Boys 05

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There are so many factors that are at play. The age and multisport argument are interesting points. Consider Jay Demerit's story - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CJM1KnzUPog

That is a fantastic story about how a three sport high school athlete had the drive and persistence to work hard to get to the top, and the reality of how difficult it was and the odds against him. No handouts. Fantastic athlete and love it that he promotes multi sport play. Basketball and Track are wonderful cross training sports for soccer players. I feel bad for kids who's parents do not encourage trying other sports in addition to soccer, or who promote specialization at young ages because of the delusion their kid has to specialize to go Pro. They are missing out on so much!

[Unregistered]

That is a fantastic story about how a three sport high school athlete had the drive and persistence to work hard to get to the top, and the reality of how difficult it was and the odds against him. No handouts. Fantastic athlete and love it that he promotes multi sport play. Basketball and Track are wonderful cross training sports for soccer players. I feel bad for kids who's parents do not encourage trying other sports in addition to soccer, or who promote specialization at young ages because of the delusion their kid has to specialize to go Pro. They are missing out on so much!

Soccer and fringe sport parents are always the craziest ones- there will always be a place for the athlete, they have the physical ability and speed to dominate those that are more skilled if they have the motor and drive. I have heard a lot of people on here touting ball skill and technical ability as the end all be all, but the bigger faster stronger athlete will always win out at every level. Why do you think fc or westside or crossfire mix in these types with the more technical kids? Obviously there are exceptional exceptions (Messi, spud web) but they are 1 in a million..

[Unregistered]

Soccer and fringe sport parents are always the craziest ones- there will always be a place for the athlete, they have the physical ability and speed to dominate those that are more skilled if they have the motor and drive. I have heard a lot of people on here touting ball skill and technical ability as the end all be all, but the bigger faster stronger athlete will always win out at every level. Why do you think fc or westside or crossfire mix in these types with the more technical kids? Obviously there are exceptional exceptions (Messi, spud web) but they are 1 in a million..

The one problem with this--and this mainly applies to international soccer and the first-class leagues of Europe--the truly great players are BOTH technical and great athletes. Or else they are soccer geniuses (which explains a Messi or a Cruyff). If you are just looking for players who can be good in MLS, the US is great at producing plenty of those. But the number of world-class (male) field players ever produced by the United States is still zero. If Christian Pulisic continues on his current trajectory, we may get our first. But we're a long way from being able to stock our national team with guys who can carry the shinguards of Die Mannschaft or Les Bleus.

That said--for 99.999% of your children, the above is not a concern. Enjoy the game, and don't worry about which club or program provides the best "path to the pros"--for most of you, it matters not, as your kid lacks the talent. As, almost certainly, do mine.

[Unregistered]

Why do you think fc or westside or crossfire mix in these types with the more technical kids?

In some cases, it's likely because there aren't enough technical kids to stock the entire roster. I know a few coaches who would stock up entirely with dribbling wizards if they could.

Now whether or not that is wise, is another question.

[Unregistered]

Why do you think fc or westside or crossfire mix in these types with the more technical kids? Obviously there are exceptional exceptions (Messi, spud web) but they are 1 in a million..

Except those teams are trash at a national level, let alone a global one.

Folks, Americans are renowned for their athleticism the world over, but are pretty poorly regarded for their ability to play soccer. We need better soccer players, not better athletes.

And playing other sports is both fine and not the problem.

[Unregistered]

Except those teams are trash at a national level, let alone a global one.

Folks, Americans are renowned for their athleticism the world over, but are pretty poorly regarded for their ability to play soccer. We need better soccer players, not better athletes.

And playing other sports is both fine and not the problem.

You could not be more wrong!!
The ability is there, but not the athleticism. You are correct when you say that Americans are renowned for their athleticism, BUT all those athletes typically go toward Football, Basketball, Baseball and Track & Field, thus leaving the less athletic folk to play soccer.
This has slowly been changing over the past two decades as soccer has become more popular and the salaries for the players are slowly increasing, but still has a long way to go. Lets face it, the most athletic people would much rather make $465k (NFL minimum), $535k (MLB minimum), $823k (NBA minimum), then the MLS minimum of $60k!

[Unregistered]

You could not be more wrong!!
The ability is there, but not the athleticism. You are correct when you say that Americans are renowned for their athleticism, BUT

Smh.

American soccer players (!) are renowned globally for their physical abilities, their fitness, workrate, etc. Again, we don't need better athletes; we need better soccer players.

If all our "best athletes" played soccer, we'd still produce the same bad soccer players. Fast, strong, and bad.

[Unregistered]

Except those teams are trash at a national level, let alone a global one.

Folks, Americans are renowned for their athleticism the world over, but are pretty poorly regarded for their ability to play soccer. We need better soccer players, not better athletes.

And playing other sports is both fine and not the problem.

