NEW YORK – The conclusion of the 2010 MLS season will mark the graduation day for 11 players who came into MLS as part of the Generation adidas program.

Generation adidas contracts provide the opportunity for players to leave college early and continue to develop their soccer careers in MLS. The salaries of these players are greater than the league minimum and the players are also provided educational funds should they decide to return to school. Their salaries also do not count against a club’s salary budget, allowing teams to afford them time to develop.

As Generation adidas graduates, the following players will begin to count against their clubs’ salary budgets in 2011, an important consideration as teams begin building their rosters for next season:

Eric Avila (FC Dallas), Nico Colaluca (New England Revolution), Roger Espinoza (Kansas City), Stefan Frei (Toronto FC), Bruno Guarda (FC Dallas), Baggio Husidic (Chicago Fire), Fuad Ibrahim (Toronto FC), Chance Myers (Kansas City), Alex Nimo (Real Salt Lake), Ciaran O’Brien (Colorado Rapids), and Brek Shea (FC Dallas).

The following 15 players are the current members of the Generation adidas program, with several more likely to join them following the NCAA College Cup in December:

Corben Bone (Chicago Fire), Teal Bunbury (Kansas City), Daniel Cruz (Houston Dynamo), Dilly Duka (Columbus Crew), Blair Gavin (Chivas USA), Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Josh Lambo (FC Dallas), Peri Marosevic (FC Dallas), Jack McInerney (Philadelphia Union), Danny Mwanga (Philadelphia Union), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union), Ike Opara (San Jose Earthquakes), Tony Tchani (New York Red Bulls), and Andrew Wiedeman (FC Dallas).

Current Generation adidas players are automatically protected from selection in the upcoming MLS Expansion Draft on Nov. 24. Those who have graduated from the program will be available for selection unless placed on a club’s protected list.

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