July 17, 2025 • 43 mins
In this episode, we step inside the Right to Dream Academy: San Diego.
With ambitions to be the most advanced facility of its kind in North America, the clock is ticking to get it ready for their first wave of student-athletes in 2025.
We meet the club’s team of scouts — the largest in MLS — and learn what they’re doing differently in order to unearth the next generation of soccer stars… on both sides of the US–Mexico border.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
It's early November in twenty twenty four. We're back at
the Olympic Training Center in Chilabista, San Diego, three months
on from holding the league's first ever free open tryouts.
The Right to Dream scouts are narrowing down their search
for San Diego FC's first Academy coups.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
We have a mixed bag out here. Some of them
have been in before. There's also a number of new
players that we've identified, so it's good to see some
returners and some new players that are raising the level
as well.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Out on the sun drenched fields, eighteen ten year old
boys are locked in fierce concentration as they run through
a passing drill. This technical session is being run by
Carsten dump, the academy's head of coaching. Even in this
warm up exercise, these kids are playing like their futures
depend on it. Each one of them is giving their
(01:06):
all to impress the watching scouts. Scouts like Gabe by
the Fund, who tries to suppress a smile.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
It's early on the day, but I see a lot
of high potential players. Obviously, this is the youngest age
group we have, but it's really good to see them
being able to adapt to a higher level environment so quickly.
Some play on high level teams, some play on low
level teams, different leagues, different divisions, so it gives us
(01:36):
a better idea of where they're at amongst their age group,
and it just allows us to get to know the
players a little bit better.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
As DFC is hosting talent ID days like this every month.
Right now, they are tracking a core group of around
sixty high potential players, each ten to thirteen, but at
each event there's always new players being at. No one
is ruled out, not yet anyway. As the club cast
it's net wider, the group also grows more diverse. Today's
(02:07):
kids come from all over the Southwest, in particular from
the open scouting territories of Nevada and West Texas.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
The first couple of decenters that we did were mainly
local players, and now we're starting to branch out and
look at other territories. So as time goes on, we'll
get the best of the best in a proper environment
so we can evaluate them together with the highest quality
that we have.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
After Carston session is over, it's time for the main event.
The kids are separated into teams for a match of
nine v nine.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
You did some super mill boys, So now you take
it from this one to game.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
From the beginning. Let's see some good football, you understand,
Let's see some good football.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
Listen too, should I give you I'm gonna call your name.
Speaker 6 (02:55):
We're gonna put you in nine v.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
Nine's and I'll give you a position. Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
As the kids prepare to kick off, we caught up with.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
A parent watching from the sidelines.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
He's beaming with pride and why not today he's cheering
on not one, but two boys.
Speaker 7 (03:10):
My name is Abo Hernandez. I'm here for my son.
He's a twenty thirteen. His name is Lionel Hernandez, and
I'm also here asil for my godson. His name is
Mattel Garcia goes by the name Macino for my son Lionel.
He's been here for three ten nineties and I'm sure
got my Godsonino has been here for about four of them.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Abe's son and godson both play for San Diego SERF,
among other teams. They even play for a club south
of the border in Tijuana. Not even he knows exactly
where or when as DFC scouts spotted them.
Speaker 7 (03:45):
They haven't really mentioned where they kind of cut their eye,
but that they've been following, like, you know, the same
thing with my son. It was like they said, it's
it's already been like a six seven months, you know
process that they've been like, you know, seeing them play
with this club as well, and so it's pretty much
they're following them around around we.
Speaker 8 (04:03):
Want the ball away from.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Abeil is realistic about their chances, but nonetheless he's been
preparing these boys for the decision they will face if
they're successful. Sacrifice and commitment will be needed to pursue their.
Speaker 7 (04:19):
Passion, you know, since they've been the kids saving it's
something that I go through and talk with them because
that's obviously they're dreaming them. So I've tried to prepare
them as well, where you know, get used to being
a you know, away from the family and is that
something you really want.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Later on, inside the sports center, Aveil and other parents
are greeted by head of school Rochelle Minnix. She provides
a bit more detail on what to expect should their
kids be offered a place at the academy.
Speaker 9 (04:56):
Another he says, how do we get to know your
children in the full.
Speaker 10 (04:59):
Complexity that they are right.
Speaker 9 (05:01):
Not just how do we evaluate their skills on the field,
but how do we know what their hopes are?
Speaker 4 (05:05):
How do they know what their fears are?
Speaker 9 (05:07):
How do we know what makes them anxious? How do
we know how they sue themselves or where they find like,
all of these things have to be known when we
create individual development plans for kids, they have to think
about them developing all the way around.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Moving away from home so young to attend a full
time residential academy will be a challenge for everyone, both
for the kids and their families. But the Right to
Dream model has shown it works. It's the secret to
their success and how they plan to revolutionize talent development
in the US. In February twenty twenty five, San Diego
(05:45):
e FC became the thirtieth team to enter Major League Soccer,
now the largest professional league on the planet.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
But this is more than just another.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Football club, At least that's the hope of the club's
co owners. Under the leadership of Sir Mohammed Montsu, Right
to Dream is an organization promising to rock American soccer
to its foundations with a revolutionary approach to coaching and
youth development.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Anchoring the project in.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
The local community is the Sequan band of the Kumiga Nation,
the first ever Native American owners in men's professional sports,
and as the only MLS club officially sanctioned to recruit
out of Mexico. I mean, this thing could really fly,
that is, if everything goes to plan. In this episode,
(06:33):
we meet the club's team of scouts, the biggest in MLS.
We learn what they're doing differently and how they might
unearth North America's first soccer superstar. Captured in the final
months before the twenty twenty five season kicks off, This
series follows sdfc's race to field their first ever team.
(06:55):
I'm Adrian Gottaa Marks and this is behind the flow
the origins of San Diego FC. At the heart of
the club's search for the best young players in the
Southwestern United States is their team of scouts, and the
man in charge of that department is John McGuigan.
Speaker 6 (07:17):
My name is John McGuigan.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
I'm the head of talent scouting and recruitment at San
Diego FC's Right to Dream Academy. So I've been around
the game for about twenty years.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
You might tell from his accent, John isn't a native
son of San Diego. His soccer story began at home
in Liverpool in the UK.
Speaker 5 (07:36):
I obviously wanted to be a player, like a lot
of people back home in England, but was nowhere near
good enough and knew that really early on, so I
got some good advice to go into coaching. So I
got into video analysis, technical analysis, tactical analysis of teams
and players, and I think it was at a time
when that industry was really taken off.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Analysis led him to recruitment. He scouted for a number
of top English clubs and a couple of national federations,
including Ghana at the Brazil World Cup in twenty fourteen.
In twenty twenty, John moved Stateside and was working with
MLS clubs as a consultant until recently when Right to
Dream came Calming.
Speaker 6 (08:14):
I think it was twenty eleven twenty twelve.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
Right to Dream would bring players to England to some
of the clubs that I was with then, So I
got to know Tom Vernon and Write to Dream through
that and always really admired the work that they do
and they approach and a cool story for me that
now I'm back involved with Writ to Dream on a
more day to day basis.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
We joined him in early November twenty twenty four. He's
just a few months into the role, but only weeks
away from the grand opening of Major League Soccer's most
advanced youth soccer facility, the Right to Dream Academy at
Singing Hills.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
It's his job to fill it.
Speaker 5 (08:52):
We're going to have twenty twelve, twenty thirteen and twenty
fourteen born players in one combined group in year one,
So the process that we've gone through so far for
talent ID will kind of complete that in spring during
this camp. After the camp, the boys who have made
an offer will obviously get to choose to accept it,
(09:12):
hopefully they do, and then those boys will come for
another camp in the summer, kind of like a preseason
onboarding camp, and then the school starts in August, so
the residential school and kind of the orientation week is
at the start of August, and then the games program
for that camp combined group will play MLS Next Games
(09:32):
Program and they'll start that in September, just like all
MLS Next Academies.
Speaker 6 (09:36):
So that's the timeline for the first intake.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Given the different age groups, backgrounds and circumstances, the boys
will all be coming from. Integrating them quickly will be vital,
which is where their residential model is key.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
There will be some boys in the academy are from
very affluent backgrounds for sure, knowing how San Diego is,
and there'll also be some boys who are from much
more challenging environments. So, you know, living in a dorm
situation as a young boy, and the boys are young,
we appreciate that. We think will give them a more
rounded character, a better understanding of the place that they're from,
(10:18):
of the types of characters that they're going to come
across if they become a pro player. You know, if
you become a pro player or you go to college,
you will be in a dorm with people from different backgrounds.
