Landon Donovan was right

[Anonymous]

We suck at soccer because we aren't allowing kids from immigrant communities in the US the chance to get noticed and play for the US national teams.

There are so many families whose parents played soccer as kids and still play on the weekends, they watch soccer, the kids play pick up games at school, and they play in immigrant leagues. My son played in a league of mainly Mexican and Central American immigrants from 5 years old to 7. There was a Saturday League and a Sunday league so you could play for two different teams or the same team one or both days.

There were so many really good players- light on their feet and could move the ball so well. Somehow they never get noticed and are passed up in US youth soccer national teams.

Look at Spain and some of the players they have on their national team. Immigrants who are quickly tapped to go to Academies and play on Spain's youth teams:

Lamine Yamal- parents are recent immigrants who came from Morocco and Equitorial Guinea.

Nico Williams- Parents crossed the Sahara desert in the 1990's from Ghana.

All across Europe countries are developing the children of immigrants. Here is one article that explains:
https://unric.org/en/a-beautiful-game-of-diversity-the-migrant-stories-behind-euro-2024/

What do the German Ilkay Gündoğan, Frenchman Eduardo Camavinga and Spaniard Nico Williams have in common? Yes, they are among the star players of the Euro 2024, the European championship of male national football teams in Germany this summer. However, they are also, like many other participants in Euro 2024, sons of migrants and refugees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Soccer is not popular in the U.S. because it’s harder to master than the other popular sports despite the volume of children who have played it at some point. Why? Because you need to control the ball with your feet which is not what feet are meant to do. Compare to lacrosse which many athletic players can break into in high school and still do really well.

Thus, it’s a sport that’s harder to break into unless a kid has been doing it since they were young. Athletics kids that start later can do well in youth and college soccer but rarely get past college.

I mean at many “high” levels of youth soccer, so many kids still haven’t mastered something as basic and fundamental as juggling the ball. At the end of the day, kids find it too hard and move on to a different sport that’s easier.

Have you tried hitting a 99 mph fastball or a curve ball that starts at your shoulders and ends at your ankles with a wooden stick or shoot a ball into a hoop that is only slightly larger from 30 feet away? Soccer is no harder to master than any other sport...golf is probably the hardest sport to master yet the US seems to be pretty good in that area.

Golf, even baseball, isn’t really relevant to this conversation. Let’s stick with sports with similar worldwide popularity both by audience and people playing it.

Keep moving the goal posts - "soccer isn't popular because it's harder to master" is complete crap

Baseball is popular in Latin America where i think soccer is pretty popular there too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Soccer is not popular in the U.S. because it’s harder to master than the other popular sports despite the volume of children who have played it at some point. Why? Because you need to control the ball with your feet which is not what feet are meant to do. Compare to lacrosse which many athletic players can break into in high school and still do really well.

Thus, it’s a sport that’s harder to break into unless a kid has been doing it since they were young. Athletics kids that start later can do well in youth and college soccer but rarely get past college.

I mean at many “high” levels of youth soccer, so many kids still haven’t mastered something as basic and fundamental as juggling the ball. At the end of the day, kids find it too hard and move on to a different sport that’s easier.

Have you tried hitting a 99 mph fastball or a curve ball that starts at your shoulders and ends at your ankles with a wooden stick or shoot a ball into a hoop that is only slightly larger from 30 feet away? Soccer is no harder to master than any other sport...golf is probably the hardest sport to master yet the US seems to be pretty good in that area.

Golf is not even a team sport, much less an accessible sport worldwide or even in the U.S.

because it doesn't fit your narrative we'll just exclude it, okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Soccer is not popular in the U.S. because it’s harder to master than the other popular sports despite the volume of children who have played it at some point. Why? Because you need to control the ball with your feet which is not what feet are meant to do. Compare to lacrosse which many athletic players can break into in high school and still do really well.

Thus, it’s a sport that’s harder to break into unless a kid has been doing it since they were young. Athletics kids that start later can do well in youth and college soccer but rarely get past college.

I mean at many “high” levels of youth soccer, so many kids still haven’t mastered something as basic and fundamental as juggling the ball. At the end of the day, kids find it too hard and move on to a different sport that’s easier.

