Generation Adidas

Generation Adidas is a joint venture between the highest North American Soccer League, the Major League Soccer , and the Football Association of the United States , the United States Soccer Federation . This program, which has existed since 1997, aims to promote the talent of young American football players. The concept is that even US players without a college degree get the opportunity to join an MLS club. In addition, the players are guaranteed to be allowed to play in the MLS for at least three years.

history

From 1997 to 2005 inclusive, the program was sponsored by Nike , with the program running under the name Project-40 . Adidas has been a project sponsor since 2006 .

Carlos Parra was the first Project 40 player to be signed to an MLS club. In 1997 he joined the New York / New Jersey MetroStars . Since then the program has produced some good players such as: For example the national players Tim Howard , Josh Wolff , DaMarcus Beasley , Maurice Edu , Carlos Bocanegra , Bobby Convey , Eddie Gaven and Michael Bradley .

But the Project-40 and the Adidas generation did not only contain talented players. Some, such as Jamar Beasley , Nino Da Silva , Barry Swift , Maurizio Rocha , Martin Klinger or Kenny Arena (son of the well-known football coach Bruce Arena ) did not manage to continue their success. Some of them only made a few professional appearances and had to be content with appearances in a lower-class soccer league. Others, on the other hand, withdrew completely from football.

The players who are promoted in the program usually only receive a minimum salary and accordingly also significantly less than MLS players who are in the professional squad of their respective team.

After entering the program, the respective player is automatically classified as a professional, which means that the players are excluded from the game of college football. Players who fail to make the leap into professional football are therefore given a scholarship so that they can continue their studies if necessary.

From 1998 to 2000, a team consisting of Project 40 players and MLS players who got little game practice in Major League Soccer played in the A-League (now USL First Division ).

Legend

• Player name : First name and then last name of the player.
• Age at admission: states the age of the respective player when entering the program.
• Position: Names the position of the respective player: T = goalkeeper, V = defender (defender), M = midfielder, A = striker (attacking player)
• Hometown: states the hometown of the respective player at the time of inclusion in the program.
• College / previous station: Name the last station of the respective player. For example, if previously active in college football, then the name of the university ; if a different station, then the name of the club or the name of the national selection .

Note : The list can be sorted: clicking on a column header sorts the list according to this column, clicking twice reverses the sorting.

