The current state of our youth national teams

To be completely honest I don't get why all residency programs don't make German and Spanish mandatory courses. Knowing those two languages will let you get your soccer point across to anyone who plays in North America, South America, or western Europe. Take those two languages and get rid of gym class since you're practicing every day regardless and you'll never have communication problems again.

That, and suddenly your national team coach search includes a lot more coaches.

 

I can’t see how many of these revelations are surprising to anyone. This is one of the most incompetent, crooked organizations around.

I’m convinced that they would rather employ someone who will always toe the company versus someone who actually makes players better.

 

In all fairness, this should not be a surprise. I don’t get why we have all of this outrage now. Wasn’t it about 15-20 years ago that Bruce Arena stated with certainty that there were no talented Latino players out there that we were missing. At the time he was considered the greatest coach in our country’s history.

It has always been this way.

The fact that we gradually are figuring out that, not only is there a problem, but that we are also learning about the depths of the problem is called evolution.

It is as ugly as it is because we set up a bureaucracy, with all of it’s tentacles, before we learned about the depths of the problem. A bureaucracy does not exist to solve new problems. It exists to control - to keep things “inside the box” so to speak. It is absolutely necessary to have for a large organization to get things done, but it is infuriating to work with if you are trying to solve newly identified, basic, obvious problems. Once a bureaucracy is set up, everybody is protecting their little slice of the pie. That is how you achieve job security.

It has always been like this all over the world since we have organized at a level that required the development of large organizations. The bureaucracy will always appear to be incompetent when disruptive innovations expose problems that had previously flown under the radar because, when a bureaucracy is doing it’s job, it is controlling things - only solving problems that fit into our previous understandings.

Email, smartphones, social networks and the World-Wide Web are all innovations, for the most part, that took place after our bureaucracy was set up.

The fact that we can follow this issue as closely as we do is because of the disruptive innovations that I listed above. Netscape went public in 1995. All of these innovations were absorbed into our culture after that. The 1994 World Cup and the beginning of MLS (1996) happened at about the same time as the public introduction to Netscape, which we really didn’t understand at the time.

This is why BS like “the next national coach needs to live in Chicago” or “the next national coach needs to speak English fluently” flies unquestioned within the bureaucracy of US Soccer. The bureaucracy was set up before the innovations that are now exposing its shortcomings and bureaucracies are not set up to solve new problems. They exist to control.

It isn’t incompetence, it is a bureaucracy doing what it was set up to do. Expect things to get worse before they get better.

FYI - this is why, even though I acknowledge that they are necessary, I hate bureaucracies. I love to solve difficult problems and that pretty much puts me at odds with every bureaucracy that ever existed.

 

at the end of the day its impossible to give us soccer the benefit of the doubt about anything. they. have. got. to. change. the. culture.

 

https://www.socceramerica.com/publi...-15-boys-load-up-on-americans-for-mexico.html

Mexico City under 15 camp loaded with Mexican Americans - we just are not culturally ready for the challenges we are facing.

It feels good to blame individuals, but it goes way beyond that. Ernie Stewart was fantastic when he worked for good organizations. Put him in US Soccer and you get something very different from fantastic. You get somebody getting a promotion for being complicit with blatant nepotism.

I’m not saying that you don’t call out the actions of individuals. What I am saying is that you miss the point if you think this is just a bunch of bad eggs. US Soccer brings out worst in people because it rewards, no, pressures people into their worst behavior.

The bureaucracies of the past can’t work today. Changing the individuals will do just that - change the individuals so that the new individuals can be pressured into THEIR worst behaviors.

We have a world now which is connected at an individual level through social media, yet we are organized through a bureaucracy that operates and is held accountable in a vacuum. We don’t need finger pointing. We need problem solving to change the system of accountability in US Soccer and then to get the culture to buy into it. No easy task, but doing this instead of pointing fingers at individuals is equivalent to trying to cure a cold instead of morally shaming the sneezers of the world. Let’s address the problem - not the symptoms.

 

I have no problem with any of the cultural changes than folks want to make. I have no problem with any of the criticisms people have about the USSF and its bureaucracy. Who can defend the USSF?

Then again I also don't know any of these U15 players very well in that roster above. I don't know that they're better than the kids we called up to our U15 camp. Its possible we scouted them and have selected others. OK. That doesn't mean we're "ignoring them." It could be incompetent scouting. That's something else entirely.

I also think the biggest challenge is that these kids flat out prefer Mexico. Nothing can be done about that. Nothing. There's a portion of them that we literally can't do anything about. Has nothing to do with USSF bureaucracy or incompetence in scouting. They want to play for Mexico. OK. I wish them good luck and focus on the kids that want to play for us. Just like I did with Giuseppe Rossi.

