CONCACAF U-15 Boys Championship

[Anonymous]

The average height of a NBA player is around 6'6. THAT is tall. 5'10 is not.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Reality backed by science

A very small percentage of academy players past U16 make it to professional division 1 teams

Very few players short in stature will make it from those very few

Several sports are probably the same

Spoken like a true American that knows squat about the sport. The best players ever to lace them up were the smallest in the pitch. Pele, Maradona, Messi and others like Modric, Iniesta, Xavi all 5'8 or under. And there is a reason for that. Low center of gravity allows you to change direction faster while.maintaining good balance.. For a midfielder this is key.

Your point about size is why the US will always be sh#t at the sport when it comes to international level. And why Spain will always be very good.

Four players on the Spain national team currently are 5'8" or shorter

Only four

https://www.espn.com/soccer/team/squad/_/id/164/spain

The majority of players are under 6 feet. Which is generally accepted as the threshold for being tall for an adult male.

So the goalposts shifted from 5'8" to 6ft after the data showed a 5'8" average to be manure?

It doesn't really matter either way. The point made is the same. .the average size of a pro footballer is not massive

No one anywhere ever said pro football players were massive

You said the average height was 5'8"
The evidence proved you wrong

Accept acknowledge and move on

He also keeps using Spain as the example which is known to have shorter teams. That's fine, it's the style they play. But Germany is known to have taller teams and they play a different style than Spain. I wouldn't be surprised if the average height of the German national team is more than the American team. The point being height is not a defining reason why any country has good or bad teams.

Great point. But it is one of the main criteria we use for our national teams. Youth or men's.

I know that’s the narrative you like but it’s simply not supported by facts. US is middle of the pack. Avg height ranked 16th out of 32 teams in 2022 world cup. France, Belgium, England, Germany, Portugal all were taller.

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/football/fifa-world-cup/news/fifa-world-cup-tallest-who-is-the-shortest-tallest-player-teams-in-the-qatar-2022-wc-soccer/article66150384.ece

We are not selecting taller players than other countries. The problems with developing soccer players in the US has nothing to do with height. If we took smaller players the team would still struggle.

I agree. It has everything to do with the fact that we don't know how to teach young players how to actually play the game and give them the requisite fundamentals to be a top player (not cones but fundamentals focused on ball retention under pressure). Why most top players leave the US. Because we don't have this expertise or ability to teach at the youth ages we have a selection bias for size and speed in the youth pools (because that is what can win at younger ages when you don't have amazing skills) and this often times trumps technical ability. This selection bias starts to fade toward the men's team because at that point, most of the players aren't coming from the US, they are coming from overseas clubs. But the selection bias is a very real thing in the US youth pool and if you say anything otherwise, you absolutely don't know what you're talking about. Period. Full stop.

And the prior poster was off by 2 inches. It's isn't 5'8 but 5'10.

Hilarious to see folks argue against the data with their opinions

The USA may be different in some aspects of scouting and youth development, but we sure aren't different in height selection

The US is sh#t at all of it so it doesn't really matter now does it...

facts and truth always matter over hot air

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The average height of a NBA player is around 6'6. THAT is tall. 5'10 is not.

Stick with the soccer conversation sir

[Anonymous]

American football and basketball require a certain physiology - unfortunately you wouldn't realize you can never be that build until after its too late to pick up soccer.

[Anonymous]

Seems like our bigger problem is more about limiting the player pool by making soccer too expensive. Additionally, developing youth players end up not doing enough outside their clubs because clubs make it too much of a grind. That said, the players we have are creative, technical and gifted. They just aren't as creative, technical and gifted as the other countries where soccer is a clear No. 1 vs. other sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:American football and basketball require a certain physiology - unfortunately you wouldn't realize you can never be that build until after its too late to pick up soccer.

True
You can wake-up tall or big in HS and start playing basketball or football and make it to college or pros

You can't start playing soccer in HS and make it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reality backed by science

A very small percentage of academy players past U16 make it to professional division 1 teams

Very few players short in stature will make it from those very few

Several sports are probably the same

Spoken like a true American that knows squat about the sport. The best players ever to lace them up were the smallest in the pitch. Pele, Maradona, Messi and others like Modric, Iniesta, Xavi all 5'8 or under. And there is a reason for that. Low center of gravity allows you to change direction faster while.maintaining good balance.. For a midfielder this is key.

