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Part of the reason we do well at younger ages is that we oftern stack or teams with big athletic kids that are also good soccer players. However, the developmental processes is such that we don't do as good a job with our kids over time. In addition, the amount of time these other kids spend with a ball outside of 'required' training is much greater. This is not about, our kids don't want to work hard.....it is hard, when you live in an area, in which there is not easy access to like minded kids that just want to spend their free time kicking the ball around. In many countries, the game is right outside the door.....here, you would have to call around and schedule a play date with a few families to make it happen....unless one is fortunate enought to have generally one sibling or a neighbor or two.....thinking about it a little further, small families is part of the socio-economic problem..when I was young neighborhoods were comprised of many families with, 3, 4, even 5 kids and the age groups mixed.....here often it is the two kid nuclear family that populates the suburbs....not a lot of kids and very little mixing of young kids with older kids.....god forbid a kid being out of the line of sight of a parent at 9 years old.

Part of the reason we do well at younger ages is that we oftern stack or teams with big athletic kids that are also good soccer players. However, the developmental processes is such that we don't do as good a job with our kids over time. In addition, the amount of time these other kids spend with a ball outside of 'required' training is much greater. This is not about, our kids don't want to work hard.....it is hard, when you live in an area, in which there is not easy access to like minded kids that just want to spend their free time kicking the ball around. In many countries, the game is right outside the door.....here, you would have to call around and schedule a play date with a few families to make it happen....unless one is fortunate enought to have generally one sibling or a neighbor or two.....thinking about it a little further, small families is part of the socio-economic problem..when I was young neighborhoods were comprised of many families with, 3, 4, even 5 kids and the age groups mixed.....here often it is the two kid nuclear family that populates the suburbs....not a lot of kids and very little mixing of young kids with older kids.....god forbid a kid being out of the line of sight of a parent at 9 years old.

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Do you actually think Messi, Van Persie, Wilshere, etc learned to play in the streets? These kids are more closely watched then their US counterparts by a mile.

That's the fallacy that is continually promoted here and elsewhere, that the top soccer stars in the world just "appeared pristine" at the age of 15 as a complete soccer player who "suddenly" went from playing ONLY small-sided and "barely coached" to "superstar".

Reality is that almost any kid will be playing full-sided whenever they get the chance, and will be playing on a team as soon as they get the chance. Goals are kept track of, the best players are at the same time coddled and pushed to the breaking point, and the players who need development are sent back to their village.

Messi for example:

http://www.soccer-fans-info.com/lionel-messi.html

attending training sessions at five year old, academy at 8 years old, at 11 diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency and shipped off to Spain away from his family so the treatment could be paid for. There is a high level of involvement of pro clubs and parents sending their children away if a player is considered a top prospect. At least most of the US's top soccer players had a normal upbringing.

Do you actually think Messi, Van Persie, Wilshere, etc learned to play in the streets? These kids are more closely watched then their US counterparts by a mile. [/quote]

We don't have a Messi or a Van Persie or a Wilshire here......where was Messi and Fenomeno first observed and how much of there free time do you think they spent playing soccer when the were little children? Do you think our kids play enough soccer outside of the 3 days of training each week? Those boys olso observed the game in their community growing up and hand it handed down to them....generation after generation.......

I know that basketball was mentioned as a youth sport that evokes similar developmental paths as European or South American youth soccer. I always thought basketball is very structured and organized. Other US sports such as baseball or football are definitely structured. All these sports, however, seem to produce world-class athletes. I don't think there are a lot of sandlot baseball games or, especially, football games going on, so there must be something else. Our lack of dominance in soccer is structural, not in youth soccer per se, but in our society in general. Lack of visibility in media (TV & radio) just underscores and exacerbates the lack of priority in soccer among the general population. We may have a populous country, but the population pool that generate soccer players is relatively small. It is small to start with, but gets culled further by interest in other sports. Here on LI lacrosse, which is a sport with a limited national appeal, and football crowd out soccer by the time kids are in middle school. Unless you have a kid in soccer (or make money from youth soccer), the soccer world is invisible. I do think that there have been positive strides in the past 5 years or so that I didn't see after the '94 WC. Maybe US will be competitive in the future.

GREAT POINT!
It's than darn culture thing again. Soccer youth from other countries have far fewer distractions that US youth. They live and breathe the sport, AND spend alot more hours "on the ball", OUTSIDE regular training sessions.

Also, checkout the TV and Radio exposures for the other sports vs Soccer. THe NFL draft gets a higher rating than most soccer games!

We don't have a Messi or a Van Persie or a Wilshire here......where was Messi and Fenomeno first observed and how much of there free time do you think they spent playing soccer when the were little children? Do you think our kids play enough soccer outside of the 3 days of training each week? Those boys olso observed the game in their community growing up and hand it handed down to them....generation after generation....... [/quote]

Basketball is still very unstructured...games are organized in the summer but it is organized street/pick-up ball often......There used to be a lot of pick-up, sandlot baseball....that has gone away...and guess what, the percentage of american playing baseball is goin down.....go down to Dom Rep or Panama....lot of pick-up baseball....as for lacrosse, on long island, that sport has been handed down from generation to generation....with fathers, grand fathers, uncles and brothers all having played and hand the sport down...much like soccer in other cultures where it is just part of the fabric of the community......we have to over come this hurdle and that is why if will take a long time for us to get there, but our sheer numbers should help.

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The culture thing certainly plays into it, but the idea of Messi and others learning the game in the streets is a myth.

Again, you keep coming back to the cultural issues. We agree, but in order for this to change, the sport/desire to play it has to improve it's ability to draw players. Think about some of the comments here: "handed down from generation to generation". Yet here we are after 4 short years, doubting the efficacy of the USDA program. I can tell you this, the popularity and visibility of the USDA, DESPITE it's alleged flaws, is on the rise. That is a good thing as far as helping to have the sport become a fabric of the community, as it will become what every young player wants to strive for.
but I caution, if winning and trophies at a U10 tournament is still the priority, we will never get there. the "winners" will stay together (until they start losing) and the losers will either disperse to other teams where they think they can win, or they will quit the sport, reducing the pool in the process.

You want attrition, look at how many teams are in a u10, league vs a u14 league. Why? Because as players seek the next winner, the teams break up. So they aren't playing for sheer enjoyment of the game, they are playing to win! Yes it;s ok for winners and losers, but if you want this sport to grow, it better be about development first, and winning second...at age 9-13, NOT age 16.

And let the parents coach, just like they do in EVERY other american sport. Then it will start weaving into the fabric of the community

.There used to be a lot of pick-up, sandlot baseball....that has gone away...and guess what, the percentage of american playing baseball is goin down.....go down to Dom Rep or Panama....lot of pick-up baseball....as for lacrosse, on long island, that sport has been handed down from generation to generation....with fathers, grand fathers, uncles and brothers all having played and hand the sport down...much like soccer in other cultures where it is just part of the fabric of the community......we have to over come this hurdle and that is why if will take a long time for us to get there, but our sheer numbers should help. [/quote]