You will be in a locker room with people from
different backgrounds.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
The reason they can fill their new facility with such
a diverse group of high potential student athletes is due
to the diverse group of scouts they have at their disposal.
With the best funded, most extensive scouting network in the league.
Right to Dream aren't messing around. The core of John's
team are the four full time staff who will be
(10:52):
based at the academy with.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
It so if it's okay, I'll do a little thirty
seconds on each one. And one of our scouts gave
far Fanni as a really cool story in he's now
scouting for us and scouting for young talent in San
Diego to keep the best talents in San Diego. But
he himself when he was a player, I had to
move to the East Coast to.
Speaker 6 (11:11):
Get his shot to being a pro, and he eventually
went on to be pro.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
We've met Gabe already.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
He's the man in charge of forging the club's informal
scouting network. Gabe knows all about the youth game in
San Diego and in Mexico. He played in both, as
he carved a pathway to MLS at a time when
it was even harder to do so.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
My name is Gabriel Farfan. I'm a Mexican American born
and raised in San Diego, California. I grew up in
a Hispanic household. My dad was born and raised in
Tijuana and my mom was born and raised here in
San Diego. Both of my parents actually played at the
same high school in Chula Vista, so found that love
(11:51):
for the game pretty early on.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Gabe's talents took him from coast to coast, up to
Philadelphia and then back to La ending his career in Mexico.
After he hung up his boots in twenty eighteen, he
found his way into scouting for the US national team,
but when the chance to find the next generation of
San Diego soccer stars came his way, he jumped at
the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
As I heard a little bit more and more about
Rights of Dream and learned about what that means, it
was just a no brainer, Like how long it's been
going on, the players they've produced, and it was pretty
special because that mixed with my experience, my expertise really
here in the southern California market and thinking about all
the opportunities that would be forwarded two players from San
(12:37):
Diego from Tijuana. I think it was kind of like
a matchmate in heaven for the Rights of Dream ownership
group to have a franchise here on the border.
Speaker 6 (12:46):
So that's Gape. Then we have Lisa Beg.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
So Lisa's joined us from a couple of different roles
in coaching and scout him notably with the Mexican Federation.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
Lisa Berg is a true front office star.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Her passion for the game has taken her all over
and far from her native Minnesota. She speaks Spanish and
has experience in both the men's and women's game, from
youth level all the way up to professional both at
home and abroad, including a stint in Uganda, which as
a woman in the sport is uncommon to say the least.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
My name is Lisa Berg and I am a scout
for the academy here at San Diego FC. So in
terms of women working in talent id there aren't.
Speaker 10 (13:30):
Many of us. I think.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
In terms of women focused on professional soccer talent identification,
probably less than you can count on one hand.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
Talk about crossing frontiers.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
The SDFC Academy is being built to house both girls
and boys. When it comes online, it'll be the first
mixed gender residential program in the country. Lisa will be
vital in recruiting their first class of female Right to
Dream student athletes from twenty twenty six and beyond.
Speaker 5 (14:04):
So we're still forming the plan for the girls. We've
had quite a few meetings on it now. Not exactly
sure on the start date yet, whether it will be
twenty twenty six or twenty twenty seven, but it's definitely
at the forefront of our minds. I think there was
some conversation about whether we should do a boys and
a girl's academy starting at the same time in twenty
twenty five, but I think it was just felt that
(14:26):
it was two really big projects. We really want to
get them both right and give them the other equity
that they deserve in terms of the resource and the
strategy behind it. So for that reason, we haven't done
both at the same time. So we don't know exactly
what it's going to look like yet, but it's it's
something that's ongoing and we're completely committed to.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Lisa sees no difference in the approach to her role.
She knows the game inside out and she knows better
than anyone all children share the same dreams, regardless of gender.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
All of these roles I've had as a player, coach,
you know, scouting strategists, and now you know, focusing on
talent identification has really, you know, helped me use those
base values I've always had. This work can change lives
and the importance of educating and sharing. You know, if
you see the change you want to make, you know
(15:20):
doing it like you know. Gandhi talks about be the
change you want to be in the world.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Then there's the biggest name and the biggest character on
staff at Right to Dream, San Diego. Former Ghana international
Derek Boatan.
Speaker 11 (15:33):
I finished playing twenty seventeen by doing my career when
I was playing. During my playing time, I visited Writer
Dream through a.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Friend after being inspired by the work founder Tom Vernon
was doing in his homeland.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
He kept in touch.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
When Derek called time on his playing career, he knew
what he wanted to do next.
Speaker 11 (15:51):
So when I decided to scout, I just test him
that love, this is what I want to do, and
he asked me not coaching. I said, no, I don't
want to coach. I do want to scout. I remember
I told me in a scout doesn't sleep in fancy
hotails and I said no, I'm okay, I'm good, I
can do it.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
In twenty eighteen, he swapped a comfortable retirement for cross
country drives to watch kids play on dirt pitches. After
several years working for Right to Dream in Africa, he's
now bringing his expertise and passion to southern California.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
Derek was involved with Right to Dream very early on
in Ghana and Egypt building the academies there, and Derek's
just moved to San Diego full time to be with
us and kind of make sure that we're aligned with
the Right to Dream way, you know, that style of
player of Right to Dream I mentioned before.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Alongside that trio, John also has a team across the
border led by Mexican scout Ricardo Drique.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
That's the team, like I said, super diverse team. I
think we're probably one of the best resource teams from
our ownership for scouting at the academy level in the US.
And again that diversity the team I think will really
get benefits of that.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Long term, John's team have a big job on their hands.
Each month, their list of talent gets longer, while the
final group itself gets smaller. In a few days, they
will head south to Tijuana, holding a Talent id Day
(17:22):
for their Mexican players. But first they've got something special planned,
a trip out to Singing Hills to see how their
new home is shape enough. It's November fifth, twenty twenty four,
(17:49):
almost a year to the day since San Diego f
C broke ground here at Singing Hills. John mcquigin the
scouts and the host of others. San Diego f SE
employees are brimming with excitement as they exit their vehicles
and take in the sea.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
The place is.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
A hive of activity. Teams of construction workers hurry abound
for cliffs where's past cement mixers were, and bulldozers heave.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Rubble in dirt.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
But in the middle of it all, like the calm
at the center of a storm, stands the gleaming new
buildings of the club's state of the art training center
and residential academy.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
I think the construction team has done an amazing job.
They're working round the clock. It seems like to be
finished in time, you know. I think it goes back
to the funding, if you like, and the resources that
are being provided from the ownership level. When they first
mentioned the timeline for completion, I think there were a
few people who were surprised by how quickly it will
be done.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
As the visitors file in, they lay their eyes on
the newly installed artificial turf pitches christine emerald, green white lines,
freshly painted, glinting in the sun. They're overjoyed, but none
more so than Derek.
Speaker 11 (19:04):
Wow, this is what I was looking for. Good now
I know we have abe before, nothing before, nothing even
(19:32):
last two months it was nothing right, this is.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Five two weeks away.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Derek looks emotion as he runs his hand over the
immaculate playing surface, but his reverie is interrupted when someone kicks.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
A football over to him.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
A grin breaks out on his face, and he leaps
up to join the others. A new pitch is just
too much for them to resist.
Speaker 11 (20:05):
Here you, Derek, Yeah, I'm coming right, Derek, Derek, Derek,
You're in the middle.
Speaker 12 (20:14):
Okay, Lisa hearts it. Let's go, let's go.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
What's that.
Speaker 11 (20:27):
You come flu? What?
Speaker 1 (20:29):
The scouts quickly organize a pickup game, exchanging passes and
giggling like children. Then Derek rolls back the years an
unleashes an unstoppable shot into the top corner of an
imaginary goal. The ball goes crashing off of a pile
of dirt, bounces away.
Speaker 11 (20:51):
God, did you do that? Where on that?
Speaker 8 (20:55):
That's doing that?
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Come on? Man?
Speaker 1 (20:58):
The scouts head inside where they done, safety helmets and
high viz vests. It's only sixty days until the first
team moves in. The idea is that In January twenty
twenty five, the academy staff will also start hosting talent
IDs and training sessions there too. Inside it's still a
(21:20):
concrete shell. The scouts pick their way around exposed wires,
scaffolding and work lamps. But the fact that these buildings
have sprung up out of the hills in such a
short time gives them every reason to believe it will
come together.
