Landon Donovan was right

[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

PP said their coaches were connected. Didn't say their clubs placed college players.

btw.... how does Bethesda or Potomac place a college player?

[Anonymous]

Fund the top-level academies, as MLS clubs are doing now. Solicit sponsors to fund clubs in non-MLS areas. Turn ODP into a program that ensures kids in Idaho and Wyoming have a chance to make it.

(No, promotion/relegation won't magically mean a bunch of clubs pop up out of nowhere in the hopes that they'll produce three Christian Pulisics so they can pay the bills in an effort to advance from USL League Two to play MLS games in their crap high school stadium.)

Slash senior national team salaries, which are higher than our peer countries, to fund academies.

Keep rec soccer cheap.

Cut out everything else.

NCSL? EDP? Go completely rec. Don't pay coaches to prance around on the sidelines, looking to hop to another club as soon as they get the opportunity.

Hire *trainers* within clubs, sure. Let them work with as many kids as possible. Assemble All-Star teams twice a season to play in tournaments that are currently populated by "travel" teams. Other than that, let parents coach.

That's how you get rid of "pay to play."

That's how you avoid cutting kids at age 8 because their parents can't pay $3,000/year or because they hit a growth spurt just in time to look clumsy at a cattle-call U9 tryout. (I know a kid who had a growth spurt like that and didn't make "travel" at a big club at U9. He's signed to play D1 now. So what was the point of that tryout?)

Otherwise, Landon's just spitting into the wind. I don't blame him -- he's just now getting a first-hand view of the system from a parent's perspective. But it's going to take a major structural change to make anything happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I forgot. If it isn't a brand name college that is on ESPN every Saturday, it's not real

[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

PP said their coaches were connected. Didn't say their clubs placed college players.

btw.... how does Bethesda or Potomac place a college player?

college recruiting/placement on is on the player/family. The only thing a club contributes is going to the events that have college coaches that your player is interested in/has contacted and who've shown an interest in said player.

[Anonymous]

Two things that are somewhat opposite but are both true ...

1. No, we wouldn't suddenly be great at soccer if LeBron James and Patrick Mahomes had played soccer instead of basketball and football.

2. Yes, athleticism is part of soccer. One reason Messi and Freddy Adu took vastly different career arcs after both being globally hyped youth players is that Messi could handle physical play and Adu could not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I forgot. If it isn't a brand name college that is on ESPN every Saturday, it's not real

And yet the current men's top 25 includes Marshall, Denver, Saint Louis, VCU and Hofstra.

Which, admittedly, is kind of weird.

That said, only nine of the 28 players listed on Hofstra's roster are from the USA, so ... they're not completely wrong ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two things that are somewhat opposite but are both true ...

1. No, we wouldn't suddenly be great at soccer if LeBron James and Patrick Mahomes had played soccer instead of basketball and football.

2. Yes, athleticism is part of soccer. One reason Messi and Freddy Adu took vastly different career arcs after both being globally hyped youth players is that Messi could handle physical play and Adu could not.

When Spain and Argentina starts winning Euros, South American Championships and World Cups with NFL linebacker types and NBA power forward types, let us know 😂🤣

[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.

I call BS on this. More kids are playing organized soccer at some point than any other sport. The stats are over 3 million according to multiple sources - just above basketball. And twice as many as American football. The 5'6" kid gets pushed out of both sports and quits sports all together. His odds of going pro are slim in soccer, but they are microscopic in basketball. The problem is that at some point a short-sighted youth coach wanted to brag to his buddies about winning the U9 league and decided that the diminutive player didn't give him the best chance. This was Landon Donovan's whole point that started this thread.

+1000

I maybe need to go to Texas and Louisiana to see more kids on a Fall or Spring weekend playing football over soccer.

Because that sure ain't happening in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

[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.

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"

Adam Gemili spent 7 years in Chelsea’s academy and had a couple of shots to go pro…when that didn’t materialize, he switched to track and came in 4th in the 200M at the 2016 Olympics. There are plenty examples of fast athletes in Europe who couldn’t hack it in soccer…you, and apparently many others, just don’t realize it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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"

Adam Gemili spent 7 years in Chelsea’s academy and had a couple of shots to go pro…when that didn’t materialize, he switched to track and came in 4th in the 200M at the 2016 Olympics. There are plenty examples of fast athletes in Europe who couldn’t hack it in soccer…you, and apparently many others, just don’t realize it.

