It's crucial that the Members of the USSF Board undergo a thorough evaluation. The problems start from the top, and we currently have ineffective leadership and no ambitious, visionary plan. Additionally, are there limitations on what we can pay the men's coach? Is it true that we can't offer a competitive salary for a top-tier manager because the men's coach cannot earn more than the women's coach, even though these are entirely different markets?
• Cindy Parlow Cone
• Nathán Goldberg Crenier
• JT Batson
• John Collins
• Lisa Carnoy
• Fritz Marth
• John Motta
• Carlos Cordeiro
• Don Garber
These board members are responsible for guiding the strategic direction and governance of U.S. Soccer. Changes need to be made and the noise needs to continue until something meaningful happens.
MLS develops NON-US players. The xenophobia in the US league AGAINST US young players is STATISTICALLY EVIDENT.
The best thing a quality young US player can do is get out of the US. ASAP.
Just look at how our U-18, U-21 teams do in tournaments VS say England or Germany. We are actually more similar than you'd think.
Then look at our Domestic League (MLS) and compare how much US youth plays vs the EPL or Bundesliga. The clearly better leagues play more of their home-grown talent than MLS.
The MLS is run by Anti-American XENAPHOBES. DO NOT SUPPORT THEM UNTIL THEY PLAY US YOUTH.
Totally agree with your assessment – as a result, MLS is a pathetic league that no one in the world cares about; all the super old from europe come here to make some $$$$$$$$$ before retirement.
We have successfully Americanized soccer: it's about making money, not making the best product possible (as is every venture in this country). We're the best! (at making profits)
The problem with US soccer is there is no connectivity with the players. Most of these guys have one or two passports and they don’t really have allegiance to America. A lot of them grew up abroad the differences if you were Uraguay player or Brazilian player or Argentinian player, you know your teammates, cause you grew up playing with them. We have all these star studied legacy players whose parents were famous US soccer players who got fast tracked into European clubs, a lot of them are really good but they didn’t grow up playing with each other
MLS will come to the rescue. They now have nearly 700 academies across the country. It'll take time, but nothing is going to get gone without MLS doing the heavy lifting. And from what I've read the USL is starting to do their fair share with the academies too. Whom ever is behind the "Pay to Play" thing, should be investigated, if you're claiming that they are charlatans.
I coached youth soccer from 1995 to 2008, developing players ages U10 through college at every level of play from recreation to premier level. In that time I served as trainer, fitness coordinator, team manager, recruiter, assistant coach, head coach, youth development coordinator and coaching director for District 7 (UT), Olympic Development Coach, and Utah State University men's Club team "B" coach. In 2008 I had to step away after attending the USA Soccer hosted National C licensing after being subjected to a "quota" system being implemented by the head of the program where they were trying to promote class based advancement… and unfortunately I was born the wrong color and gender to qualify for the advancement to a "C" national coaching position.
At the time I attended the certification, I was coaching two high school elite teams, coordinating the coaching education for all of the coaches in N.Utah, as well as recruiting coaches and developing what is now the RSL Academy that was put into effect by RSL following DelLoy Hansen buying the RSL Franchise. My coaching qualifications and abilities far exceeded the majority of my class, and I passed all of the written and on-field exams with better than average scores, but the head coach of the certification was latino and he favored two others that were likewise latino, but had not passed the written or field testing. I appealed to the assistant coach and to their supervisor, and through both agreed that merit was earned for my licensing, they could not overrule the "head coach's" determination. Ironically that coach was later dismissed from US soccer for exactly those same actions at another camp, yet my situation was never revisited.
I have a 14 year old daughter who could excel at high school basketball, but she's not been brought up in "the system" used by the high school coaching staff, and likely won't make the team because they don't know her rather than whether or not she can play basketball. I don't have the financial means to buy them a new coaches lounge and fund their uniforms to "earn" my daughter a spot on the team, so we are looking at other activities for her to be engaged in. It is a sad state for all of our youth athletes of many sports…
I 100% agree with you as a parent academy kids and rec league coach, I agree. But what are we supposed to do? How can we change this when we are in the system and want our kids to play and practice weekly. What are our options? The only option seems to move overseas?
