<p>“I was born in August, and that moved me to the younger side. I spent several years being the tallest and fastest on my team. Helped the life of a center forward! Yet, the real star in our family was my younger sister who was a national youth team player for 5 years.”</p>
<p>That is soooo cool. </p>
<p>I am pretty sure it was the 88s. It was an under 13 team that played Dallas in 2001. </p>
<p>I can see 88 on the computer screen in my mind. :)</p>
<p>Probably cant get this info but was the '89 team number 1 in 2001?</p>
<p>August was a great birthday for club teams. Not so good for state teams which used a calendar year.</p>
<p>I cant confirm the 88’s because the team changed its name and it looks like all records have been expunged. :)</p>
<p>xiggi makes a lot of good points… there was a top club in my area as I was growing up (I was not part of it) and that team made the team decision to pass on the high school soccer scene later on (the kids were all starting varsity as freshmen).</p>
<p>As the MLS teams start to develop their academy programs more, they will help develop the local talent in their areas. [Almost] No one coming out of college soccer at age 22 is going to make no noise at the international level. The top young players have been playing in the best leagues in the world for multiple years by that point.</p>
<p>Getting Green was huge for the U.S., IMO. He will be on the team for 3 more World Cups. Those are the types of young players we need. If we had 10 more Yedlins each year, that would be excellent too (you could see he lacks quality training in terms of positioning though)</p>
<p>Dallss had/ has two great organizations. Or are there more? </p>
<p>Definitely more than two. When I started, most clubs had one team per age group at most. Not all clubs had a team in the top league in each age group. Biggest names, as I recall were Longhorns, Comets, Solar, Lynx, Andromeda, and the Dallas Texans Club was up and coming. By the time I was done most clubs had exploded with 2’ 3, if not more teams in each age group. The Texans were particularly aggressive in creating more options by absorbing other clubs and capitalizing on the success of their top teams and cashing the 1500 to 2000 dollars many were prepared to pay for being a Texan, despite having no chance to ever make the top team in its age group. </p>
<p>Today, there are even more larger organizations, including the academies of the MLS Dallas, FC, as well as a developing scene for teams targeting the larger group of Hispanics. </p>
<p>On the girls side, you had the national powerhouse of Sting and the classy D’feeters and then came the predatory Dallas Texans! </p>
<p>Getting into the top teams is just as crazy in Dallas as getting into the right kindergarten and preschool. On the sidelines of the YMCA, you can hear talks of Harvard and scholarships! </p>
<p>I never understood the scholarship thing. Soccer scholarships were tiny for the most part and the cost of the travelling teams were high. I think you lose money on the soccer scholarship deal.</p>
<p>I think you will appreciate that many parents of kids on my son’s team wanted their kids to go to small liberal arts colleges and thought soccer would be a good way for their kids to get into good schools and play division 3. The parents were correct. It worked. Many kids did end up at excellent liberal arts colleges. </p>
<p>A big rival team sent a kid to the youth national team. It was cool to play to watch him play. I dont know what happened to him. I have him on tape when he was on an u-13 team. The tape is somewhere in the garage. He scored a nice goal juking 3 guys. The game had an announcer so I can still hear his name yelled out after he scored. </p>
<p>Are you still playing soccer for fun? Playing on any teams? </p>
<p>DS, I still love to play soccer with friends but no longer play with a team. My apartment has a direct view of several fields and I try my luck against the locals every once in a while. My main sport has become biking. Must be in my heritage. I do, however, shudder at the thought that the next big sport in my dad’s country is … pigeon homing. </p>
<p>You are right about the soccer scholarships. Both in value and in helping landing a spot in a Div III Lac. </p>
<p>great stuff over the last few pages … the Boston Globe has an article on the rise of the academies in today’s paper … <a href=“US Soccer is developing a solution - The Boston Globe”>US Soccer is developing a solution - The Boston Globe; … hopefully you all can access the article. I do believe this will help the national team a great deal especially if the the academies follow the same curriculum … hopefully we’ll be able to match the technical level and skill of the the rest of the world.</p>
<p>Hmm … but I also feel the evolution of the youth soccer world is the the detriment of the typical pretty good youth player … the players who play through town travel (8th grade) or through high school. Around here (Boston) between club and the academies I wouldn’t be surprised if town travel becomes inconsequential very soon … and that is, IMO, a big loss for the majority of youth players.</p>
<p>Or it means that a player or two will get the opportunity to develop and then also get noticed by the academies? This will affect college soccer and place it in a similar place as college baseball. Some 18-year old ballplayers sign with minor league professional clubs and others will play for colleges. </p>
<p>“If you look at the last 25 years, I don’t believe there’s been a country on the planet that has made as much progress in the game of soccer as we have, from a national team standpoint, from an academy standpoint, and from a professional league standpoint in MLS,” said Burns. “If we make as much progress in the next 25 years as we have in the past 25 years, I don’t see any reason why we’re not going to be one of the top teams in the world.”</p>
<p>This is a positive statement from the GM of the Revolution. I remember my son’s travel team faced the Rochester Junior Rhinos in the NYS West State Cup tournament one summer. They arrived with at least five or six coaches and began pregame drills like a military unit. Our parent coach scratched his head before tossing the ball to the kids for a shoot around. They outscored us by 10 goals. Our BEST player probably wouldn’t start on their team.</p>