Speaker 12 (21:36):
Oh, I think they can do it. I think it
depends who you ask, how nervous they are.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
This is Quakin Escoto, the SDFC consultant helping with the
Academy's construction and operation.
Speaker 12 (21:49):
Our experts in construction say, this is probably like a
four year project being done in one year. So the
speed that this is being done, I come every week,
and every week there's something new.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Frankly, Lisa Berg has come to expect such miracles of efficiency.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Very ambitious, but not anything out of the ordinary for
what we are trying to do. I think they always
emphasize like the speed they need to get it done.
So it's just kind of reassuring you know, all this
things that seem impossible are happening so quickly. It makes
you also get motivated to do your role as quick
(22:30):
as possible. They said to walk through this tour, like,
how would a kid experience it? I think they just
want to play, and I think that's what you want.
You want that love for the game to exist.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Fouckin lates John and the scouts through the finished locker rooms,
Jim and offices already and waiting for the players to arrive,
which brings us to the heart of the whole site,
the place where the present merges with the future and
where the right to dream ethos is really lived out
(23:03):
the dining facility.
Speaker 12 (23:08):
So we call it the bridgeway. So this is where
or West and East Wing meet, which is MLS and Academy.
So this is like the merger of both teams. So
it's like a special place where you go to eat,
so and right to dream. If you go around the
academies around the world, the dining experience is a very
(23:30):
special place for families, right, so for ads, that's where
everybody's together having a meal. There's not this separation, John,
there's not a separation between.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
The first team.
Speaker 12 (23:45):
Nobody can see the first scene so far as you
will see first team players, Academy players interactive, and this
is the deal. So cool.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
John catches up and explains further why this shared place
is at the center of what they're building. The academy
staff and players will share lots of spaces with the
first team, the same gym, the same pitches, but the
dining area is where they'll share time together and on
a daily basis too.
Speaker 6 (24:14):
I think that's another unique thing about our project.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
So, you know, for the first team players to be
able to be around the young boys and understand the
responsibility they have as role models. For these young boys
who are going to see, you know, what do they eat,
how do they conduct themselves? Are they on their cell
phones all the time, or are they spending time together
as a team. You know, that's going to be big lessons.
I think for the young boys to really see and
(24:39):
understand what it takes at a top level, both on
and off the field, to be on the same side,
but also genuinely sharing the environment and learning from each
other is a huge opportunity for the players and for
the staff, I think, and again very very right to dream.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
You The dining area is flanked by a huge war
with Florida ceiling glass panels revealing the stunning landscape outside.
The scouts standing on the setting sun bathes the hills
of Dysa Valley and golden light. But even more magical
(25:14):
is the sight of the freshly laid grass playing fields.
This is what they came to see today, a sacred
milestone in the project's completion.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
It looks amazing until you're actually stood on the land
and looking out across the fields and you know the
area that it's in. I don't think you can fully
appreciate how amazing it is.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
The Scouts stand in silence, statue still. It's like a
spell has been cast over.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Them, feing green.
Speaker 12 (25:51):
It just makes everybody, you see all the academy stuff,
soaking it in because some of them haven't been here
since June. We're in November, some of them have been
and just one month. It changes everything. You know that
we're so lucky that sique let us building their home
that's been here for twelve thousand years. So it's like
that's like you feel it. You know, you look at
(26:12):
the olive trees and the sunsets and the sunrisees. It's
just I think it's going to be a special home
that when we're hiring people, I mean, we're not building
a train, We're building a home. For the future of
soccer and football in the United States and Mexico. So
it's a big responsibility.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
As the tour wraps up and everyone makes their way
back inside, Derek opens up a little on how much
moments like this mean to him.
Speaker 11 (26:42):
The first time I went to Egypt, when I saw
everything ready, the first time when I see them training,
I started crying. Well when they saw me, the all
the kids run to me and they we're talking. They
hagged me. And so after leaving them, I was studying
alone and they're crying alone. And seeing what it means
(27:03):
to them and how they are happy in it and
how they appreciate it makes me really really emotional. Started crying,
but happy crying, you know. Yeah, I was so happy
and it's everything to me to see them happy.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
He is reminded of everything they've been through at other academies,
all the lives they've changed, and the dreams that will
soon become a reality right here in San Diego for me.
Speaker 11 (27:28):
If you ask me to move in here right now,
do I'll do it. Yeah, I'll do it, because he's
ready for me.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
He's ready.
Speaker 11 (27:35):
I can see this so much progress in their job,
and I'm really, really happy to eat, and you know,
we just can't wait to start.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
A few days later, we're on the road with John
mcgigan as the heads out for the US Mexico Boarder.
The Scouts are back at work on their quest to
fill their new academy buildings with the best players the
region has to. Thanks to FIFA regulations which allow clubs
to recruit up to thirty miles from an international border, Banca,
(28:09):
California is well within their reach, and with GLUP Tijuana
as the only top tier rival for over six hundred miles,
there's a lot of young players here just looking for
an opportunity.
Speaker 5 (28:23):
We're heading too TJ to Tijuana for the first of
our invitational tryouts. So we've already done open tryouts earlier
in the year, but now this is an invitational tryout
where some of those boys are being called back for
a second look, and there's also some other boys come
in who are scouts in Mexico, and TJ have decided
(28:44):
that they also deserve an extra opportunity to show what
they can do.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
This is right to dreams, real ace in the hole,
and a key factor that drove their investment.
Speaker 5 (28:54):
So obviously TJ is a unique thing for us, you know,
with the only less club who can you can go
across the border and and give boys like this an opportunity.
So I think just seeing them do their thing and
hopefully come and enjoy themselves as well. There's a real
mix in TJ. I think of like organized leagues of
(29:15):
tournaments of just street soccer. So I think giving them
like a format and a structure of playing today is
just a really cool thing and hopefully they all they
all enjoy the experience, even if it doesn't go any
further for them.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Obviously only a handful will make it through to the
final selection, but this is all part of the process.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:34):
We normally meet as a group of scouts the next
day and we'll review the boys that we think we
should bring back. So we could either bring them back
to another event in TJ, so we kind of filter
the number down to a kind of smaller number and
a higher concentration of talent, so you end up with
like best versus best, or they could come to San
Diego possibly for one of our talent ID centers that
(29:56):
we run once a month. So they probably won't find
out today we've got all of their details already We
normally sit down as a team of scouts review who
we want to bring back, and then we call the
families and let them know.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Today's setting is a college sports ground, with most of
the kids invited h between nine and ten, and some
coming from far less structured playing environments than others. It
can be hard to judge a player's potential. Lisa Berg
has spent years scouting for the Mexican Federation. She's come
(30:57):
to recognize a number of special qualities down here. There's
often a different mentality as well as a different play style.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
So you definitely see players, you know, creative on the ball,
cutting looking for one v one's and we see a
lot of variety of players as well in terms of
you know, size, position and potential. So there's definitely players
that we can see them kind of emerging, and we're
really happy that we've had so much participation and they're
(31:28):
showing up here.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
She's never imagined bringing these players into an MLS setting,
never mind mixing with kids from San Diego's North County.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
It's a puzzle. They're still trying to fit together.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
We're continuing to look at, you know, all these players.
They're young, so we have to see them in a
lot of different ways, see them in different challenges, be
it in their own language, outside of their comfort zones,
all those pieces. So that's what we're trying.
Speaker 6 (31:56):
To looking for.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Rather than just ranking the players, these sessions are about getting.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
To know them better as people.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Though of course they don't expect nine year olds to
pass a character test, Diether, but even young children have
clear motivations.
Speaker 13 (32:14):
My name is Eric.
Speaker 8 (32:16):
The position he plays as a left winger and also
as a four well striker Academy for Las Cuela Academia
dam Football. He wants to to join the academy because
(32:39):
this is the academy system. He thinks he's very good,
and also because of the football development program.
Speaker 6 (32:48):
Answer football is a professional.
Speaker 8 (32:50):
His dream is being a soccer professional player.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
With Dadley Miami prop.
Speaker 8 (32:58):
Because he loves the game and he wants to buy
a house for his mother and father.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
As the taxis wait to ferry the scouts back to
the border, John rounds up the troops and checks the
week's schedule.
