U.S. Youth Soccer - how do we change it?

S

Squall

500+ Posts
we went from possibly making a monumentous jump into the quarterfinals to being what the world thinks american soccer should be.

*sigh*

So the question is, how do we change, from where does it need to start?

The quickest, and easiest, answer for me, is the coaching. Don't we have Nike's money backing us? That means we could probably hire whoever we wanted...which leads to my other bitchfest...

What the **** happened with Klinnsman?? Why did he have a sudden change of heart? Is the rumor that he wanted control from National team all the way down to the "unders" national teams and we said, "no dice"??? Are we so arrogant being americans that we think we can take a sport the world has taken MUCH longer to perfect and think we can do it our own way???
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$$$$$. pay the soccer players in the MLS tons of it, all of them, not just two or three. Put it on TV in prime rotation, not at 11am sunday morning.Once kids realize that there's money and viewership involved, it'll pick up a bit. The other thing you have to do is simple--get rid of the NFL, MLB, and the NBA. Soccer is king around the world because it's essentially the only game in town.
 
Dalhorn....How do you propose the MLS survive until your plan reaps the benefits? Raise ticket prices to ridiculous prices that will drive away the fans? I think the MLS has done a great job growing the sport in America...They've made great progress since the inception of the league.

Look...The USA has been back in soccer since 1990...Thats 18 years!!! That is barely even enough time for anyone born during that World Cup to have an effect on the Nat's.

While I'd like to see some more consistent results at the youth level I think we've seen some great moments at youth and at senior level but havent been able to break through.
 
I was talking with one of my students on Thursday about how frustrated I was with the US Olympic team's failure.
He told me that boys make a big jump from 7 years old to 8 years old. Many are good at 8, but it one is good at 7, then he has the chance to be "special".

That right there separates the US from other countries.

If a kid is really good at 7, 8, 9, 10... until ~13 or so, it's no big deal. My student told me that AC Milan (I think it was AC) has set up an office in Buenos Aires solely for scouting kids playing soccer.

Scouts know that if they find one kid, one future star, then they are set for life. Although the money wouldn't be enough in US terms, US$50,000 (or whatever the hell they get for a discovery) could last a really long time for someone living in a small town in [insert nowhere town name here].

If kids looked at soccer the same way "inner city kids" look at basketball and the NBA... we'd be Brazil.

But where as soccer in the rest of the world has been a way out of the ghetto, soccer in the US has always been a suburban sport that you might even be able to play in college.
 
In Europe you only have Soccer...

and Rugby
Basketball
Cycling
Auto Racing
Tennis
Gaelic Football
Hurling
Golf
Hockey
Ice Hockey
Handball
Track & Field
Sailing
Skiing/Snowboarding
Cricket
Polo
Swimming
Bobsledding
Luge
Ice Skating
Boxing
Judo...

See, they only have one game. That's why they're so good at it.

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Sorry, I left out:

Gymnastics
Volleyball
Water Polo*
Motorcycle Racing

*But the USA just beat #1 ranked Croatia in Water Polo (7-5), so I don't know if you could say that they still take it seriously.


You really have to look at Europe as one big country. If you do that, then they have like ~450 million I think. (That might exclude Russia.)

Different regions emphasize different sports. But nearly all regions play soccer. In the USA, different regions emphasize different sports, but nearly all regions play football, basketball, and baseball.

The difference is the money that academies can make when selling their players to big money clubs. (They don't have "drafts".) So if the USA had about 400+ academies across the country and those academies were able to sell their prized pupils to European teams, then we'd be as good as any team in the world within ~20 years.

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one bottle of wine and 3 jack and cokes later make me think you guys don't even watch the game

suck as a sport

**** that

i was just talking to my bud who got into this summer after he watched my heart break with chelsea....soccer has such a suddenness to it that football just can't du[plicate.

Arteta's freee kick right bwefore the half today wasa a prime example. the sweet sweet joy and pure anger it can bring to you in a moments notice just isn't there in football. but this is all besides hte point

Youth soccer just needs better coaching imo, the US youth is what i mean. we need to make sure hte basics are being taought as well as it is over seas if we want to comptete with them.

the ojnly question is who will be the knight in shining armor to bring a blank check? Phil knight? Lamar hunt's passing (RIP) means that well might be drying up.

I just hope we act soon, if we can dominate so many sports, lets ******* add one more. or are we suddenly becoming *******
 
Soccer is an unbelievable sport.

The build up in energy and tension and release when your team scores a goal is something you can not find in any other sport.

It's different than an offense on the goal line in football bc you expect them to score.

In soccer, if your team has the ball in enemy territory it might be a 5% chance they score. In football, it might be 55%.

So when your team scores its that much more of a greater feeling (if you will)..

When MLS playoffs or World Cup roll around and your team is playing, it rivals any football game.... and might even be better.