We have good players here. The problem there is no one to teach the beautiful game of soccer.

[Unregistered]

you could not be more wrong!!
The ability is there, but not the athleticism. You are correct when you say that americans are renowned for their athleticism, but all those athletes typically go toward football, basketball, baseball and track & field, thus leaving the less athletic folk to play soccer.
This has slowly been changing over the past two decades as soccer has become more popular and the salaries for the players are slowly increasing, but still has a long way to go. Lets face it, the most athletic people would much rather make $465k (nfl minimum), $535k (mlb minimum), $823k (nba minimum), then the mls minimum of $60k!

bingo!

[Unregistered]

You could not be more wrong!!
The ability is there, but not the athleticism. You are correct when you say that Americans are renowned for their athleticism, BUT all those athletes typically go toward Football, Basketball, Baseball and Track & Field, thus leaving the less athletic folk to play soccer.
This has slowly been changing over the past two decades as soccer has become more popular and the salaries for the players are slowly increasing, but still has a long way to go. Lets face it, the most athletic people would much rather make $465k (NFL minimum), $535k (MLB minimum), $823k (NBA minimum), then the MLS minimum of $60k!

That settles it. My boys are dropping soccer. Baseball & basketball focus makes much more sense.

[Unregistered]

That settles it. My boys are dropping soccer. Baseball & basketball focus makes much more sense.

Lol......

[Unregistered]

You could not be more wrong!!
The ability is there, but not the athleticism. You are correct when you say that Americans are renowned for their athleticism, BUT all those athletes typically go toward Football, Basketball, Baseball and Track & Field, thus leaving the less athletic folk to play soccer.
This has slowly been changing over the past two decades as soccer has become more popular and the salaries for the players are slowly increasing, but still has a long way to go. Lets face it, the most athletic people would much rather make $465k (NFL minimum), $535k (MLB minimum), $823k (NBA minimum), then the MLS minimum of $60k!

American soccer is renowned for its athleticism. The bigger stronger faster argument starts failing at U15, and isn't much of a factor at the highest levels as the differences in athleticism are marginal. The difference always has been technical skill.

It's silly to think the best players from other sports would automatically dominate soccer. The mold of the best soccer players in the world looks much different than the mold of the best basketball or football players.

For us as a country to get better we need to bridge the practice/play gap. The kids from soccer countries are playing 4-5 hrs per week to every one hour our kids play. That is producing the difference in tech abilities. Not some mythical athleticism gap.

[Unregistered]

American soccer is renowned for its athleticism. The bigger stronger faster argument starts failing at U15, and isn't much of a factor at the highest levels as the differences in athleticism are marginal. The difference always has been technical skill.

It's silly to think the best players from other sports would automatically dominate soccer. The mold of the best soccer players in the world looks much different than the mold of the best basketball or football players.

For us as a country to get better we need to bridge the practice/play gap. The kids from soccer countries are playing 4-5 hrs per week to every one hour our kids play. That is producing the difference in tech abilities. Not some mythical athleticism gap.

You are right ...cough cough cough

You are an idiot. if our best athletes actually played soccer there would be a huge difference. Remember the best athletes are the ones that have the best hand eye coordination, physiological symmetry (body) and ability to do things at a very high level repetitively. Even though you state we have great athletes playing soccer from the US compared to the world, they are still second tier athletes. Wrap your pee brained mind around the concept would you. yes they would still need technical ability but what gives you the idea that they would not be able to do that with any effort- they got to the highest level in a more demanding sport didn't they? And the story of Jay Demerit just proves my point and he was not even really elite. You are just mad because your son is a one trick poney and can't do anything other than juggle a soccer ball at a high enough level so you come up with a politically driven system to alienate any others that will take your kids spot down the road when the athletes decide which sport they want to concentrate on

[Unregistered]

You are right ...cough cough cough

You are an idiot. if our best athletes actually played soccer there would be a huge difference. Remember the best athletes are the ones that have the best hand eye coordination, physiological symmetry (body) and ability to do things at a very high level repetitively. Even though you state we have great athletes playing soccer from the US compared to the world, they are still second tier athletes. Wrap your pee brained mind around the concept would you. yes they would still need technical ability but what gives you the idea that they would not be able to do that with any effort- they got to the highest level in a more demanding sport didn't they? And the story of Jay Demerit just proves my point and he was not even really elite. You are just mad because your son is a one trick poney and can't do anything other than juggle a soccer ball at a high enough level so you come up with a politically driven system to alienate any others that will take your kids spot down the road when the athletes decide which sport they want to concentrate on

Bingo

[Unregistered]

Bingo

Nope. Americans cling to this belief because it's comforting. It FEELS right to people who know zero about soccer, but know a thing or two about sports that Americans invented.

You can continue to believe it if you choose, but it's a belief that is not shared by people who know what they're talking about.