I'm an FCD fan. Anybody notice how many kids at FCD over the years have been called up by both Mexico & the US...............and ultimately choose the US? The two most recent are Pepi and Carrera. Jonathan Gomez seems back in the US fold. Folks get worked up about U15 callups. I encourage ALL KIDS at that age to explore ALL options. That's the age to do it. Lynden Gooch went to an Ireland youth camp. Matt Miazga went to a Poland youth camp. I can keep going. So it doesn't bother me that there are 5 Americans at a Mexico U15 camp. Really. it doesn't. I have enough to get worked up about.

Hugo Perez. We've only ever heard his side of the story. I suspect more was going on there than we know about.

 

Actually it is if Klinsman chose Richie (ABMOD) Williams over Perez. Klinsman is not a part of the good 'ole boy system and I very doubtful he would care what language a coach spoke since he spoke German, English and perhaps Italian and French since he played for clubs in those countries. I think Klinsman may be a good source to ask about this since he doesn't have to worry about repercussions.

 

MLS and to a lesser extent USL really are the organizations that need to be scouting these lower levels. Now US Soccer should absolutely be attending the Latin Outreach Camps, but expecting them to also be scouting all the low level rec leagues and leagues that are geographically isolated is a stretch with their resources.

This is where MLS and USL teams have to do the heavy lifting. Sounders are better equipped to find players in rural Central Washington and found both Ray Serrano and Danny Robles playing there. Atlanta is better equipped to find players in inner city youth leagues and players in their academy have come from YMCA League (HGP Lagos Kunga), Gol Soccer Academy (Kendall Edwards), Kolanji Soccer Academy, United Fotball Academy, Dalton Soccer (small town 1.5 hours from Atlanta) along with others.

Now it is up to US Soccer to select based on merit and not skin color and to provide a environment that is welcoming to everybody and perhaps they still fall woefully short in that respect, but based on current youth rosters skin color doesn't appear to be a deciding factor.

Now the roster overwhelmingly focuses on players from big academies, but if MLS and USL are doing a good job scouting than 95% of the best prospects are already going to be on these teams. Not sure that is the case now, but it looks like teams are doing a better and better job with scouting.

In this day and age with the internet if you are truly an huge talent it is harder to hide, but I am sure their are lots of mid-level talents that fall through the cracks and/or can't make the USSDA MLS/USL Academy set-up work due to logistics that are better than lots of academy players in MLS.

 

I don't disagree with most of what is being said in here, but for me each of the important soccer entities (MLS, USL and USSF) in the US need to be able to survive on their own.

Scouting by MLS and USL teams are for completely different purposes than scouting by the Fed. Each of should be looking for players that suit their own specific need. Of course, if it all works they way it should, there is some cooperation and it automatically narrows the pool at which the Fed is choosing players from.

That said, our Fed specifically, is not in a position to rely on MLS and USL clubs doing all of their scouting for them. What I don't like about our Fed is they don't seem to put the resources where they need to be...at the youngest age groups in the YNT system. These are the kids that will become future MNT players and can bring US Soccer to the next level. MLS/USL can always be the first layer of scouting for USSF, but USSF needs to be out in the weeds trying to find players. What I see instead, is a Fed that is perceived as lazy and basically comes in behind MLS/USL clubs and just builds on what they have already done.

There will always be an element of coming in behind MLS/USL clubs, because the best 20-30 players in each age group are relatively easy to identify. Given those facts, I am not sure why USSF doesn't put more effort into trying to find the undiscovered gems. These kids aren't at MLS Academies, those kids have already been found. These kids are playing in random leagues across the country, some in ethnic adult leagues and some in lower level youth leagues.

In short, a program like Alianza is doing exactly what I think the Fed should be doing. If a program like that is important enough to get dozens of pro clubs out at their sessions, they why the hell can't USSF send more than one scout?

 

An old teammate of mine scouts for the Baltimore/Washington área. There are more than 3 scouts.

One recommendation that I would have that would come across as radical at first, but would become common sense within a year and would DRAMATICALLY improve our coaching culture instantly - nobody is allowed to coach or scout for the federation on ANY level unless they are fluent in or studying Spanish.

Once the word gets out that any federation job requires you to at least study Spanish, you would get a VERY different attitude toward Spanish speaking players and their families. In addition, you would increase the awareness of federation “lifers” like Tony Lepore about how we are doing with Spanish speaking families. When you are putting hours into learning Spanish every week, the purpose of all of that effort becomes a lot more important to you. You can’t get rid of all of the bureaucrats, but you can create an environment that changes their focus. And you don’t have to be good at Spanish for it to be effective. Once people have decided that you care about them, both their attitude toward you and their decision making shifts.