player

Playername	Age at admission	position	Hometown	College / previous station
1997
Ubusuku Abukusumo	19th	Storm	Albuquerque , New Mexico	North Carolina State
José Botello	20th	midfield	Los Angeles , California	East Los Angeles
Nino Da Silva	17th	midfield	Hoffman Estates , Illinois	0
Joey DiGiamarino	19th	Storm	Corona , California	Cal State Fullerton
Brian Dunseth	19th	Storm	Upland , California	Cal State Fullerton
Carlos Parra	19th	midfield	West Haven , Connecticut	0
Eric Quill	18th	Storm	Missouri City , Texas	Clemson
Esmundo Rodriguez	19th	midfield	Dallas , Texas	Indiana
Tim Sahaydak	19th	Storm	Bethlehem , Pennsylvania	UNC Chapel Hill
Juan Sastoque	19th	Storm	New York City , New York	Cal State Northridge
1998
Jamar Beasley	18th	Storm	Fort Wayne , Indiana	0
Judah Cooks	21st	midfield	Bethesda , Maryland	Maryland
Tim Howard	18th	goal	North Brunswick Township , New Jersey	USA U-20
Andy Kirk	20th	goal	Milwaukee , Wisconsin	UM College Park
Chad McCarty	20th	Storm	Clovis , California	Washington
Matt Napoleon	20th	goal	Feasterville , Pennsylvania	Columbia
Ben Olsen	20th	Midfield / storm	Middletown, Dauphin County , Pennsylvania	Virginia
Barry Swift	20th	Storm	Port of Spain ( Trinidad and Tobago )	0
Scott Vermillion	21st	Storm	Olathe , Kansas	Virginia
Brian West	19th	Storm	Columbia , Maryland	Virginia
Josh Wolff	20th	Storm	Stone Mountain , Georgia	South carolina
1999
Chris Albright	20th	Storm	Philadelphia , Pennsylvania	Virginia
DaMarcus Beasley	16	midfield	Fort Wayne , Indiana	Bradenton Academy
Scott Bower	20th	Forward / midfield	Tampa , Florida	Clemson
Sergi Daniv	23	midfield	Lviv ( Ukraine )	Wake Forest
Francisco Gomez	19th	midfield	Watsonville , California	0
Michael Green	20th	Storm	Columbia , Maryland	Virginia
Dema Kovalenko	21st	midfield	Rochester , New York	Indiana
Alen Kozic	22nd	Forward / midfield	Tampa , Florida	Florida International
Matt Nyman	22nd	goal	Westbrook , Connecticut	Dartmouth
Antonio Otero	21st	midfield	Tampa , Florida	American
Marvin Quijano	19th	Storm	North Hollywood , California	Rio Honda Comm College
Maurizio Rocha	22nd	midfield	Santa Cruz de la Sierra ( Bolivia )	Connecticut
Scott Vallow	21st	goal	Naperville , Illinois	Bowling green
2000
Shaker Asad	20th	midfield	Raleigh , North Carolina	North Carolina State
Kyle Beckerman	17th	midfield	Crofton , Maryland	USA U-17
Carlos Bocanegra	20th	Storm	Alta Loma , California	UCLA
Danny Califf	19th	Storm	Orange , California	UM College Park
Bobby Convey	16	midfield	Philadelphia , Pennsylvania	Bradenton Academy
Micah Cooks	18th	midfield	Washington, DC	0
Nick Garcia	20th	Storm	Plano , Texas	Indiana
Mario Longo	19th	midfield	Apex , North Carolina	0
Rusty Pierce	20th	Storm	The Woodlands , Texas	UNC Greensboro
Nick Rimando	20th	goal	Montclair , California	UCLA
Seth Trembly	17th	midfield	Littleton , Colorado	Bradenton Academy
Sergio Salas	18th	Storm	Falls Church , Virginia	0
2001
Devin Barclay	17th	Storm	Annapolis , Maryland	USA U-20
Isaias Bardales	21st	Storm	San Jose , California	San Jose State
Edson Buddle	19th	Storm	New Rochelle , New York	State Fair Comm College
José Burciaga	19th	Storm	Duncanville , Texas	USA U-20
Chris Carrieri	20th	Storm	Stafford , Virginia	UNC Chapel Hill
Delvin Countess	19th	goal	Sacramento , California	UCLA
Nick Downing	20th	Storm	Redmond , Washington	UM College Park
Eddie Johnson	16	Storm	Palm Coast , Florida	Bradenton Academy
Martin Klinger	20th	Storm	Kearny , New Jersey	0
Santino Quaranta	16	Storm	Baltimore , Maryland	Bradenton Academy
Miguel Saavedra	17th	midfield	Milwaukee , Wisconsin	USA U-18
2002
Nelson Akwari	19th	Storm	Houston , Texas	UCLA
Craig Capano	16	midfield	Hyde Park , New York	Bradenton Academy
Brad Davis	20th	midfield	Saint Charles , Missouri	Saint Louis
Kelly Gray	20th	Storm	Palo Alto , California	Portland
Justin Mapp	17th	midfield	Brandon , Mississippi	Bradenton Academy
Kyle Martino	20th	midfield	Atlanta , Georgia	Virginia
Jordan Stone	17th	Storm	Allen , Texas	USA U-17
2003
Arturo Alvarez	17th	Forward / midfield	Houston , Texas	USA U-17
Brian Carroll	21st	midfield	Fairfax , Virginia	Wake Forest
Ricardo Clark	19th	midfield	Jonesboro , Georgia	Furman
Alecko Eskandarian	20th	Storm	Montvale , New Jersey	Virginia
