USMNT - Turning Point?

watfly said:
Pretty difficult to disagree with anything in that article. The arrogant incompetence of US Soccer is pretty astonishing.
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It reaches down to the local levels where organizations supposedly empowered with strengthening the game instead occupy their time finding reasons why players and teams should not play.
 
watfly said:
Pretty difficult to disagree with anything in that article. The arrogant incompetence of US Soccer is pretty astonishing.
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Time for a re-boot. Headquarters in Chicago is having some issues. Dirty pay to play system=Disqualifications to participate in the game we all love to play and watch. We need some Red Cards handed out like, yesterday. This sport is dirty folks. Sorry to say but it is :( We just had three rich parents from SoCal confess and plead guilty to paying "Mr Middle Man Dude" $500,000, $400,00 and $400,000 respectfully to just get Kiddos admitted to top schools. That is a lot of coin to pay to look good I tell ya. College is so important and valuable to some I guess...
 
soccerobserver said:
Here is yesterday's article from the San Diego Tribune that sums up the politics behind the USMNT: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.co...-mls-canada-gregg-jay-berhalter-national-team

They also give a nod to Justus' concern about the lack of any idea of diversity in scouting and management coaching etc.
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Another great article. Hard to defend the mess that is US Soccer.

In the end, diversity does not come down to a committee or some token scouting/coaching appointments, it starts with making and keeping youth soccer affordable and enjoyable for as long as possible. See the correlation between the age kids quit and the age club starts to become a real factor (between age 9 and 10) and soccer becomes less affordable? Keeping participation levels high should not be at odds with US Soccer's goals of producing world class players, but they have convinced themselves and most parents that it is. Join a club early, go to the USSDA teams at U12, do not play pick-up, high school, or college, just keep pouring money into unnecessary travel and mediocre training, playing games among a decreasing pool of talented players in some anonymous place in front of no one, until you realize there is no World Cup in your future (even if you make the USMNT).

The roster of the team most likely to win the MLS Cup this year is mostly foreign players. When will US Soccer realize that the MLS interests and theirs are not the same?
 
Dos Equis said:
Another great article. Hard to defend the mess that is US Soccer.

In the end, diversity does not come down to a committee or some token scouting/coaching appointments, it starts with making and keeping youth soccer affordable and enjoyable for as long as possible. See the correlation between the age kids quit and the age club starts to become a real factor (between age 9 and 10) and soccer becomes less affordable? Keeping participation levels high should not be at odds with US Soccer's goals of producing world class players, but they have convinced themselves and most parents that it is. Join a club early, go to the USSDA teams at U12, do not play pick-up, high school, or college, just keep pouring money into unnecessary travel and mediocre training, playing games among a decreasing pool of talented players in some anonymous place in front of no one, until you realize there is no World Cup in your future (even if you make the USMNT).

The roster of the team most likely to win the MLS Cup this year is mostly foreign players. When will US Soccer realize that the MLS interests and theirs are not the same?
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@Dos Equis you make a great but subtle point about the critical importance and impact of integrating soccer into high school and into the culture. On Saturday I went to a large high school football game in Socal and it was quite a spectacle - a carnival even- led by a literal army of a few hundred band members, flag bearers, drill team members, cheer leaders and carloads of parents to cheer and support the non-football player participants. Football's genius is that it has tied many communities into it that would otherwise not care a whit about football. The USSF could learn something here...
 
soccerobserver said:
@Dos Equis you make a great but subtle point about the critical importance and impact of integrating soccer into high school and into the culture. On Saturday I went to a large high school football game in Socal and it was quite a spectacle - a carnival even- led by a literal army of a few hundred band members, flag bearers, drill team members, cheer leaders and carloads of parents to cheer and support the non-football player participants. Football's genius is that it has tied many communities into it that would otherwise not care a whit about football. The USSF could learn something here...
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Then again, name a high school that has ever made an effort to send the band to any sporting event other than football and basketball. The outsized support that HS football gets from school administrators seems like a Title IX violation.
 
soccerobserver said:
@Dos Equis you make a great but subtle point about the critical importance and impact of integrating soccer into high school and into the culture. On Saturday I went to a large high school football game in Socal and it was quite a spectacle - a carnival even- led by a literal army of a few hundred band members, flag bearers, drill team members, cheer leaders and carloads of parents to cheer and support the non-football player participants. Football's genius is that it has tied many communities into it that would otherwise not care a whit about football. The USSF could learn something here...
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Oh, but high school soccer is horrible and dangerous . We can’t encourage that
 
oh canada said:
Son, go play soccer. I don't care that...

