Youth Soccer in America is Failing its Athletes

by Joshua Hamlett and Kellen Woodcock

A lot of young soccer players in America have untapped potential that goes unused and gets wasted. These players are products of a failing American youth soccer system that is inefficient and inferior to the European one.

The American system is generally based around clubs, and moving up a ladder towards academies. In these clubs, it works like a pay-to-win system in which the more you pay, the better your club is likely to be. This is in comparison to the European model which is based around local academies taking in the best players in the area.   

Courtesy of Reg Hamlett

In order to play beyond high school in America, one most likely has played for a club team, which isn’t affiliated with any professional team. This means that if a player wants to advance further, they have to participate in a pay-to-win system that benefits the more economically well-off families and players.

This system also puts the club first and not the player because the clubs have to maintain their reputations in order to attract top talent. Another downside to the club system is that it’s separated from school which leads players to often have to sacrifice one over the other. If a player wants to attend a school with a rigorous academic curriculum, they will likely have to miss practices or potentially games for school work and projects, but on the other hand, if they want to prioritize soccer, they might have to miss school or certain school events for games and tournaments as well as missing homework assignments for lack of time due to practice or game schedules.

These difficulties in the youth development system here in America make it difficult for the U.S. to grow exceptional talent in soccer.

In Europe, academic identify and bring in top talent.  Academies are operated by professional teams and are closely monitored by these teams.  These academies are places where the players are treated like professionals.

At these academies, the players are provided with all the materials available to the pros. This nurtures them to be professionals at a young age. A lot of the time, the players and their families do have to pay more to play for these academies, but they also often offer academic classes and let them play at the highest level at any given age to combine multiple aspects into one cost. This system has consistently produced the best players in the world.