Generation Adidas
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 San Diego Loyal SC
Tony Beltran 20 D/M Claremont , CA UCLA Real Salt Lake 2009 retired
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 retired
Alex Nimo 17 F/M Portland , OR US Under-17 Real Salt Lake 2010 retired
Patrick Nyarko 22 F Kumasi , Ghana Virginia Tech Chicago Fire 2009 retired
Ciaran O'Brien 20 M Tacoma , WA UC Santa Barbara Colorado Rapids 2010 retired
Brek Shea 17 M/D College Station , TX US Under-17 FC Dallas 2010
Rob Valentino 22 D Cave Creek , AZ San Francisco New England Revolution retired
Players -- 2008
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. 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. From its establishment in 1997 to 2005, the program was sponsored by Nike and was called Project-40. 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.