What Must Change With USA Youth Soccer Culture

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problem (that won't be fixed) is that youth soccer is a huge business with lots of money to be made. So, the focus is on winning. Not the slow-burn developmental process that they embrace in Europe. No, we can't waste time doing small-sided games and 5v5 matches to build our soccer IQ...we need to scrimmage ASAP because we have super important tournaments coming up!

It's all to build the profile of the club and never about the players. Win tournaments now! Because money is there to be made. Its only and always about the money here. So you gotta find a way to deal with the system and make it work in your advantage...focus on what you can control.

The goal of that slow burn is to sell a player to another club. The US gets lots of things wrong, but at least our kids aren't binding themselves to clubs in a way to allows the club to control their rights. We also value participation over a focus on the elite. Our incentives are different, but don't pretend European clubs care about what is best for kids

They are certainly about developing better soccer players. And yes...the top academies in Europe are openly trying to develop players to make their 1st team as a pro or sell them at a later date. I don't see how that negates that they are still trying to develop players in a proper way. The point is we aren't...we are just trying to win so the club can get bigger. Those aren't the same things. We don't really get anything right.

That's the difference. European clubs want quality and will cull their teams every year because kids without potential are not worth wasting resources. Pay to play lets more kids, including those who don't have a hope of playing in college let alone pro. If you care about producing professional players, Europe is better. If you don't and you just want your kid to enjoy playing, the US is better. I'd be willing to bet that most people would prefer their kid be allowed to continue playing even if it means the national team can't be as talented as it would be under a European system because most people, even those with kids in ECNL or MLSnext, do not actually care about professional soccer or the national teams

You need to know that outside the professional Category 1 academies there are Cat 2 and Cat 3 and then Grassroots clubs etc

Folks here keep talking about the European youth culture like its only Chelsea, Barcelona, Arsenal academies

[Anonymous]

Quality in coaching. Better coaching, better methodologies to train ulittles so that when they are teens or college players they can make decisions for game situations under pressure.
Youth organizations be required to grant more scholarships.

[Anonymous]

Maybe fully aligning the pyramid with FIFA rules? How things currently are, clubs can get away with doing things a certain way because collegiate soccer does not align with FIFA rules.

[Anonymous]

Everything comes from the culture but unfortunately culture is not something you can just change the way you want. It evolves organically. US does not have a strong soccer culture like in other parts of the world, especially on the mens side. It's not a numbers thing, it's a fabric of society thing. All the points people are making stem from having a soccer culture. More money coming in brings incentives for better quality coaching, better quality players, better systems, and so on. How do we make the US have a strong soccer culture? Good luck with that one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everything comes from the culture but unfortunately culture is not something you can just change the way you want. It evolves organically. US does not have a strong soccer culture like in other parts of the world, especially on the mens side. It's not a numbers thing, it's a fabric of society thing. All the points people are making stem from having a soccer culture. More money coming in brings incentives for better quality coaching, better quality players, better systems, and so on. How do we make the US have a strong soccer culture? Good luck with that one.

We have a strong soccer culture.
It's just a bad soccer culture.

A lot of our soccer culture is an attempt to replicate or Frankenstein football, basketball, baseball, hockey cultures.
Can't work. Won't work. Doesn't work.

How many people in DCUM can tell stories of playing pickup and unofficial community soccer almost every day of their young lives with friends?

How many people with kids playing soccer in the DMV can name the DC United starting lineup?
Can the kids in the DMV playing soccer name the DCU starting lineup?

No.

Because we don't have the right soccer culture to be top tier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything comes from the culture but unfortunately culture is not something you can just change the way you want. It evolves organically. US does not have a strong soccer culture like in other parts of the world, especially on the mens side. It's not a numbers thing, it's a fabric of society thing. All the points people are making stem from having a soccer culture. More money coming in brings incentives for better quality coaching, better quality players, better systems, and so on. How do we make the US have a strong soccer culture? Good luck with that one.