Speaker 6 (33:14):
Tomorrow, I'm going to be in some meetings.
Speaker 5 (33:16):
With Bill and Rochelle and about the numbers for the
school and everything.
Speaker 6 (33:19):
Well in the morning at ten am.
Speaker 13 (33:21):
Tao is going to present on the Mexican Academy system
and the Mexican clubs overall, and I think that's also
really important for us to listen to because there's going
to be some conversation soon about how many numbers are
we doing and what age groups are we doing and
how wide.
Speaker 6 (33:37):
Do we go in Mexico.
Speaker 5 (33:38):
So I think it's really good timing that we do
that tomorrow, and Tao's put a lot of efforts into
the presentation. It looks really good.
Speaker 13 (33:44):
Anything from anyone, the least for the next thurthern idea
it's complete.
Speaker 6 (33:51):
Okay, well good, great? Yeah, So are we going to
have the new tonight?
Speaker 3 (33:56):
Really?
Speaker 6 (33:57):
Did you want to do that? Let's go, I'll go
all right, all right, ye question.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
After a world wind month of scouting, John McGuigan and
his team are back at headquarters in Little Italy. Reflecting
on where they're at, John is feeling confident after the
latest Talent ID sessions.
Speaker 5 (34:19):
We came out of that event with thirty four boys
who went through to the next stage, which I think
was a really good number across TJ in San Diego County.
Speaker 6 (34:29):
I think what I will say is the talent is
obviously here.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
I think if you take San Diego County and TJ
as an example, the talent is here.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Today the team is attending a lunch and learned session
with the academy's head of school, Rochelle Minnix. It's another
element of how right to Dream keeps the initial scouting
connected to the coaching and education aspects still to come.
Speaker 10 (34:55):
So thank you all for being here. We're going to
give you a little assignment to get us started, just
because you know I'm a teacher. So as we dive in,
you're going to be asked at the end of this
to share three learnings from what you heard today and
then one takeaway application.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
To your role.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Rochelle founded an award winning tuition free charter school in
East Los Angeles before joining s DFC. She knows how
to get the best out of kids, regardless of their circumstances.
While the sporting staff will be tesked with molding student
athletes as players, it's her team of teachers that will
be shaping them as people.
Speaker 10 (35:37):
Not once have we had a room of parents say
my only dream is for my child to play professionally.
They want their children to live a life of choice
and to be healthy and to be happy and to
feel empowered. And so when we think about the academy
that we're creating, our responsibility is to attend to the
whole and complex and complete nature of the children in
(35:59):
our care. They are more than machines. They are more
than just athletes, they are whole humans.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
The Right to Dream scholarship will equip it's student athletes
with the very best pathways for their future. What she
makes plain this requires academic discipline for the students, which
won't be easy for some of them.
Speaker 10 (36:18):
In terms of our kind of long term plan, the
school has to be accredited. They have to leave with
transcripts that will allow them to apply to a high
quality college, and so part of that process is accreditation.
But it's also making sure that even starting in sixth grade,
we've mapped out all of their coursework to twelfth grade
and planned for them to have classes that have been
(36:41):
improved both for university access but also to be NCAA eligible.
So if they were to play in college, they need
to have classes that have been approved for that too.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Skipping class or missing deadlines is not an option.
Speaker 10 (36:55):
Oh I will also say they have homework every night.
They'll have support with tutoring and home work. Also, if
you want to have free thinkers and critical thinkers, you
have to be a reader. You have to be highly literate,
not just in English, in multiple languages, and so they
will have book clubs and what we call designated reading
times throughout the day too.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
The children will receive classes in history, math, languages, the sciences,
and much more.
Speaker 4 (37:21):
Besides.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Minnix even has plans to launch hobby clubs to cultivate
other interests. But as ever, they accept it will be
a challenge for young children to feel at home while
so far away from their families. It's one factor that
even she admits they can't fully mitigate and must be
mindful of.
Speaker 10 (37:43):
I've been receiving feedback from parents for a while now, ongoing,
and if I could, I'd read you one of the quotes.
But basically it was a mom who was just writing
and writing, writing, and ended with she needs mom hugs,
Like who's going to give him the mom hugs? And
so I think that as a comes more real it's
equal parts. It's so exciting because they want their child
(38:05):
to realize their dreams and they're realizing that their child
may not live with them, and I think that that
is a process of kind of reconciling what that might
actually mean for them.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
This separation hits hard for Derek Boatan, who still remembers
having to leave his home in Ghana to find fortune
for himself and his family.
Speaker 11 (38:26):
Yeah, I came from Pavas. You know. I grew up
with my single mom. You know, she's a blind so
I'm the one who take care of with my two brothers.
But I'm the oldest, so I have to be there
all the time and make sure that she's fine.
Speaker 1 (38:41):
Derek knows firsthand about the power of opportunity. He knows
better than anyone how they're in a position to change lives,
which is why it's so hard letting kids down when
they don't make the final selection.
Speaker 11 (38:54):
A lot of kids are the really need a break
and doing this causing you consist. Some of the kids
that we pick and the ones that we don't pick,
they cry all the time. They crying. The last time
a kid came to me, why why don't I didn't
pick him? Because in his house he doesn't eat three
(39:16):
times a day And it was sad, you know when
he told me that, and I say to him that, look,
don't I will come back again. So we just keep
doing what you're doing. If I don't find if I
don't see somebody might find you. But I'll come back again.
So keep on doing what you're doing.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
It's this power to change lives and the responsibility it
brings that gets Derek out of bed in the morning.
Speaker 11 (39:41):
I don't to be in the office. I want to
go out there. I want to be on the road.
And you know, yesterday I went to Sacramento. Yeah, then
I drove from there to what school two hours and
a half hours. Yeah. And the last time me and
John went to Beakingsfield four hours and will drive to
Singra went to four hours. The kind of thing I
was doing in Africa, that's kind of things I want
(40:02):
to do. I want to be on the road all
the time and just go every where those kids are.
I want to go everywhere. I don't want to lie down,
I don't want to sit down. And somebody will send
me a video that this kid is good that I
want to go myself to go and watch that kid.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
Sometimes he even sleeps in his car to make it
to an early game the next day, but he wouldn't
change a thing.
Speaker 11 (40:25):
It feels good, you know, it's really really feels good
because I feel like there's some things money cannot buy. Yeah,
and that's one of those things that money cannot buy.
That you'll be in a kid life. You're mentor him,
you help him to get to the top. Yeah, it
makes you feel good, you know. That's that's that's the
reason why I love scouting.
Speaker 5 (40:47):
The kid.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
John's lucky to have this kind of passion at his
disposal in the hunt to find the best talent from
San Diego, Tajuana and beyond. In fact, Right to Dream
has everything in place to achieve success. The extensive scouting networks,
the decades of expertise, and housed in their best in
class academy. Could they finally be the ones to unearth
(41:14):
and nurture the nation's first global soccer star. Could the
next Messi be homegrown?
Speaker 6 (41:21):
Messi is a generation of talents.
Speaker 5 (41:23):
I'm not sure that any amount of strategy can account
for finding somebody like him, but if you look at
his story, I think that is quite right to dream
when you think about it. An example would be there
are two boys in our talent pool right now who
are from TJ and one of them was not playing
organized soccer for a single team. He comes to the
(41:45):
open tryouts and we believe that we're giving him an
opportunity now to enter a more organized and structured lease
or high performance environment that will develop him long term,
and potentially it leads to a past way to Europe
like happened with MESSI. Well, maybe none of that works
out and he ends up on a college pathway, which
is equally a source surprise for us.
Speaker 6 (42:07):
It right to dream.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Next time on Behind the Flow, we leave the search
for tomorrow's talent and we return to the realities of
fielding a team today. Draft day is finally here, and
it's Tyler Heap's big moment to forge the franchises first
ever playing squad. Behind the Flow is a message heard production.
(42:40):
I'm your host. Adrian garciamaricis the series producer, is McAllister Beckson.
Mark Kendrick is the assistant producers, and Rebecca Ware is
the field producer. Jake Warren and Sandra Ferrari are the
executive producers. James Cox and Dago Diaz are the production coordinators.
The sound editor is Lizzie and and music composition is
(43:02):
by Tom Biddle.
Speaker 7 (43:08):
MHM
It's early November in twenty twenty four. We're back at
the Olympic Training Center in Chilabista, San Diego, three months
on from holding the league's first ever free open tryouts.
