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[quote=asksoccernova]coach - what was the highest level that you played at and what is your career goal?

Went to college not originally intending to play varsity soccer, happened to be at a school ranked about #30 in division 1 at the time. Decided I would go for it but wasn't going to have a chance to play there.

Transferred to a D3 school which was ranked about #25-30 at the time and trained with the team for 2 spring seasons but didn't officially play on the team. Those two years in college, spent a month training and playing in Santa Cruz, Bolivia at the same academy where Marco Etcheverry (my favorite player) and Jaime Moreno came from. Played in a few games vs reserves of professional teams playing in the 2nd division in Bolivia, and also against "late bloomer" players that were trying to get professional contracts at 18-20 years old. Those were really difficult games.

I also played men's amateur soccer in Baltimore in Maryland Major Soccer League division 1 for a season, which is nothing to write home about but still very competitive. I used to play in a men's league on a team with a handful of former division 3 USL players (whose team folded) who now coach and a french guy who was the best player I've ever played with (he was on the U19 french national team, he was 24 when I played with him, but had an injury that prevented him from playing at a professional level so decided to go into coaching... amazing technique level and athleticism). I enjoyed those experiences and learned a lot which I was able to take with me as I started coaching.

Do you feel just as how the best players should be pushed to go to europe, that more american coaches should explore opportunities and sacrifice to coach abroad?

It is good for US coaches to spend time abroad in a soccer environment, but they don't have to pack up and move or become a coach at a foreign club to bring back valuable insight. The time I spent in Bolivia playing (2 months total) completely changed the way that I see, teach, and understand the game. I took extensive notes when I went because I had already started coaching by then. It is always beneficial for a coach to experience a soccer environment overseas, but not necessary to live there. I think it would be great if we had more college grads or coaches go to Europe or other countries to learn soccer over there, but I think employment at a club is hard unless you can speak the language and have some type of citizenship that works out.

Would a japanese youth baseball coach benefit from coming to the US and spend a month with a very competitive and well organized youth baseball program? Sure. Do they need to manage a MLB team to help Japan be a better baseball country than the US? Unrealistic. We should stop worrying about being better than countries that have 100+ years on us and just try to keep getting better than we were last year. As a country, soccer is improving here from year to year, and I think that's what matters the most. Results of the national team are not really a measure of an entire country's soccer development. Sometimes good teams get unlucky in the world cup and sometimes not-so-good teams get lucky.

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