Eddie Gaven	16	midfield	Hamilton Township, Mercer County , New Jersey	Bradenton Academy
Guillermo Gonzales	16	midfield	Paramount , California	Bradenton Academy
Nate Jaqua	21st	Storm	Eugene , Oregon	Portland
Jacob LeBlac	21st	midfield	Palo Alto , California	Virginia
Ricky Lewis	20th	Storm	Spring , Texas	Clemson
Mike Magee	18th	Forward / midfield	South Barrington , Illinois	Bradenton Academy
Logan pause	21st	Storm	Hillsborough , North Carolina	UNC Chapel Hill
David Stokes	20th	Storm	Dumfries , Virginia	UNC Chapel Hill
Jason Thompson	21st	Storm	Garland , Texas	Eastern Illinois
2004
Freddy Adu	14th	midfield	Potomac , Maryland	USA U-17
Michael Bradley	16	midfield	Palatine , Illinois	USA U-17
Ryan Cochrane	20th	Storm	Portland , Oregon	Santa Clara
Steve Cronin	20th	goal	Sacramento , California	Santa Clara
Clint Dempsey	20th	midfield	Nacogdoches , Texas	Furman
Josh Gardner	21st	midfield	Houston , Texas	Cincinnati
Clarence Goodson	21st	Storm	Springfield , Virginia	UM College Park
Ned Grabavoy	20th	midfield	New Lenox , Illinois	Indiana
Chad Marshall	19th	Storm	Riverside , California	Stanford
Danny Szetela	16	midfield	Clifton , New Jersey	USA U-17
2005
Chad Barrett	19th	Storm	Beaverton , Oregon	UCLA
Nikolas Besagno	16	midfield	Maple Valley , Washington	USA U-17
Hunter Freeman	20th	Storm	Allen , Texas	Virginia
Brad Guzan	20th	goal	Homer Glen , Illinois	South carolina
Christian Jimenez	18th	midfield	San Dimas , California	USA U-20
Will John	19th	Storm	Kansas City , Missouri	Saint Louis
Quavas Kirk	16	Storm	Aurora , Illinois	USA U-17
Drew Moor	20th	Storm	Dallas , Texas	Indiana
Michael Parkhurst	20th	Storm	Cranston , Rhode Island	Wake Forest
Ryan Pore	21st	Storm	Mansfield , Ohio	Tulsa
Tim Ward	17th	Storm	Waukesha , Wisconsin	Saint Louis
Jamie Watson	18th	Storm	Dallas , Texas	UNC Chapel Hill
2006
Jozy Altidore	16	Storm	Boca Raton , Florida	USA U-20
David Arvizu	17th	Storm	Santa Ana , California	USA U-20
Patrick Ianni	20th	Defense / midfield	Lodi , California	UCLA
Kei Kamara	21st	Storm	Lawndale , California	Cal State Dominguez Hills
Sacha Kljestan	20th	midfield	Huntington Beach , California	Seton Hall
Dax McCarty	18th	midfield	Winter Park , Florida	UNC Chapel Hill
Jacob Peterson	19th	Storm	Portage , Michigan	Indiana
Willie Sims	21st	Storm	Los Angeles , California	Cal State Northridge
Nathan Sturgis	18th	Forward / midfield	St. Augustine , Florida	Clemson
Blake Wagner	17th	Storm	Tampa , Florida	USA U-20
Marvell Wynne	19th	Storm	Poway , California	UCLA
Jed Zayner	21st	Storm	Orland Park , Illinois	Indiana
2007
Bryan Arguez	17th	Forward / midfield	Miami , Florida	USA U-20
Nico Colaluca	20th	Midfield / storm	Coventry , Rhode Island	Virginia
Maurice Edu	20th	midfield	Fontana , California	UM College Park
Fuad Ibrahim	15th	Storm	Richfield , Minnesota	USA U-17
Amaechi Igwe	17th	Storm	Belmont , California	Santa Clara
Chris Seitz	19th	goal	San Luis Obispo , California	UM College Park
Bakary Soumare	21st	Storm	New York City , New York	Virginia
Anthony Wallace	17th	Forward / midfield	Saint Petersburg , Florida	South Florida
2008
Eric Avila	20th	midfield	San Diego , California	UC Santa Barbara
Tony Beltran	20th	Forward / midfield	Claremont , California	UCLA
Róger Espinoza	21st	midfield	Aurora , Colorado	Ohio State
Josh Lambo	17th	goal	Middleton , Wisconsin	USA U-17
Myers chance	20th	Forward / midfield	Thousand Oaks , California	UCLA
Alex Nimo	17th	Forward / midfield	Portland , Oregon	USA U-17
Patrick Nyarko	22nd	Storm	Kumasi ( Ghana )	Virginia Tech
Ciaran O'Brien	20th	midfield	Tacoma , Washington	UC Santa Barbara
Brek Shea	17th	Midfield / V	College Station , Texas	USA U-17
Rob Valentino	22nd	Storm	Cave Creek , Arizona	San Francisco
2009
Kevin Alston	20th	Storm	Silver Spring , Maryland	Indiana
Daniel Cruz	19th	midfield	Glendale , Arizona	UN Las Vegas
Stefan Frei	22nd	goal	Widnau ( Switzerland )	UC Berkeley
Omar González	20th	Storm	Dallas , Texas	UM College Park
Jeremy Hall	20th	midfield	Tampa , Florida	UM College Park
Baggio Husidić	21st	midfield	Libertyville , Illinois	U of Illinois at Chicago
Perica Marošević	19th	Storm	Rockford , Illinois	Michigan
Rodney Wallace	20th	midfield	Rockville , Maryland	UM, College Park
Steve Zakuani	20th	Storm	Akron , Ohio	Akron