Your point about size is why the US will always be sh#t at the sport when it comes to international level. And why Spain will always be very good.

Four players on the Spain national team currently are 5'8" or shorter

Only four

https://www.espn.com/soccer/team/squad/_/id/164/spain

The majority of players are under 6 feet. Which is generally accepted as the threshold for being tall for an adult male.

So the goalposts shifted from 5'8" to 6ft after the data showed a 5'8" average to be manure?

It doesn't really matter either way. The point made is the same. .the average size of a pro footballer is not massive

No one anywhere ever said pro football players were massive

You said the average height was 5'8"
The evidence proved you wrong

Accept acknowledge and move on

He also keeps using Spain as the example which is known to have shorter teams. That's fine, it's the style they play. But Germany is known to have taller teams and they play a different style than Spain. I wouldn't be surprised if the average height of the German national team is more than the American team. The point being height is not a defining reason why any country has good or bad teams.

Great point. But it is one of the main criteria we use for our national teams. Youth or men's.

I know that’s the narrative you like but it’s simply not supported by facts. US is middle of the pack. Avg height ranked 16th out of 32 teams in 2022 world cup. France, Belgium, England, Germany, Portugal all were taller.

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/football/fifa-world-cup/news/fifa-world-cup-tallest-who-is-the-shortest-tallest-player-teams-in-the-qatar-2022-wc-soccer/article66150384.ece

We are not selecting taller players than other countries. The problems with developing soccer players in the US has nothing to do with height. If we took smaller players the team would still struggle.

I agree. It has everything to do with the fact that we don't know how to teach young players how to actually play the game and give them the requisite fundamentals to be a top player (not cones but fundamentals focused on ball retention under pressure). Why most top players leave the US. Because we don't have this expertise or ability to teach at the youth ages we have a selection bias for size and speed in the youth pools (because that is what can win at younger ages when you don't have amazing skills) and this often times trumps technical ability. This selection bias starts to fade toward the men's team because at that point, most of the players aren't coming from the US, they are coming from overseas clubs. But the selection bias is a very real thing in the US youth pool and if you say anything otherwise, you absolutely don't know what you're talking about. Period. Full stop.

And the prior poster was off by 2 inches. It's isn't 5'8 but 5'10.

Hilarious to see folks argue against the data with their opinions

The USA may be different in some aspects of scouting and youth development, but we sure aren't different in height selection

The US is sh#t at all of it so it doesn't really matter now does it...

facts and truth always matter over hot air

Keep believing you know something...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:American football and basketball require a certain physiology - unfortunately you wouldn't realize you can never be that build until after its too late to pick up soccer.

True
You can wake-up tall or big in HS and start playing basketball or football and make it to college or pros

You can't start playing soccer in HS and make it

I understand in a way what you are saying, but disagree. The likelihood of never playing basketball before and waking up as a 7'-0" guy and making it to the pros is extremely difficult. There's a tremendous amount of work to get there and I would say a lot of athletic ability and athletic IQ needed. There are stories of folks doing it, such as Hakeem Olajuwon, who didn't play basketball until 15, but ironically, played soccer goalie when younger.

You will hear occasional stories of wrestlers becoming lineman and such, but much like everyone else, they are already high level athletes. Just because you are an exceptionally tall or large human doesn't mean that you'll be a D1 or pro level player.

I get what you are saying about too about soccer, but is it really any different than any other sport? Unless you are some sort of athletic savant, it's unlikely that you can just start playing in HS and be college player. Dave Winfield is a pretty wild story. Ask a high schooler, he was drafted in 4 different leagues in 3 different sports. MLB Baseball, NBA and ABA Basketball and the NFL - and he never played a down of football.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unless you are some sort of athletic savant, it's unlikely that you can just start playing in HS and be college player. Dave Winfield is a pretty wild story. Ask a high schooler, he was drafted in 4 different leagues in 3 different sports. MLB Baseball, NBA and ABA Basketball and the NFL - and he never played a down of football.