Have you tried hitting a 99 mph fastball or a curve ball that starts at your shoulders and ends at your ankles with a wooden stick or shoot a ball into a hoop that is only slightly larger from 30 feet away? Soccer is no harder to master than any other sport...golf is probably the hardest sport to master yet the US seems to be pretty good in that area.

Golf is not even a team sport, much less an accessible sport worldwide or even in the U.S.

because it doesn't fit your narrative we'll just exclude it, okay.

Ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Soccer is not popular in the U.S. because it’s harder to master than the other popular sports despite the volume of children who have played it at some point. Why? Because you need to control the ball with your feet which is not what feet are meant to do. Compare to lacrosse which many athletic players can break into in high school and still do really well.

Thus, it’s a sport that’s harder to break into unless a kid has been doing it since they were young. Athletics kids that start later can do well in youth and college soccer but rarely get past college.

I mean at many “high” levels of youth soccer, so many kids still haven’t mastered something as basic and fundamental as juggling the ball. At the end of the day, kids find it too hard and move on to a different sport that’s easier.

Have you tried hitting a 99 mph fastball or a curve ball that starts at your shoulders and ends at your ankles with a wooden stick or shoot a ball into a hoop that is only slightly larger from 30 feet away? Soccer is no harder to master than any other sport...golf is probably the hardest sport to master yet the US seems to be pretty good in that area.

Golf, even baseball, isn’t really relevant to this conversation. Let’s stick with sports with similar worldwide popularity both by audience and people playing it.

Keep moving the goal posts - "soccer isn't popular because it's harder to master" is complete crap

Baseball is popular in Latin America where i think soccer is pretty popular there too

Ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We suck at soccer because we aren't allowing kids from immigrant communities in the US the chance to get noticed and play for the US national teams.

There are so many families whose parents played soccer as kids and still play on the weekends, they watch soccer, the kids play pick up games at school, and they play in immigrant leagues. My son played in a league of mainly Mexican and Central American immigrants from 5 years old to 7. There was a Saturday League and a Sunday league so you could play for two different teams or the same team one or both days.

There were so many really good players- light on their feet and could move the ball so well. Somehow they never get noticed and are passed up in US youth soccer national teams.

Look at Spain and some of the players they have on their national team. Immigrants who are quickly tapped to go to Academies and play on Spain's youth teams:

Lamine Yamal- parents are recent immigrants who came from Morocco and Equitorial Guinea.

Nico Williams- Parents crossed the Sahara desert in the 1990's from Ghana.

All across Europe countries are developing the children of immigrants. Here is one article that explains:
https://unric.org/en/a-beautiful-game-of-diversity-the-migrant-stories-behind-euro-2024/

What do the German Ilkay Gündoğan, Frenchman Eduardo Camavinga and Spaniard Nico Williams have in common? Yes, they are among the star players of the Euro 2024, the European championship of male national football teams in Germany this summer. However, they are also, like many other participants in Euro 2024, sons of migrants and refugees.

Allow is not the right word. The U.S. and most clubs don’t bridge the path to more opportunities. That includes having liaisons to make the move to clubs easier for the promising players. Our kids started in these immigrant/local leagues and while they’re now in MLSNext, we have not yet been successful in getting former teammates make the same move due to cost and cultural differences and language barriers. Even when cost was not issue, it was still hard to integrate player and their family into the team

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current youth soccer scene is not great.

But he blames the culture, not the landscape.

Has there ever been fewer opportunities for players to stay on a quality team in youth and develop?

Have there ever been fewer chances to play college soccer?

Have there ever been this many leagues, this big of a disconnect between “elite”?

ECNL, MLSNext, NAL, ECNL RL, EDP…

It’s ridiculous.

Yes youth soccer is in a bad position right now, but to blame the parents who pay for all of this to keep going is ludicrous.

If MLS chose 10-15 years ago to implement pro-rel, we would see so many more opportunities for players to develop and advance following a proper professional roadmap.

But the pressure isn’t on MLS teams to win and develop. The pressure is on them to develop, sign, and sell for profit.

