Podcast: Previewing MLS Next Fest, recapping the season to this point

Revolution Academy players huddle up before an MLS Next game. (New England Revolution)

The latest guest on New England Soccer Journal’s “The Goal” podcast is NESJ writer Matt Doherty.

MLS Next Fest began today at the Empire Polo Ground in Indio, Calif., and will run through Wednesday. More than 400 of the best youth soccer teams will compete at the fourth-annual edition of the elite showcase, featuring nearly 630 matches and over 7,000 players. That includes several MLS Next teams from New England at various age groups.

Doherty will be covering the event in-person and will be providing content from the showcase in the coming weeks. He joined host Matt Langone to discuss what he’s looking forward to seeing at MLS NEXT Fest, along with a discussion on the 2024-25 MLS Next season to this point. 

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Here are some highlights from our discussion:

On what makes MLS Next Fest so unique:

Doherty: “I think it’s good for the kids. There’s no records — it’s not like this counts towards your standings or making the playoffs, or anything like that. But I think it’s good exposure for the kids. It’s the first time all fall where everyone can get together in one place and you can have college coaches and you can kind of highlight your players.”

On teams he’s excited to watch:

Doherty: “There’s a lot of teams. I feel like the Revolution Academy is the first team that comes to mind. I haven’t been able to see them this fall. So I do want to see the Revs play — they only have two teams, the U-16s and the U-19s. The U-19 kids, most of them are (college) committed, but the U-16 team is pretty loaded and they have a lot of high-profile players on that team.”

On what he hopes to learn from covering the event?

Doherty: “I think I’ve highlighted a lot of these players, too, but kind of going deeper. There will be some new players from the private schools, so also seeing them compete at this level. I think I’ll notice some new things and some new players as well.”

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