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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My friend goes on and on about how she has to take her three kids to travel soccer.
We have travel soccer tonight. There are six travel soccer games this weekend. How are we going to get all our kids to their travel soccer fields? Had to wash the travel soccer uniforms. Travel soccer. travelsoccertravelsoccertravelsoccertravel[/quote]

You sound like the kind of person who might refer to their dogs or cats as your "kids". "Oh lol what my dog did today". Or perhaps you're the person who talks about your new diet that nobody cares about. Either way I'm sure you are passionate about something that nobody else gives a shit about either but they listen to you anyway. [/quote]
You missed the point. Travel! Travel! Not soccer. Travel soccer. [/quote]

This drives me batty.  I played 'select' soccer back in the day:).  It used to not be anyone with a checkbook sport.  It was that way in most youth 'select/travel' sports.  Talent was required, not just money.  I am the last one to go on and on about 'travel' because in this day and age, it's really just Rec soccer for more $$$.  The people going on about it's good because 'there is a travel team for everyone now' miss the g-damn point.  If everyone just played rec, except for the top 1% they wouldn't have to waste thousands of dollars every year and countless hours driving all over creation because the Rec programs would still have talent.[/quote]

No, but you will go on and on how your experience was somehow better and that you were a better player because "when you played travel meant something". Congratulations, you were a moderate sized fish in a very shallow pool. We are supposed to believe that because you played travel "back in the day" that you were truly a 1% player.

Here is your walk out song:
https://youtu.be/6vQpW9XRiyM
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I'm sure PP doesn't go on and on - that's reserved for the travel parents, I'm sure.

But I agree with her sentiment.  My husband played travel soccer in the early 80's.  Was in the Olympic Development Program (I think that's what it was called), and played on a D1 team in college.  He was good - really really good.  He could have pursued soccer as a career but chose to go into research instead.

I would love to know what % of travel players now go on to play competitively in college or go even farther than that, vs. what % moved forward in the 70's/80's.  Would make for an interesting comparison.[/quote]

The same % of kids will play in D1 now as then. Why would it be any different? The difference today is that there are MORE kids playing and MORE kids are getting better training now than when your awesome husband played. The talent pool is much larger now than it was then. Frankly it is more likely that your husband would not stand out as much today as he did then.

Oh, and another thing, he would also be fighting for a college spot against better European players who also come to school and play college in the states. I doubt he had to compete against many international players when he played. Again, he was a moderately sized fish in a small pond then. That pond is now a lake. [/quote]

The same European players were coming to play for college back in the 80s.  Johann Cruyff's older brother left to play at University of Maryland when he was not good enough for Ajax's first team. My siblings and I were trained by European coaches that came to the US with college scholarships. A lot of these players played in the adult embassy league that used to play a lot games at VA Highlands when it was a grass field.

We also had the retired FIFA stars like Cruyff, Pele, etc. coming to make some money in our pro leagues back in the 70s.  That also hasn't changed.  I hear Ibrahimovic is the next big name looking to come over.

I do agree more kids have better technical skill at younger ages and that's a good thing.  US soccer still misses the value in player intelligence though which is the #1 attribute everywhere else in the World.  We don't select or know how to select for it here.  Coaches here are so hot on fancy moves in this Country that even if a kid can't do anything else, has no vision, can't find the pass, no intelligent movement, that kid will be put on the top teams. Complete players aren't valued. Smart players aren't selected at the average US tryout because selection factors are so misguided.

So, we are a very long time away from fielding a competitive National home-grown team.  Our top players still are being developed in Europe.

People new to the sport often like to say soccer is such a new thing here and their kids are superior to the past, having never played themselves and  knowing nothing about the history of the sport in this country or the caliber of players before them.  Superstars are still 1 in a billion in the US and I don't see a new crop of Pulisics bursting out any minute.

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