The other thing I'm concerned about is why couldn't we keep sports at the schools. I mean you represent your school and develop at your school. Not at a "academy". Schools play each other, and you train at the school facilities. This reduces the strain on parents too.
The best youth athletes, and most importantly the best COMPETITORS, all go for the biggest sports in their country. For the USA, this means baseball, basketball, American football. That's where the popularity and glory is in the eyes of young American kids. Until this changes, team USA soccer will always be subpar. We don't need soccer academies here in the US. Our club (and/or HS) and university system proves to be top for all athletics (well except soccer at the moment). Top female athletic competitors in the US go for soccer much more, cause there is no baseball or American football for them to play. And the USA woman's team is always a top contender for this reason. Ditto for track and field, USA woman are much more competitive than men on the world stage. It's not rocket science. It's way easier than trivial. Give MLS players big contracts and fame. This will attract top talent to the league and not make it a last stop for former European stars. Make it a top league that steals attention away from other big American sports and the parents of young athletically gifted kids and these kids themselves will dream of playing in the MLS one day rather than the other three.
There's a ton of talent out there that the US is missing out on. Until pay to play changes we will never win anything worth while. It's all a money making business.
Look at Argentina, Brazil, Spain… and us… what's the difference? They have skills that we never train or develop. Never ever. Every player on the USNMT who makes it to Europe to the big leagues they are the same with the same profile. When you put 11 folks together, they can't function as a team.
The reason why the US sucks in soccer is because no one cares about soccer in this country. Each culture has a set of aspirations that all youth want to aspire to. In the US, soccer is not an aspiration of 90% of the youth or parents. It is a way for parents to entertain kids so they are not on their electronic devices all day. Middle class and poor kids must aspire to reach the pinnacle of what that culture is asking for, and soccer is not that in this country. Soccer is still not cool in most high schools as opposed to Football, Basketball, Baseball. When soccer becomes cool, we will get a lot better!
Coach, this video is the first time i've heard of training compensation and solidarity payments. It seems like this would be a great way to help support youth soccer throughout the nation. If this was implemented in the US, should colleges have to pay for training compensation? Also, it's a little disheartening to see that this issue has been on-going for several decades now. Just stumbled across a video of Taylor Twellman addressing the sames issues you've been trying to shine light on. "Twellman: U.S. Soccer Needs To Address ‘Pay-To-Play’ System"
Too many club coaches try to make money, which the parents have to pay and if the parent can't pay the player doesn't play. I am from the Netherlands and live here for the last forty years and coached youth soccer for twenty five years. Most clubs here don't have a home, a club house like in the Netherlands in every village. Their advantage is that you stay connected after your playing days, as a parent or coach or be a volunteer even when you retire. At my old club there are more adult teams than youth teams, it also easy to recruit a coach. Practices are done by a paid trainer who does most teams practices. One trainer coaches more than one team, practice is the most important for a player development and team work. Game day can be facilitated if needed by a trained parent. Around the world soccer is mostly a working class sport in the US its for those that can afford it leaving out many talents. For all the years in coaching I was never compensated , it was done for the love of the sport and not to make a living.
We suck because unlike every other country our players consider it just another game, not a national game. Just watch every other team sing their national anthem. Our guys come from the most privileged country in the world, doesn’t matter the race. Pulisic was the only player that played hard from the first whistle. Good luck finding 9 more like him, goalie excluded.
Something I saw time and again was the end of young talent because they've been told over and over how good they are. They naturally come to believe they no longer need to work on improving, no pressure, no friction. Much is promised to these kids, but then they reach u-16 or u-19 or high school soccer and everyone is playing faster. They're unable to make the mental leap that everyone is now better than they are. They're playing the game at a 12-year-old pace and contributing nothing. I've seen this with boys and girls. Heck, I saw it when I was at that age, it's nothing new. "Stakes," as Coach says, affect players as well. The Uruguay match was lost in 2016 when the Pay-to-Play coaching lobby won out.