The Right to Dream scouts are narrowing down their search
for San Diego FC's first Academy coups.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
We have a mixed bag out here. Some of them
have been in before. There's also a number of new
players that we've identified, so it's good to see some
returners and some new players that are raising the level
as well.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Out on the sun drenched fields, eighteen ten year old
boys are locked in fierce concentration as they run through
a passing drill. This technical session is being run by
Carsten dump, the academy's head of coaching. Even in this
warm up exercise, these kids are playing like their futures
depend on it. Each one of them is giving their
(01:06):
all to impress the watching scouts. Scouts like Gabe by
the Fund, who tries to suppress a smile.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
It's early on the day, but I see a lot
of high potential players. Obviously, this is the youngest age
group we have, but it's really good to see them
being able to adapt to a higher level environment so quickly.
Some play on high level teams, some play on low
level teams, different leagues, different divisions, so it gives us
(01:36):
a better idea of where they're at amongst their age group,
and it just allows us to get to know the
players a little bit better.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
As DFC is hosting talent ID days like this every month.
Right now, they are tracking a core group of around
sixty high potential players, each ten to thirteen, but at
each event there's always new players being at. No one
is ruled out, not yet anyway. As the club cast
it's net wider, the group also grows more diverse. Today's
(02:07):
kids come from all over the Southwest, in particular from
the open scouting territories of Nevada and West Texas.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
The first couple of decenters that we did were mainly
local players, and now we're starting to branch out and
look at other territories. So as time goes on, we'll
get the best of the best in a proper environment
so we can evaluate them together with the highest quality
that we have.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
After Carston session is over, it's time for the main event.
The kids are separated into teams for a match of
nine v nine.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
You did some super mill boys, So now you take
it from this one to game.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
From the beginning. Let's see some good football, you understand,
Let's see some good football.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
Listen too, should I give you I'm gonna call your name.
Speaker 6 (02:55):
We're gonna put you in nine v.
Speaker 5 (02:57):
Nine's and I'll give you a position. Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
As the kids prepare to kick off, we caught up with.
Speaker 4 (03:02):
A parent watching from the sidelines.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
He's beaming with pride and why not today he's cheering
on not one, but two boys.
Speaker 7 (03:10):
My name is Abo Hernandez. I'm here for my son.
He's a twenty thirteen. His name is Lionel Hernandez, and
I'm also here asil for my godson. His name is
Mattel Garcia goes by the name Macino for my son Lionel.
He's been here for three ten nineties and I'm sure
got my Godsonino has been here for about four of them.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Abe's son and godson both play for San Diego SERF,
among other teams. They even play for a club south
of the border in Tijuana. Not even he knows exactly
where or when as DFC scouts spotted them.
Speaker 7 (03:45):
They haven't really mentioned where they kind of cut their eye,
but that they've been following, like, you know, the same
thing with my son. It was like they said, it's
it's already been like a six seven months, you know
process that they've been like, you know, seeing them play
with this club as well, and so it's pretty much
they're following them around around we.
Speaker 8 (04:03):
Want the ball away from.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Abeil is realistic about their chances, but nonetheless he's been
preparing these boys for the decision they will face if
they're successful. Sacrifice and commitment will be needed to pursue their.
Speaker 7 (04:19):
Passion, you know, since they've been the kids saving it's
something that I go through and talk with them because
that's obviously they're dreaming them. So I've tried to prepare
them as well, where you know, get used to being
a you know, away from the family and is that
something you really want.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Later on, inside the sports center, Aveil and other parents
are greeted by head of school Rochelle Minnix. She provides
a bit more detail on what to expect should their
kids be offered a place at the academy.
Speaker 9 (04:56):
Another he says, how do we get to know your
children in the full.
Speaker 10 (04:59):
Complexity that they are right.
Speaker 9 (05:01):
Not just how do we evaluate their skills on the field,
but how do we know what their hopes are?
Speaker 4 (05:05):
How do they know what their fears are?
Speaker 9 (05:07):
How do we know what makes them anxious? How do
we know how they sue themselves or where they find like,
all of these things have to be known when we
create individual development plans for kids, they have to think
about them developing all the way around.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Moving away from home so young to attend a full
time residential academy will be a challenge for everyone, both
for the kids and their families. But the Right to
Dream model has shown it works. It's the secret to
their success and how they plan to revolutionize talent development
in the US. In February twenty twenty five, San Diego
(05:45):
e FC became the thirtieth team to enter Major League Soccer,
now the largest professional league on the planet.
Speaker 4 (05:52):
But this is more than just another.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Football club, At least that's the hope of the club's
co owners. Under the leadership of Sir Mohammed Montsu, Right
to Dream is an organization promising to rock American soccer
to its foundations with a revolutionary approach to coaching and
youth development.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Anchoring the project in.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
The local community is the Sequan band of the Kumiga Nation,
the first ever Native American owners in men's professional sports,
and as the only MLS club officially sanctioned to recruit
out of Mexico. I mean, this thing could really fly,
that is, if everything goes to plan. In this episode,
(06:33):
we meet the club's team of scouts, the biggest in MLS.
We learn what they're doing differently and how they might
unearth North America's first soccer superstar. Captured in the final
months before the twenty twenty five season kicks off, This
series follows sdfc's race to field their first ever team.
(06:55):
I'm Adrian Gottaa Marks and this is behind the flow
the origins of San Diego FC. At the heart of
the club's search for the best young players in the
Southwestern United States is their team of scouts, and the
man in charge of that department is John McGuigan.
Speaker 6 (07:17):
My name is John McGuigan.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
I'm the head of talent scouting and recruitment at San
Diego FC's Right to Dream Academy. So I've been around
the game for about twenty years.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
You might tell from his accent, John isn't a native
son of San Diego. His soccer story began at home
in Liverpool in the UK.
Speaker 5 (07:36):
I obviously wanted to be a player, like a lot
of people back home in England, but was nowhere near
good enough and knew that really early on, so I
got some good advice to go into coaching. So I
got into video analysis, technical analysis, tactical analysis of teams
and players, and I think it was at a time
when that industry was really taken off.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Analysis led him to recruitment. He scouted for a number
of top English clubs and a couple of national federations,
including Ghana at the Brazil World Cup in twenty fourteen.
In twenty twenty, John moved Stateside and was working with
MLS clubs as a consultant until recently when Right to
Dream came Calming.
Speaker 6 (08:14):
I think it was twenty eleven twenty twelve.
Speaker 5 (08:16):
Right to Dream would bring players to England to some
of the clubs that I was with then, So I
got to know Tom Vernon and Write to Dream through
that and always really admired the work that they do
and they approach and a cool story for me that
now I'm back involved with Writ to Dream on a
more day to day basis.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
We joined him in early November twenty twenty four. He's
just a few months into the role, but only weeks
away from the grand opening of Major League Soccer's most
advanced youth soccer facility, the Right to Dream Academy at
Singing Hills.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
It's his job to fill it.
Speaker 5 (08:52):
We're going to have twenty twelve, twenty thirteen and twenty
fourteen born players in one combined group in year one,
So the process that we've gone through so far for
talent ID will kind of complete that in spring during
this camp. After the camp, the boys who have made
an offer will obviously get to choose to accept it,
(09:12):
hopefully they do, and then those boys will come for
another camp in the summer, kind of like a preseason
onboarding camp, and then the school starts in August, so
the residential school and kind of the orientation week is
at the start of August, and then the games program
for that camp combined group will play MLS Next Games
(09:32):
Program and they'll start that in September, just like all
MLS Next Academies.
Speaker 6 (09:36):
So that's the timeline for the first intake.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
Given the different age groups, backgrounds and circumstances, the boys
will all be coming from. Integrating them quickly will be vital,
which is where their residential model is key.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
There will be some boys in the academy are from
very affluent backgrounds for sure, knowing how San Diego is,
and there'll also be some boys who are from much
more challenging environments. So, you know, living in a dorm
situation as a young boy, and the boys are young,
we appreciate that. We think will give them a more
rounded character, a better understanding of the place that they're from,
(10:18):
of the types of characters that they're going to come
across if they become a pro player. You know, if
you become a pro player or you go to college,
you will be in a dorm with people from different backgrounds.
You will be in a locker room with people from
different backgrounds.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
The reason they can fill their new facility with such
a diverse group of high potential student athletes is due
to the diverse group of scouts they have at their disposal.
