A pretty big deal to those who want MLS clubs to get better youth academies. Steve Goff is reporting that DC United has signed Abdul "Bill" Hamid, a 18-year-old goalkeeper from their youth academy.

A few adjustments were made to the original offer from the league and should be finalized in the coming days, a source close to the negotiations said.

I'm hearing the DCU will soon be signing DCU Academy keeper, Bill Hamid, to a contract. There is currently one open spot, but I have a feeling with N'Silu's recent performances, there could be two in the near future. David Habarugira from Feyenoord will most likely take one of the spots, and I imagine Hamid will take another.

As voting on the DC United defenders draws to a close, we seem to have finally found the most polarizing player on the United roster. No one should be surprised that that player would be Marc Burch, who is currently sitting at exactly 50% River and 50% Life at the time of this posting. Moving on now to our final edition of River or Life for DC United players, we turn to the goalkeepers, where there may be a few more difficult voting decisions to make.

As some have heard at this point, Josh Wicks is going to be out 4-6 weeks because of a dislocated shoulder and torn MCL. Milos Kocic is the next in line for goalkeeper. Bill Hamid is not available for league matches, only CONCACAF Champions League.

With Kocic in goal, how does DC work with this?

So let's collect our thoughts a little before the weekend is upon us, bring a crucial US qualifier at home to El Salvador (Can you say "must win"? I can, and I will) and a United road trip to Dallas (not a "must win," but awfully close). Let's...

As originally reported here (in The Offside's First official scoop), Bill Hamid, Annandale native and academy product, has signed with MLS and will be on DCU's roster as the third goalkeeper. As a result of this and other additions like Shipalane, Habarugira, and James, someone on the current roster will have to be cut.

Never before that I can think of has DC United made so many roster moves so late in the season. It's obvious that the team is trying to make a strong push for the playoffs, and trying to put together the best roster possible before the acquisition window closes for the season.
Since we last spoke, the team has made a couple new moves, including the signing of Lawson Vaughn.

Intern extraordinaire Matt Sincaglia sat down with United goalkeeper Bill Hamid today to talk about training with the U.S. Men's National Team the last two days, and playing next to his idol, Tim Howard.
Behind the Badge: How has it been training with the U.S. National team the last couple of days?

D.C. United goalkeeper Bill Hamid took home a U.S. Soccer Award today in the category of 'Best Academy Story.'

Hamid became the first player in club history to sign directly from the Academy team. He was the first choice keeper for the U-17/18 Academy team that compiled a 20-4-5 record, before signing with the first team on September 2.