🤣 Both 2024 "champions" and 2nd place of the world renowned and feared CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE out of the Conmebol Copa America tournament in the group stages … Sorry too funny… and in your own back yard lol Maybe if they had left their rainbow US logo on their jerseys they would have had a better result 😉
Guys, I spent the last 30 minutes reading the comments. I did not see anybody talking about the fact that the US kids do not play soccer on their own. It is not for lack of fields, it is cultural. I was born in Bulgaria and up till 5th grade I played out in the school yards, on asphalt, cement, clay, indoor, sometimes on grass, always small sided games with the other kids – sometimes for 5 hours a day!!! Only then a local club (that had a Professional first team) selected me. Yes, we never paid to play for that club, but that is not the point. I and a huge percentage of the kids – we just played on our own all the time! On the street you learn everything – you do not need a coach to teach you first touch, or how to pass, dribble, shoot or to fight for your teammates. While here, if a kid wants to play they need to be in a club, there is simply no other place to play. I think it is not a result of lack of relegation, which of course would be great to have. I think it is simply a result of the fact the general population watches, talks about and breaths other sports. I can always see kids in school yards here playing basketball, but not soccer! And there is no critical mass of kids that watches soccer either. And in the countries where Football (well – soccer) is a number one sport, we learn a lot from watching and supporting our teams. We do it daily, the way in US people watch baseball or basketball – daily. I have been coaching kids for about 10 years in US and I feel like US will never be an organically strong soccer nation. There are just too many things (among them sports) available, that soccer is drowned. It is like in the book Soccernomics, where the authors explain why the most popular and strongest clubs historically are either from Industrial centers (Manchester, Liverpool, Munich, Dortmund, Turin, etc) or from Capitals with Dictators (The first 8 European Cups were won by Real Madrid and Benfica during the Franco and whatever his name the dictator from Portugal was). The normal capitals just do not produce this kind of following, because of all the other options culturally and economically (A champion of Europe has never been from Paris, Berlin, Rome, Warsaw, Brussels, etc and London finally did it with Chelsea in 2008)
Hello Coach Rory, I am writing an article about how the soccer system is flawed in America and id like to ask you some questions about it. I’d also like to use a couple quotes from your video, I would quote it and link your video in my article. Is there anyway I can reach you?
I moved here in 1982 at the age of 14. This country seems to have been stuck in a soccer time warp. Moments of excellence, but really no further along than it was back then. Sure it's more popular, but it is not any better. The American soccer culture is awful. I love America and hope it gets its act together. Happy 4th of July everyone.
Get rid of “elite” leagues which are pay to play. This goes for all US sports. There are many talented young kids out there that won’t get the attention since they aren’t part of the “elite” teams due to not being able to afford it.
I believe that a focus on "stars" here in the U.S. rather than teams is also part of the problem, and this is an issue that has been growing for a few decades. I just don't feel that other countries/cultures focus on the individual quite so much. Yes, individual skill is very important, but you won't win without your team.
I was one of the kids at the opening ceremonies in Orlando in '94. Met Michelle Akers, very nice and a tremendous player on the woman's side, and as a basketball player at the time left after the ceremony was done and played basketball. Once our athletes move away from our football, basketball, and baseball and touch the soccer field – and as you speak merit – our team will begin to win the World Cup.
I’m glad you are speaking truth my kid played Ecnl the coach was unqualified and the club only wants fees they have 28 players per team only a few are actually good enough to be there Specially the team managers kid he’s always the liability of the team but he plays 90 % of the time LOL
I've been saying for years the "pay to play" model has broken soccer in the US, and the ability to find and develop talent. Soccer got popular about 40 years too late in the U.S. 😢😢
Was just having this EXACT conversation with my mom. The amount of money my parents paid for local clubs was insane. And we didn’t even live in a large market. 300-400 a season is just ridiculous.
It's crucial that the Members of the USSF Board undergo a thorough evaluation. The problems start from the top, and we currently have ineffective leadership and no ambitious, visionary plan. Additionally, are there limitations on what we can pay the men's coach? Is it true that we can't offer a competitive salary for a top-tier manager because the men's coach cannot earn more than the women's coach, even though these are entirely different markets?
• Cindy Parlow Cone
• Nathán Goldberg Crenier
• JT Batson
• John Collins
• Lisa Carnoy
• Fritz Marth
• John Motta
• Carlos Cordeiro
• Don Garber
These board members are responsible for guiding the strategic direction and governance of U.S. Soccer. Changes need to be made and the noise needs to continue until something meaningful happens.
Bite your tongue man using dirty words like Merit…..