It’s a shame that we think we are caught up to the rest of the world, while parents are still paying $2k-4k a season for their kids to call themselves elite. Where’s that $$ really going? To the clubs? Sure.

But to the leagues, the tournaments, and the facilities, that’s where it all goes. Fields in the dmv are impossible to come by. Leagues all have their hands out looking to expand. Tourney fees are insane. Everyone wants their piece, but it’s up to the parents to change that? Not seeing that. Maybe Landon was a little isolated during his playing days and hasn’t seen how far we have fallen, I get that parents (I’m not one, I’m a coach, for the record) can be a lot to deal with when their kids are involved, but everyone is playing in the same sandbox.

There are several small grass roots clubs in the DMV with good coaches who understand youth development and care about the kids welfare.
They are routinely abandoned by parents who pull their young kids from that environment to chase a brand name label big club.
Seeking winning and trophies and bragging rights. The unfortunate foundation for US soccer 'culture'

These clubs that you mention --- they cannot deliver the college recruiting. As a result they are worthless.

Explain how they cannot deliver the college recruiting?
Do you have verifiable statistics to back that up?

Also, most small grass roots clubs focus on the specialty of younger players development. Not older players performance.

Unfortunately majority of you focus on performance at the development early stages.

Several of the small club coaches/owners actually have extensive networks for college and above. You just assume only the big expensive Bethesdas and Arlingtons do.

If they are worthless, how come so many MLS Next players came from them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Olympics routinely shows that we have the best athletes. We don't have the best soccer players. That comes down to knowhow, culture, hunger, and system structure. A significant issue is the microwave society we live in. Everyone wants to win NOW. That results in picking big, fast kids - early developers usually. When those kids can no longer rely on their size and strength, they come what most who truly know the game recognized they would be all along - average. Nobody looked at Phil Foden or Kevin DeBruyne as kids and thought they were physically gifted or dominant as youth. They saw game IQ, potential, and dedication to excellence. In the US, those kids get put on the second team and forgotten in favor of the kid who is six inches taller and can score with raw size and few skills or smarts. We're great at collecting U11 trophies and not much afterward. (See SYC.)

The Olympics show our volume of athletes have better odds of winning medals.
Per capita as a country, we don't lead medal counts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

Here comes this dumb nonsensical argument again.

Yeah being 6'10 or 275lbs and can run through a brick wall are the traits of all the top soccer players.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

It's not just that our best athletes are in the NBA and NFL. It's that all our best athletes are TRYING to be in the NBA and NFL. That 5'6'' kid whose body type would work great for soccer, but maybe not for basketball because they aren't very tall, is still playing basketball but their playing career ends in high school. Imagine if that 5'6'' kid didn't spend the first 15 years of their life trying to become a basketball player, and had started with soccer instead. Those are the players that we're missing out on because soccer isn't popular.

So help us to understand how you draw a line between basketball skills equating to soccer skills?

The stands at soccer games are filled with people with the 'right body types' who played soccer all their lives and couldn't get to the top tier.

btw..... where are these results of the athletic testing done on all children in the USA at elementary school before the best were filtered into nba and NFL and baseball?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

Here comes this dumb nonsensical argument again.

Yeah being 6'10 or 275lbs and can run through a brick wall are the traits of all the top soccer players.

Tyreek Hill is 5'10
Ladanian Tomlinson is 5'10"
Deon Sanders is 6'1"
Travis Hunter is 6'1"
Champ Bailey is 6'0"
Austin Ekeler is 5'9"
Desmond Howard is 5'10"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every sport in USA is structured as hell, almost year-round play. There's no incentive to go out and play in the street when you have gaming inside and air conditioning. American youth is sucked up by four way more popular sports before a boy thinks of soccer after the age of 8. Girls gravitate to it because only basketball takes athletes away. Don't blame just the kids either... i see the sidelines heaving with heavy-set parents who very likey never usher their kids outside because they too sit on their phones all day.

i think everyone is trying to find fault when there is no fault. Soccer is just a fringe sport in America, it's just the way it is.

The facts are most boys would rather play basketball, baseball or football and it's likely because that's what one of their parents grew up playing or watched or whatever reason.