With the best funded, most extensive scouting network in the league.
Right to Dream aren't messing around. The core of John's
team are the four full time staff who will be
(10:52):
based at the academy with.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
It so if it's okay, I'll do a little thirty
seconds on each one. And one of our scouts gave
far Fanni as a really cool story in he's now
scouting for us and scouting for young talent in San
Diego to keep the best talents in San Diego. But
he himself when he was a player, I had to
move to the East Coast to.
Speaker 6 (11:11):
Get his shot to being a pro, and he eventually
went on to be pro.
Speaker 4 (11:14):
We've met Gabe already.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
He's the man in charge of forging the club's informal
scouting network. Gabe knows all about the youth game in
San Diego and in Mexico. He played in both, as
he carved a pathway to MLS at a time when
it was even harder to do so.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
My name is Gabriel Farfan. I'm a Mexican American born
and raised in San Diego, California. I grew up in
a Hispanic household. My dad was born and raised in
Tijuana and my mom was born and raised here in
San Diego. Both of my parents actually played at the
same high school in Chula Vista, so found that love
(11:51):
for the game pretty early on.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Gabe's talents took him from coast to coast, up to
Philadelphia and then back to La ending his career in Mexico.
After he hung up his boots in twenty eighteen, he
found his way into scouting for the US national team,
but when the chance to find the next generation of
San Diego soccer stars came his way, he jumped at
the opportunity.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
As I heard a little bit more and more about
Rights of Dream and learned about what that means, it
was just a no brainer, Like how long it's been
going on, the players they've produced, and it was pretty
special because that mixed with my experience, my expertise really
here in the southern California market and thinking about all
the opportunities that would be forwarded two players from San
(12:37):
Diego from Tijuana. I think it was kind of like
a matchmate in heaven for the Rights of Dream ownership
group to have a franchise here on the border.
Speaker 6 (12:46):
So that's Gape. Then we have Lisa Beg.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
So Lisa's joined us from a couple of different roles
in coaching and scout him notably with the Mexican Federation.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
Lisa Berg is a true front office star.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Her passion for the game has taken her all over
and far from her native Minnesota. She speaks Spanish and
has experience in both the men's and women's game, from
youth level all the way up to professional both at
home and abroad, including a stint in Uganda, which as
a woman in the sport is uncommon to say the least.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
My name is Lisa Berg and I am a scout
for the academy here at San Diego FC. So in
terms of women working in talent id there aren't.
Speaker 10 (13:30):
Many of us. I think.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
In terms of women focused on professional soccer talent identification,
probably less than you can count on one hand.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
Talk about crossing frontiers.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
The SDFC Academy is being built to house both girls
and boys. When it comes online, it'll be the first
mixed gender residential program in the country. Lisa will be
vital in recruiting their first class of female Right to
Dream student athletes from twenty twenty six and beyond.
Speaker 5 (14:04):
So we're still forming the plan for the girls. We've
had quite a few meetings on it now. Not exactly
sure on the start date yet, whether it will be
twenty twenty six or twenty twenty seven, but it's definitely
at the forefront of our minds. I think there was
some conversation about whether we should do a boys and
a girl's academy starting at the same time in twenty
twenty five, but I think it was just felt that
(14:26):
it was two really big projects. We really want to
get them both right and give them the other equity
that they deserve in terms of the resource and the
strategy behind it. So for that reason, we haven't done
both at the same time. So we don't know exactly
what it's going to look like yet, but it's it's
something that's ongoing and we're completely committed to.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Lisa sees no difference in the approach to her role.
She knows the game inside out and she knows better
than anyone all children share the same dreams, regardless of gender.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
All of these roles I've had as a player, coach,
you know, scouting strategists, and now you know, focusing on
talent identification has really, you know, helped me use those
base values I've always had. This work can change lives
and the importance of educating and sharing. You know, if
you see the change you want to make, you know
(15:20):
doing it like you know. Gandhi talks about be the
change you want to be in the world.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Then there's the biggest name and the biggest character on
staff at Right to Dream, San Diego. Former Ghana international
Derek Boatan.
Speaker 11 (15:33):
I finished playing twenty seventeen by doing my career when
I was playing. During my playing time, I visited Writer
Dream through a.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Friend after being inspired by the work founder Tom Vernon
was doing in his homeland.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
He kept in touch.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
When Derek called time on his playing career, he knew
what he wanted to do next.
Speaker 11 (15:51):
So when I decided to scout, I just test him
that love, this is what I want to do, and
he asked me not coaching. I said, no, I don't
want to coach. I do want to scout. I remember
I told me in a scout doesn't sleep in fancy
hotails and I said no, I'm okay, I'm good, I
can do it.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
In twenty eighteen, he swapped a comfortable retirement for cross
country drives to watch kids play on dirt pitches. After
several years working for Right to Dream in Africa, he's
now bringing his expertise and passion to southern California.
Speaker 5 (16:24):
Derek was involved with Right to Dream very early on
in Ghana and Egypt building the academies there, and Derek's
just moved to San Diego full time to be with
us and kind of make sure that we're aligned with
the Right to Dream way, you know, that style of
player of Right to Dream I mentioned before.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Alongside that trio, John also has a team across the
border led by Mexican scout Ricardo Drique.
Speaker 5 (16:47):
That's the team, like I said, super diverse team. I
think we're probably one of the best resource teams from
our ownership for scouting at the academy level in the US.
And again that diversity the team I think will really
get benefits of that.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Long term, John's team have a big job on their hands.
Each month, their list of talent gets longer, while the
final group itself gets smaller. In a few days, they
will head south to Tijuana, holding a Talent id Day
(17:22):
for their Mexican players. But first they've got something special planned,
a trip out to Singing Hills to see how their
new home is shape enough. It's November fifth, twenty twenty four,
(17:49):
almost a year to the day since San Diego f
C broke ground here at Singing Hills. John mcquigin the
scouts and the host of others. San Diego f SE
employees are brimming with excitement as they exit their vehicles
and take in the sea.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
The place is.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
A hive of activity. Teams of construction workers hurry abound
for cliffs where's past cement mixers were, and bulldozers heave.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
Rubble in dirt.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
But in the middle of it all, like the calm
at the center of a storm, stands the gleaming new
buildings of the club's state of the art training center
and residential academy.
Speaker 5 (18:29):
I think the construction team has done an amazing job.
They're working round the clock. It seems like to be
finished in time, you know. I think it goes back
to the funding, if you like, and the resources that
are being provided from the ownership level. When they first
mentioned the timeline for completion, I think there were a
few people who were surprised by how quickly it will
be done.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
As the visitors file in, they lay their eyes on
the newly installed artificial turf pitches christine emerald, green white lines,
freshly painted, glinting in the sun. They're overjoyed, but none
more so than Derek.
Speaker 11 (19:04):
Wow, this is what I was looking for. Good now
I know we have abe before, nothing before, nothing even
(19:32):
last two months it was nothing right, this is.
Speaker 4 (19:35):
Five two weeks away.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Derek looks emotion as he runs his hand over the
immaculate playing surface, but his reverie is interrupted when someone kicks.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
A football over to him.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
A grin breaks out on his face, and he leaps
up to join the others. A new pitch is just
too much for them to resist.
Speaker 11 (20:05):
Here you, Derek, Yeah, I'm coming right, Derek, Derek, Derek,
You're in the middle.
Speaker 12 (20:14):
Okay, Lisa hearts it. Let's go, let's go.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
What's that.
Speaker 11 (20:27):
You come flu? What?
Speaker 1 (20:29):
The scouts quickly organize a pickup game, exchanging passes and
giggling like children. Then Derek rolls back the years an
unleashes an unstoppable shot into the top corner of an
imaginary goal. The ball goes crashing off of a pile
of dirt, bounces away.
Speaker 11 (20:51):
God, did you do that? Where on that?
Speaker 8 (20:55):
That's doing that?
Speaker 3 (20:56):
Come on? Man?
Speaker 1 (20:58):
The scouts head inside where they done, safety helmets and
high viz vests. It's only sixty days until the first
team moves in. The idea is that In January twenty
twenty five, the academy staff will also start hosting talent
IDs and training sessions there too. Inside it's still a
(21:20):
concrete shell. The scouts pick their way around exposed wires,
scaffolding and work lamps. But the fact that these buildings
have sprung up out of the hills in such a
short time gives them every reason to believe it will
come together.