Just trying to break it down and give my 2 cents.....
 
last year, in the first week ofr the nfl, if you averaged the scores by 7, the average nfl game was 3-1

teh english premier league was 2-1

wow, huge difference.

maybe if soccer gave 7 points for a goal and 3 points for every time the ball went into the ******* 18 yard box it would be more "exciting"
 
There are people that swear by soccer. America doesnt get it and doesnt want to. Youth soccer and the pansy *** way its conducted is partly to blame with its orange slices for everyone mentality, but its just a way for the good athletes to stay in shape over the summer before the real sports America and its kids are interested in. Sorry soccer fans thats the way it is.
 
Really? REALLY? you think you are saying something smart and insightful? Hundreds of Thousands? Who gives a flying WTF? Even if it grows faster than a bordertown it will take generations to sniff the jock of Football, Baseball and Basketball in the USA. Notice who the biggest stars are at the Olympics? Who are the Chinese going ape over? Kobe and Wade. Someone with a little man complex of Napoleon might be happy with his leaps and bounds growth of hundreds of thousands- just dont overlook the growth of the staple American sports to 1.3 BILLION.

Hey if you want to play pseudo Euro renaissance little man go right ahead- you can watch your pro soccer teams at the RoundRock HS stadium and play like its important
 
are you seriously arguing that we think soccer will over take football or basketball??

it has a chance to take over baseball (speaking of talking about orange slices)

Have we as a country grown so lazy and complacent that we don't want to be the best at absolutely everything we do?

freakin sad
 
No offense MP5, but the same Chinese go batshit every summer when one of the EPL teams comes through for a series of preseason games.

Soccer may not catch football or basketball in my lifetime but it sure as hell will surpass baseball. Baseball in this Country has been sinking for years. Soccer has been growing. I love football and basketball -- both are exciting sports. But you sure as hell can't tell me baseball is more exciting than soccer. No way.

As per the original question... I've got a quick fix. We should annex Jamaica. We seem to be able to match much of the world on the field except in the area of creativity and striking ability. Let's take Jamaica.

In all seriousness, until the best young athletes pick soccer over basketball and football, we'll always be at somewhat of a disadvantage. Imagine if the Lebron James', Ricky Williams', Kobe's, and Tomlinson's of the world picked soccer to star in.
 
Your not understanding- it will have to take over or at least compete with Football, Basketball, and soccer to draw the finest athletes. Thats the only way American soccer will stand a chance against the finest athletes in other countries that do choose soccer over other sports- because of the fame and fortune it brings.

To the TN horn- good post- cant argue
 
I think the increasing presence of HD television will help build interest and viewership in soccer. For some reason, the difference between SD and HD soccer is much greater than SD and HD [insert other sport]. Clearly that's subjective, but during the UEFA tournament I found many people agreeing with that assertion about the difference. In the long run, this will be a minor factor.

In my view, the largest factor stunting growth in the US is rooted in the soccer culture. I played for years up through HS, but it was that culture that really hurt my interest in continuing to play. I could write pages trying to explain what it really is and never really hit it on the head so I'll offer some examples:

Wreckless disrespect for officials - Every sport has athletes that jaw with officials and even get thrown out, but soccer is on it's own in terms of the hostility and the frequency of the confrontations. Too many times have I seen players sent off for insubordination. In soccer, if you get sent off you go a man down. If a player in basketball, football, or baseball gets sent off you just send in a sub. In my view, getting sent off for talking is an extremely selfish act.

Faking injuries and phantom fouls - Again, this is a problem in many sports, but soccer takes it to another level. When soccer players are called pansies, this is always argument #1 and I can't disagree. Toughness is still a major virtue in America and rolling around on the ground for 30 seconds and then running around 2 mins later is not that. Can you imagine a football or basketball player pulling something like that? He would be ridiculed by the fans, coaches, teammates, and at the junior level, his classmates too. That kind of behavior has no place in our society. I believe it is associated so closely with the game of soccer by the American society that it is a significant factor causing the past and continuing lack of interest.
 
Amen on the faking and diving. I absolutely cannot stand that crap. I wish FIFA would just spend a year or two cleaning this up. Maybe they could initiate a post-game red card. Let the game play out. Then, afterwords, look at any diving and throw that player out of the next game - without pay. Maybe that would solve some of it.
 
Round up about 10,000 youth league soccer playing kids, ship them over to a ghetto in Brasilia, and pick up the 20 best survivors ten years later?
 
I have said many times on this board that soccer is an elitist sport in the US, like golf and tennis. So as long as it continues to be an upper class suburban sport, the US will find it very hard to crack the upper echelon of world powers. Sure, there are a few players that make it through and become difference makers, but for every Dempsey and Donovan that comes out of the US, there are 30 Dempseys and Donovans that get cut from Brazilian youth academy try outs. The US has academies, but they are nowhere near the level of the Ajax, Barça, Milan, and other euro juggernauts. Hell, even the Atlas and UNAM academies in Mexico are well above and beyond anything that is found in the US.

Sadly, the best pipeline for talent has lately come from the Immigration and Naturalization services.
 
I think the Thursday night MLS games have been a nice change. I dont recall ever seeing weekly soccer games on set days. I actually look forward to watching the thursday night games no matter who is playing. Oh, thats the other great thing about soccer, it is just fun to watch, period, no matter who is playing!

I just do not understand people who can watch baseball all day, and then say soccer is boring....
 
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