What would happen if the US's best athletes played soccer?

[Unregistered]

No wonder some of you are shocked when your kids aren't picked for DAP or regional pools or the #1 team at your club. As though the usual disparagement of everyone isn't enough, now some of you are reduced to criticizing probably the greatest athlete on the planet right now.

Correction. Greatest freakishly tall athlete.

[Unregistered]

Correction. Greatest freakishly tall athlete.

Still stupid. Where are these thousands of 5'10 guys who are more skilled? At Pine Manor? Becker?

These posts I'm sorry to say are actually racist. He's great just because of his freakish athleticism and size. Just pure brute strength. Almost like a .................

[Unregistered]

Still stupid. Where are these thousands of 5'10 guys who are more skilled? At Pine Manor? Becker?

These posts I'm sorry to say are actually racist. He's great just because of his freakish athleticism and size. Just pure brute strength. Almost like a .................

Remember the Superstars competition? Pro athletes from a wide range of sports competed against each other to see who the best all-round athlete was. How many basketball players won? Zero. How many basketball players finished in the top 4? Zero. Soccer players won, football players won, skiiers won, track and field athletes won. The basketball guys generally did very poorly. Top pro athletes in every sport have abilities ideally suited for that sport. Basketball puts a huge premium on freakish height. As overall, well-rounded athletes, able to perform well in a wide range of athletic competitions, they are nowhere near the best athletes.

[Unregistered]

Germany 80 mil
England 53 mil
Netherlands 16.8 mil
Belgium 11 mil

To me it's a case of what each countries reigning soccer body decides to do. Germany is a large country but they developed a road map over ten years ago and are seeing the results now. Same with the smaller ones. Countries that haven't done well of late - England, Spain, Portugal, Italy - have have big name professional teams partly calling the shots and recruiting kids and paying them at a young age. Plike someone said -once money gets involved in youth sports all bets are off

I actually think that being a large country both in terms of area and population is a disadvantage in terms of developing and identifying talent. Basketball, Hockey, and Football do a great job of preparing athletes via the college system. The colleges have an extensive scouting network and their geographic distribution insures that players from all over the US will get identified. Baseball has a massive college AND minor league development system. There are thousands of scouts out daily looking for talent in every nook and cranny of the country. This is how kids from NH or SD make the pros and succeed. Soccer on the other hand is a minor college sport with much less funding and hence scouting resources. On a national basis it is a mish mash of state organizations and an alphabet soup of leagues. For the most part talent must seek out opportunity and not vice versa as with the major sports.

Face it - if you are one of about 6 states and are white upper middle class your kid has a much better chance than some talented kid from Montana or upstate Maine. There are two levels to this problem. Within the states talent is drawn disproportionately from a relatively small number of towns with strong income demographics, then at a national level some states are dominant in terms of opportunity (which does not always mean the best talent...). These states are So Cal, TX, CO, FL, Northern VA, NJ, Long Island. The best kicker in the history of football is from South Dakota. If A.V. were a soccer player there is a good chance he'd be selling life insurance in Paducah KY.

Club soccer has been and will continue to be the problem. Money is more important than talent. Sure AAU has polluted the waters to some extent of the other sports but still has a small minority of the lure and control of players. Pop Warner, Little League, and Town Basketball and Hockey are were talent is being developed and where kids are getting the 10,000 hours of training needed to be successful. Hockey in many ways has gone the way of club soccer and the sport is suffering in terms of developing US based talent because of it. Too many games and not enough practice time.

Combine this with the multiple sport options kids now have (add Field Hockey and Lacrosse to the list...) and these factors will keep us from being anything more than a B level nation at the international level.

[Unregistered]

Remember the Superstars competition? Pro athletes from a wide range of sports competed against each other to see who the best all-round athlete was. How many basketball players won? Zero. How many basketball players finished in the top 4? Zero. Soccer players won, football players won, skiiers won, track and field athletes won. The basketball guys generally did very poorly. Top pro athletes in every sport have abilities ideally suited for that sport. Basketball puts a huge premium on freakish height. As overall, well-rounded athletes, able to perform well in a wide range of athletic competitions, they are nowhere near the best athletes.

OMG, you are stupid. NBA players are the best athletes in the world, as a group, and Lebron is the best player on the planet. The Superstars competition??? Are you kidding me? Do you consider the Superstars competition to have been certified as identifying the exact criteria needed to determine best athletes? What about the bball pros who do not have freakish height, like an Isaiah Thomas or Chris Paul who are barely 6'0? Bob Cousy at 5'10 or 5'11? Nate Archibald? Ernie D?