2010
Corben Bone	21st	midfield	Plano , Texas	Wake Forest
Teal Bunbury	19th	Storm	Prior Lake , Minnesota	Akron
Dilly Duka	20th	midfield	Montville , New Jersey	Rutgers
Blair Gavin	20th	midfield	Louisville , Kentucky	Akron
Luis Gil	16	midfield	Garden Grove , California	USA U-17
Zachary Herold	17th	Storm	Port St. Lucie , Florida	USA U-17
Sean Johnson	20th	goal	Lilburn , Georgia	UCF
Jack McInerney	17th	Storm	Alpharetta , Georgia	USA U-17
Danny Mwanga	18th	Storm	Kinshasa ( DR Congo )	Oregon State
Amobi Okugo	18th	midfield	Sacramento , California	UCLA
Ike Opara	20th	Storm	Durham , North Carolina	Wake Forest
Tony Tchani	20th	midfield	Norfolk , Virginia	Virginia
Andrew Wiedeman	20th	Storm	San Ramon , California	UC Berkeley
2011
David Bingham	21st	goal	Castro Valley , California	UC Berkeley
Will Bruin	21st	Storm	St. Louis , Missouri	Indiana
Corey Hertzog	20th	Storm	Reading , Pennsylvania	Penn State
Perry Kitchen	18th	midfield	Indianapolis , Indiana	Akron
Zac MacMath	19th	goal	Saint Petersburg , Florida	UM, College Park
Darlington Nagbe	20th	midfield	Lakewood , Ohio	Akron
Michael Nanchoff	22nd	midfield	North Royalton , Ohio	Akron
Omar Salgado	17th	Storm	El Paso , Texas	USA U-20
Kofi sarcody	19th	Storm	Huber Heights , Ohio	Akron
Michael Tetteh	21st	Storm	Accra ( Ghana )	UC Santa Barbara
Zarek Valentin	19th	Storm	Lancaster , Pennsylvania	Akron
2012
Dom Dwyer	21st	Storm	London ( England )	South Florida
Sam Garza	21st	Storm	Highland Village , Texas	UC Santa Barbara
Chandler Hoffman	21st	Storm	Birmingham , Alabama	UCLA
Andrew Jean-Baptiste	19th	Defense	Brentwood , Brentwood	Connecticut
Enzo Martinez	21st	midfield	Rock Hill , South Carolina	UNC Chapel Hill
Darren Mattocks	21st	Storm	Portmore ( Jamaica )	Akron
Tyler Polak	19th	Defense	Lincoln , Nebraska	Creighton
Kelyn Rowe	20th	midfield	Federal Way , Washington	UCLA
Andrew Wenger	21st	Defense	Lititz , Pennsylvania	Duke
2013
Deshorn Brown	21st	Storm	Manchester Parish ( Jamaica )	UCF
Andrew Farrell	20th	Defense	Louisville , Kentucky	Louisville
Jason Johnson	22nd	Storm	Happy News ( Jamaica )	VCU
Kekuta Manneh	18th	Storm	Austin , Texas	Austin Aztex
Mikey Lopez	19th	midfield	Dallas , Texas	UNC Chapel Hill
Walker Zimmerman	19th	Defense	Lawrenceville , Georgia	Furman
Eriq Zavaleta	20th	Storm	Westfield , Indiana	Indiana
2014
Andre Blake	23	goal	May Pen ( Jamaica )	Connecticut
AJ Cochran	20th	Defense	St. Louis , Missouri	Wisconsin
Christian Dean	21st	Defense	East Palo Alto , California	UC Berkeley
Marlon Hairston	19th	midfield	Jackson , Mississippi	Louisville
Damion Lowe	20th	Defense	Kingston ( Jamaica )	Hartford
Eric Miller	20th	Defense	Woodbury , Minnesota	Creighton
Shillo Tshuma	21st	Storm	Bulawayo ( Zimbabwe )	Maryland
2015
Alex Bono	20th	goal	Baldwinsville , New York	Syracuse
Conor Donovan	19th	Defense	Fuquay-Varina , North Carolina	North Carolina State
Cyle Larin	19th	attack	Brampton , Ontario ( Canada )	Connecticut
Cristian Roldan	19th	midfield	Pico Rivera , California	Washington
Romario Williams	20th	Storm	Portmore ( Jamaica )	Central Florida
2016
Julian Büscher	22nd	midfield	Dülmen ( Germany )	Syracuse
Jack Harrison	19th	midfield	Bolton ( England )	Wake Forest
Fabian Herbers	22nd	Storm	Ahaus ( Germany )	Creighton
Omar Holness	21st	midfield	Kingston ( Jamaica )	UNC Chapel Hill
Richie Laryea	21st	midfield	Toronto ( Canada )	Akron
Andrew Tarbell	21st	goal	Mandeville , Louisiana	Clemson
Joshua Yaro	21st	Defense	Kumasi ( Ghana )	Georgetown
2017
Abu Danladi	21st	Storm	Takoradi ( Ghana )	UCLA
Jonathan Lewis	19th	Storm	Plantation , Broward County , Florida	Akron
Adonijah Reid	17th	Storm	Brampton , Ontario , Canada	ANB Futbol Academy
Miles Robinson	19th	Defense	Arlington , Massachusetts	Syracuse
Shamit Shome	19th	Storm	Edmonton , Alberta , Canada	Edmonton FC
Jackson Yueill	19th	midfield	St. Paul , Minnesota	UCLA
2018
Mo Adams	21st	midfield	Nottingham ( England )	Syracuse
Francis Atuahene	21st	Storm	Accra ( Ghana )	Michigan
João Moutinho	20th	Defense	Lisbon ( Portugal )	Akron
Edward Opoku	20th	Storm	Odumase ( Ghana )	Virginia
Mason Toye	19th	Storm	South Orange , New Jersey	Indiana
Ema Twumasi	20th	midfield	Accra ( Ghana )	Wake Forest
Gordon Wild	22nd	Storm	Cologne ( Germany )	Maryland

