CHICAGO — They slept overnight on couches, folding chairs and on the lobby floor at the Sheraton Grand Hotel.

They got up at 5 in the morning, sat in front of the ballroom, just to get front-row seats.

It was officially called the Chicago Cubs Convention, but really, it was Sosapalooza.

It has been nearly 21 years since Sammy Sosa was with the Cubs. He was a beloved hero during his power-hitting days, only to unceremoniously depart and be treated as a pariah.

But Friday evening, in front of a jam-packed ballroom, it was as if time had magically healed all wounds. Fans wildly cheered and celebrated every step he took.

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It was almost as if Sosa was still hitting 60 home runs a year, running to right field, bowing in front of the fans, blowing kisses to the TV cameras, and becoming one of the most popular athletes in Chicago’s proud history.

“When Sammy was here,’’ former Cubs outfielder Brian McRae said, “it was Michael Jordan, Frank Thomas and Sammy in this town. He was a hero.

“Now, it’s like everyone came to show how much they loved him.’’

Sosa, who was only invited back after he vaguely apologized for performance-enhancing drug use, was celebrated like almost no other current or former Cubs great, his ovation eclipsed only by Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, who’s battling cancer.

When Sosa was introduced on stage as the newest member of the Cubs’ Hall of Fame, the fans rose from their seats, screaming his name. He ran across the stage, and danced to the song, “Let Me Clear My Throat,’’ waving a small American flag, throwing his arms up in the air, and cupping his ears.

It was vintage Sosa with the fans chanting his name over and over: ‘Sam-my! Sam-my! Sam-my!’’

“I thought I was running to right field, the right-field bleachers,’’ Sosa said. “That’s something I did not want to dismiss. I mean, they deserved it. They’ve been supporting me for years.’’

When he was introduced one last time at the end of the evening, the applause was deafening, and fans became emotional when Sandberg, who criticized Sosa during his 2005 Hall of Fame speech, greeted Sosa with a huge hug.

All has been forgiven.

“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,’’ said Cubs fan Scott Williams, 40, who grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and donned a Sosa jersey. “I grew up a Cubs fan because of WGN. Then, Sammy was my guy. He was my hero. And I really started loving the game just because of what he did in 1998.

“I’m just so happy that he’s back in the organization.’’

Sosa, who captivated the nation in 1998 with Mark McGwire during the great home run race, shattering Roger Maris’ record, is the only player to hit at least 60 homers in three different years. While Sosa denied he ever used performance-enhancing drugs, he was later identified by The New York Times as a player who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs during the anonymous 2003 tests.

Sosa still has not directly said he ever used PEDs, but acknowledged in his apology letter to the Cubs and the fanbase that mistakes were made — without offering specifics.

He was in no mood to rehash the past when speaking to reporters after the ceremony, saying only that this was a beautiful night, one that he’ll never forget, being embraced once again by the fans who adored him.

“I think today was the perfect day, everybody was happy,’’ Sosa said, “we put on a show. I’ve seen a lot of smiling faces. I’ve been out for 21 years. The fans supported me 90%. I’m happy to be back.’’

Did he think this day would ever come?

“Well, look, it’s 21 years,’’ Sosa said. “People grow up. That’s what happened to me. To give that statement out, it was the right time for me. The response right away was incredible. Now the door is open, and I’m looking forward to continuing with the great fans.”

It was Stewart McVicar, founder of the charitable Club 400 in the Chicago area, who helped broker the reconciliation. He, along with McRae, had behind-the-scenes talks with Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, saying that the banishment had gone on for far too long. It was time for both sides to come together and determine a resolution.

It came in the way of an apology by Sosa in December, and less than a month later, he found himself inducted into the Cubs Hall of Fame alongside former first baseman Derrek Lee.

“Look, I’m a man of God,’’ Sosa said. “I had the fans that loved me very much. I had to apologize to them. … I made my statement at the right time, you know, and now it’s working perfectly. I just want to continue to move forward.’’

McRae, who played with Sosa, now believes that any harsh feelings will fade in time. Sosa received the highest honor in the organization, plans to be around more often, and may even be a guest instructor during spring training if invited.