This doesn’t mean that English speaking players or their families aren’t important. What it means is that our ability to communicate with all of our prospects is taken very, very seriously and that anybody that is ambitious in coaching or scouting is learning to become bilingual.

Tom Byer is right when he says that parents are more important to a player’s success than coaches. Why would you not have a plan in place to improve communication with a group of our population that love soccer the most?

 

I understand what you are saying here, but not sure I can fully agree. For those that don't think we utilize enough Hispanic kids in MLS Academies and YNT set ups, I challenge you to go look at the rosters and last names. They are a huge part of our youth teams.

Furthermore, I am not convinced that a Hispanic family cares if a scout speaks Spanish or not. What they care about is whether or not a scout even bothers to attend trainings and matches where these kids play. Just a presence will begin to change the culture. This is where we are failing. Letting a kid or family know they are being watched is a simple conversation that can be had in any language.

Now, I agree with you in areas like the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, you better be able to speak Spanish. But its not necessary to speak to a 16 year old from Dallas whose family has lived there for 20 years.

 

I speak from personal experience. I started learning Spanish when I decided to re-enter the coaching force and it had a dramatic impact. When you are putting hours per week into learning Spanish, that is when attending trainings and matches become more important to you. That is when awareness of Spanish speaking people and their situations become more important to you - because you spent a ton of hours for the purpose of learning those things.

I built up a big player pool for the age groups I was coaching at my club because of my awareness of the Spanish speaking players. When the bilingual technical director left the club and it shrunk (and I left it as well) the two healthiest age groups were the two that I was coaching because I was out in the community, helping the families of Spanish speaking players qualify for financial aide, car pool to get to and from practices and games, as well as teach them about the differences between playing recreationally and playing competitive sports. I moved a lot of kids up who are now high level players for the club and the reason I had that focus started with the decision to learn Spanish. The families really appreciated that I was trying and they enjoyed teaching me the language. They were helping me to better connect with them and they liked that it was important to me.

I am no longer with the club because the Spanish speaking coaches have mostly gone away and the club is isolated from it’s talent base and, quite frankly, they are a shadow of what they once were, but the experience has stayed with me. Sometimes simple changes can make a huge difference. It is just a matter of paying close enough attention as to which changes result in the biggest bang for the buck.

But if you ask the people at the club right now, they probably think that they are doing everything that they can to attract all of those players that have gone away to other clubs or stopped playing competitively completely. I think a simple survey of the number of bilingual coaches now verses a year ago will tell you all you need to know.

 

The article did state that their are only 3 full time scouts, but that may be incorrect.

It did mention that their are other part-time or volunteer scouts but it didn't make it clear their exact role and how they operate with-in the federation, but that is peanuts to scout the entire US.

MLB had 34 full time scouts unaffiliated with clubs. Each team has at least 10 full time scouts. Baseball infrastructure is also much more robust, so it shouldn't take as many scouts to effectively scout compared to soccer.

 

I get it and I hope you didn't take my post the wrong way. The fact that you made the effort probably played a big role in your success.

That said, I have also seen the palest of white coaches, who couldn't speak a word of Spanish be able to bring in Hispanic kids to clubs. How did they do it? Exactly like you did, showing an interest, helping with a car pool or even picking kids up himself, helping with financial aid, ensuring they stayed on top of their school work. My point is, acciones siempre hablan más fuerte que las palabras, no matter what language is being spoken.

We need more coaches like yourself that actually care about the kids and aren't in it for a simple pay check. That will drive a culture change more than anything else.

 

This is the biggest issue in my opinion.

I am all for more Spanish speaking scouts and think at least half of all US/MLS scouts need to have the ability to speak Spanish, but the bigger issue is in large part access and the costs associated with playing competitive soccer.

It is really only easy logistically if you happen to be located with-in a short drive of a competitive team and that doesn't even factor in costs, which is a real issue.

There are enough free opportunities through MLS and various Academies for the high end and early bloomers, but lots of good, but not great yet prospects are going to fall through the cracks. Some of them likely would become great prospects down the road if the logistical and monetary hurdles could be overcome.

Unlike football and basketball you can't just play recreational or not at all and then play in High School and expect to be good enough to advance to the next level.

 

My experience is that, once you have been identified as good, people find a way to help you with the costs. The key is getting kids into the system. My old club had a system of paying 75% of fees for students that qualified for federal free and reduced lunch assistance, but I had to find those kids. What I figured out was that, by getting to know the people in the rec leagues, you could not only identify who the best players in the rec leagues were, but you could also learn about other kids in the neighborhood who weren’t even playing rec league soccer. Not all of those kids pan out, but a number of them do and when that happens, the club is looked upon as an extension of their community.