We have a strong soccer culture.
It's just a bad soccer culture.

A lot of our soccer culture is an attempt to replicate or Frankenstein football, basketball, baseball, hockey cultures.
Can't work. Won't work. Doesn't work.

How many people in DCUM can tell stories of playing pickup and unofficial community soccer almost every day of their young lives with friends?

How many people with kids playing soccer in the DMV can name the DC United starting lineup?
Can the kids in the DMV playing soccer name the DCU starting lineup?

No.

Because we don't have the right soccer culture to be top tier.

The girls can name the Spirit starting lineup.

[Anonymous]

I think soccer needs to be more of a family gathering activity here. When we go overseas entire families watch games and then hang out at the pub next to the soccer field after. Fields are near the center of town. It's an integral part of their social life and healthy lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything comes from the culture but unfortunately culture is not something you can just change the way you want. It evolves organically. US does not have a strong soccer culture like in other parts of the world, especially on the mens side. It's not a numbers thing, it's a fabric of society thing. All the points people are making stem from having a soccer culture. More money coming in brings incentives for better quality coaching, better quality players, better systems, and so on. How do we make the US have a strong soccer culture? Good luck with that one.

We have a strong soccer culture.
It's just a bad soccer culture.

A lot of our soccer culture is an attempt to replicate or Frankenstein football, basketball, baseball, hockey cultures.
Can't work. Won't work. Doesn't work.

How many people in DCUM can tell stories of playing pickup and unofficial community soccer almost every day of their young lives with friends?

How many people with kids playing soccer in the DMV can name the DC United starting lineup?
Can the kids in the DMV playing soccer name the DCU starting lineup?

No.

Because we don't have the right soccer culture to be top tier.

Not only is there a bad soccer culture here. I would say it's almost strongly anti-soccer. To the vast majority of people in this country, who have grown up here watching football, soccer is kind of a joke of a sport. They criticize the lack of scoring, think it's a simple game. Just run around and kick it. Watch a game with one of them and they will point out all the rules which should be changed to make the sport better: get rid of offside rule, foul out after committing 5 fouls, stop the clock when the ball goes out of bounds, more scoring, etc. Of course, this is silly and they just don't understand the game. But it is the prevailing opinion as evidenced by listening to parents on the sidelines and their kids actually play the sport. It's the same reaction I get when watching NFL with someone from Europe. They don't understand the silly rules or the game and like when teams kick field goals. All of this is to say it's ok. The world would be a boring place if every country had the same culture and liked all the same things. The US is big enough that we can still have an active soccer community for those that enjoy it, and we should accept and lean into what makes the US soccer culture unique and not try to be something we're not.

[Anonymous]

The goal of an American soccer kid is to get out and play in Europe...not play for DCU in half empty stadiums. My kids can't even find kids in the neighborhood to play soccer with. In South America, Africa, and Europe they spend their days playing pickup soccer at school and in the streets. Our culture is miles away. The dream is to somehow overcome all that and make it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think soccer needs to be more of a family gathering activity here. When we go overseas entire families watch games and then hang out at the pub next to the soccer field after. Fields are near the center of town. It's an integral part of their social life and healthy lifestyle.

The family gathering dynamic exists here but for NFL and college football. I don't see how that changes to soccer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything comes from the culture but unfortunately culture is not something you can just change the way you want. It evolves organically. US does not have a strong soccer culture like in other parts of the world, especially on the mens side. It's not a numbers thing, it's a fabric of society thing. All the points people are making stem from having a soccer culture. More money coming in brings incentives for better quality coaching, better quality players, better systems, and so on. How do we make the US have a strong soccer culture? Good luck with that one.

We have a strong soccer culture.
It's just a bad soccer culture.

A lot of our soccer culture is an attempt to replicate or Frankenstein football, basketball, baseball, hockey cultures.
Can't work. Won't work. Doesn't work.

