“Best podcast covering American soccer!
Here’s a question for Alexi and Mosse:
We argue a lot about what’s is best for developing players in this country. People point to pay-for-play as a major problem. I’d suggest that rather than copying the European approach to talent development and identification we should look to how we develop and identify talent in other sports. Football for example: kids play for their school, almost free, colleges have top level facilities and coaches that find, recruit, and develop these kids and the best getting drafted into the NFL. Pro football doesn’t have to pay attention to what 12 year old might be good enough to play in the league. Basketball and baseball used to have the same model, but as they go more toward the model soccer uses (pay to play club sports) look at what countries the best players are coming from now (more and more foreign players).
The country is too big to hope the best players live close enough to a club or ODP program to develop and find them. Everyone goes to school somewhere.
So here’s the question:
What do you think about USSF focusing efforts and funds on encouraging the NCAA soccer product to more resemble pro soccer (like football does) while making it more popular (and sellable) while investing in school programs across the country to try to have school soccer teams with the higher quality coaches? Then it’s like football, more kids have access, more eyes are identifying talent and providing opportunities to advance.
What do y’all think?”
JEJ D.O. via Apple Podcasts ·
United States of America ·
07/22/24