Project-40 in the A-League

year	league	Final rank	Playoffs	Open Cup
1998	USISL A-League	5. (Pacific)	not qualified	not qualified
1999	USL A-League	2. (Central)	Quarter finals	not qualified
2000	USL A-League	4. (Central)	not qualified	3rd round

Web links

• Major League Soccer Official Website
• Official website of the United States Soccer Federation

Sources and individual references

1. ↑ Kei Kamara: An Athlete's Journey ( memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on August 31, 2016
2. ↑ 2001 Nike Project-40 Roster ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed on August 31, 2016 
3. ↑ US U-20 players headline 2006 class , accessed August 31, 2016
4. ↑ MLS and adidas announce '07 Generation adidas class , accessed August 31, 2016
5. ↑ Generation Adidas Class of 2008 (English), accessed on August 31, 2016
6. ↑ 2009 Generation adidas class unveiled , accessed on August 31, 2016
7. ↑ MCCABE Explains GENERATION ADIDAS (English), accessed on August 31, 2016
8. ↑ Generation Adidas 2011 (English), accessed on August 31, 2016
9. ↑ 2012 MLS SuperDraft: Generation Adidas Adds Four More (English), accessed on August 31, 2016
10. ↑ MLS adds two players to 2013 Generation adidas Class , accessed August 31, 2016
11. ↑ 2014 Generation Adidas Class Bolstered by Addition of 3 Players (English), accessed on August 31, 2016
12. ↑ Major League Soccer announces 2015 Generation adidas class ( Memento from January 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on August 31, 2016
13. ↑ MLS announces 2016 Generation adidas class, signs Stanford senior defender Brandon Vincent , accessed August 31, 2016
14. ↑ MLS announces 2017 Generation adidas class and senior signings , accessed on May 10, 2018
15. ↑ Major League Soccer announces 2018 Generation adidas class , accessed May 10, 2018