“For a while it seemed like the Cubs tried to distance themselves with the new ownership,’’ McRae said. “They were going their own direction and had the Red Sox people come in. Then they went on their run (winning the 2016 World Series) and really didn’t need him around.

“The whole thing, if you break it down, made no sense. It was frustrating because you had two sides that couldn’t come together because a lot of people you see here are Cubs fans, or even bigger Cubs fans, because of what Sammy did.

“However you feel about the steroid issue or whatnot, you can’t deny what he did for the city of Chicago, and what he did for a lot of people’s pockets. He made a lot of people in Chicago a whole lot of money. Now, he’s doing it again. There’s so much buzz here because of Sammy.’’

If there was any resentment by former teammates or Cubs greats towards Sosa, certainly no one showed it. No one uttered a negative word, and there were no boos by the fans.

All is finally forgiven.

“You know, he admitted mistakes, apologized for them, and moved on,’’ Lee said. “We all made mistakes, and we all want forgiveness. So, it’s time to move on.

“It’s been a long time.’’

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ATHENS, Ga. — Are you ready for it? Athens sure was.

Shortly after 5 p.m., still two hours to go until meet time and one hour until the doors actually opened to the public, people were already lined up down Carlton Street by the hoards.

Excitement buzzed through the chilly January air in Athens, dads holding their daughters’ hands while moms guided them through the hustle and bustle of expectant Georgia fans. Cars were curled around every corner, idling desperately as they waited to take a parking spot in the always-full Carlton Deck from students leaving their evening classes and construction workers clocking out from renovating Foley Field.

(I left my house two hours early to get here, and even that was barely enough. I got lucky.)

You’d honestly think the men’s basketball team was playing tonight, given just how insane the crowds were. But nope; it was Georgia gymnastics. The GymDogs, under new leadership between co-head coaches Ryan Roberts and Cecile Canqueteau-Landi, were gearing up to perform in front of a sold-out crowd for the first time since they hosted Alabama on Feb. 17, 2023.

Of course, the sellout was sort of anticipated the minute 11-time Olympic-medalist Simone Biles made the announcement she’d be in the building to support her long-time coach. Biles flew into the Classic City with her husband, Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens, and the pair were gifted custom jerseys from the football program.

As the lines filtered into the Coliseum at 6 p.m., things got really loud. I’m sure if I was wearing my Apple Watch, it would have given me a noise warning.

A quartet of Paint Line students showed up, spelling out ‘UGA!’ in the student section, and members of the Spike Squad were seated ahead of them, nibbling popcorn and chatting amongst themselves with their shoulder pads shining. All genres of music blasted over the loudspeakers, from Rihanna’s ‘Disturbia’ to Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ and wordless electronic beats, as the women, decked out in glittering blue and bedazzled black leotards, warmed up across the space, springing off the equipment and soaring through the air with unimaginable ease.

The Georgia women lined up along the student section at 6:30 p.m. on the dot to do the school’s cheer and then took their leave to do final touches as the stage was set. In the meantime, the crowd was thoroughly entertained.

A group of young gymnasts in from Athens Clarke Gymnastics Academy were brought out to perform a pre-meet routine to a mashup of songs from Wicked — ‘What Is This Feeling?’, ‘Popular’ and ‘Defying Gravity’ were among their mini playlist. Decades of GymDogs alumni, who the night is for with it being Olympics and alumni night after all, paraded out to be honored. Among them was former head coach Suzanne Yoculan Leebern, who won 10 NCAA and 16 SEC gymnastics titles during her 26-year tenure leading the program.

Biles, sporting a sleek bob and windbreaker-esque Georgia crewneck, was tucked in the corner of the Coliseum next to one of the tunnels with Owens to watch the meet. She posted to her Instagram story that Owens was ‘back on notes’ with the hashtag ‘IYKYK’ (if you know, you know) — Owens did this for Biles’ routines in Paris.

The couple had the privilege of calling the Dawgs, a time-honored tradition at university sporting events, and the night went off without a hitch, Georgia claiming its second victory of the season.

