I think what makes this unique and attention-grabbing is that it's both funny and symbolic of a lot of things wrong with US Soccer. It's funny because anyone associated with youth club soccer (or youth sports generally) knows about "those" parents who complain and stamp their feet when their kid doesn't play. They often take it out on the coach and they sometimes complain to the club leaders (about something other than their kid's playing time) to try to get the coach in trouble. It's like a bad cliche. It's symbolic of the problems with US Soccer relating to conflicts of interest generally. Lots of people used to having access and getting their way.
I meant the specifically a players parents attempting to blackmail the coach. I’m not saying it compares in scale of scandal severity, just seems to be a unique one in professional sports.
Some background on the Reyna family: https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/12/12...-giovanni-1jpg Great article about Gio’s amazing older brother Jack who was taken from us too early. Also a lot of insight into the entire Reyna family. Not surprisingly they are more multi-dimensional than portrayed in snippets of press clippings about this unpleasant soccer drama. Makes me more sympathetic to mom Danielle and serves as a reminder that the limited information we get in public inevitably paints certain parties unfairly. Btw the article has a link to an U-15 US game vs Uruguay where Gio scores the game winner in a 2-0 victory over Uruguay. The scorer of the first goal? Efrain Alvarez!