While the United States dominates world competitions across a wide variety of sports, I argue that the structure of soccer leagues in the U.S. is preventing the country from attaining success. In a country that is home to some of the greatest athletes in the world, including Michael Phelps, Lebron James, Serena Williams, and Floyd Mayweather, there seems to be an ongoing inability to produce world class footballers. In comparison to England and Brazil, makers of the best players in the world, the United States has too few academies, the arrangement of leagues is convoluted, there is a lack of exposure to the sport, and money seems to be too much of a factor. In order to gather a wider range of opinions, Dara Chhit and Andrew Flores-McKenna were interviewed for further insights.
The leagues in the United States appear and function far differently from those in Brazil and England. Barriers lie between the leagues which prevents players from moving elsewhere if they cannot break into the starting eleven at a club. Throughout the rest of the world, all players receive encouragement to go on loan if managers know they will not be an asset to the team in the upcoming campaign. This is especially true for youngsters, players who are between the ages of 16 and 21. Going on loan to other competitive leagues allows youth players the opportunity to receive more tailored coaching, game time, and experience, all of which are proponents to their development as a player. Other notable benefits to going on loan include: learning how to cope with the spotlight and, most importantly, players gathering the attention of other big name clubs. When these young players perform well, it could lead to the signing of a new contract. Referring back to the United States, the lack of an interconnected league system eliminates loan opportunities. Without a proper loan system, players then end up choosing one path, resulting in many never playing at the highest competitive level.
Young soccer players have a lot to choose from when pursuing their passion for the beautiful game. As Flores-McKenna mentions, “all the other sports are put on full display,” soccer doesn’t receive the same media attention in the United States compared to North American football, basketball, or baseball. Not only this, but Andrew also explains that at the youth level the expense to play competitively is far greater than in England. The England youth structure, in fact, allows players to receive compensation for playing at notable clubs under contract as early as the age of seven years old. These young players attend academies to master their craft. This is where young players from their earliest days stay, learn, and develop under best coaching in the world.
Academies have popped up here and there in the United States, but few are directly related to a professional team. The opinion of Dara sums this point up. “They (the U.S. soccer federation) should focus on sending promising players to European leagues because it’s a better environment to learn. There’s too much pride in wanting to develop ‘your own’ world class players, you just have to let it go, and accept the fact that players will develop better in other well known academies.” Two players that rose in the discussion between Dara and I were Timothy Weah, and Christian Pulisic. These are both American born players that went abroad to play at younger ages, and now are arguably the best players the United States has to offer. They’re both under the age of 21.
As the United States looks forward to the 2022 World Cup, the focus needs to be on the youngsters. Dara hopes that the U.S. has taken a step in the right direction, now that it has outsourced young talent to Europe, explaining, “I feel like the U.S. team now is doing very well in developing youth talents. Since they didn’t qualify for the last World Cup it gave them the chance to ease back and focus on a future plan. In five years they’ll have a really good team”. The U.S. international team will seemingly gather enough players to field a solid team in the future, but the system here on home soil still needs to be tended to. If money remains a factor to play competitively, top tier academies don’t arise, and the leagues continue to be fragmented from one another, the pool of top class players will remain very small. Young footballers in the States struggle to visualize their path to the top. Talent should not fall victim to privatization of sports or a flawed youth system. There needs to be a change, then the U.S. will be able to compete at all levels in soccer, which is the most beloved game in the world.