I agree with this. Our best athletes in the US are not choosing soccer. If we took our best athletes in the NBA and NFL and they played soccer throughout their lives, we would dominate.

It's not just that our best athletes are in the NBA and NFL. It's that all our best athletes are TRYING to be in the NBA and NFL. That 5'6'' kid whose body type would work great for soccer, but maybe not for basketball because they aren't very tall, is still playing basketball but their playing career ends in high school. Imagine if that 5'6'' kid didn't spend the first 15 years of their life trying to become a basketball player, and had started with soccer instead. Those are the players that we're missing out on because soccer isn't popular.

So help us to understand how you draw a line between basketball skills equating to soccer skills?

The stands at soccer games are filled with people with the 'right body types' who played soccer all their lives and couldn't get to the top tier.

btw..... where are these results of the athletic testing done on all children in the USA at elementary school before the best were filtered into nba and NFL and baseball?

skills are learned, if a child has any athletic ability they can learn the particular skills of the required sport. So the argument is instead of the shorter players focusing all their effort on basketball and quiting after high school, what would happen if they focused all their effort on soccer?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current youth soccer scene is not great.

But he blames the culture, not the landscape.

Has there ever been fewer opportunities for players to stay on a quality team in youth and develop?

Have there ever been fewer chances to play college soccer?

Have there ever been this many leagues, this big of a disconnect between “elite”?

ECNL, MLSNext, NAL, ECNL RL, EDP…

It’s ridiculous.

Yes youth soccer is in a bad position right now, but to blame the parents who pay for all of this to keep going is ludicrous.

If MLS chose 10-15 years ago to implement pro-rel, we would see so many more opportunities for players to develop and advance following a proper professional roadmap.

But the pressure isn’t on MLS teams to win and develop. The pressure is on them to develop, sign, and sell for profit.

It’s a shame that we think we are caught up to the rest of the world, while parents are still paying $2k-4k a season for their kids to call themselves elite. Where’s that $$ really going? To the clubs? Sure.

But to the leagues, the tournaments, and the facilities, that’s where it all goes. Fields in the dmv are impossible to come by. Leagues all have their hands out looking to expand. Tourney fees are insane. Everyone wants their piece, but it’s up to the parents to change that? Not seeing that. Maybe Landon was a little isolated during his playing days and hasn’t seen how far we have fallen, I get that parents (I’m not one, I’m a coach, for the record) can be a lot to deal with when their kids are involved, but everyone is playing in the same sandbox.

There are several small grass roots clubs in the DMV with good coaches who understand youth development and care about the kids welfare.
They are routinely abandoned by parents who pull their young kids from that environment to chase a brand name label big club.
Seeking winning and trophies and bragging rights. The unfortunate foundation for US soccer 'culture'

These clubs that you mention --- they cannot deliver the college recruiting. As a result they are worthless.

Explain how they cannot deliver the college recruiting?
Do you have verifiable statistics to back that up?

Also, most small grass roots clubs focus on the specialty of younger players development. Not older players performance.

Unfortunately majority of you focus on performance at the development early stages.

Several of the small club coaches/owners actually have extensive networks for college and above. You just assume only the big expensive Bethesdas and Arlingtons do.

If they are worthless, how come so many MLS Next players came from them?

Can you name any local grass roots club with a track record of placing boys on college teams

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current youth soccer scene is not great.

But he blames the culture, not the landscape.

Has there ever been fewer opportunities for players to stay on a quality team in youth and develop?

Have there ever been fewer chances to play college soccer?

Have there ever been this many leagues, this big of a disconnect between “elite”?

ECNL, MLSNext, NAL, ECNL RL, EDP…

It’s ridiculous.

Yes youth soccer is in a bad position right now, but to blame the parents who pay for all of this to keep going is ludicrous.

If MLS chose 10-15 years ago to implement pro-rel, we would see so many more opportunities for players to develop and advance following a proper professional roadmap.

But the pressure isn’t on MLS teams to win and develop. The pressure is on them to develop, sign, and sell for profit.

It’s a shame that we think we are caught up to the rest of the world, while parents are still paying $2k-4k a season for their kids to call themselves elite. Where’s that $$ really going? To the clubs? Sure.

