Every four years, like clockwork, a familiar conversation resurfaces as soon as the U.S. men’s national soccer team exits the World Cup.
The dialogue inevitably targets certain athletes: ‘Imagine if LeBron James dedicated himself to soccer–we’d dominate… if only Odell Beckham Jr. had chosen the soccer field over the gridiron… if only…’
These wistful ‘if only…’ musings are more fantasy than fact, as even their proponents understand. Yet, they lead to an unanswered question that America still grapples with: ‘Why didn’t they pursue soccer?’
For years, the internal criticism of the U.S. youth soccer structure has been persistent, albeit misunderstood externally. The system demands significant financial contributions from parents—amounting to thousands annually—without delivering the success expected from a sports-driven nation like the United States, which can barely advance beyond the World Cup’s Round of 16.
These stark realities are what truly need to be confronted. The financial burden on parents is substantial, yet the system itself seldom equips young players with the essential skills and mentality to compete at elite levels.
As a result, some of the best players America could be producing are left by the wayside – burnt out financially or frustrated with an experience where little gets taught, winning is emphasized over development and athleticism is prioritized over ability.
The Daily Mail spoke with youth soccer administrators, parents and athletes to paint a broad picture of the way things are in the US, what needs to change and what it would take for America to be the sport’s superpower that it has the potential to be.
Another disappointing exit for the United States has fans once again wondering what would happen if the top athletes that the country produces to choose soccer over other sports
Names that constantly get batted around in these conversations are NBA legend LeBron James (R) as well as Odell Beckham Jr – who had a promising youth soccer career before the NFL
But the current state American youth soccer paints a bleak picture on the future of the sport
It’s important to set a baseline expectation for what good development looks like. The systems in England, France, Germany and Spain are largely community-based at the beginning, before top talents are plucked out by clubs who are incentivized to develop players for use on their first-teams – or, to be sold off to bigger clubs, who pay restitution in return.
But in the United States, the system is much more stark, capitalistic and convoluted under what is referred to as the ‘pay-to-play’ model.
Rob Holliday is the executive director of Massachusetts Youth Soccer. A native of England, Holliday had his own experience in the sport growing up, before attending the University of Southampton and then moving to the US to help expand the game.
As he explains it, there are multiple reasons why development lags behind, with culture being No 1: ‘The beliefs, the values, the behaviors of the American soccer system generally don’t align to benefit the greater good,’ Holliday tells the Daily Mail.
For Holliday, the lack of a ‘Ministry of Sport’ to set standards and a lack of investment in player development from the top-down leads to America lagging behind.
But he points to the economic model and incentives as the biggest reason for the system’s shortcomings.
In Massachusetts, Holliday estimates, younger children can play in their town’s recreational league at a cost of $100 for a ten-week program. From there, they can progress to their town’s travel teams where they pay up to $700 for a program where they go on the road to play matches competitively.
But the biggest financial burden is at the private club level. These clubs promise elite competition in the course of two seasons in the fall and spring, but charge thousands of dollars for dues and fees – with uniforms sold separately. Moreover, these clubs often travel significant distances – with costs from road trips bringing a full-season financial total up to as high as $15,000.
America’s model of ‘pay-to-play’ puts up financial barriers to sporting success
While rec leagues are affordable, the best of the best play in clubs that demand thousands in fees and thousands more in travel costs – putting financial strains on families
The result is a system that prioritizes winning over development to keep fees rolling in
While some of these clubs have partnerships with MLS or US Soccer itself, none of them guarantee opportunities with said MLS clubs or with any of the youth national teams.
In fact, as Holliday explains, identification and development structures in the United States ‘don’t really start until U12’ – as opposed to other nations which start at age four or five.
Most of those come from MLS teams’ own academies – which are free to play in. But these opportunities are rare and restrictive to parents and players based on geography.
So if the goal isn’t to develop players until their teens, what’s the main incentive for clubs? Winning. But winning for the sake of luring other players to their club to reap the dues and fees parents pay.
Holliday stressed, ‘there’s thousands of coaches out there who really care about player development.
‘But the economic realities are, if you don’t create teams that can compete and be successful and provide or meet the expectations of parents and players on the team, those players and parents on the team won’t pay the fees associated with it.’
MLS clubs offer free academies, but those spots are rare and geographically limiting to all
Player development and identification doesn’t truly begin in MLS academies until the age of 12
This is different than in places such as Spain, who begin development at younger ages
In European countries, clubs have those dues and fees, but they also have revenue streams such as government grants, sponsorships and ticket sales to pro sports teams.
‘We don’t get that in the US,’ Holliday says. ‘Almost everything is paid for by the parent. Revenue diversification is one of the key challenges.’
Youth clubs in Europe also get funds through training compensation fees and solidarity rights when players move to bigger clubs – as well as transfer fees and likely a percentage of the sell-on fee if the player moves from there.
Such things don’t exist in the United States, which Holliday points to as one of the main reasons why the model is the way it is.
