0 0 7 Youth Youmeni Jules 464 0 0 6 Youth Ben Polk 290 0 0 8 Youth Joe Gallardo 251 0 0 7 Youth David Lorea 160 0 0 5 Youth Allen Seals 5 0 0 1 Youth

But not just the youth players benefited with Pierre Da Silva getting over 2000 minutes with OCB and Earl Edwards Jr. grabbing over 2000 minutes as well, something both of these young men would not have received if there hadn’t been OCB.

Minutes Goals Assists Games Played First Team/Youth Player Pierre Da Silva 2180 3 7 26 First Team Earl Edwards Jr. 2070 0 0 23 First Team Conner Donovan 1528 0 0 20 First Team Hadji Barry 1440 10 1 18 First Team Seb Hines 1160 0 0 15 First Team Tony Rocha 1068 0 1 14 First Team Richie Laryea 999 3 2 12 First Team Kevin Alston 756 0 0 12 First Team Leo Pereira 720 0 0 8 First Team Rafael Ramos 492 0 1 7 First Team PC Giro 378 0 0 6 First Team Tommy Redding 90 0 0 1 First Team Josh Saunders 90 0 0 1 First Team

My concern is the disconnect.

How can fans support the main team but not be bothered by its future development?

Some would make the argument that other MLS2 teams don’t gather a lot in attendance either which would be true but fans miss the importance of this step. They miss how key it can be for a 1st team player to get some rehab minutes after an injury or give more playing time to a young player who isn’t gathering much attention from the main squad. It also provides a platform for graduated academy players to have a place to play if college is not for them or even provide a chance for some younger more talented players to play up a level or two. By no means am I calling for OCB games to be sellouts at Orlando City Stadium or for the front office to throw tens of millions of dollars to OCB and the academy.

All I’m simply asking is for fans to give it the respect it deserves. It turns into a forgotten piece of the Orlando City Soccer system but a piece that is vital for player growth, development, and even rehab. Support this team by watching or even attending and continue to push the front office to ensure that the development of this team is at the forefront of its plans.

A year without OCB could be catastrophic for player development…