I think that it is a very parallel process for national team scouts. Take my friend who scouts DC and Baltimore. There are three primary leagues around DC - The NCSL, CCL and Development Academy. Within that, it is important to attend games in all three leagues, developing contacts each time that you attend matches. Your attendance doesn’t just allow you to view players. It allows you to build your own scouting network within that league. The same thing can be done for Baltimore.

Players and coaches should not view the national team program as some far away thing that they don’t have access to. Sometimes it is just knowing that people are tracking their league. The people tracking don’t all have to be getting paid. In fact most of them aren’t.

At my old club, I didn’t have to deal with over competitive parents of the top teams, but I was expected to find players and expand the player Pool for that age group. That was the gig if I was coaching an entry level travel team. The job wasn’t easier. It was different.

The problem that the club ran into was that the “executive” level officials didn’t really understand player development at all and, when the technical director was forced out, tried to fix the exodus away from the club by bringing in more outside people who I am sure were very nice, but who knew nothing about the community and were all starting from scratch.

it was as if all of the hard work of the past had never happened.

The guy scouting for DC and Baltimore knows the area, but we will see how it works out. Regardless, most of the kids that I “discovered” were kids that people had just told me about. The key was a commitment to engage the community. That is what makes a difference with any scouting network.

 

Excellent recommendation. Landon for youth coach anyone?

 

Wasn't he just an assistant coach on some roster?

 

Yup. I mean, much of the FCD coaching staff is bilingual. It might help in the recruiting process with families, but otherwise isn't 100% necessary. Other parts of the country? Maybe.

I do think a challenge is the MLS homegrown territories. As of right now there is little incentive for clubs to scout, interact with kids outside of their homegrown territories. FC Dallas isn't scouting kids in the RGV. Its a waste of time. That's Houston's homegrown territory. I suspect that many of the kids from outside of Texas that come to the FCD academy initiate the contact themselves first. Chris Richards seems to have done that. FCD turned him down the first time, he went to the Texans for a season, and then FCD went back on the recruiting trail for him.

I mean, in England.......................its not the FA that's identifying and scouting young talents. Its the professional clubs who are doing that. And of course they have MUCH less geographical area to cover.

So when people blame the USSF for a scouting, recruiting issue............I think its a little misplaced.

Our club infrastructure is really only in its infancy. More than half of the clubs in the league have been founded since 2011, and we have two new ones joining next season. And the MLS homegrown initiative, which was the incentive for clubs to develop their own talent, only started around 2007. And only a few clubs (like FCD) started taking it seriously. Many of the clubs are really in their infancies with regards to their scouting and player recruitment initiatives. We know this. And our USL reserve league is even younger than that. In England, much of the elite talent starts at a lower level club first.

The question people should ask isn't why Hugo Perez wasn't with the USSF. They should ask why he wasn't at an MLS club. I see him as somebody who excels at player evaluation, scouting, player interaction, etc. Somebody who a club like San Jose should have signed as an academy director. As a coach, I've always been underwhelmed. Note that Mexico didn't sign him as a coach.

 

Unless the FCD affiliation with the RGV area has changed recently, FCD recruits from that area:

https://www.fcdallas.com/post/2018/01/31/youth-restructuring-fcd-rio-grande-valley

The Sanchez brothers (2005) were recruited out of the RGV area likely via this affiliation.

 

Seems like you're right about this. I get my territories confused sometimes.

Looks like the Brownsville, McAllen, etc. area should be free for anybody to recruit.
Just like Laredo and El Paso.

These will change, of course, when Austin joins the league. They may get a bunch of that central region. Waco? (where Edwin Cerrillo came from originally).



Anyway, the point I'm making is that as long as there are these homegrown territories.....................scouting is blunted. There's no point for FCD to scout/recruit from New Mexico or Oklahoma or blah, blah, blah.

So the biggest change will come about when we eliminate those territories. It can't come soon enough. It might lead to the wild west for a couple of years, and rules will have to be implemented so kids don't hop around to different academies year after year. But it'll be worth it.

 

Single most important thing for future success, is to get rid of these territories.

Not only will it create competition amongst the clubs, it should also create more competition for the players.

 

I seem to recall something like that.

 

The territories only apply to MLS teams. They are only important because there are gatekeepers at every level. It is all closed. The DA was formed and is closed. It has now been split into two divisions, marginalizing the teams moved to the second division.

Anyone should be able to form a youth team where talent exists. They should be able to enter a pyramid, with the DA 1 at the top, at the lowest level and work their way up. More talent would get identified and more coaches would be able to innovate and get noticed. The idea you can just pick 23 players from Dallas or 46 from LA, is ludicrous.

Training compensation is a big pot of money to help fund all these new teams.

The USSF at every level is about controlling access.