I also agree with the no streets, no suburbs thing. My lawn is big enough to play a pick up game on, i’ve played pick up games in the school parking lot, i’ve played pick up games in gym, i’ve played pick up games in the back of grocery stores, i’ve played pick up games in Grant Park, i’ve even much to my mother’s horror played pick up games in the street. There’s plenty of places to play pick up games and I live in Chicago. Most colleges have clubs now dedicated now to playing pick up games of soccer. When I went to Washington DC I saw a pick up game on the National Mall. But i’ve been to England, and outside London and I often wonder where they find the room to play a pick up game. Here in America there are infinite options, but in compact England I can’t see someone getting a ball out of their bag and playing a game in a parking lot.

The stereotype of kids giving up soccer when they hit high school is a little dated now. A lot has changed in the last 10-15 years as far as how many kids play competitively.

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I thought the article ham-handed and laid on way too thick to be of any use to anyone that has more than a passing knowledge of this country. “there are no streets in America. There are suburbs.” WTF? What America do you live in?

However, I would like to say that the majority of the coaches I have worked with are licensed and qualified. The USSF constantly holds licensing courses not only for club coaches and competitive coaches, but also for recreational level coaches. I’ve attended both types of these courses, and although they may not learn a great deal about soccer, these “parent coaches” always walk away with new knowledge about what to teach and how to train their players.

The college system is the way it is, and that will not change. However, I will not get into a discussion about the NCAA, mostly because I hate them and don’t want to give them the exposure of the people on the site, but also because it is a very negative system.

I would also like to point out that you have talked your tongue out about what coaches and parents want, but not really about what the players want. The majority of football players in this country are not out to sign a multi-million dollar contract or even to represent their high school team. They’re just playing for fun.

The players, such as myself, who are seriously in the game and have devoted their lives to it can succeed very easily. These players find the clubs that have this coaching (such as the one I play for now, although it is not a youth club) and find ways to make themselves better, and eventually end up reaching their full potential if they keep working.

I’d like to see what Liviu has to say here, since he is ‘going through the system’, so to speak.

In this example, it helps to disguise a coach’s weaknesses. I grew up in the DC area, and played against these teams. The English style (they call it direct now) was in vogue then at the high school level. Kick it down the pitch whenever you were pressed. You would never see a defender attempt to dribble out of his own area. Long ball down field, one pass to the winger, and cross it in. Mix and repeat.

I had a very good coach in junior high school (age range 13 to 15). He was American, but understood the game and tactics. With him, we did maintain a semblance of possession, and were taught fundamentals. But I think progress has been made. I still feel that we need to nurture more creativity in the youth ranks. As Dan noted, you don’t often see kids just kicking a ball for recreation. Soccer is extremely organized in North America and parent-centric. We need to develop and encourage kids to take on players instead of dumping the ball at the first sign of trouble. Or because parents are screaming at them from the touchlines. Mark Carter had an interesting quote (Ministry of Sport): “If he was learning to reading a book, would you yell at him?”

We live in a coaching culture in North America. That is another factor in this discussion about youth football. Other American sports have a very pronounced coaching or management influence. The coaches are on the same level as the star athletes. If you watch pro sports on TV, at times you see more images of the coaches than the players. That carries over to youth soccer. Especially with inexperienced coaches. They tend to overmanage, or as Ruud Gullit said, coach from a book.

The US U-20 team last summer played a creative brand of football at the Youth World Cup. But they were coached by a Dutchman, Thomas Rongen. I believe that it bodes well for the future.