Generation Adidas official logo
Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States.[1] The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S. developmental system not yet eligible for the MLS SuperDraft early entry, allowing MLS to compete with foreign professional clubs without comparable restrictions on player signing.[2] From its establishment in 1997 to 2005, the program was sponsored by Nike and was called Project-40.[3] Originally intended to improve the U.S. national team player pool, American national team eligibility is no longer required for program entry.
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 included players such as Tim Howard, DaMarcus Beasley, Maurice Edu, Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Ben Olsen, Sacha Kljestan, Freddy Adu, Brad Guzan, Michael Bradley, Nick Rimando, and Kyle Beckerman.
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.
In 2017, MLS introduced Canadian Generation Adidas players, part of a new initiative with the Canadian Soccer Association. Canadian Generation Adidas players count as domestic players on US based MLS teams.[4]
Players
Generation Adidas graduates are announced at the end of the MLS season (prior to 2008,[5] 2009,[6] 2010,[7] and 2011[8]) so in the charts below the graduation year represents the season after which the player was announced by MLS as a Generation Adidas graduate.
1997
Player |
Age |
Pos |
Home Town |
College/prior |
Assigned Team |
Current club |
Ubusuku Abukusumo |
19 |
D |
Albuquerque, NM |
North Carolina State |
Columbus Crew |
retired |
Jose Botello |
20 |
M |
Los Angeles, CA |
East Los Angeles (Comm) College |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
|
Nino Da Silva |
17 |
M |
Hoffman Estates, IL |
|
Kansas City Wizards |
retired |
Joey DiGiamarino |
19 |
D |
Corona, CA |
Cal State Fullerton |
Colorado Rapids |
retired |
Brian Dunseth |
19 |
D |
Upland, CA |
Cal State Fullerton |
New England Revolution |
retired |
Carlos Parra |
19 |
M |
West Haven, CT |
|
MetroStars |
retired |
Eric Quill |
18 |
F |
Missouri City, TX |
Clemson |
Tampa Bay Mutiny |
retired |
Esmundo Rodriguez |
19 |
M |
Dallas, TX |
Indiana |
San Jose Clash |
retired |
Tim Sahaydak |
19 |
D |
Bethlehem, PA |
North Carolina |
Columbus Crew |
UCF Knights (associate head coach) |
Juan Sastoque |
19 |
F |
Brooklyn, NY |
CSUN |
Dallas Burn |
retired |
1998
Player |
Age |
Pos |
Home Town |
College/prior |
Assigned Team |
Current club |
Jamar Beasley |
18 |
F |
Fort Wayne, IN |
|
New England Revolution |
Cedar Rapids Rampage (indoor) |
Judah Cooks |
21 |
M |
Bethesda, MD |
Maryland |
D.C. United |
D.C. United U-18 (head coach) |
Tim Howard |
18 |
GK |
North Brunswick, NJ |
US Under-20 |
MetroStars |
Colorado Rapids |
Andy Kirk |
20 |
GK |
Milwaukee, WI |
Maryland |
San Jose Clash |
retired |
Chad McCarty |
20 |
D |
Clovis, CA |
Washington |
Tampa Bay Mutiny |
Clovis North Educational Center (director) |
Matt Napoleon |
20 |
GK |
Feasterville, PA |
Columbia |
Miami Fusion |
retired |
Ben Olsen |
20 |
M/F |
Middletown, PA |
Virginia |
D.C. United |
D.C. United (head coach) |
