Rams No Longer Revs PDL Affiliate; Partnership Remains
- Updated: January 5, 2016
The Boston Rams will no longer serve as the Revolution’s PDL affiliate, but will remain a partner of the MLS side to help spur youth development locally.
The Rams, which became the Revolution’s PDL affiliate in 2013 after the clubs forged a formal working partnership, have ceased operations of its PDL team in order to focus its attention on expanding its youth development system.
According to Rams president Michael Madden, who spoke with NESoccerToday.com on Tuesday, the club and the Revolution will continue to work with each other to develop youth prospects. Madden said that former Rams PDL coach Hobie Hare – who also serves as Director of Academy Operations for the Revolution – will remain with the Milton, Mass.-based club in a different capacity.
“Managing the Rams PDL team was an amazing experience,” Madden told NESoccerToday.com. “Unfortunately the cost to run it at the standard of professionalism that we have become accustomed to was too expensive for us to continue to run without having any help from sponsors. The cost became a burden on our youth programs, and we decided to focus our resources on the growing youth side.”
Under the original arrangement, the Revolution steered their college-age Youth Academy prospects to the Rams for competitive play during the summer months. The partnership allowed Revolution personnel – including Hare and Jasir Charris, who served as Rams head coach and assistant coach, respectively – to track the progress of Academy alumni, some of whom also trained with the senior team during the summer.
Boston College midfielder Cole Denormandie, as well as Providence College players Manny Andrade and Dominik Machado, were among the Revolution Youth Academy products who went on to suit up for the Rams during the last two years. The team was named the PDL’s Rookie Franchise of the Year in 2013.
“The Revolution have been fantastic partners and I would like to thank them for all their help,” Madden said. “From (President) Brian Bllello, (General Manager) Mike Burns and (Director of Youth Development) Bryan Scales right through all of the Academy staff coaches, they were a pleasure to work with.
“The coaches that worked directly with the PDL, Hobie Hare and Jasir Charris are fantastic coaches and amazing people. Our partnership with the Revs is not over. Instead, it will now be (focused) on the youth side of the club. We will have many Revs coaches and staff working with the Rams as we work hard to focus on our youth player development.”
Meanwhile, two sources have confirmed with NESoccerToday.com that Boston Bolts FC, which boast one of the region’s most storied and successful youth academies, are slated to replace the Rams in the Boston PDL market.
Related Posts
About Brian O'Connell