The national team sucks and has no role models.

The professional league pays jack.

The college game will slowly be eliminated because schools will not be able to afford it with the new $$ laws.

You will have to move to Europe as a child if you are any good and have any interest in a soccer "future".

The DA requires you to practice 4x/week and prevents you from playing any other high school sports

What else am I missing?
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DA does not, I repeat, does not prevent you from playing other high school sports.
 
Lambchop said:
DA does not, I repeat, does not prevent you from playing other high school sports.
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The single most important thing that would improve our NT perfomances would be if soccer became much more popular. Preventing the best players from playing high school hinders that. US Soccer should be trying to work with the high school soccer system instead of ignoring all that existing infrastructure.
 
Lambchop said:
DA does not, I repeat, does not prevent you from playing other high school sports.
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Lambchops, let me help you out a little. If you're a Full Ride recruit (impact player) on a DA team, then 100% the ynt scouts and the big club doc will say, "no way Susie, you are 100% ours." Now if your dd is 25% starter (non impact player at this time) and paying thousands of dollars to be on the DA team, then yes, your club doc will say it's ok as long as the $$$$ keep coming :) Plus, when I say HS Sports, were talking Varsity sports. Good luck being a stud impact soccer player full time in the DA 4 days a week, 10 months program and travel all over the USA and play varsity sports and btw, get 4.0. Oh, and stay out of trouble because the World is Watching!!!
 
Lambchop said:
DA does not, I repeat, does not prevent you from playing other high school sports.
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Most sports have become year round, and the ability to participate in other activities is a sacrifice you make willingly. The USSDA is not unique in this expectation. However, other sports do let their players participate in that chosen sport in HS. The USSDA effectively does not.

We have two valuable and unique assets in the US -- high school and college education systems that provide the infrastructure and resources to help advance athletics as well. US Soccer openly opposes participation in athletics in either, and I cannot name another major federation/governing body of another team sport in this country that does this.

There is no evidence US Soccer and its USSDA system has done anything to improve the level of soccer in the US on a relative or an absolute basis in the last 10 years, and plenty of examples of how our game has gone downhill in the same period. Whatever one may argue players have gained in technical/tactical ability has not been implemented on the field, and has been offset by a loss of attitude, heart, teamwork and will to win. The later they tend to teach pretty well in high school and college. Unfortunately, the results are in.
 
outside! said:
The single most important thing that would improve our NT perfomances would be if soccer became much more popular. Preventing the best players from playing high school hinders that. US Soccer should be trying to work with the high school soccer system instead of ignoring all that existing infrastructure.
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Removing the NCAA's arbitrary limitation on men's soccer college scholarships would do more good for soccer in the US than changing any high school or US soccer policy. That said, I would support the NCAA limiting scholarships for foreign athletes.
 
Glen said:
Removing the NCAA's arbitrary limitation on men's soccer college scholarships would do more good for soccer in the US than changing any high school or US soccer policy. That said, I would support the NCAA limiting scholarships for foreign athletes.
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While I agree that the NCAA's limit on soccer scholarships is a problem, more kids play high school soccer. I am arguing that increasing soccer's popularity in the US should be job one of US Soccer and high school soccer impacts more players that can grow up to become fans. NCAA soccer problems are a separate discussion unfortunately.
 
Dos Equis said:
Most sports have become year round, and the ability to participate in other activities is a sacrifice you make willingly. The USSDA is not unique in this expectation. However, other sports do let their players participate in that chosen sport in HS. The USSDA effectively does not.

We have two valuable and unique assets in the US -- high school and college education systems that provide the infrastructure and resources to help advance athletics as well. US Soccer openly opposes participation in athletics in either, and I cannot name another major federation/governing body of another team sport in this country that does this.

There is no evidence US Soccer and its USSDA system has done anything to improve the level of soccer in the US on a relative or an absolute basis in the last 10 years, and plenty of examples of how our game has gone downhill in the same period. Whatever one may argue players have gained in technical/tactical ability has not been implemented on the field, and has been offset by a loss of attitude, heart, teamwork and will to win. The later they tend to teach pretty well in high school and college. Unfortunately, the results are in.
Click to expand...

I would hardly characterize those as "unique assets." Using our educational systems to subsidize sports is one of countries greatest flaws. The best educational systems in the world keep academics and athletics separate. In my opinion, anything we do to make high schools sports less important, the better.
 
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