Barry Swift |
20 |
F |
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad |
|
MetroStars |
retired |
Scott Vermillion |
21 |
D |
Olathe, KS |
Virginia |
Tampa Bay Mutiny |
retired |
Brian West |
19 |
F |
Columbia, MD |
Virginia |
Columbus Crew |
retired |
Josh Wolff |
20 |
F |
Stone Mountain, GA |
South Carolina |
Chicago Fire |
Columbus Crew SC (assistant coach) |
1999
Player |
Age |
Pos |
Home Town |
College/prior |
Assigned Team |
Current club |
Chris Albright |
20 |
F |
Philadelphia, PA |
Virginia |
D.C. United |
retired |
DaMarcus Beasley |
16 |
M |
Fort Wayne, IN |
Bradenton Academy |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
Houston Dynamo |
Scott Bower |
20 |
F/M |
Tampa, FL |
Clemson |
San Jose Earthquakes |
retired |
Sergi Daniv |
23 |
M |
Lviv, Ukraine |
Wake Forest |
Chicago Fire |
retired |
Francisco Gomez |
19 |
M |
Watsonville, CA |
California Jaguars |
Kansas City Wizards |
retired |
Michael Green |
20 |
D |
Columbia, MD |
Virginia |
Kansas City Wizards |
|
Dema Kovalenko |
21 |
M |
Rochester, NY |
Indiana |
Chicago Fire |
retired |
Alen Kozić |
22 |
D/M |
Tampa, FL |
Florida International |
Miami Fusion |
retired |
Matt Nyman |
22 |
G |
Westbrook, CT |
Dartmouth |
Tampa Bay Mutiny |
|
Antonio Otero |
21 |
M |
Tampa, FL |
American |
D.C. United |
|
Marvin Quijano |
19 |
F |
North Hollywood, CA |
Rio Hondo Comm College |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
|
Maurizio Rocha |
22 |
M |
Santa Cruz, Bolivia |
Connecticut |
Miami Fusion |
retired |
Scott Vallow |
21 |
GK |
Naperville, IL |
Bowling Green |
Dallas Burn |
retired |
2000
Player |
Age |
Pos |
Home Town |
College/prior |
Drafting Team |
Current club |
Shaker Asad |
20 |
M |
Raleigh, NC |
North Carolina State |
New England Revolution |
retired |
Kyle Beckerman |
17 |
M |
Crofton, MD |
US Under-17 |
Miami Fusion |
Real Salt Lake |
Carlos Bocanegra |
20 |
D |
Alta Loma, CA |
UCLA |
Chicago Fire |
retired |
Danny Califf |
19 |
D |
Orange, CA |
Maryland |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
retired |
Bobby Convey |
16 |
M |
Philadelphia, PA |
Bradenton Academy |
D.C. United |
retired |
Micah Cooks |
18 |
M |
Washington, DC |
|
D.C. United |
Capital FC (coach) |
Nick Garcia |
20 |
D |
Plano, TX |
Indiana |
Kansas City Wizards |
retired |
Mario Longo |
19 |
M |
Apex, NC |
|
Columbus Crew |
|
Rusty Pierce |
20 |
D |
The Woodlands, TX |
UNC Greensboro |
New England Revolution |
retired |
Nick Rimando |
20 |
GK |
Montclair, CA |
UCLA |
Miami Fusion |
Real Salt Lake |
Seth Trembly |
17 |
M |
Littleton, CO |
Bradenton Academy |
Colorado Rapids |
UC San Diego Tritons (assistant coach) |
Sergio Salas |
18 |
F |
Falls Church, VA |
|
D.C. United |
|
2001
Player |
Age |
Pos |
Home Town |
College/prior |
Drafted Team |
Current club |
Devin Barclay |
17 |
F |
Annapolis, MD |
US Under-20 |
Tampa Bay Mutiny |
retired |
Isaias Bardales |
21 |
F |
San Jose, CA |
San Jose State |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
retired |
Edson Buddle |
19 |
F |
New Rochelle, NY |
State Fair Comm College |
Columbus Crew |
retired |
José Burciaga, Jr. |