How many people in DCUM can tell stories of playing pickup and unofficial community soccer almost every day of their young lives with friends?

How many people with kids playing soccer in the DMV can name the DC United starting lineup?
Can the kids in the DMV playing soccer name the DCU starting lineup?

No.

Because we don't have the right soccer culture to be top tier.

Not only is there a bad soccer culture here. I would say it's almost strongly anti-soccer. To the vast majority of people in this country, who have grown up here watching football, soccer is kind of a joke of a sport. They criticize the lack of scoring, think it's a simple game. Just run around and kick it. Watch a game with one of them and they will point out all the rules which should be changed to make the sport better: get rid of offside rule, foul out after committing 5 fouls, stop the clock when the ball goes out of bounds, more scoring, etc. Of course, this is silly and they just don't understand the game. But it is the prevailing opinion as evidenced by listening to parents on the sidelines and their kids actually play the sport. It's the same reaction I get when watching NFL with someone from Europe. They don't understand the silly rules or the game and like when teams kick field goals. All of this is to say it's ok. The world would be a boring place if every country had the same culture and liked all the same things. The US is big enough that we can still have an active soccer community for those that enjoy it, and we should accept and lean into what makes the US soccer culture unique and not try to be something we're not.

Don't mistake not liking it with not understanding it

[Anonymous]

I agree with the cultural point.

However, the country's scale is also a significant factor that is not mentioned. We have very different influences/styles throughout the nation, locally, and even on the same team, and we sometimes do not understand the scale on which these other comparisons are made.

So, the UK has 90+ pro clubs throughout its system, let's say 40+ in the top two leagues. There are billion-dollar clubs on that list.

Look at the actual scale of the UK and compare it to California.
https://www.thetruesize.com/

If you take that to the scale of the US, it would be 40+ pro clubs in the size of California. Germany is Texas. The Netherlands is Virginia.

As much as we would like to compare, the size is too different. The money and resources are too different, and the focus and culture is too different. Not to mention that they are churning through hundreds of kids who do not make it even close after being in the best environments.

A good step that would never happen is to keep the kids closer to home and eliminate travel. If the state had a top-down program for training all the kids in a state-specific way and lots of good coaches at the grassroots, that may help. It would never happen, but it would help on many fronts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:not at youth level, especially in DC. I know only a few kids who do hockey and A LOT who do soccer. MD + VA have around 15m people. it is more than average country in Europe. I do not think more kids in Croatia, Denmark do competitive soccer than in MD+VA. But quality of coaching and soccer is very different. i can see lots of love to soccer especially in younger generation, but I cannot see culture and I cannot see that someone is trying to improve it.

Don't know why people love bringing up quantity when the issue is quality

because there are lots of talks here that no enough kids, so like no quantity here. It is just not true and I agree quality is a problem not quantity .

[Anonymous]

I agree with a lot of what has already been said about coaching quality, sport is not the top sport, scale of country, emphasis on winning, money grabbing culture etc.

But what I can add to this is that we need better leadership in our country with respect to governing the sport. We have let politics and connections take over and it is killing the game. There are politics in every sport but because soccer is a sport for the wealthy here, the politics are on steroids because more people of influence have a say.

Soccer also isn't a true meritocracy in our country. You can be average but get opportunities because you're connected. Unless this changes, we will always have subpar national teams because the true best players aren't ALL on the field.

[Anonymous]

There is no catalyst to change the culture. There needs to be a phenomenal American male player that can capture attention in the same way Jordan and LeBron did. They also have to win on the international stage. Donovan and pulisic couldn't do either. Alex Morgan did great things for women's soccer but in order for the change to happen in America, it has to be a male player. I'm a girl dad and not being a chovinist but it is what it is. Sports culture in America is based around male sports. Until we get that dominant american male soccer player whose talents are likened to Maradona, Pele, messi, ronaldo, no change will happen to soccer culture in America.