That was decades ago. The youth sports industrial complex and over-specialization makes something like that virtually impossible now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:American football and basketball require a certain physiology - unfortunately you wouldn't realize you can never be that build until after its too late to pick up soccer.

True
You can wake-up tall or big in HS and start playing basketball or football and make it to college or pros

You can't start playing soccer in HS and make it

I understand in a way what you are saying, but disagree. The likelihood of never playing basketball before and waking up as a 7'-0" guy and making it to the pros is extremely difficult. There's a tremendous amount of work to get there and I would say a lot of athletic ability and athletic IQ needed. There are stories of folks doing it, such as Hakeem Olajuwon, who didn't play basketball until 15, but ironically, played soccer goalie when younger.

You will hear occasional stories of wrestlers becoming lineman and such, but much like everyone else, they are already high level athletes. Just because you are an exceptionally tall or large human doesn't mean that you'll be a D1 or pro level player.

I get what you are saying about too about soccer, but is it really any different than any other sport? Unless you are some sort of athletic savant, it's unlikely that you can just start playing in HS and be college player. Dave Winfield is a pretty wild story. Ask a high schooler, he was drafted in 4 different leagues in 3 different sports. MLB Baseball, NBA and ABA Basketball and the NFL - and he never played a down of football.

We can find several examples of people who started playing basketball and football in HS and went on to play college and pros
(the PP didn't say it was easy and common)

There are no examples of players who started playing soccer at HS ages and made it to the highest levels

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:American football and basketball require a certain physiology - unfortunately you wouldn't realize you can never be that build until after its too late to pick up soccer.

True
You can wake-up tall or big in HS and start playing basketball or football and make it to college or pros

You can't start playing soccer in HS and make it

I understand in a way what you are saying, but disagree. The likelihood of never playing basketball before and waking up as a 7'-0" guy and making it to the pros is extremely difficult. There's a tremendous amount of work to get there and I would say a lot of athletic ability and athletic IQ needed. There are stories of folks doing it, such as Hakeem Olajuwon, who didn't play basketball until 15, but ironically, played soccer goalie when younger.

You will hear occasional stories of wrestlers becoming lineman and such, but much like everyone else, they are already high level athletes. Just because you are an exceptionally tall or large human doesn't mean that you'll be a D1 or pro level player.

I get what you are saying about too about soccer, but is it really any different than any other sport? Unless you are some sort of athletic savant, it's unlikely that you can just start playing in HS and be college player. Dave Winfield is a pretty wild story. Ask a high schooler, he was drafted in 4 different leagues in 3 different sports. MLB Baseball, NBA and ABA Basketball and the NFL - and he never played a down of football.

We can find several examples of people who started playing basketball and football in HS and went on to play college and pros
(the PP didn't say it was easy and common)

There are no examples of players who started playing soccer at HS ages and made it to the highest levels

Alex Morgan started playing soccer at high school age

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:American football and basketball require a certain physiology - unfortunately you wouldn't realize you can never be that build until after its too late to pick up soccer.

True
You can wake-up tall or big in HS and start playing basketball or football and make it to college or pros

You can't start playing soccer in HS and make it

I understand in a way what you are saying, but disagree. The likelihood of never playing basketball before and waking up as a 7'-0" guy and making it to the pros is extremely difficult. There's a tremendous amount of work to get there and I would say a lot of athletic ability and athletic IQ needed. There are stories of folks doing it, such as Hakeem Olajuwon, who didn't play basketball until 15, but ironically, played soccer goalie when younger.

You will hear occasional stories of wrestlers becoming lineman and such, but much like everyone else, they are already high level athletes. Just because you are an exceptionally tall or large human doesn't mean that you'll be a D1 or pro level player.

I get what you are saying about too about soccer, but is it really any different than any other sport? Unless you are some sort of athletic savant, it's unlikely that you can just start playing in HS and be college player. Dave Winfield is a pretty wild story. Ask a high schooler, he was drafted in 4 different leagues in 3 different sports. MLB Baseball, NBA and ABA Basketball and the NFL - and he never played a down of football.

