On Thursday, Major League Soccer announced a new partnership with the Caribbean Football Union. From January 2-5, MLS will hold a player combine in St. John’s, Antigua for elite-level players. From there, select players will earn an invitation to the annual adidas MLS Player Combine in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., later that month.
Sporting KC Manager Peter Vermes sees value in the combine and believes it can have a positive impact on the growth of MLS.
“A lot of those guys, they play in our region of the world, so they understand the game, the physicality and the travel involved,” Vermes said at his weekly press conference. “In a lot of respects, they are pretty adaptable to our league.”
In recent years, MLS has seen a influx of players being signed from the Caribbean that have made a positive impact on their respective clubs. Jamaica currently leads all Caribbean nations with 15 players plying their trade in MLS, including three on the Houston Dynamo, Sporting KC's opponent in the Eastern Conference Championship. Vermes believes the salary that Caribbean players command makes them attractive to MLS suitors.
“There are good players there that are reasonably priced in comparison to the rest of the world, especially when you are looking at Europe or South America,” he said.
The combine in Antigua will focus on young players, with each participant aged 18-21.
“We recognize that the CONCACAF area, and particularly the Caribbean, is rich with soccer talent,” MLS executive vice president Todd Durbin said in a statement released by the league. "This will be an opportunity for our scouts to evaluate and identify the region’s top players."
Sporting KC currently has two Caribbean-born players on the roster in Peterson Joseph and Mechack Jerome (both from Haiti).