19 |
D |
Duncanville, TX |
US Under-20 |
Kansas City Wizards |
retired |
Chris Carrieri |
20 |
F |
Stafford, VA |
North Carolina |
San Jose Earthquakes |
retired |
D.J. Countess |
19 |
GK |
Sacramento, CA |
UCLA |
MetroStars |
retired |
Nick Downing |
20 |
D |
Redmond, WA |
Maryland |
New England Revolution |
retired |
Eddie Johnson |
16 |
F |
Palm Coast, FL |
Bradenton Academy |
Dallas Burn |
retired |
Martin Klinger |
20 |
F |
Kearny, NJ |
MetroStars Black |
MetroStars |
retired |
Santino Quaranta |
16 |
F |
Baltimore, MD |
Bradenton Academy |
D.C. United |
retired |
Miguel Saavedra |
17 |
M |
Milwaukee, WI |
US Under-18 |
Dallas Burn |
retired |
2002
2003
Player |
Age |
Pos |
Home Town |
College/prior |
Drafting Team |
Current club |
Arturo Alvarez |
17 |
F/M |
Houston, TX |
US Under-17 |
San Jose Earthquakes |
Chicago Fire |
Brian Carroll |
21 |
M |
Fairfax, VA |
Wake Forest |
D.C. United |
Philadelphia Union |
Ricardo Clark |
19 |
M |
Jonesboro, GA |
Furman |
MetroStars |
Houston Dynamo |
Alecko Eskandarian |
20 |
F |
Montvale, NJ |
Virginia |
D.C. United |
New York Cosmos (assistant coach) |
Eddie Gaven |
16 |
M |
Hamilton, NJ |
Bradenton Academy |
MetroStars |
Ave Maria Gyrenes (head coach) |
Guillermo Gonzalez |
16 |
M |
Paramount, CA |
Bradenton Academy |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
Bishop Amat Memorial High School (assistant coach) |
Nate Jaqua |
21 |
F |
Eugene, OR |
Portland |
Chicago Fire |
retired |
Jacob LeBlanc |
21 |
M |
Palo Alto, VA |
Virginia |
MetroStars |
retired |
Ricky Lewis |
20 |
D |
Spring, TX |
Clemson |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
retired |
Mike Magee |
18 |
F/M |
South Barrington, IL |
Bradenton Academy |
MetroStars |
retired |
Logan Pause |
21 |
D |
Hillsborough, NC |
North Carolina |
Chicago Fire |
Orange County Blues FC (head coach) |
David Stokes |
20 |
D |
Dumfries, VA |
North Carolina |
D.C. United |
retired |
Jason Thompson |
21 |
F |
Garland, TX |
Eastern Illinois |
Dallas Burn |
retired |
2004
Player |
Age |
Pos |
Home Town |
College/prior |
Drafting Team |
Current club |
Freddy Adu |
14 |
M |
Potomac, MD |
US Under-17 |
D.C. United |
Tampa Bay Rowdies |
Michael Bradley |
16 |
M |
Palatine, IL |
US Under-17 |
MetroStars |
Toronto FC |
Ryan Cochrane |
20 |
D |
Portland, OR |
Santa Clara |
San Jose Earthquakes |
retired |
Steve Cronin |
20 |
GK |
Sacramento, CA |
Santa Clara |
San Jose Earthquakes |
retired |
Clint Dempsey |
20 |
M |
Nacogdoches, TX |
Furman |
New England Revolution |
Seattle Sounders FC |
Josh Gardner |
21 |
M |
Houston, TX |
Cincinnati |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
retired |
Clarence Goodson |
21 |
D |
Springfield, VA |
Maryland |
Dallas Burn |
San Jose Earthquakes |
Ned Grabavoy |
20 |
M |
New Lenox, IL |
Indiana |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
retired |
Chad Marshall |
19 |
D |
Riverside, CA |
Stanford |
Columbus Crew |
Seattle Sounders FC |
Danny Szetela |
16 |
M |
Clifton, NJ |
US Under-17 |
Columbus Crew |
New York Cosmos |
2005
Player |
Age |
Pos |
Home Town |
College/prior |
Drafting Team |
Current club |
