MLS Player Development: Chicago Pushes South

The Chicago Fire is the first Major League Soccer club to have a fully integrated youth program running from Under-8 to an Under-23 squad playing in the Premier Development League, and now the club is expanding its reach by selling the Fire brand to youth clubs in Mississippi and Louisiana. The incentive for MLS clubs to increase their youth talent pool is spurred by the "homegrown" policy that allows a club to put young players.