It's a naive belief to think that the USSDA system is truly producing great players and before you write that off and go back to worshipping the system (simply because you are in it), think about what actually developed your child into the player he is today. Your kid once played for a small club team and benefitted from playing under a great young coach. A coach unattached to the US Soccer system and was totally invested in your child. A coach that never followed a blueprint or play style sent by higher ups, just a genuine teacher of the game. Your kid benefits the MOST from coaches like that, they learn more, they train more and develop a love for the game. They focus on creativity, basics and fun. That sort of environment still exist in today's club soccer. And that's the reason why club soccer will continue to and always be the best at developing players for the next level.
I have been out of country and shadowed some great coaches in places like Hungary, Switzerland and recently Chile. I also had a playing career at a D1 school in Virginia. I'm not saying that everything the USSDA system is doing is bad, but it isn't going to help the US progress. If you have watched a USSDA program train for a couple weeks you realize that they practice the same old things for days straight. When do they learn something new? When do they explore a different formation? When do they work on taking players 1 on 1 or creativity? It's just different passing sequences that improve nothing. In other countries, the ability to beat players 1 on 1 with actual skill and not pace is crucial. Every player on the field should be able to do it, maybe even your goalkeeper! In Club soccer, the games are more free flowing, there is less stress put on the players to just keep the ball and there is more room for creativity. That's why you see a player like Jordan Morris who is super ambitious. He played Academy soccer for 1 year, and he is the only player in his age group consistently being apart of the US national team lineup. Before that he played club soccer until he joined Seattle Sounders for 1 year. Did Seattle make him into the player he is today? In one year? Or was it the 17 he spent playing club soccer, improving his ability through free flowing play.
Also notice that people who were once really good become average when they join the academy because they are thrown into a system that doesn't facilitate creative play. Watch an academy game and you realize how hard it is to tell which players are actually good and not good because they can 1 and 2 touch side to side. In a club game it is very easy to tell who is a real player and can make a difference. Half of the players in the youth national team fold had no business playing academy anyways, until they were practically forced to join one by the national team coaches in order to keep getting call ups.
People are so caught up in trying to get showcased for the national team when they should know it's all politics. There isn't even reasons why some kids aren't on the national team. There are kids right here in florida that have scored 25-30 goals against "the best the US has to offer" and aren't even invited to a camp.
I grew up in Jamaica and represented them at the youth levels and we always beat or played a close game against the US. And if you watched the U17 Qualifying you could see the same closeness between the countries. Besides the fact that Jamaica is way smaller then the US, let's look at the fact that Jamaica has no type of USSDA system. There are not even that many clubs there. The US also had the opportunity to take many of the players that ended up playing for Jamaica and they came back and almost knocked them out of the competition.
I have been out of country and shadowed some great coaches in places like Hungary, Switzerland and recently Chile. I also had a playing career at a D1 school in Virginia. I'm not saying that everything the USSDA system is doing is bad, but it isn't going to help the US progress. If you have watched a USSDA program train for a couple weeks you realize that they practice the same old things for days straight. When do they learn something new? When do they explore a different formation? When do they work on taking players 1 on 1 or creativity? It's just different passing sequences that improve nothing. In other countries, the ability to beat players 1 on 1 with actual skill and not pace is crucial. Every player on the field should be able to do it, maybe even your goalkeeper! In Club soccer, the games are more free flowing, there is less stress put on the players to just keep the ball and there is more room for creativity. That's why you see a player like Jordan Morris who is super ambitious. He played Academy soccer for 1 year, and he is the only player in his age group consistently being apart of the US national team lineup. Before that he played club soccer until he joined Seattle Sounders for 1 year. Did Seattle make him into the player he is today? In one year? Or was it the 17 he spent playing club soccer, improving his ability through free flowing play.
Also notice that people who were once really good become average when they join the academy because they are thrown into a system that doesn't facilitate creative play. Watch an academy game and you realize how hard it is to tell which players are actually good and not good because they can 1 and 2 touch side to side. In a club game it is very easy to tell who is a real player and can make a difference. Half of the players in the youth national team fold had no business playing academy anyways, until they were practically forced to join one by the national team coaches in order to keep getting call ups.
People are so caught up in trying to get showcased for the national team when they should know it's all politics. There isn't even reasons why some kids aren't on the national team. There are kids right here in florida that have scored 25-30 goals against "the best the US has to offer" and aren't even invited to a camp.
I grew up in Jamaica and represented them at the youth levels and we always beat or played a close game against the US. And if you watched the U17 Qualifying you could see the same closeness between the countries. Besides the fact that Jamaica is way smaller then the US, let's look at the fact that Jamaica has no type of USSDA system. There are not even that many clubs there. The US also had the opportunity to take many of the players that ended up playing for Jamaica and they came back and almost knocked them out of the competition.
Comment