Not in socialist America
Look on the bright side at least everyone gets a participation award
MLS develops NON-US players.
The xenophobia in the US league AGAINST US young players is STATISTICALLY EVIDENT.
The best thing a quality young US player can do is get out of the US. ASAP.
Just look at how our U-18, U-21 teams do in tournaments VS say England or Germany. We are actually more similar than you'd think.
Then look at our Domestic League (MLS) and compare how much US youth plays vs the EPL or Bundesliga.
The clearly better leagues play more of their home-grown talent than MLS.
The MLS is run by Anti-American XENAPHOBES. DO NOT SUPPORT THEM UNTIL THEY PLAY US YOUTH.
Totally agree with your assessment – as a result, MLS is a pathetic league that no one in the world cares about; all the super old from europe come here to make some $$$$$$$$$ before retirement.
We have successfully Americanized soccer: it's about making money, not making the best product possible (as is every venture in this country). We're the best! (at making profits)
The problem with US soccer is there is no connectivity with the players. Most of these guys have one or two passports and they don’t really have allegiance to America. A lot of them grew up abroad the differences if you were Uraguay player or Brazilian player or Argentinian player, you know your teammates, cause you grew up playing with them. We have all these star studied legacy players whose parents were famous US soccer players who got fast tracked into European clubs, a lot of them are really good but they didn’t grow up playing with each other
MLS will come to the rescue. They now have nearly 700 academies across the country. It'll take time, but nothing is going to get gone without MLS doing the heavy lifting. And from what I've read the USL is starting to do their fair share with the academies too. Whom ever is behind the "Pay to Play" thing, should be investigated, if you're claiming that they are charlatans.
Spot on….
I coached youth soccer from 1995 to 2008, developing players ages U10 through college at every level of play from recreation to premier level. In that time I served as trainer, fitness coordinator, team manager, recruiter, assistant coach, head coach, youth development coordinator and coaching director for District 7 (UT), Olympic Development Coach, and Utah State University men's Club team "B" coach. In 2008 I had to step away after attending the USA Soccer hosted National C licensing after being subjected to a "quota" system being implemented by the head of the program where they were trying to promote class based advancement… and unfortunately I was born the wrong color and gender to qualify for the advancement to a "C" national coaching position.
At the time I attended the certification, I was coaching two high school elite teams, coordinating the coaching education for all of the coaches in N.Utah, as well as recruiting coaches and developing what is now the RSL Academy that was put into effect by RSL following DelLoy Hansen buying the RSL Franchise. My coaching qualifications and abilities far exceeded the majority of my class, and I passed all of the written and on-field exams with better than average scores, but the head coach of the certification was latino and he favored two others that were likewise latino, but had not passed the written or field testing. I appealed to the assistant coach and to their supervisor, and through both agreed that merit was earned for my licensing, they could not overrule the "head coach's" determination. Ironically that coach was later dismissed from US soccer for exactly those same actions at another camp, yet my situation was never revisited.
I have a 14 year old daughter who could excel at high school basketball, but she's not been brought up in "the system" used by the high school coaching staff, and likely won't make the team because they don't know her rather than whether or not she can play basketball. I don't have the financial means to buy them a new coaches lounge and fund their uniforms to "earn" my daughter a spot on the team, so we are looking at other activities for her to be engaged in. It is a sad state for all of our youth athletes of many sports…
I 100% agree with you as a parent academy kids and rec league coach, I agree. But what are we supposed to do? How can we change this when we are in the system and want our kids to play and practice weekly. What are our options? The only option seems to move overseas?
The other thing I'm concerned about is why couldn't we keep sports at the schools. I mean you represent your school and develop at your school. Not at a "academy". Schools play each other, and you train at the school facilities. This reduces the strain on parents too.
The best youth athletes, and most importantly the best COMPETITORS, all go for the biggest sports in their country. For the USA, this means baseball, basketball, American football. That's where the popularity and glory is in the eyes of young American kids. Until this changes, team USA soccer will always be subpar. We don't need soccer academies here in the US. Our club (and/or HS) and university system proves to be top for all athletics (well except soccer at the moment). Top female athletic competitors in the US go for soccer much more, cause there is no baseball or American football for them to play. And the USA woman's team is always a top contender for this reason. Ditto for track and field, USA woman are much more competitive than men on the world stage. It's not rocket science. It's way easier than trivial. Give MLS players big contracts and fame. This will attract top talent to the league and not make it a last stop for former European stars. Make it a top league that steals attention away from other big American sports and the parents of young athletically gifted kids and these kids themselves will dream of playing in the MLS one day rather than the other three.