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MEDLEY, Fla. – Skylar Diggins-Smith scored the first game-winning shot in Unrivaled history, creating a frenzy as her teammates and coaches excitedly ran from the bench to the other side of the court to celebrate.

Unrivaled – the new 3-on-3 women’s basketball league started by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart – may be on to something with its target score rule to decide winners in the fourth quarter.

If Unrivaled games are close, like Friday’s league opener where Diggins-Smith scored two 3s late to help the Lunar Owls beat the Mist, they have the potential to end with a thrilling finish and postgame celebration to match. 

“That’s the thing about this game, you can come back at any time,” said Diggins-Smith, the WNBA and former Notre Dame star.

Added Collier: “It’s so entertaining. Like every game feels crucial, high stakes, because you’re gonna have a game-winner every single game.”

The finish was exactly what Unrivaled needed to deliver on its first night on the air. 

The league hopes to set new standards in women’s sports with higher salaries and team equity for players. On the court, it offers fast-paced action from players on a 70-foot court. The first game was one shot shy of 100 field-goal attempts, while 89 shots were lifted in the second game. The teams play to a target winning score, known as the Elam Ending, 11 points higher than the leading team’s score before the fourth quarter to incite decisive finishes.

Steve Nash and Alex Morgan were among at least 850 fans packed inside Wayfair Arena, the name given to the production warehouse setup outfitted as a basketball facility just 7 miles from Miami International Airport, delivering an intimate but high-stakes feel to both matchups. 

Collier had 27 points and 11 rebounds in the Lunar Owls’ 84-80 win, while Stewart had six points and 14 rebounds for the Mist in the first game. Rhyne Howard led the Vinyl to a 79-73 victory over Angel Reese and the Rose in the second game.

“The competitive fire is in the gym. It’s in the arena,” said Rose star Chelsea Gray of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. “Everybody feels it from the people playing to the fans. Everybody’s in tune with it.” 

We’ll see if the ratings from the opening night translate on a busy sports weekend, where Unrivaled will surely be, well, rivaled by other major sports also in action. The league faces an uphill climb trying to keep fans glued to their screens during the nine-week season. 

During Unrivaled’s second slate Saturday, which will feature Sabrina Ionescu and Brittney Griner in action, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs will begin their pursuit of a third consecutive Super Bowl with their first playoff game of the NFL postseason (4:30 p.m. ET).

At the same time, the U.S. men’s soccer team is playing Venezuela (3 p.m. ET) as it begins the long road to the 2026 World Cup under new coach Mauricio Pochettino. The USMNT game will be broadcast on TNT, while Unrivaled will be on TruTv — and both will be vying for streaming viewers on Max.

Unrivaled won’t play games on Sundays, avoiding a clash with the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, but it’s up against the college football national championship game between Ohio State and Notre Dame on Monday night to close its opening weekend. 

Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell, who is married to Collier, said he’s been in communication with TNT and Warner Bros. Discovery officials about what Unrivaled would need from a viewership standpoint to be a success. He believes the league already has great traction from its social media and marketing efforts before the opener. 

“We aren’t expecting WNBA viewership numbers. I think what we’re trying to do is get better from week to week, put out a great product, focus on the athletes. If we do that, I think good things will happen,” Bazzell said. “We put ourselves in a great position to be successful right away. But it’s a marathon. We’re not running out there from Day 1 trying to get millions of viewers out of the gate. It would be tremendous. But we’re going to be here for a while.

‘We have some time to build this and get this momentum rolling.’

Unrivaled will probably catch its stride between the Super Bowl and March Madness, and will wrap on St. Patrick’s Day. But it’ll constantly be up against NBA, NHL, college basketball and soccer games during its brief season. 

Friday was a great start for Unrivaled, and the direction it wants to take as an aspiring league.

Stewart scored the first points, and dished the first assist in league history, while Jewell Loyd scored 30 for the Mist. Collier notched the first double-double in the first game, while Reese had a routine double-double in the second game. 