‘The incentives [for development] aren’t there for the professional clubs at the local level and in grassroots soccer,’ Holliday says. ‘There’s some really good collaboration that occurs between MLS or NWSL clubs, but it doesn’t happen at the same level as it does in other countries around the world.’
So for those players seeking advanced development, a trip abroad may be required. This was the case for 16-year-old fullback Kieran O’Connor.
Even when he was younger, Kieran’s parents admitted they fell into the ‘first trap of American soccer’ after hearing other soccer moms and dads were hiring personal trainers for their sons.
‘What we noticed was that Kieran was being pigeonholed and we wanted him to play more positions,’ his mom, Erin Sheehan, explained.
An example of how the American system failed to develop a player comes in Kieran O’Connor
After playing youth soccer growing up, Kieran began growing his interest in the sport
But even at a young age, Kieran says he felt pressure from coaches and other parents to win
As a youngster, Kieran was taller, often leading coaches to pushing him toward the back of their formations – first at goalie, then center back before a brief stint up the wings. Even at that young age as he was still learning the game, that culture of winning took priority.
‘When I’m a goalie and I hear parents screaming on the sidelines, coaches yelling from the sidelines… there’s a period where my confidence was really bad because I would make a mistake. I definitely felt a lot of pressure,’ Kieran recalled.
While he excelled, playing on the A-Teams of six total clubs as a kid, he eventually felt his development hit a wall. His father, Seton O’Connor – a veteran of ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and longtime soccer media member and advocate – recalled feeling frustrated watching coaches fail to properly train his son.
‘I just want somebody to teach him the game,’ Seton recalled. ‘It doesn’t seem like a crazy concept: just put the time in and if you see a kid making a mistake over and over again, pull them to the side… Not be like, “It’s obviously not working, why are you still doing that?” Who the hell does that teach? That’s not teaching anybody anything.’
It’s this lack of development that puts the USMNT behind. Without a deep pool of senior-ready talent coming up, US Soccer has often fallen back on just creating the best athletes possible. For some positions, and for some soccer players, that’s enough. In other more skilled positions, the US falters.
Seton ballparked his family’s financial investment in the six-figure range – which included their largest expenditure.
With his development hitting a wall, Kieran was sent to Spain to train at Marcet for ten months
He tells the Daily Mail he went in not knowing much about tactics and left ‘knowing a complete system, a complete style of play’
He adds the culture within the locker room was unlike anything he experienced in the USA
After years of growing frustration and feelings of inadequacy with the American system, Kieran spent ten months training in Spain at the Marcet Football University in Barcelona.
While the American youth soccer style of play prioritizes athleticism – often seeing the stronger, faster and taller kids get more time than others – Kieran says he was able to learn much more about the game than he ever had in America.
‘I went in not really knowing much, tactically. And I left knowing a complete system, a complete style of play. Like my team, our chemistry was insane. We would know exactly where everybody’s going,’ Kieran said.
‘And they incorporated each new element very naturally. I wouldn’t even realize that I’m learning a whole new like thing until I reflected on it at the end of the year. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever had in the US.’
Kieran also recalled the locker room chemistry at Marcet being a high point: ‘Everybody there wanted to be a professional player. They’re from places where soccer is ingrained in everything.
‘After every single win, we would celebrate more than any other win in the United States. It would just be another Wednesday and we’re in the locker room, we would be celebrating, dancing, having the best time.’
While the men’s game in the US lags behind, the women’s program still leads the pack
Proper funding would allow the USMNT to achieve long-term success in the future
But unless changes happen, the USMNT can get used to disappointment at the World Cup
So if the United States gets lapped by other nations (on the men’s side at least, the women’s team has remained the preeminent force in the game) in terms of culture, development and overall happiness within the system, how does it change?
A simple answer would be to properly fund clubs so they have no financial incentive to try and survive off the money from parents.
As the discourse around this topic grew in the aftermath of the USMNT’s elimination, a number in the range of $400million, the equivalent of just under three percent of the US military budget, was thrown out. Holliday believes that number would allow the US Soccer Federation to fund programs run by them or other state associations.
‘We’re not just investing money so that somebody can build a field,’ Holliday says. ‘You’re investing money so that somebody can build a field so that someone can create a great environment where great players are going to come.
‘And then the cycle is going to continue and you have more kids playing soccer or more people playing soccer, more fans, more money reinvested in the game.’
From there, with greater expansion of access, the development will follow – which could finally bring the United States to the precipice of what the nation hopes to achieve.
‘The thing that gets me angry is people just defending the model so much,’ Seton told the Daily Mail. It’s like, “well, this is the way we do it, so that means it has to be the best way because obviously we’re doing it that way, it’s obviously the best way.” And it’s just really not the case.
‘I think sometimes a little humility and looking at the outside world and saying, well, how does Spain keep developing these players, and Germany, and France, and other places. Looking at a model similar to theirs, I think would go a long way.’