[Unregistered]

OMG, you are stupid. NBA players are the best athletes in the world, as a group, and Lebron is the best player on the planet. The Superstars competition??? Are you kidding me? Do you consider the Superstars competition to have been certified as identifying the exact criteria needed to determine best athletes? What about the bball pros who do not have freakish height, like an Isaiah Thomas or Chris Paul who are barely 6'0? Bob Cousy at 5'10 or 5'11? Nate Archibald? Ernie D?

Another delusional poster heard from.

[Unregistered]

OMG, you are stupid. NBA players are the best athletes in the world, as a group, and Lebron is the best player on the planet. The Superstars competition??? Are you kidding me? Do you consider the Superstars competition to have been certified as identifying the exact criteria needed to determine best athletes? What about the bball pros who do not have freakish height, like an Isaiah Thomas or Chris Paul who are barely 6'0? Bob Cousy at 5'10 or 5'11? Nate Archibald? Ernie D?

Now you're getting more sensible. Average height pro b-ball players are great athletes, although not any necessarily any better than athletes is other sports. BTW, Nate Archibald came in 7th in his prelim group in the Superstars competition in 1974. Havlicek and Jim McMillan did much better and qualified for the final that year, but only came in 8th and 11th. Apparently b-ball players, even average-height ones, are not very good relative to athletes in other sports at golf, swimming, weightlifting, bowling, sprinting, half-mile run, bicycle racing, baseball hitting or running an obstacle course. Havlicek and McMillan did do relatively well in tennis, however, perhaps because there is a height advantage in that sport too. http://www.thesuperstars.org/comp/74final.html

[Unregistered]

Now you're getting more sensible. Average height pro b-ball players are great athletes, although not any necessarily any better than athletes is other sports. BTW, Nate Archibald came in 7th in his prelim group in the Superstars competition in 1974. Havlicek and Jim McMillan did much better and qualified for the final that year, but only came in 8th and 11th. Apparently b-ball players, even average-height ones, are not very good relative to athletes in other sports at golf, swimming, weightlifting, bowling, sprinting, half-mile run, bicycle racing, baseball hitting or running an obstacle course. Havlicek and McMillan did do relatively well in tennis, however, perhaps because there is a height advantage in that sport too. http://www.thesuperstars.org/comp/74final.html

Another poster. If some of you actually believe some of the things you write there is a serious problem. Ludicrous to suggest Lebron James isn't one of the best athletes in the world. To argue that any of these players are only good because of their height is just silly. Ever see a 6'10 kid who can't chew gum and tie his shoes? Any doubt that Lebron could be an All-Pro tight end?

[Unregistered]

Another poster. If some of you actually believe some of the things you write there is a serious problem. Ludicrous to suggest Lebron James isn't one of the best athletes in the world. To argue that any of these players are only good because of their height is just silly. Ever see a 6'10 kid who can't chew gum and tie his shoes? Any doubt that Lebron could be an All-Pro tight end?

Lebron a great athlete? Sure. An all-pro tight end? Maybe. Probably the only position he could play, however. Basketball players the greatest athletes in the world? Only if you make being really tall or really good at basketball the main criteria. Does Lebron have incredible abilities? Sure for a really tall guy, but if he was average height, I doubt he could make it as a pro in any sport.

[Unregistered]

Nope. Just soccer, actually. Maybe 1 or 2 per country in those other activities.

Funny how Europeans are also dominating other sports like tennis. US has not had a top 5 men's tennis player for years now. Switzerland has 2. Spain has 2. What gives?

IF ONLY the best athletes in the US played soccer.....what a poor argument to make.

Athletics is far less important in Europe which is why most kids do not play organized sports like in the US. So these countries that are dominating in soccer have a much smaller population, far less kids playing sports, and they play just as many different sports as we do. Of course soccer is the primary sport, but as many have said it boils down to the culture of the sport and the training NOT the athleticism of the players.

[Unregistered]

Lebron a great athlete? Sure. An all-pro tight end? Maybe. Probably the only position he could play, however. Basketball players the greatest athletes in the world? Only if you make being really tall or really good at basketball the main criteria. Does Lebron have incredible abilities? Sure for a really tall guy, but if he was average height, I doubt he could make it as a pro in any sport.

This is even more senseless than the argument that the only reason the US is not dominating the soccer world is because our best athletes do not play soccer.