There's a ton of talent out there that the US is missing out on. Until pay to play changes we will never win anything worth while. It's all a money making business.
Just stumbled upon this channel. LOVE IT!
Pulisic and the goalie are the only ones that are consistent. Everyone else show up once in a while.
Look at Argentina, Brazil, Spain… and us… what's the difference? They have skills that we never train or develop. Never ever. Every player on the USNMT who makes it to Europe to the big leagues they are the same with the same profile. When you put 11 folks together, they can't function as a team.
Same in Italy
The reason why the US sucks in soccer is because no one cares about soccer in this country. Each culture has a set of aspirations that all youth want to aspire to. In the US, soccer is not an aspiration of 90% of the youth or parents. It is a way for parents to entertain kids so they are not on their electronic devices all day. Middle class and poor kids must aspire to reach the pinnacle of what that culture is asking for, and soccer is not that in this country. Soccer is still not cool in most high schools as opposed to Football, Basketball, Baseball. When soccer becomes cool, we will get a lot better!
Coach, this video is the first time i've heard of training compensation and solidarity payments. It seems like this would be a great way to help support youth soccer throughout the nation. If this was implemented in the US, should colleges have to pay for training compensation? Also, it's a little disheartening to see that this issue has been on-going for several decades now. Just stumbled across a video of Taylor Twellman addressing the sames issues you've been trying to shine light on. "Twellman: U.S. Soccer Needs To Address ‘Pay-To-Play’ System"
I think the best way to look at it is ask yourself
Why hasn’t Italy made the switch to Starbucks for coffee?
Does one think the best quality of coffee comes from mega corporations or closed entities with patents and rights?
Or does it get made from the people who work on their craft day to day as part of a culture?
Too many club coaches try to make money, which the parents have to pay and if the parent can't pay the player doesn't play. I am from the Netherlands and live here for the last forty years and coached youth soccer for twenty five years. Most clubs here don't have a home, a club house like in the Netherlands in every village. Their advantage is that you stay connected after your playing days, as a parent or coach or be a volunteer even when you retire. At my old club there are more adult teams than youth teams, it also easy to recruit a coach. Practices are done by a paid trainer who does most teams practices. One trainer coaches more than one team, practice is the most important for a player development and team work. Game day can be facilitated if needed by a trained parent. Around the world soccer is mostly a working class sport in the US its for those that can afford it leaving out many talents. For all the years in coaching I was never compensated , it was done for the love of the sport and not to make a living.
I coach LA Galaxy 9 year old
got fired because i tell the parents its better to play AYSO then spend $$ for son he is not soccer skill
Im so glad you make this video
We suck because unlike every other country our players consider it just another game, not a national game. Just watch every other team sing their national anthem. Our guys come from the most privileged country in the world, doesn’t matter the race. Pulisic was the only player that played hard from the first whistle. Good luck finding 9 more like him, goalie excluded.
Fire Gregg
Something I saw time and again was the end of young talent because they've been told over and over how good they are. They naturally come to believe they no longer need to work on improving, no pressure, no friction. Much is promised to these kids, but then they reach u-16 or u-19 or high school soccer and everyone is playing faster. They're unable to make the mental leap that everyone is now better than they are. They're playing the game at a 12-year-old pace and contributing nothing. I've seen this with boys and girls. Heck, I saw it when I was at that age, it's nothing new. "Stakes," as Coach says, affect players as well. The Uruguay match was lost in 2016 when the Pay-to-Play coaching lobby won out.
🤣 Both 2024 "champions" and 2nd place of the world renowned and feared CONCACAF NATIONS LEAGUE out of the Conmebol Copa America tournament in the group stages … Sorry too funny… and in your own back yard lol
Maybe if they had left their rainbow US logo on their jerseys they would have had a better result 😉
Only for the desperate.