Unrivaled team shirts and hats flew off the racks, thanks to enthusiastic fans. 

DJ Heat, a disc-jockey based in Washington, D.C., kept the game flow upbeat with instrumental beats during the game. 

Diggins-Smith’s game-winner had more than 350,000 views on X and Instagram.

“We’re like Christopher Columbus landing on American shores, thinking it’s India. We, at least, have a better compass,” said Unrivaled commissioner Micky Lawler, the former WTA president for nearly a decade. “I think our game looks and feels differently, but it’s nevertheless a very important game.”

The mood at the league’s apartment building in nearby Doral — where players, coaches and league staffers are staying — may be slightly contentious after a heated first day. But the players say they’ll adjust accordingly after the heat of competition. 

“I don’t like it. I thought I was going to be OK. I’m not OK,” Gray said after her team’s loss. “We’ll see. I mean, competitor, it’s hard. I’ll probably put my earphones in.” 

By any measure, Bill Belichick’s first five weeks as North Carolina’s football coach have been unusual.

The way he got the job practically out of nowhere was weird. 

The justification for taking the job — largely because he believed NFL teams were no longer interested in him — was weird.

Seeing him on the road recruiting, meeting with kids in high schools and embracing social media has been kinda weird. 

Watching him every week on the Pat McAfee Show, where he’s still asked about everything going on in the NFL, is also pretty weird. 

And even as he hires assistant coaches and insists North Carolina is where he’s going to be next season, the speculation that he might bail if the right NFL offer comes along — spurred on by his murky contract status — is extremely weird. 

You know it has been frustrating for North Carolina and Belichick’s new staff that every day during the NFL’s silly season seems to come with a new report that one team or the other might gauge his interest. Michael Lombardi, Belichick’s right-hand man and general manager, has twice this week gone on social media to shoot down the chatter, going so far as to say, “The NFL isn’t a option so please stop making it one.” And Belichick’s girlfriend posted an Instagram picture of the two of them Thursday with the caption: “Two people who are overtly committed to @uncfootball.” 

For better or worse, this is going to be the Belichick experience as long as he stays at North Carolina. Every month, maybe even every week, is going to bring a new rumor. Every chatty agent or NFL general manager is going to whisper his name to reporters who know that his potential return to the league would be a massive story. And every mention of his contract, which apparently isn’t signed yet, is going to emphasize how easy it would be for him to abandon college football should he be tempted by one last shot in the NFL.

For better or worse, that’s what North Carolina signed up for. It’s what Belichick signed up for, too. The narrative that he’s only doing this until something better comes along is mostly the product of his own history and the strangeness of taking on a college program for the first time at age 72.

Belichick almost certainly understood that better than anyone going into this, and it’s not going to change as long as he’s wearing that Carolina baby blue. 

At this point, we have to take Belichick’s people at their word that his entire focus right now is building a roster and getting the Tar Heels ready for the 2025 season. Despite the reports and rumors, the odds of him bailing on North Carolina before he even gets started seem remarkably low.  

But because of how unconventional all of this is, you have to at least allow for the possibility that North Carolina’s administration will wake up one day and feel used by a coach who never really unpacked his suitcase. Maybe in a year, maybe in a month. Who knows. 

Rather than worry about how long Belichick will stay, though, or the potentially devastating circumstances under which he might leave, North Carolina and its fan base should lean into the experimental nature of this pairing. Embrace the uncertainty of how long it might last. 

Every athletics director hopes the football coach they hire stays 10 years. But Belichick’s tenure has to be judged by a different standard. 

His longevity just doesn’t matter. He was hired to get North Carolina really good, really fast — and when you consider how weak the ACC has been, there’s a chance he might just pull it off. 

If SMU and 41-year-old coach Rhett Lashlee can come directly from the American Athletic Conference to the ACC and make the College Football Playoff right away, a similar leap is not outside the capability of a six-time Super Bowl champion. 

Maybe Belichick is exactly where he needs to be. Sure, the idea of Belichick working for Jerry Jones or coaching the Raiders is media catnip. The narrative that he longs for 15 more coaching wins to overtake Don Shula as the NFL’s all-time leader is easy and obvious. 