Speaker 12 (21:36):
Oh, I think they can do it. I think it
depends who you ask, how nervous they are.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
This is Quakin Escoto, the SDFC consultant helping with the
Academy's construction and operation.
Speaker 12 (21:49):
Our experts in construction say, this is probably like a
four year project being done in one year. So the
speed that this is being done, I come every week,
and every week there's something new.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Frankly, Lisa Berg has come to expect such miracles of efficiency.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
Very ambitious, but not anything out of the ordinary for
what we are trying to do. I think they always
emphasize like the speed they need to get it done.
So it's just kind of reassuring you know, all this
things that seem impossible are happening so quickly. It makes
you also get motivated to do your role as quick
(22:30):
as possible. They said to walk through this tour, like,
how would a kid experience it? I think they just
want to play, and I think that's what you want.
You want that love for the game to exist.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
Fouckin lates John and the scouts through the finished locker rooms,
Jim and offices already and waiting for the players to arrive,
which brings us to the heart of the whole site,
the place where the present merges with the future and
where the right to dream ethos is really lived out
(23:03):
the dining facility.
Speaker 12 (23:08):
So we call it the bridgeway. So this is where
or West and East Wing meet, which is MLS and Academy.
So this is like the merger of both teams. So
it's like a special place where you go to eat,
so and right to dream. If you go around the
academies around the world, the dining experience is a very
(23:30):
special place for families, right, so for ads, that's where
everybody's together having a meal. There's not this separation, John,
there's not a separation between.
Speaker 4 (23:44):
The first team.
Speaker 12 (23:45):
Nobody can see the first scene so far as you
will see first team players, Academy players interactive, and this
is the deal. So cool.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
John catches up and explains further why this shared place
is at the center of what they're building. The academy
staff and players will share lots of spaces with the
first team, the same gym, the same pitches, but the
dining area is where they'll share time together and on
a daily basis too.
Speaker 6 (24:14):
I think that's another unique thing about our project.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
So, you know, for the first team players to be
able to be around the young boys and understand the
responsibility they have as role models. For these young boys
who are going to see, you know, what do they eat,
how do they conduct themselves? Are they on their cell
phones all the time, or are they spending time together
as a team. You know, that's going to be big lessons.
I think for the young boys to really see and
(24:39):
understand what it takes at a top level, both on
and off the field, to be on the same side,
but also genuinely sharing the environment and learning from each
other is a huge opportunity for the players and for
the staff, I think, and again very very right to dream.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
You The dining area is flanked by a huge war
with Florida ceiling glass panels revealing the stunning landscape outside.
The scouts standing on the setting sun bathes the hills
of Dysa Valley and golden light. But even more magical
(25:14):
is the sight of the freshly laid grass playing fields.
This is what they came to see today, a sacred
milestone in the project's completion.
Speaker 5 (25:26):
It looks amazing until you're actually stood on the land
and looking out across the fields and you know the
area that it's in. I don't think you can fully
appreciate how amazing it is.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
The Scouts stand in silence, statue still. It's like a
spell has been cast over.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Them, feing green.
Speaker 12 (25:51):
It just makes everybody, you see all the academy stuff,
soaking it in because some of them haven't been here
since June. We're in November, some of them have been
and just one month. It changes everything. You know that
we're so lucky that sique let us building their home
that's been here for twelve thousand years. So it's like
that's like you feel it. You know, you look at
(26:12):
the olive trees and the sunsets and the sunrisees. It's
just I think it's going to be a special home
that when we're hiring people, I mean, we're not building
a train, We're building a home. For the future of
soccer and football in the United States and Mexico. So
it's a big responsibility.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
As the tour wraps up and everyone makes their way
back inside, Derek opens up a little on how much
moments like this mean to him.
Speaker 11 (26:42):
The first time I went to Egypt, when I saw
everything ready, the first time when I see them training,
I started crying. Well when they saw me, the all
the kids run to me and they we're talking. They
hagged me. And so after leaving them, I was studying
alone and they're crying alone. And seeing what it means
(27:03):
to them and how they are happy in it and
how they appreciate it makes me really really emotional. Started crying,
but happy crying, you know. Yeah, I was so happy
and it's everything to me to see them happy.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
He is reminded of everything they've been through at other academies,
all the lives they've changed, and the dreams that will
soon become a reality right here in San Diego for me.
Speaker 11 (27:28):
If you ask me to move in here right now,
do I'll do it. Yeah, I'll do it, because he's
ready for me.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
He's ready.
Speaker 11 (27:35):
I can see this so much progress in their job,
and I'm really, really happy to eat, and you know,
we just can't wait to start.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
A few days later, we're on the road with John
mcgigan as the heads out for the US Mexico Boarder.
The Scouts are back at work on their quest to
fill their new academy buildings with the best players the
region has to. Thanks to FIFA regulations which allow clubs
to recruit up to thirty miles from an international border, Banca,
(28:09):
California is well within their reach, and with GLUP Tijuana
as the only top tier rival for over six hundred miles,
there's a lot of young players here just looking for
an opportunity.
Speaker 5 (28:23):
We're heading too TJ to Tijuana for the first of
our invitational tryouts. So we've already done open tryouts earlier
in the year, but now this is an invitational tryout
where some of those boys are being called back for
a second look, and there's also some other boys come
in who are scouts in Mexico, and TJ have decided
(28:44):
that they also deserve an extra opportunity to show what
they can do.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
This is right to dreams, real ace in the hole,
and a key factor that drove their investment.
Speaker 5 (28:54):
So obviously TJ is a unique thing for us, you know,
with the only less club who can you can go
across the border and and give boys like this an opportunity.
So I think just seeing them do their thing and
hopefully come and enjoy themselves as well. There's a real
mix in TJ. I think of like organized leagues of
(29:15):
tournaments of just street soccer. So I think giving them
like a format and a structure of playing today is
just a really cool thing and hopefully they all they
all enjoy the experience, even if it doesn't go any
further for them.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Obviously only a handful will make it through to the
final selection, but this is all part of the process.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (29:34):
We normally meet as a group of scouts the next
day and we'll review the boys that we think we
should bring back. So we could either bring them back
to another event in TJ, so we kind of filter
the number down to a kind of smaller number and
a higher concentration of talent, so you end up with
like best versus best, or they could come to San
Diego possibly for one of our talent ID centers that
(29:56):
we run once a month. So they probably won't find
out today we've got all of their details already We
normally sit down as a team of scouts review who
we want to bring back, and then we call the
families and let them know.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Today's setting is a college sports ground, with most of
the kids invited h between nine and ten, and some
coming from far less structured playing environments than others. It
can be hard to judge a player's potential. Lisa Berg
has spent years scouting for the Mexican Federation. She's come
(30:57):
to recognize a number of special qualities down here. There's
often a different mentality as well as a different play style.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
So you definitely see players, you know, creative on the ball,
cutting looking for one v one's and we see a
lot of variety of players as well in terms of
you know, size, position and potential. So there's definitely players
that we can see them kind of emerging, and we're
really happy that we've had so much participation and they're
(31:28):
showing up here.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
She's never imagined bringing these players into an MLS setting,
never mind mixing with kids from San Diego's North County.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
It's a puzzle. They're still trying to fit together.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
We're continuing to look at, you know, all these players.
They're young, so we have to see them in a
lot of different ways, see them in different challenges, be
it in their own language, outside of their comfort zones,
all those pieces. So that's what we're trying.
Speaker 6 (31:56):
To looking for.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Rather than just ranking the players, these sessions are about getting.
Speaker 4 (32:03):
To know them better as people.
Speaker 1 (32:05):
Though of course they don't expect nine year olds to
pass a character test, Diether, but even young children have
clear motivations.
Speaker 13 (32:14):
My name is Eric.
Speaker 8 (32:16):
The position he plays as a left winger and also
as a four well striker Academy for Las Cuela Academia
dam Football. He wants to to join the academy because
(32:39):
this is the academy system. He thinks he's very good,
and also because of the football development program.
Speaker 6 (32:48):
Answer football is a professional.
Speaker 8 (32:50):
His dream is being a soccer professional player.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
With Dadley Miami prop.
Speaker 8 (32:58):
Because he loves the game and he wants to buy
a house for his mother and father.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
As the taxis wait to ferry the scouts back to
the border, John rounds up the troops and checks the
week's schedule.
