Quote:
Originally Posted by Reaper16
Actually, not so much in the United States. Its long had a youth soccer culture of elite youth academies & traveling teams that put the cost on parents (unlike, say, AAU programs in basketball).
For anyone on here around age 30 like me, think about all the kids you knew who were playing soccer in 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th grades. Every single one I knew had well-off parents.
That said, that approach has begun to change. The more that youth soccer academies are going through MLS organizations and U.S. Soccer (both the vision of Klinsmann AND the MLS teams), the more democratized its going to get.
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it's a fine balance--I used to correspond with a youth Coach in England who told me their problem has been that they were too top-heavy with the structure/Academy system, esp early on. Parental meddling, over the top coaching, etc--just like you see here. The really creative players learn it on the playground (just like hoops here). I used to tell the kids that I coached that the best development takes place on your own after practice. Look no further than the NBA Championship this year for the balance however---structure & discipline definitely have a place (Spurs & their foreign players), but the game HAS to be fun in order for the little ones to catch fire. That is the danger to me....that in chasing success on the world stage we'll get too caught up like England did on results. The results will come with the right balance.