But think of it this way. What would actually enhance Belichick’s coaching legacy more: Doing something he’s already done a whole bunch of times or coming into a situation where he has no history or experience and elevating a college program to a place it’s never been before? 

The answer is easy. For all Belichick has accomplished in the game of football, even getting North Carolina to the CFP just once would add more to his legend than another Super Bowl ever could. 

So why do so many people think he isn’t serious about North Carolina? Why is the NFL rumor mill working overtime to pull him back after rejecting him completely as a coaching candidate last year? 

Belichick may not have envisioned himself on a college sideline a few months ago, but he’s there now. And his tenure will be judged by quality, not quantity. 

North Carolina had nothing to lose here. It was an underachieving program stuck in the middle of the ACC without the kind of financial backing it needed to compete at the highest level. Even if Belichick bounces back to the NFL next year, the entire mentality of North Carolina has changed. It’s gone all-in on football in a way it never did before. 

Sure, every time an NFL job opens, Tar Heel fans are going to be nervous because Belichick’s name is going to get thrown in the mix. Get used to it. It’s better than the comfortable alternative North Carolina had under Mack Brown and most of its previous coaches: Irrelevant and ignored. 

As long as Belichick is there, that’s not going to be the case. And even if it doesn’t last a long time, this is still an experiment without a downside — NFL rumors and all. 

Should Carlos Beltrán earn induction to baseball’s Hall of Fame – and he probably should – it might present the ultimate case to be bronzed without the cap of a specific team.

See, over 20 major league seasons, Beltrán left an indelible impact on almost all the seven franchises for which he played – performing at an All-Star if not superstar level at many of them.

From the baby-faced prospect turned superstar in Kansas City, to the half-year rental followed by an epic postseaon run in Houston, to seven excellent seasons – five of them All-Star campaigns – with the New York Mets to his mercenary era, Beltrán always left his mark.

Sure, it wasn’t always perfect; he performed gallantly for a San Francisco Giants club futilely trying to defend a World Series title in 2011. Their failure to do so cost them a young pitching prospect named Zack Wheeler.

And Beltrán’s penchant for the game’s dark arts caught him up in the game in his final stop, Houston, where he finally became a World Series champion yet left with the stain of helping architect a sign-stealing operation on par with the Astros’ rivals – yet they had the misfortune of getting caught.

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It’s not exactly a complex legacy. But it’s always one worth exploring.

The case for

Let’s start with the basic, traditional plateaus: Just 20 players in major league history have matched Beltrán’s 435 career home runs paired with at least 2,700 hits. All are in the Hall of Fame, save for those awaiting ballot eligibility (Miguel Cabrera, Albert Pujols) and a handful strongly tied to performance-enhancing drug use (Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez). Sure, if you sort by a metric such as adjusted OPS, Beltrán ranks tied for 18th among the group of 20. Still, getting sandwiched among Andre Dawson and Adrian Beltre is hardly damning company.

And that’s before we consider Beltrán was a three-time Gold Glove-winning center fielder, probably the preeminent switch hitter of his era and a nine-time All-Star. The WAR tally similarly buttresses Beltrán’s case: He accrued 70.1 bWAR in his career, tied with Hall of Famer Scott Rolen for 69th all time and just one-tenth behind the enshrined Gary Carter.

Among modern era players above Beltran on that list, just two players not marred by PED connections and eligible for Hall election aren’t enshrined: Second basemen Bobby Grich and Lou Whitaker, the latter long considered a prominent snub.

While Beltrán did not earn a World Series championship until his final season in Houston, his playoff resume tells yet another story: In 65 career postseason games, Beltrán posted a .307/.412/.609 line, with 15 home runs in 215 at-bats. His first go-round in Houston, after a June 2004 trade from the flailing Royals, was a 12-game master class: Eight home runs, 11 extra-base hits and a 1.157 OPS as the Astros took out Atlanta and pushed St. Louis to a seventh game of the NLCS as they bid for their first World Series appearance.