Chad Barrett |
19 |
F |
Beaverton, OR |
UCLA |
Chicago Fire |
San José Earthquakes |
Nikolas Besagno |
16 |
M |
Maple Valley, WA |
US Under-17 |
Real Salt Lake |
retired |
Hunter Freeman |
20 |
D |
Allen, TX |
Virginia |
Colorado Rapids |
Miami FC |
Brad Guzan |
20 |
GK |
Homer Glen, IL |
South Carolina |
Chivas USA |
Atlanta United FC |
Christian Jimenez |
18 |
M |
San Dimas, CA |
US Under-20 |
Chivas USA |
retired |
Will John |
19 |
F |
Kansas City, MO |
Saint Louis |
Chicago Fire |
RoPS |
Quavas Kirk |
16 |
F |
Aurora, IL |
US Under-17 |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
Schwaben AC |
Drew Moor |
20 |
D |
Dallas, TX |
Indiana |
FC Dallas |
Toronto FC |
Michael Parkhurst |
20 |
D |
Cranston, RI |
Wake Forest |
New England Revolution |
Atlanta United FC |
Ryan Pore |
21 |
F |
Mansfield, OH |
Tulsa |
Kansas City Wizards |
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (assistant coach) |
Tim Ward |
17 |
D |
Waukesha, WI |
Saint Louis |
MetroStars |
retired |
Jamie Watson |
18 |
F |
Dallas, TX |
North Carolina |
Real Salt Lake |
Minnesota United FC |
2006
Player |
Age |
Pos |
Home Town |
College/prior |
Drafting Team |
Current club |
Jozy Altidore |
16 |
F |
Boca Raton, FL |
US Under-20 |
MetroStars |
Toronto FC |
Yura Movsisyan |
18 |
F |
Pasadena, CA |
Pasadena Lancers |
Kansas City Wizards |
Real Salt Lake |
David Arvizu |
17 |
F |
Santa Ana, CA |
US Under-20 |
MetroStars |
FC Golden State Orange County (coach) |
Patrick Ianni |
20 |
D/M |
Lodi, CA |
UCLA |
Houston Dynamo |
retired |
Kei Kamara |
21 |
F |
Lawndale, CA |
Cal State Dominguez Hills |
Columbus Crew |
New England Revolution |
Sacha Kljestan |
20 |
M |
Huntington Beach, CA |
Seton Hall |
Chivas USA |
New York Red Bulls |
Dax McCarty |
18 |
M |
Winter Park, FL |
North Carolina |
FC Dallas |
Chicago Fire |
Jacob Peterson |
19 |
F |
Portage, MI |
Indiana |
Colorado Rapids |
Atlanta United FC |
Willie Sims |
21 |
F |
Los Angeles, CA |
Cal State Northridge |
New England Revolution |
|
Nathan Sturgis |
18 |
D/M |
St. Augustine, FL |
Clemson |
Los Angeles Galaxy |
Seattle Sounders FC |
Blake Wagner |
17 |
D |
Tampa, FL |
US Under-20 |
FC Dallas |
unattached |
Marvell Wynne |
19 |
D |
Poway, CA |
UCLA |
MetroStars |
San Jose Earthquakes |
Jed Zayner |
21 |
D |
Orland Park, IL |
Indiana |
Columbus Crew |
retired |
2007
2008
Player |
Age |
Pos |
Home Town |
College/prior |
Drafting Team |
Graduated |
Current club |
Eric Avila |
20 |
M |
San Diego, CA |
UC Santa Barbara |
FC Dallas |
2010 |
Tampa Bay Rowdies |
Tony Beltran |
20 |
D/M |
Claremont, CA |
UCLA |
Real Salt Lake |
2009 |
Real Salt Lake |
Roger Espinoza |
21 |
M |
Aurora, CO |
Ohio State |
Kansas City Wizards |
2010 |
Sporting Kansas City |
Josh Lambo |
17 |
GK |
Middleton, WI |
US Under-17 |
FC Dallas |
2011 |
retired |
Chance Myers |
20 |
D/M |
Thousand Oaks, CA |
UCLA |
Kansas City Wizards |
2010 |
Sporting Kansas City |
Alex Nimo |
17 |
F/M |
Portland, OR |
US Under-17 |
Real Salt Lake |
2010 |
Vancouver Victory FC (assistant coach) |
Patrick Nyarko |
22 |
F |
Kumasi, Ghana |
Virginia Tech |
Chicago Fire |
2009 |