Speaker 6 (33:14):
Tomorrow, I'm going to be in some meetings.
Speaker 5 (33:16):
With Bill and Rochelle and about the numbers for the
school and everything.
Speaker 6 (33:19):
Well in the morning at ten am.
Speaker 13 (33:21):
Tao is going to present on the Mexican Academy system
and the Mexican clubs overall, and I think that's also
really important for us to listen to because there's going
to be some conversation soon about how many numbers are
we doing and what age groups are we doing and
how wide.
Speaker 6 (33:37):
Do we go in Mexico.
Speaker 5 (33:38):
So I think it's really good timing that we do
that tomorrow, and Tao's put a lot of efforts into
the presentation. It looks really good.
Speaker 13 (33:44):
Anything from anyone, the least for the next thurthern idea
it's complete.
Speaker 6 (33:51):
Okay, well good, great? Yeah, So are we going to
have the new tonight?
Speaker 3 (33:56):
Really?
Speaker 6 (33:57):
Did you want to do that? Let's go, I'll go
all right, all right, ye question.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
After a world wind month of scouting, John McGuigan and
his team are back at headquarters in Little Italy. Reflecting
on where they're at, John is feeling confident after the
latest Talent ID sessions.
Speaker 5 (34:19):
We came out of that event with thirty four boys
who went through to the next stage, which I think
was a really good number across TJ in San Diego County.
Speaker 6 (34:29):
I think what I will say is the talent is
obviously here.
Speaker 5 (34:33):
I think if you take San Diego County and TJ
as an example, the talent is here.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Today the team is attending a lunch and learned session
with the academy's head of school, Rochelle Minnix. It's another
element of how right to Dream keeps the initial scouting
connected to the coaching and education aspects still to come.
Speaker 10 (34:55):
So thank you all for being here. We're going to
give you a little assignment to get us started, just
because you know I'm a teacher. So as we dive in,
you're going to be asked at the end of this
to share three learnings from what you heard today and
then one takeaway application.
Speaker 3 (35:13):
To your role.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Rochelle founded an award winning tuition free charter school in
East Los Angeles before joining s DFC. She knows how
to get the best out of kids, regardless of their circumstances.
While the sporting staff will be tesked with molding student
athletes as players, it's her team of teachers that will
be shaping them as people.
Speaker 10 (35:37):
Not once have we had a room of parents say
my only dream is for my child to play professionally.
They want their children to live a life of choice
and to be healthy and to be happy and to
feel empowered. And so when we think about the academy
that we're creating, our responsibility is to attend to the
whole and complex and complete nature of the children in
(35:59):
our care. They are more than machines. They are more
than just athletes, they are whole humans.
Speaker 1 (36:04):
The Right to Dream scholarship will equip it's student athletes
with the very best pathways for their future. What she
makes plain this requires academic discipline for the students, which
won't be easy for some of them.
Speaker 10 (36:18):
In terms of our kind of long term plan, the
school has to be accredited. They have to leave with
transcripts that will allow them to apply to a high
quality college, and so part of that process is accreditation.
But it's also making sure that even starting in sixth grade,
we've mapped out all of their coursework to twelfth grade
and planned for them to have classes that have been
(36:41):
improved both for university access but also to be NCAA eligible.
So if they were to play in college, they need
to have classes that have been approved for that too.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
Skipping class or missing deadlines is not an option.
Speaker 10 (36:55):
Oh I will also say they have homework every night.
They'll have support with tutoring and home work. Also, if
you want to have free thinkers and critical thinkers, you
have to be a reader. You have to be highly literate,
not just in English, in multiple languages, and so they
will have book clubs and what we call designated reading
times throughout the day too.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
The children will receive classes in history, math, languages, the sciences,
and much more.
Speaker 4 (37:21):
Besides.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
Minnix even has plans to launch hobby clubs to cultivate
other interests. But as ever, they accept it will be
a challenge for young children to feel at home while
so far away from their families. It's one factor that
even she admits they can't fully mitigate and must be
mindful of.
Speaker 10 (37:43):
I've been receiving feedback from parents for a while now, ongoing,
and if I could, I'd read you one of the quotes.
But basically it was a mom who was just writing
and writing, writing, and ended with she needs mom hugs,
Like who's going to give him the mom hugs? And
so I think that as a comes more real it's
equal parts. It's so exciting because they want their child
(38:05):
to realize their dreams and they're realizing that their child
may not live with them, and I think that that
is a process of kind of reconciling what that might
actually mean for them.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
This separation hits hard for Derek Boatan, who still remembers
having to leave his home in Ghana to find fortune
for himself and his family.
Speaker 11 (38:26):
Yeah, I came from Pavas. You know. I grew up
with my single mom. You know, she's a blind so
I'm the one who take care of with my two brothers.
But I'm the oldest, so I have to be there
all the time and make sure that she's fine.
Speaker 1 (38:41):
Derek knows firsthand about the power of opportunity. He knows
better than anyone how they're in a position to change lives,
which is why it's so hard letting kids down when
they don't make the final selection.
Speaker 11 (38:54):
A lot of kids are the really need a break
and doing this causing you consist. Some of the kids
that we pick and the ones that we don't pick,
they cry all the time. They crying. The last time
a kid came to me, why why don't I didn't
pick him? Because in his house he doesn't eat three
(39:16):
times a day And it was sad, you know when
he told me that, and I say to him that, look,
don't I will come back again. So we just keep
doing what you're doing. If I don't find if I
don't see somebody might find you. But I'll come back again.
So keep on doing what you're doing.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
It's this power to change lives and the responsibility it
brings that gets Derek out of bed in the morning.
Speaker 11 (39:41):
I don't to be in the office. I want to
go out there. I want to be on the road.
And you know, yesterday I went to Sacramento. Yeah, then
I drove from there to what school two hours and
a half hours. Yeah. And the last time me and
John went to Beakingsfield four hours and will drive to
Singra went to four hours. The kind of thing I
was doing in Africa, that's kind of things I want
(40:02):
to do. I want to be on the road all
the time and just go every where those kids are.
I want to go everywhere. I don't want to lie down,
I don't want to sit down. And somebody will send
me a video that this kid is good that I
want to go myself to go and watch that kid.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
Sometimes he even sleeps in his car to make it
to an early game the next day, but he wouldn't
change a thing.
Speaker 11 (40:25):
It feels good, you know, it's really really feels good
because I feel like there's some things money cannot buy. Yeah,
and that's one of those things that money cannot buy.
That you'll be in a kid life. You're mentor him,
you help him to get to the top. Yeah, it
makes you feel good, you know. That's that's that's the
reason why I love scouting.
Speaker 5 (40:47):
The kid.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
John's lucky to have this kind of passion at his
disposal in the hunt to find the best talent from
San Diego, Tajuana and beyond. In fact, Right to Dream
has everything in place to achieve success. The extensive scouting networks,
the decades of expertise, and housed in their best in
class academy. Could they finally be the ones to unearth
(41:14):
and nurture the nation's first global soccer star. Could the
next Messi be homegrown?
Speaker 6 (41:21):
Messi is a generation of talents.
Speaker 5 (41:23):
I'm not sure that any amount of strategy can account
for finding somebody like him, but if you look at
his story, I think that is quite right to dream
when you think about it. An example would be there
are two boys in our talent pool right now who
are from TJ and one of them was not playing
organized soccer for a single team. He comes to the
(41:45):
open tryouts and we believe that we're giving him an
opportunity now to enter a more organized and structured lease
or high performance environment that will develop him long term,
and potentially it leads to a past way to Europe
like happened with MESSI. Well, maybe none of that works
out and he ends up on a college pathway, which
is equally a source surprise for us.
Speaker 6 (42:07):
It right to dream.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Next time on Behind the Flow, we leave the search
for tomorrow's talent and we return to the realities of
fielding a team today. Draft day is finally here, and
it's Tyler Heap's big moment to forge the franchises first
ever playing squad. Behind the Flow is a message heard production.
(42:40):
I'm your host. Adrian garciamaricis the series producer, is McAllister Beckson.
Mark Kendrick is the assistant producers, and Rebecca Ware is
the field producer. Jake Warren and Sandra Ferrari are the
executive producers. James Cox and Dago Diaz are the production coordinators.
The sound editor is Lizzie and and music composition is
(43:02):
by Tom Biddle.
Speaker 7 (43:08):
MHM
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.