The case against

The hardest-line voters might peer at the career numbers above and drop Beltrán into the “borderline” bucket, which, for some, might mean an automatic no.

While that’s perhaps an overly harsh approach, Beltrán seemed to pick up more detractors when, after his first three seasons with the Mets included All-Star appearances, he was limited by injury to 64 and 81 games in his last two full seasons in Flushing.

X factors

Beltrán has been harder to find on the game’s radar since 2020, when he lost his job as Mets manager before his first spring training with the club could commence after his role as ringleader in the 2017 Astros’ sign-stealing scandal was exposed. Beltrán, almost a player-coach at that point, worked in concert with then-bench coach Alex Cora to concoct the logistics of the operation.

Beltrán, just two years Cora’s junior, has not yet received another managerial opportunity, even as Cora and former Astros manager A.J. Hinch have returned to the dugout after Cora’s dismissal and Hinch’s one-year ban, respectively.

While it is hard to imagine Beltrán’s role in the scandal sinking his Cooperstown chances, it’s likely to have cost him votes from hard liners, likely those who’d take on the absolutist stance against likely or confirmed PED users in the Hall.

Voting trends

This is Beltrán’s third year on the ballot, with a 46.5% debut in 2023 and a solid leap to 57.1% in his second shot. He’s currently receiving 80.6% support among 133 publicly-released ballots on Ryan Thibodaux’s Hall of Fame tracker, just above the 75% required, though that support may soften once the oft-stingier private ballots are accounted for.

Bottom line

As the aforementioned polling data shows, Beltrán should be right on the borderline for induction in 2025. Should he fall short this time, he will be a virtual shoo-in with seven more chances on the ballot and the electorate likely leaning further in his favor as it evolves.

Beltrán fans shouldn’t yet book lodging for summer 2025, but that day will come soon – regardless of which hat he may or may not wear.

Los Angeles Rams rookie Jared Verse let Philadelphia Eagles fans know exactly what he thinks of them ahead of their Sunday matchup.

‘I hate Eagles fans,’ Verse told The Los Angeles Times on Thursday. ‘They’re so annoying. I hate Eagles fans.’

Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley believes the Rams’ talented rookie made a misstep in admitting that. Barkley was asked about Verse’s comments during a media availability Friday. The 2,000-yard rusher chuckled and suggested Verse may have poked the proverbial bear with his barb.

‘Probably not the smartest thing to say when you’re coming to Philadelphia,’ Barkley told reporters through a smile. ‘I’ve been on the other side (when he played for the New York Giants), and even if I felt some type of way, I probably wouldn’t give them any extra fuel. Pretty sure Philly fans have seen that comment, and it was only going to be loud and rocking and this is only going to add to it.’

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Barkley has a point, as NFL teams and fan bases have a habit of responding to bulletin-board material given to them by opponents. The Rams provided a recent example of this by using Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell’s ‘see you in two weeks’ hot-mic comment to Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell as motivational fuel in their 27-9 wild card win over the Vikings.

With that in mind, Philadelphians will likely respond accordingly to Verse’s insult and heckle him more vigorously than they did during the first meeting between the two teams in Week 12. Verse was given ‘an earful of obscenities’ during that contest, according to the Los Angeles Times.

‘I didn’t even do nothing to ’em,’ Verse said of the Eagles faithful. ‘It was my first time playing. Oh, I hate Eagles fans.’

Verse spent three seasons of his high school career in Pennsylvania, so he has had more exposure to Eagles fans than most. That’s part of the reason that he dislikes the team so much, even its color scheme.

‘When I see that green and white I hate it,’ Verse said. ‘I actually get upset. Like I actually genuinely get hot.’

Verse will need to channel that rage into production during the Eagles vs. Rams game on Sunday. Specifically, he will need to work hard to help contain Barkley, who racked up 302 scrimmage yards in their last meeting.

Meanwhile, Eagles fans will be focusing on getting into Verse’s head as the rookie looks to follow up his two-tackle postseason debut with a quality showing.

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He also had scored a goal in the ECHL and the American Hockey League.