The people saying the best athletes don't play soccer or we would be the best at soccer, are the same ones screaming Boot It and Send It on the sidelines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two things that are somewhat opposite but are both true ...

1. No, we wouldn't suddenly be great at soccer if LeBron James and Patrick Mahomes had played soccer instead of basketball and football.

2. Yes, athleticism is part of soccer. One reason Messi and Freddy Adu took vastly different career arcs after both being globally hyped youth players is that Messi could handle physical play and Adu could not.

When Spain and Argentina starts winning Euros, South American Championships and World Cups with NFL linebacker types and NBA power forward types, let us know 😂🤣

When you learn to read, let us know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I call BS on this. More kids are playing organized soccer at some point than any other sport. The stats are over 3 million according to multiple sources - just above basketball. And twice as many as American football. The 5'6" kid gets pushed out of both sports and quits sports all together. His odds of going pro are slim in soccer, but they are microscopic in basketball. The problem is that at some point a short-sighted youth coach wanted to brag to his buddies about winning the U9 league and decided that the diminutive player didn't give him the best chance. This was Landon Donovan's whole point that started this thread.

+1000

I maybe need to go to Texas and Louisiana to see more kids on a Fall or Spring weekend playing football over soccer.

Because that sure ain't happening in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

I do see way more kids around here informally playing basketball and football than soccer. Every other driveway has a basketball hoop in it and kids play in the driveways after school on weekends. I see kids playing football at recess and at the schools on weekends. Again, these are informal pickup games. The only soccer I see being played is organized club games. Which is just supporting the case that basketball and football are part of the culture. Kids wear NFL jerseys, follow basketball players on socials. It's ingrained in the culture the way soccer is in Europe and South America. Is anyone making a case that soccer is part of the culture in the US in the way football and basketball or even baseball are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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"

Adam Gemili spent 7 years in Chelsea’s academy and had a couple of shots to go pro…when that didn’t materialize, he switched to track and came in 4th in the 200M at the 2016 Olympics. There are plenty examples of fast athletes in Europe who couldn’t hack it in soccer…you, and apparently many others, just don’t realize it.

The people saying the best athletes don't play soccer or we would be the best at soccer, are the same ones screaming Boot It and Send It on the sidelines.

Exactly, because people in this country don't understand soccer. They didn't grow up watching and playing it. It's almost like soccer isn't as popular here. I wonder if that has any impact on type of soccer players and coaches we develop here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two things that are somewhat opposite but are both true ...

1. No, we wouldn't suddenly be great at soccer if LeBron James and Patrick Mahomes had played soccer instead of basketball and football.

2. Yes, athleticism is part of soccer. One reason Messi and Freddy Adu took vastly different career arcs after both being globally hyped youth players is that Messi could handle physical play and Adu could not.

When Spain and Argentina starts winning Euros, South American Championships and World Cups with NFL linebacker types and NBA power forward types, let us know 😂🤣

When you learn to read, let us know.

So they can write but not read?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I call BS on this. More kids are playing organized soccer at some point than any other sport. The stats are over 3 million according to multiple sources - just above basketball. And twice as many as American football. The 5'6" kid gets pushed out of both sports and quits sports all together. His odds of going pro are slim in soccer, but they are microscopic in basketball. The problem is that at some point a short-sighted youth coach wanted to brag to his buddies about winning the U9 league and decided that the diminutive player didn't give him the best chance. This was Landon Donovan's whole point that started this thread.

+1000

I maybe need to go to Texas and Louisiana to see more kids on a Fall or Spring weekend playing football over soccer.

Because that sure ain't happening in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast

I do see way more kids around here informally playing basketball and football than soccer. Every other driveway has a basketball hoop in it and kids play in the driveways after school on weekends. I see kids playing football at recess and at the schools on weekends. Again, these are informal pickup games. The only soccer I see being played is organized club games. Which is just supporting the case that basketball and football are part of the culture. Kids wear NFL jerseys, follow basketball players on socials. It's ingrained in the culture the way soccer is in Europe and South America. Is anyone making a case that soccer is part of the culture in the US in the way football and basketball or even baseball are?

Soccer jerseys are more popular in my kids schools.
So if we're going off non scientific personal observation

As for your kids playing informal football everywhere. Please make videos and post the links.