We can find several examples of people who started playing basketball and football in HS and went on to play college and pros
(the PP didn't say it was easy and common)

There are no examples of players who started playing soccer at HS ages and made it to the highest levels

Alex Morgan started playing soccer at high school age

Even though this reference is laughable in the context of this conversation about men professional players, her bio apparently needs updating

"She was a multi-sport athlete growing up and began playing soccer at an early age with the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) and her father was among her first coaches"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:American football and basketball require a certain physiology - unfortunately you wouldn't realize you can never be that build until after its too late to pick up soccer.

True
You can wake-up tall or big in HS and start playing basketball or football and make it to college or pros

You can't start playing soccer in HS and make it

I understand in a way what you are saying, but disagree. The likelihood of never playing basketball before and waking up as a 7'-0" guy and making it to the pros is extremely difficult. There's a tremendous amount of work to get there and I would say a lot of athletic ability and athletic IQ needed. There are stories of folks doing it, such as Hakeem Olajuwon, who didn't play basketball until 15, but ironically, played soccer goalie when younger.

You will hear occasional stories of wrestlers becoming lineman and such, but much like everyone else, they are already high level athletes. Just because you are an exceptionally tall or large human doesn't mean that you'll be a D1 or pro level player.

I get what you are saying about too about soccer, but is it really any different than any other sport? Unless you are some sort of athletic savant, it's unlikely that you can just start playing in HS and be college player. Dave Winfield is a pretty wild story. Ask a high schooler, he was drafted in 4 different leagues in 3 different sports. MLB Baseball, NBA and ABA Basketball and the NFL - and he never played a down of football.

We can find several examples of people who started playing basketball and football in HS and went on to play college and pros
(the PP didn't say it was easy and common)

There are no examples of players who started playing soccer at HS ages and made it to the highest levels

I'm sure that there are some examples out there, but what I was trying to counter was this comment: You can wake-up tall or big in HS and start playing basketball or football and make it to college or pros The waking up tall or big in HS and start playing...yeah, not likely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:American football and basketball require a certain physiology - unfortunately you wouldn't realize you can never be that build until after its too late to pick up soccer.

True
You can wake-up tall or big in HS and start playing basketball or football and make it to college or pros

You can't start playing soccer in HS and make it

I understand in a way what you are saying, but disagree. The likelihood of never playing basketball before and waking up as a 7'-0" guy and making it to the pros is extremely difficult. There's a tremendous amount of work to get there and I would say a lot of athletic ability and athletic IQ needed. There are stories of folks doing it, such as Hakeem Olajuwon, who didn't play basketball until 15, but ironically, played soccer goalie when younger.

You will hear occasional stories of wrestlers becoming lineman and such, but much like everyone else, they are already high level athletes. Just because you are an exceptionally tall or large human doesn't mean that you'll be a D1 or pro level player.

I get what you are saying about too about soccer, but is it really any different than any other sport? Unless you are some sort of athletic savant, it's unlikely that you can just start playing in HS and be college player. Dave Winfield is a pretty wild story. Ask a high schooler, he was drafted in 4 different leagues in 3 different sports. MLB Baseball, NBA and ABA Basketball and the NFL - and he never played a down of football.

We can find several examples of people who started playing basketball and football in HS and went on to play college and pros
(the PP didn't say it was easy and common)

There are no examples of players who started playing soccer at HS ages and made it to the highest levels

Alex Morgan started playing soccer at high school age

Even though this reference is laughable in the context of this conversation about men professional players, her bio apparently needs updating

"She was a multi-sport athlete growing up and began playing soccer at an early age with the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) and her father was among her first coaches"

In the movie about a kid who gets coached by her (in a movie magical way), they note didn't play club until she was 13.

[Anonymous]

Dikembe Mutombo - Started playing at 16
Dennis Rodman - Started playing at 16
Hakeem Olajuwan - Started playing at 15, played soccer first
Joel Embiid - Started playing at 15, played soccer first
Pascal Siakam - Started playing at 17, played soccer first
Tim Ducan - Started playing at 14, swimmer.