You could argue forever over what sport has the best athletes. What does that even mean? Lebron is a freakish athlete, no doubt. However, put him in a pool and make him swim 200 meters and he would nearly drown. I would wager that most 12 year old competitive girls would beat him easily. Different sport, muscle groups, endurance, technique etc....

There are great athletes that have no hand eye coordination but they don't need it for their sport; rowing for example.

Most kids who try a few sports will gravitate to the sport that best fits their physical skill set. When you keep getting hit in the face while trying to catch a baseball you tend to figure out that you should not be playing baseball and may try swimming.

[Unregistered]

I actually think that being a large country both in terms of area and population is a disadvantage in terms of developing and identifying talent. Basketball, Hockey, and Football do a great job of preparing athletes via the college system. The colleges have an extensive scouting network and their geographic distribution insures that players from all over the US will get identified. Baseball has a massive college AND minor league development system. There are thousands of scouts out daily looking for talent in every nook and cranny of the country. This is how kids from NH or SD make the pros and succeed. Soccer on the other hand is a minor college sport with much less funding and hence scouting resources. On a national basis it is a mish mash of state organizations and an alphabet soup of leagues. For the most part talent must seek out opportunity and not vice versa as with the major sports.

Face it - if you are one of about 6 states and are white upper middle class your kid has a much better chance than some talented kid from Montana or upstate Maine. There are two levels to this problem. Within the states talent is drawn disproportionately from a relatively small number of towns with strong income demographics, then at a national level some states are dominant in terms of opportunity (which does not always mean the best talent...). These states are So Cal, TX, CO, FL, Northern VA, NJ, Long Island. The best kicker in the history of football is from South Dakota. If A.V. were a soccer player there is a good chance he'd be selling life insurance in Paducah KY.

Club soccer has been and will continue to be the problem. Money is more important than talent. Sure AAU has polluted the waters to some extent of the other sports but still has a small minority of the lure and control of players. Pop Warner, Little League, and Town Basketball and Hockey are were talent is being developed and where kids are getting the 10,000 hours of training needed to be successful. Hockey in many ways has gone the way of club soccer and the sport is suffering in terms of developing US based talent because of it. Too many games and not enough practice time.

Combine this with the multiple sport options kids now have (add Field Hockey and Lacrosse to the list...) and these factors will keep us from being anything more than a B level nation at the international level.

Spot on!

[Unregistered]

Spot on!

No, all wrong. Problem is coaching at grass roots level, not scouting. Only a few thousand boys per year get the proper training from 5 to 10. 98 percent of kids in the US system are too far behind technically by age 12 to ever play at the highest level. Might as well be playing lacrosse. Get the dads off the sideline, times 10 real coaches and US could compete with the big boys.

And way too many "in terms of".

[Unregistered]

Funny how Europeans are also dominating other sports like tennis. US has not had a top 5 men's tennis player for years now. Switzerland has 2. Spain has 2. What gives?

IF ONLY the best athletes in the US played soccer.....what a poor argument to make.

Athletics is far less important in Europe which is why most kids do not play organized sports like in the US. So these countries that are dominating in soccer have a much smaller population, far less kids playing sports, and they play just as many different sports as we do. Of course soccer is the primary sport, but as many have said it boils down to the culture of the sport and the training NOT the athleticism of the players.

"Athletics is far less important in Europe".....really? Not in my experience. Sports is an integral part of the culture at the very grass roots level. Soccer is THE organized sport among others but Soccer is a constant.

[Unregistered]

This is even more senseless than the argument that the only reason the US is not dominating the soccer world is because our best athletes do not play soccer.

You could argue forever over what sport has the best athletes. What does that even mean? Lebron is a freakish athlete, no doubt. However, put him in a pool and make him swim 200 meters and he would nearly drown. I would wager that most 12 year old competitive girls would beat him easily. Different sport, muscle groups, endurance, technique etc....

There are great athletes that have no hand eye coordination but they don't need it for their sport; rowing for example.

Most kids who try a few sports will gravitate to the sport that best fits their physical skill set. When you keep getting hit in the face while trying to catch a baseball you tend to figure out that you should not be playing baseball and may try swimming.

Is this blatantly racist? Lebron would "drown"??? What would make you suggest that? Have you ever sat near the floor at a NBA game? Attributing the greatness of these athletes to some physical aberration as a singular defining factor and diminishing the skill involved to nothing are ludicrous and irresponsible suggestions.