But to the leagues, the tournaments, and the facilities, that’s where it all goes. Fields in the dmv are impossible to come by. Leagues all have their hands out looking to expand. Tourney fees are insane. Everyone wants their piece, but it’s up to the parents to change that? Not seeing that. Maybe Landon was a little isolated during his playing days and hasn’t seen how far we have fallen, I get that parents (I’m not one, I’m a coach, for the record) can be a lot to deal with when their kids are involved, but everyone is playing in the same sandbox.

There are several small grass roots clubs in the DMV with good coaches who understand youth development and care about the kids welfare.
They are routinely abandoned by parents who pull their young kids from that environment to chase a brand name label big club.
Seeking winning and trophies and bragging rights. The unfortunate foundation for US soccer 'culture'

These clubs that you mention --- they cannot deliver the college recruiting. As a result they are worthless.

Explain how they cannot deliver the college recruiting?
Do you have verifiable statistics to back that up?

Also, most small grass roots clubs focus on the specialty of younger players development. Not older players performance.

Unfortunately majority of you focus on performance at the development early stages.

Several of the small club coaches/owners actually have extensive networks for college and above. You just assume only the big expensive Bethesdas and Arlingtons do.

If they are worthless, how come so many MLS Next players came from them?

Can you name any local grass roots club with a track record of placing boys on college teams

If you listened (read) instead of just waiting to push your narrative, you would see the PP placed emphasis on the early development years (hence grassroots)

That said, there is no need to give you the name of the clubs for you have no interest.

People truly in the DMV soccer world know them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The current youth soccer scene is not great.

But he blames the culture, not the landscape.

Has there ever been fewer opportunities for players to stay on a quality team in youth and develop?

Have there ever been fewer chances to play college soccer?

Have there ever been this many leagues, this big of a disconnect between “elite”?

ECNL, MLSNext, NAL, ECNL RL, EDP…

It’s ridiculous.

Yes youth soccer is in a bad position right now, but to blame the parents who pay for all of this to keep going is ludicrous.

If MLS chose 10-15 years ago to implement pro-rel, we would see so many more opportunities for players to develop and advance following a proper professional roadmap.

But the pressure isn’t on MLS teams to win and develop. The pressure is on them to develop, sign, and sell for profit.

It’s a shame that we think we are caught up to the rest of the world, while parents are still paying $2k-4k a season for their kids to call themselves elite. Where’s that $$ really going? To the clubs? Sure.

But to the leagues, the tournaments, and the facilities, that’s where it all goes. Fields in the dmv are impossible to come by. Leagues all have their hands out looking to expand. Tourney fees are insane. Everyone wants their piece, but it’s up to the parents to change that? Not seeing that. Maybe Landon was a little isolated during his playing days and hasn’t seen how far we have fallen, I get that parents (I’m not one, I’m a coach, for the record) can be a lot to deal with when their kids are involved, but everyone is playing in the same sandbox.

There are several small grass roots clubs in the DMV with good coaches who understand youth development and care about the kids welfare.
They are routinely abandoned by parents who pull their young kids from that environment to chase a brand name label big club.
Seeking winning and trophies and bragging rights. The unfortunate foundation for US soccer 'culture'

These clubs that you mention --- they cannot deliver the college recruiting. As a result they are worthless.

Explain how they cannot deliver the college recruiting?
Do you have verifiable statistics to back that up?

Also, most small grass roots clubs focus on the specialty of younger players development. Not older players performance.

Unfortunately majority of you focus on performance at the development early stages.

Several of the small club coaches/owners actually have extensive networks for college and above. You just assume only the big expensive Bethesdas and Arlingtons do.

If they are worthless, how come so many MLS Next players came from them?

Can you name any local grass roots club with a track record of placing boys on college teams

If you listened (read) instead of just waiting to push your narrative, you would see the PP placed emphasis on the early development years (hence grassroots)

That said, there is no need to give you the name of the clubs for you have no interest.

People truly in the DMV soccer world know them.

“Several of the small club coaches/owners actually have extensive networks for college and above. You just assume only the big expensive Bethesdas and Arlingtons do.”

It’s a bs statement. College players tend to either international or from large clubs.