Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young soccer talent in the United States.[1] The program, sponsored by adidas, encourages early entry (without college graduation) of American players into MLS. Until 2005, the program was sponsored by Nike and was called Project-40.[2] Carlos Parra was the first Project-40 player when he signed with the league and was allocated to the New York/New Jersey MetroStars in 1997. Since then, the program has had its share of successes (Tim Howard, Josh Wolff, DaMarcus Beasley, Maurice Edu, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, Ben Olsen, Bobby Convey, Eddie Gaven, Michael Bradley, and numerous others) and failures (Jamar Beasley, Nino Da Silva, Barry Swift, Maurizio Rocha, Martin Klinger, Kenny Arena, etc.). Generation adidas players do not count against the MLS senior roster and usually earn a much higher salary than the league minimum . Entering into the program automatically classifies a player as professional and thus, disqualifies them from playing college soccer. As a result, Generation adidas players are also guaranteed scholarships to continue their college education should their professional career not pan out. From 1998 to 2000, MLS entered a team of Project-40 players, supplemented by other MLS players who did not get much playing time, into the A-League in the USL. [edit] Players -
| Player | Age | Pos | Home Town | College/prior | | Eric Avila | 20 | M | San Diego, CA | UC Santa Barbara | | Tony Beltran | 20 | D/M | Claremont, CA | UCLA | | Roger Espinoza | 21 | M | Aurora, CO | Ohio State | | Josh Lambo | 17 | GK | Middleton, WI | US Under-17 | | Chance Myers | 20 | D/M | Thousand Oaks, CA | UCLA | | Alex Nimo | 17 | F/M | Portland, OR | US Under-17 | | Patrick Nyarko | 22 | F | Kumasi, Ghana | Virginia Tech | | Ciaran O'Brien | 20 | M | Tacoma, WA | UC Santa Barbara | | Brek Shea | 17 | M/D | College Station, TX | US Under-17 | | Rob Valentino | 22 | D | Cave Creek, AZ | San Francisco | | Player | Age | Pos | Home Town | College/prior | | Jozy Altidore | 16 | F | Boca Raton, FL | US Under-20 | | David Arvizu | 17 | F | Santa Ana, CA | US Under-20 | | Patrick Ianni | 20 | D/M | Lodi, CA | UCLA | | Kei Kamara | 21 | F | Lawndale, CA | Cal State Dominguez Hills | | Sacha Kljestan | 20 | M | Huntington Beach, CA | Seton Hall | | Dax McCarty | 18 | M | Winter Park, FL | North Carolina | | Jacob Peterson | 19 | F | Portage, MI | Indiana | | Willie Sims | 21 | F | Los Angeles, CA | Cal State Northridge | | Nathan Sturgis | 18 | D/M | St. Augustine, FL | Clemson | | Blake Wagner | 17 | D | Tampa, FL | US Under-20 | | Marvell Wynne | 19 | D | Poway, CA | UCLA | | Jed Zayner | 21 | D | Orland Park, IL | Indiana | | Player | Age | Pos | Home Town | College/prior | | Chad Barrett | 19 | F | Beaverton, OR | UCLA | | Nikolas Besagno | 16 | M | Maple Valley, WA | US Under-17 | | Hunter Freeman | 20 | D | Allen, TX | Virginia | | Brad Guzan | 20 | GK | Homer Glen, IL | South Carolina | | Christian Jimenez | 18 | M | San Dimas, CA | US Under-20 | | Will John | 19 | F | Kansas City, MO | Saint Louis | | Quavas Kirk | 16 | F | Aurora, IL | US Under-17 | | Drew Moor | 20 | D | Dallas, TX | Indiana | | Michael Parkhurst | 20 | D | Cranston, RI | Wake Forest | | Ryan Pore | 21 | F | Mansfield, OH | Tulsa | | Tim Ward | 17 | D | Waukesha, WI | Saint Louis | | Jamie Watson | 18 | F | Dallas, TX | North Carolina | | Player | Age | Pos | Home Town | College/prior | | Freddy Adu | 14 | M | Potomac, MD | US Under-17 | | Michael Bradley | 16 | M | Palatine, IL | US Under-17 | | Ryan Cochrane | 20 | D | Portland, OR | Santa Clara | | Steve Cronin | 20 | GK | Sacramento, CA | Santa Clara | | Clint Dempsey | 20 | M | Nacogdoches, TX | Furman | | Josh Gardner | 21 | M | Houston, TX | Cincinnati | | Clarence Goodson | 21 | D | Springfield, VA | Maryland | | Ned Grabavoy | 20 | M | New Lenox, IL | Indiana | | Chad Marshall | 19 | D | Riverside, CA | Stanford | | Danny Szetela | 16 | M | Clifton, NJ | US Under-17 | | Player | Age | Pos | Home Town | College/prior | | Arturo Alvarez | 17 | F/M | Houston, TX | US Under-17 | | Brian Carroll | 21 | M | Fairfax, VA | Wake Forest | | Ricardo Clark | 19 | M | Jonesboro, GA | Furman | | Alecko Eskandarian | 20 | F | Montvale, NJ | Virginia | | Eddie Gaven | 