<p>Most of the above is true but it still misses the mark. Much progress has been made in the last 25 years but from a dismal starting point. Most of the ROW was ahead and still is. </p>
<p>A misconception by the US is that the world is standing still as we progress. The reality is the soccer powers continue to improve. Take a look at the Western European teams from the WC in 1986/1990 and 2014. What do you notice with players such as Boateng, Ozil, or Khedira? The racial diversity of Belgium and France? </p>
<p>The diversity is even greater at the club level. It is NOT about race, but it is a fact that Europe is constantly scouting the globe to attract the very young to one of its youth academies. How old was Messi when he was bought by Barcelona. There are thousands of such youngsters all over Europe. Those superstars are elevating the local youth teams. So much that the growth cycle has been shortened with 15 years old now being what 20 years old were a decade ago. Europe and LatAm prepares his players to be dominant at 18-20 at the highest level. We still focus on the end of college. </p>
<p>Years ago we raved about Adu and hoped he was the US Messi. He faltered. That happens everywhere. The difference is that we had ONE such case. Europe has hundreds of them. </p>
<p>There is hope for the US, but it will take a LOT for the US to catch up, let alone be a top team. It will require more of the MLS and not be a league where the only real talent is in the form of aging stars who come to end their career at a senatorial pace, or youngsters who have few other options. </p>
<p>We WILL progress, but assuming we will catch up seems to be a pipe dream. </p>
<p>Didn’t we just convince some of these young players to come on board with us? Not only make our team but get to PLAY in the World Cup. Who wants to sit on the bench during the WC watching other young Adu-type players when they can be out there themselves? If there are hundreds of them then every single country over there must have a few dozen of them all believing they are the next Messi. But there are only 11 starting positions on a team. </p>
<p>We now have the MLS, the academies, a world-class coaching staff, and 1,500,000 boys to choose from. If that isn’t enough to compete with the top tier we also can recruit the 15 and 16-year old future stars too. We have several bargaining chips we can use. </p>
<p>I watched part of an MLS game recently and was surprised at the quality of play compared with the World Cup. </p>
<p>I was not really addressing the cases of Brooks and Green. I was talking about the thousands of very promising players who are brought from abroad to benefit from an infrastructure that is lacking in their own country. </p>
<p>I understand your point about Brooks and Green and it is a nice experiment for Klinsmann to pursue. This said, the limitations of the plan is showing when looking at the other dual citizens. </p>
<p>And, fwiw, we do not really have 1,500,000 bodies to choose from. Take a closer look at the regional and national pools in the U15 and above ranks. That number is very small. And, again, the problem is not to find hundreds of promising 13-14 years old (we have them) but what happens to them in the next 3-4 years of their development. This is the story behind Bradenton (or IMG Academy) … it showed great promises 15 years ago when the U17 nearly came home with the gold. But there has been zero progress since then. </p>
<p>Lastly, success in the youth age groups does not always translate in success at the highest level. Spain did very well with his youth group that converted to the WC 2010 champions. However, take a look at Mexico … they have won several youth WC but are eons away from having a top 10 team worldwide. </p>
<p>I hope you are right and I wish the US would have a stronger team! :)</p>
<p>Does anyone know how they will decide what time to play the 2018 World Cup games in Russia? Does the US/FOX Sports have any say in the scheduling? It seemed to me that the US games were being played at good times but European viewers were watching their teams play in the middle of the night.</p>
<p>Will FIFA look at time zones when they divide teams into groups, or did the US get lucky this year?</p>
<p>Except to look at the history of the WC in Europe or South Africa, and possibly the Sochi Olympics, I am not sure if those details are really available. My guess is that we might have more late afternoon or evening games along the lines of the Champions’ League. I do not think Fox has much to say but the FIFA will think about its fans in the Americas and find a common best strategy for the Europeans and South American. </p>
<p>As far as groups, I do not think the FIFA will abandon the practice of slotting eight first seeds and distribute the rest to avoid groups with too many teams from the same continents. For instance, after the first seeds, the 9 remaining teams from Europe were placed in eight different groups. </p>
<p>Things might change if they consider adding 8 more teams to the WC to make 8 groups of 5. And, with the recent escalation in Russia, the entire WC might be revised in terms of locations. If the votes for the WC 2018 and 2022 were taken today, I believe you’d have very different venues with probably Spain/Portugal and the US instead of those incredibly poor choices guided by corruption. </p>
<p>In my book, the ideal location for 2022 would be a NAFTA one, with games played in the three countries. The logistical and administrative prowess of the US coupled with the passion of Mexico with a grain of coolness from Canada. From berets to Stetsons to sombreros, what is there not to like! But then, there are few locations that could not be better than that ridiculous Qatar venue. </p>
<p>Haha, Those automatic bids! Could always take a couple away from CONCACAF that has been sending four teams through that BS head to head game with Kiwis. Three auto and two more for CONCACAF should hardly change the destiny of at least one mediocre team going through. You could have the US and Mexico that are almost always go through, the Canadians, and two from Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, or Panama. If the WC goes to 40, chances are that this poor zone might get 4.5 as basis. </p>
<p>Still a high probability for the non-automatic teams. Or forget the Canadians! A US Mexico venue would be nice … except for all the darn awful reporters that cover the sport South of the border! </p>