Days after the Penguins waived Tristan Jarry, Nedeljkovic made 40 saves in the 5-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres. He assisted on Cody Glass’ goal that made it 3-1. Then with 2:42 left in regulation, he flipped the puck from behind his own goal, down the ice and into the Sabres’ empty net.

It marked the second goal by a Penguins netminder after Jarry scored on Nov. 30, 2023.

Rickard Rakell, Glass and Bryan Rust scored on the power play for the Penguins, who tallied three times in the second period to erase a 1-0 deficit. Anthony Beauvillier also scored, Glass and Rust each had an assist and Matt Grzelcyk had two assists as Pittsburgh ended a three-game skid.

As sports parents, we often try and put our kids on an athletic path to realize their highest potential.

But, even if you’re a former goalkeeper for the USMNT and in Major League Soccer, you also want your child to experience different levels of competition and find the one where they are most comfortable.

“My 8-year-old daughter tried out,” Luis Robles says of a recent interaction with his local club team, “and I could tell in the email they were posturing: ‘She’s not ready for the A team so we’re gonna put on the B team, but she’s gonna get play a lot.’ ‘

“It’s like, ‘I don’t care. I just want her to play soccer.’ ”

For kids who are a little bit older, Major League Soccer announced last week it is creating a new competitive tier through its MLS NEXT Program with a similar line of thinking.

‘We’ve realized that there’s a real appetite to expand the access to MLS NEXT to more players, coaches, families and clubs across the landscape,’ says MLS NEXT general manager Kyle Albrecht.

What does this mean for your son or daughter? USA TODAY Sports asked Albrecht and Robles, MLS NEXT’s technical director.

How does MLS NEXT work?

It focuses on developing elite soccer players while providing clubs with top-level coaching, training and competition.

It has clubs in 34 states plus the District of Columbia.

Clubs agree to meet MLS technical and training standards and “safety and well being” standards to protect against physical and emotional abuse.

While MLS NEXT strives to develop players to compete on national teams, it’s second tier of competition opens up an opportunity for those who want to play at a high level but don’t necessarily view that goal as realistic.

Can boys and girls play MLS NEXT?

MLS NEXT is a boys competition but member clubs can invite girls to play on their teams. USWNT players Alyssa and Gisele Thompson, for example, played on an Under-19 MLS NEXT team.

MLS NEXT also announced in December it had formed an alliance with the Girls Academy. Albrecht, the MLS NEXT GM, said the organizations will work together on technical standards and team opportunities.

According to MLS, the Girls Academy has 114 clubs and more than 16,000 players (including 48 clubs that have a boys team in MLS NEXT) from the U13 to U19 age groups. 

What type of athletes is MLS NEXT looking at for its second tier?

Are they kids who have Division I or national team aspirations or is MLS trying to open itself up to as many kids as possible?

“It’s both,” Robles says, “because our objective from a player development strategy in Major League Soccer is to develop the next generation of talent that will affect the pro game, and the pro game includes Major League Soccer, it includes national teams.

“But within that object is another sub tier of ‘how does that play itself out?’ We saw an opportunity to deepen the player pool, to give more families that experience. … So it is the aspirational athlete, but it’s also just the athlete that wants to continue to play soccer with their friends. So it is a combination of everyone.”

There are 29 MLS academies and 122 elite academies within the 151 clubs that make up MLS NEXT. The league operators once a tier below MLS NEXT will now operate the new tier of competition.

Do players in Tier 2 get the same benefits as players in Tier 1?

Tier 2 will allow clubs that are affiliated with MLS NEXT to play their second-level clubs (often referred to as “B” teams) under the MLS umbrella. They will have MLS NEXT standards and guidelines and best practices from a technical perspective.

Tier 2 will play more regionally than Tier 1 teams but have an opportunity to attend MLS NEXT Fest and qualify for MLS NEXT Cup.

What are the coaching standards for both tiers? Are parent coaches involved?

All MLS NEXT coaches have access to training in MLS environments. Some get an opportunity to acquire an EFCL (Elite Formation Coaching License), through Fred Lipka, MLS’s vice president and technical director of player development.