16 | M | Hamilton, NJ | Bradenton Academy | | Guillermo Gonzalez | 16 | M | Paramount, CA | Bradenton Academy | | Nate Jaqua | 21 | F | Eugene, OR | Portland | | Jacob LeBlanc | 21 | M | Palo Alto, VA | Virginia | | Ricky Lewis | 20 | D | Spring, TX | Clemson | | Mike Magee | 18 | F/M | South Barrington, IL | Bradenton Academy | | Logan Pause | 21 | D | Hillsborough, NC | North Carolina | | David Stokes | 20 | D | Dumfries, VA | North Carolina | | Jason Thompson | 21 | F | Garland, TX | Eastern Illinois | | Player | Age | Pos | Home Town | College/prior | | Devin Barclay | 17 | F | Annapolis, MD | US Under-20 | | Isaias Bardales | 21 | F | San Jose, CA | San Jose State | | Edson Buddle | 19 | F | New Rochelle, NY | State Fair Comm College | | José Burciaga, Jr. | 19 | D | Duncanville, TX | US Under-20 | | Chris Carrieri | 20 | F | Stafford, VA | North Carolina | | DJ Countess | 19 | GK | Sacramento, CA | UCLA | | Nick Downing | 20 | D | Redmond, WA | Maryland | | Eddie Johnson | 16 | F | Palm Coast, FL | Bradenton Academy | | Martin Klinger | 20 | F | Kearny, NJ | | | Santino Quaranta | 16 | F | Baltimore, MD | Bradenton Academy | | Miguel Saavedra | 17 | M | Milwaukee, WI | US Under-18 | | Player | Age | Pos | Home Town | College/prior | | Shaker Asad | 20 | M | Raleigh, NC | North Carolina State | | Kyle Beckerman | 17 | M | Crofton, MD | US Under-17 | | Carlos Bocanegra | 20 | D | Alta Loma, CA | UCLA | | Danny Califf | 19 | D | Orange, CA | Maryland | | Bobby Convey | 16 | M | Philadelphia, PA | Bradenton Academy | | Micah Cooks | 18 | M | Washington, DC | | | Nick Garcia | 20 | D | Plano, TX | Indiana | | Mario Longo | 19 | M | Apex, NC | | | Rusty Pierce | 20 | D | The Woodlands, TX | UNC Greensboro | | Nick Rimando | 20 | GK | Montclair, CA | UCLA | | Seth Trembly | 17 | M | Littleton, CO | Bradenton Academy | | Sergio Salas | 18 | F | Falls Church, VA | | | Player | Age | Pos | Home Town | College/prior | | Chris Albright | 20 | F | Philadelphia, PA | Virginia | | DaMarcus Beasley | 16 | M | Fort Wayne, IN | Bradenton Academy | | Scott Bower | 20 | F/M | Tampa, FL | Clemson | | Sergi Daniv | 23 | M | Lviv, Ukraine | Wake Forest | | Francisco Gomez | 19 | M | Watsonville, CA | | | Michael Green | 20 | D | Columbia, MD | Virginia | | Dema Kovalenko | 21 | M | Rochester, NY | Indiana | | Alen Kozic | 22 | D/M | Tampa, FL | Florida International | | Matt Nyman | | | | Dartmouth | | Antonio Otero | 21 | M | Tampa, FL | American | | Marvin Quijano | 19 | F | North Hollywood, CA | Rio Honda Comm College | | Maurizio Rocha | 22 | M | Santa Cruz, Bolivia | Connecticut | | Scott Vallow | 21 | GK | Naperville, IL | Bowling Green | | Player | Age | Pos | Home Town | College/prior | | Jamar Beasley | 18 | F | Fort Wayne, IN | | | Judah Cooks | 21 | M | Bethesda, MD | Maryland | | Tim Howard | 18 | GK | North Brunswick, NJ | US Under-20 | | Andy Kirk | 20 | GK | Milwaukee, WI | Maryland | | Chad McCarty | 20 | D | Clovis, CA | Washington | | Matt Napoleon | 20 | GK | Feasterville, PA | Columbia | | Ben Olsen | 20 | M/F | Middletown, PA | Virginia | | Barry Swift | 20 | F | Port-of-Spain, Trinidad | | | Scott Vermillion | 21 | D | Olathe, KS | Virginia | | Brian West | 19 | F | Columbia, MD | Virginia | | Josh Wolff | 20 | F | Stone Mountain, GA | South Carolina | | Player | Age | Pos | Home Town | College/prior | | Ubusuku Abukusumo | 19 | D | Albuquerque, NM | North Carolina State | | Jose Botello | 20 | M | Los Angeles, CA | East Los Angeles (Comm) College | | Nino Da Silva | 17 | M | Hoffman Estates, IL | | | Joey DiGiamarino | 19 | D | Corona, CA | Cal State Fullerton | | Brian Dunseth | 19 | D | Upland, CA | Cal State Fullerton | | Carlos Parra | 19 | M | West Haven, CT | | | Eric Quill | 18 | F | Missouri City, TX | Clemson | | Esmundo Rodriguez | 19 | M | Dallas, TX | Indiana | | Tim Sahaydak | 19 | D | Bethlehem, PA | North Carolina | | Juan Sastoque | 19 | F | Brooklyn, NY | Cal State Northridge | [edit] Project-40 in the A-League | Year | Division | League | Reg. Season | Playoffs | Open Cup | | 1998 | 2 | USISL A-League | 5th, Pacific | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | | 1999 | 2 | USL A-League | 2nd, Central | Quarterfinals | Did not qualify | | 2000 | 2 | USL A-League | 4th, Central | Did not qualify | 3rd Round | |