D.C. United |
Ciaran O'Brien |
20 |
M |
Tacoma, WA |
UC Santa Barbara |
Colorado Rapids |
2010 |
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (assistant coach) |
Brek Shea |
17 |
M/D |
College Station, TX |
US Under-17 |
FC Dallas |
2010 |
Orlando City SC |
Rob Valentino |
22 |
D |
Cave Creek, AZ |
San Francisco |
New England Revolution |
|
Orlando City B (assistant coach) |
2009
2010
Player |
Age |
Pos |
Home Town |
College/Prior |
Drafting Team |
Graduated |
Current club |
Corben Bone |
21 |
M |
Plano, TX |
Wake Forest |
Chicago Fire |
|
FC Cincinnati |
Teal Bunbury |
19 |
F |
Prior Lake, MN |
Akron |
Kansas City Wizards |
2011 |
New England Revolution |
Dilly Duka |
20 |
M |
Montville, NJ |
Rutgers |
Columbus Crew |
2011 |
Columbus Crew SC |
Blair Gavin |
20 |
M |
Louisville, KY |
Akron |
Chivas USA |
2011 |
Phoenix Rising FC |
Luis Gil |
16 |
M |
Garden Grove, CA |
US Under-17 |
Kansas City Wizards |
|
Orlando City SC (on loan from Querétaro F.C.) |
Zachary Herold |
17 |
D |
Port St. Lucie, FL |
US Under-17 |
Toronto FC |
Retired |
retired |
Sean Johnson |
20 |
GK |
Lilburn, GA |
UCF |
Chicago Fire |
2011 |
New York City FC |
Jack McInerney |
17 |
F |
Alpharetta, GA |
US Under-17 |
Philadelphia Union |
2012 |
Portland Timbers |
Danny Mwanga |
18 |
F |
Kinshasa, DR Congo |
Oregon State |
Philadelphia Union |
2011 |
Ottawa Fury FC (on loan from Tampa Bay Rowdies) |
Amobi Okugo |
18 |
M |
Sacramento, CA |
UCLA |
Philadelphia Union |
2012 |
Portland Timbers |
Ike Opara |
20 |
D |
Durham, NC |
Wake Forest |
San Jose Earthquakes |
|
Sporting Kansas City |
Tony Tchani |
20 |
M |
Norfolk, VA |
Virginia |
New York Red Bulls |
2011 |
Columbus Crew SC |
Andrew Wiedeman |
20 |
F |
San Ramon, CA |
California |
FC Dallas |
|
FC Cincinnati |
2011
Player |
Age |
Pos |
Home Town |
College/Prior |
Drafting Team |
Graduated |
Current club |
David Bingham |
21 |
GK |
Castro Valley, CA |
California |
San Jose Earthquakes |
2014 |
San Jose Earthquakes |
Will Bruin |
21 |
F |
St. Louis, MO |
Indiana |
Houston Dynamo |
2013 |
Seattle Sounders FC |
Corey Hertzog |
20 |
F |
Reading, PA |
Penn State |
New York Red Bulls |
n/a |
Pittsburgh Riverhounds |
Perry Kitchen |
18 |
M |
Indianapolis, IN |
Akron |
D.C. United |
2011 |
Hearts |
Zac MacMath |
19 |
GK |
St. Petersburg, FL |
Maryland |
Philadelphia Union |
2013 |
Colorado Rapids |
Darlington Nagbe |
20 |
M |
Lakewood, OH |
Akron |
Portland Timbers |
2013 |
Portland Timbers |
Michael Nanchoff |
22 |
M |
North Royalton, OH |
Akron |
Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
2013 |
Tampa Bay Rowdies |
Omar Salgado |
17 |
F |
El Paso, TX |
US Under-20 |
Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
2014 |
|
Kofi Sarkodie |
19 |
D |
Huber Heights, OH |
Akron |
Houston Dynamo |
2013 |
San Jose Earthquakes |
Michael Tetteh |
21 |
D |
Accra, Ghana |
UC Santa Barbara |
Seattle Sounders FC |
n/a |
retired |
Zarek Valentin |
19 |
D |
Lancaster, PA |
Akron |
Chivas USA |
2011 |
Portland Timbers |
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
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 |
Notes