“There’s a license standard, but we also create considerations, because we want aspiring coaches to be a part of this, and just have to show there’s progress towards getting the top license as possible,” Robles says.  

“For the most part, it would be non-parent coaches,” he says. “I know a lot of these coaches have a kid, but what’s different is their passion for coaching goes beyond just their kid, and so even if that kid graduates, they’re still coaching.”

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Will more players now make national teams that are not MLS Academy players?

Like the MLS academy and elite academy teams, the Tier 2 teams will have a chance to compete at MLS NEXT Fest (at the U15 through U19 age groups) and the MLS NEXT Cup (should they qualify through one of eight regional tournaments) and have the same opportunity to be seen at those events.

“Between MLS NEXT Cup, which was this past June, and Fest in December, we had over 1,000 scouts between college coaches and national team scouts on site,” Albrecht says.

According to Albrecht, more than 90% of U.S. youth national teams are coming from MLS NEXT clubs.

Tier 2 players will be eligible to play high school soccer. Is MLS encouraging kids to play high school soccer?

“I would stop short of encourage; it’s just allowed,” Robles says. “I think what we encourage is them to identify the best environment possible for them to develop. And what we’ve identified as what would be the best environment is, where are the best coaches?’

MLS NEXT players agree to forgo participating simultaneously in both MLS NEXT and high school soccer, according to an MLS spokesperson, though clubs can submit a high school waiver. If approved, it allows them to play high school soccer.

‘What we’ve identified as optimal is if they can stay in the highest level possible for as long as possible,’ Robles says. ‘And the standard really is an MLS Academy, and you can only give that to X amount of kids. And so if we can create an extension, which is the elite academy, and now they have a 10-month season where they’re in the same environment with the same coach and the same competition, we do think that is optimal for player development, but we want to create flexibility.

“There’s different ways for players to develop, and they’ll choose what’s best for them.”

Will kids that play high school soccer in the new tier run into trap-year issues?

A so-called “trapped” player is an eighth-grader who plays on a U15 team, which is usually comprised of ninth-graders.

In 2017, U.S. Soccer changed its age eligibility for team rosters from school year (Aug. 1-July 31) to birth year (Jan. 1-Dec. 31), a topic that has been hotly debated across youth leagues.

“I think school year is really important for social development in the early stages,” Robles says. “Let’s call it before pre-professional; it’s just playing soccer, right? You want to be with your friends.

“Once you enter into the stage of what is pre-professional, then you sort of want to align with what’s gonna give you the most opportunity.”

MLS NEXT determines a player’s team based on their individual situation.

“If the club thinks the player should play up, the player plays up,” Robles says.

Cost is a major issue with parents and with club teams. How is MLS NEXT able to control cost?

If you’re part of the club team culture, you know costs can fluctuate wildly, from several hundred dollars at young ages to $10,000 to $20,000 (or more) for teenagers when you factor in all of your expenses.

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Fees vary for each MLS NEXT club but an idea behind the new tier is for participating teams to play more locally and regionally against strong competition instead of traveling farther away (and paying more) to find it.

“If you qualify for (MLS NEXT) Cup, then absolutely, that’s something that you participate in, but even through the schedule and the events, (cost) is taken into consideration,” Robles says.

If your child joins MLS GO (MLS’s recreation program for ages 4-14), does that put them on a pathway to get into MLS NEXT later on?

Albrecht says MLS and its clubs have spent more than $100 million annually in the player development space, investing in areas such as facilities, coaches and talent identification.

But how early does that identification start? From the beginning, they think about the player experience.

“We’re not trying to create world-class players from the time of five or six years old,” Robles says. “The idea is for them to enjoy (MLS GO) so they keep playing. If they keep playing, then maybe within their club, they’re able to find another opportunity. But the key part is that they keep playing.”

He goes back to his daughter as an example.

“I don’t care what team she’s on, because if she loves it and she’s having fun, she’ll keep playing,” he says. “And if she keeps playing and she wants to get better, then she’s gonna seek it out herself. That’s all we care about.’

Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here.