The Official US Soccer thread

[Russ Smith]

I think it’s pretty simple at the end of the day. The average American sports fan or athlete only cares about the World Cup every four years. To be a World Cup winner, football has to be your entire life, everyday. Even then look at Brazil and Germany. Hell look at Belgium. It’s hard to win a World Cup. Soccer in the USA has to be as accessible as basketball and American football. But even those sports cater to the wealthy, but they are accessible to everyone. it’s similar in Europe, but they have decades upon decades of precedent and development that we don’t have here. I look at high school and college football in Texas. It’s a religion and people care about it more than they care about the NFL. That is how football is in England. Every town and village has a football team and the care.

A big part IMO is the money. To be in travel ball year round where the top US players typically develop, you need money. NBA, NFL, most of the top prospects come from less money not more. The world powers in Futbol the kids grow up playing soccer and only get organized as they get older and are identified as prospects. The kids who wind up being Mbappe in oher countries they don't end up in soccer in the US they end up playing football or basketball.

Yesterday Chris Sullivan posted something on FB that brought back memories it was a 7th gade interview he did at Hyde Junior High whee his football coach said the big question for Chris will be picking a sport, he's at his age elite in football, basketball, soccer and baseball, at some point he'll have to pick one. He eventually picked soccer and wound up playing for the US MNT bu he's an outlier most of them then and now don't pick soccer

Our nieces all grew up playing soccer, the youngesst went all in the elite travel roster, Junior Olympic developmental squad etc. To do that she had to quit gynmastics because her paents didn't have the time or the money for her to do both. One of the leagues she played in the people who ran it got arrested for stealing tens of thousands of dollars, they all made 6 figures which in Sacramento is unusual. Much of the US soccer machine isn't about soccer it's about making money for the people in charge, the US has to fix that so the best athletes can afford to do what Chris Sullivan did and choose soccer.

 

[cardpa]

A big part IMO is the money. To be in travel ball year round where the top US players typically develop, you need money. NBA, NFL, most of the top prospects come from less money not more. The world powers in Futbol the kids grow up playing soccer and only get organized as they get older and are identified as prospects. The kids who wind up being Mbappe in oher countries they don't end up in soccer in the US they end up playing football or basketball.

Yesterday Chris Sullivan posted something on FB that brought back memories it was a 7th gade interview he did at Hyde Junior High whee his football coach said the big question for Chris will be picking a sport, he's at his age elite in football, basketball, soccer and baseball, at some point he'll have to pick one. He eventually picked soccer and wound up playing for the US MNT bu he's an outlier most of them then and now don't pick soccer

Our nieces all grew up playing soccer, the youngest went all in the elite travel roster, Junior Olympic developmental squad etc. To do that she had to quit gynmastics because her paents didn't have the time or the money for her to do both. One of the leagues she played in the people who ran it got arrested for stealing tens of thousands of dollars, they all made 6 figures which in Sacramento is unusual. Much of the US soccer machine isn't about soccer it's about making money for the people in charge, the US has to fix that so the best athletes can afford to do what Chris Sullivan did and choose soccer.

When my children played back in the 90s, almost every town had a intramural and a club soccer program. My costs were a small fee $25-$35 for helping keep maintenance on fields and nets and the cost of the uniform. That was it. Most coached were volunteer and some clubs had one higher level soccer player who helped run the program and got paid a few thousand to provide that service. There was a area league where teams from different towns would play, in our case the CPYSL (Central Pennsylvania Youth Soccer League). Parents drove kids to the games if they were away games. If a team wanted to participate in local tournaments, the team had to raise funds for the entry fee. Most tournaments were at most 1-1/2 hours way so no need to get lodging.

I myself got invested in soccer and started to not only self teach but started to attend classes to obtain coaching licenses per the USSF. Starting with an "F" license and I worked up to a National "D" license. The "D" license required 32 hours of training so a few of us got together from a couple different clubs and drove each week to attend the sessions until we met the required hours. I also trained under a Brazilian "A" license coach who did it for free for me. In return I helped him with scheduling referees for his indoor soccer facility.

I eventually applied to coach school soccer and did high school boys and girls as well as middle school boys and girls. The pay was not a deciding factor as it was quite little for the number of hours I had to commit to. Trust me a $2,500 stipend for three months comes out to a few bucks an hour especially when you are coaching five days a week and traveling sometimes over an hour each way for games. Doing this I moved away from club ball. I coached because I enjoyed working with the kids and there were rewards non soccer that stayed with you forever such as a middle school girl coming back to you in her senior year asking me to help her select a college to go to and players calling out to you years later at a mall where they were working because they wanted to talk to you. Players regularly visiting you after they moved on at your practice just to chat.

Now years later I see ads all the time from soccer clubs looking for players to join and advertising professional soccer coaches and training and how they are going to make your child elite and the fees are out of sight. It appears that these local town clubs have fell by the wayside and no longer exist. Pay for clubs have taken over the landscape of soccer with the emphasis on winning.

 

[Russ Smith]

Pulisic had a bone bruise and a microfracture in his right leg suffered against Belgium. He tried to play on it for several minutes but could not go.

So I guess it wasn't the existing calf injury. Really hope he gets healthy and gets a chance to make one more run for the US in 2030. He's had injuries off and on for a few years now though