Guys, I spent the last 30 minutes reading the comments. I did not see anybody talking about the fact that the US kids do not play soccer on their own. It is not for lack of fields, it is cultural. I was born in Bulgaria and up till 5th grade I played out in the school yards, on asphalt, cement, clay, indoor, sometimes on grass, always small sided games with the other kids – sometimes for 5 hours a day!!! Only then a local club (that had a Professional first team) selected me. Yes, we never paid to play for that club, but that is not the point. I and a huge percentage of the kids – we just played on our own all the time! On the street you learn everything – you do not need a coach to teach you first touch, or how to pass, dribble, shoot or to fight for your teammates. While here, if a kid wants to play they need to be in a club, there is simply no other place to play. I think it is not a result of lack of relegation, which of course would be great to have. I think it is simply a result of the fact the general population watches, talks about and breaths other sports. I can always see kids in school yards here playing basketball, but not soccer! And there is no critical mass of kids that watches soccer either. And in the countries where Football (well – soccer) is a number one sport, we learn a lot from watching and supporting our teams. We do it daily, the way in US people watch baseball or basketball – daily. I have been coaching kids for about 10 years in US and I feel like US will never be an organically strong soccer nation. There are just too many things (among them sports) available, that soccer is drowned. It is like in the book Soccernomics, where the authors explain why the most popular and strongest clubs historically are either from Industrial centers (Manchester, Liverpool, Munich, Dortmund, Turin, etc) or from Capitals with Dictators (The first 8 European Cups were won by Real Madrid and Benfica during the Franco and whatever his name the dictator from Portugal was). The normal capitals just do not produce this kind of following, because of all the other options culturally and economically (A champion of Europe has never been from Paris, Berlin, Rome, Warsaw, Brussels, etc and London finally did it with Chelsea in 2008)
Hello Coach Rory,
I am writing an article about how the soccer system is flawed in America and id like to ask you some questions about it. I’d also like to use a couple quotes from your video, I would quote it and link your video in my article. Is there anyway I can reach you?
Fantastic video!
Men's team reminds me of 2018 when we missed qualifying, except we have the get out of jail free card by being the hosts in 2026.
Why is soccer different in the US than baseball or basketball for example?
Bradly was the best national coach ever.he understood the American style of play.
I moved here in 1982 at the age of 14. This country seems to have been stuck in a soccer time warp. Moments of excellence, but really no further along than it was back then. Sure it's more popular, but it is not any better. The American soccer culture is awful. I love America and hope it gets its act together. Happy 4th of July everyone.
Get rid of “elite” leagues which are pay to play. This goes for all US sports. There are many talented young kids out there that won’t get the attention since they aren’t part of the “elite” teams due to not being able to afford it.
Bruce arena grandson probably coaching next😂. All
Nepotism runs rampant also, they think young players that are fast is the key. Not skill.
Yup coaches and their kids
I believe that a focus on "stars" here in the U.S. rather than teams is also part of the problem, and this is an issue that has been growing for a few decades. I just don't feel that other countries/cultures focus on the individual quite so much. Yes, individual skill is very important, but you won't win without your team.
in texas its 100 degrees today, its too hot for any kids to just go out and play all day during the summer…I feel bad for my kids
Is there a mechanism to make the major changes needed for US football? It seems like a colossal effort even to change the head coach.
I was one of the kids at the opening ceremonies in Orlando in '94. Met Michelle Akers, very nice and a tremendous player on the woman's side, and as a basketball player at the time left after the ceremony was done and played basketball. Once our athletes move away from our football, basketball, and baseball and touch the soccer field – and as you speak merit – our team will begin to win the World Cup.
Best explanation I heard.
Pucilic? The best player never played on a travel team
Crocker out!!!!! Berhalter out!!!!!
I’m glad you are speaking truth my kid played Ecnl the coach was unqualified and the club only wants fees they have 28 players per team only a few are actually good enough to be there
Specially the team managers kid he’s always the liability of the team but he plays 90 % of the time LOL
I've been saying for years the "pay to play" model has broken soccer in the US, and the ability to find and develop talent. Soccer got popular about 40 years too late in the U.S. 😢😢
Was just having this EXACT conversation with my mom. The amount of money my parents paid for local clubs was insane. And we didn’t even live in a large market. 300-400 a season is just ridiculous.
Are all sports like than in US, or just the soccer?