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Will America ever produce a World class player ?

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If you read his interviews, it was because he knew/was told he needed to go to Europe to develop. Even if not Europe, he would have had to leave home to get to a MLS academy...closest would be Houston. He didn't want to leave his home/family....understandably at 13-14.

This is what needs to change. We have to be able to develop more locally at younger ages.

It's one thing to move to Europe or just another state at 17-20 for a pro contract, but at 13 for the unknown vs staying at home and becoming a US-football star. Pretty easy decision if it's an option for a kid.
 

RAFUH said:
If you read his interviews, it was because he knew/was told he needed to go to Europe to develop. Even if not Europe, he would have had to leave home to get to a MLS academy...closest would be Houston. He didn't want to leave his home/family....understandably at 13-14.

This is what needs to change. We have to be able to develop more locally at younger ages.

It's one thing to move to Europe or just another state at 17-20 for a pro contract, but at 13 for the unknown vs staying at home and becoming a US-football star. Pretty easy decision if it's an option for a kid.
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That SI long form piece on the Fulham academy was very interesting, take a chance to check it out if you haven't yet. A family from North Carolina (I think) moved to England with their 14 year old who is in the Fulham academy. Jordan Morris is enrolled and playing for Stanford while also in the Sounders academy, I'm not quite sure how that works.
 
EvertonNJ said:
That SI long form piece on the Fulham academy was very interesting, take a chance to check it out if you haven't yet. A family from North Carolina (I think) moved to England with their 14 year old who is in the Fulham academy. Jordan Morris is enrolled and playing for Stanford while also in the Sounders academy, I'm not quite sure how that works.
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Not saying it can't be done, but it's not a viable option for most families, especially when the kid/family can stay put and have the chance to make millions in the NFL/NBA instead or at least a college scholarship.

Morris is from Seattle. Totally different if you have a home town MLS club or are close (<1 hour) to one.
 

RAFUH said:
He was lucky his family was able
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They made a lot of sacrifices for him and he knows it. He's got a good story to tell about how his youth soccer career went. Learned a lot from the local Hispanic players in his area and then ended up going to Dallas three nights a week and weekends for training and matches. That's a 163 mile trip one way from Nacogdoches TX !!!
 
TX Bill said:
They made a lot of sacrifices for him and he knows it. He's got a good story to tell about how his youth soccer career went. Learned a lot from the local Hispanic players in his area and then ended up going to Dallas three nights a week and weekends for training and matches. That's a 163 mile trip one way from Nacogdoches TX !!!
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Not saying he isn't appreciative and all that.

My point was more, how many Clint Dempseys in Middle of Nowhere, USA, don't have a family that can or will sacrifice like his did for him and therefore end up in another sport.

It is easier at this point in the US for a young gifted athlete that could play multiple sports to pick American football or basketball over soccer/football - financially and in receiving high level training and coaching locally.

That is a hurdle we need to overcome if we are going to get more of our most gifted athletes in the game.
 
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I don't think I'm wrong in thinking the average height for a football player is considerably less than an NFL or NBA player. There is a lot of talent to tap into, a lot of sporty kids that will have considerably less of a chance in making it in those sports because of their physique. Just how to do it. How to encourage more kids to play soccer because if they're good, a big focus will be on technique and they don't necessarily have to be giants or incredible athletes.

If that's not how it is then it should be. I know there's still a massive push on the physical aspects of the game mind, but that's a given with any elite sport nowadays.

There's not much they can do about the best athletes playing the major sports, but a lot of football's top players wouldn't have had a chance at all at playing in the NFL/NBA because of their size, so I think there are plenty kids you can entice out there. Find it hard to believe Dempsey/Donovan would have got far playing gridiron or basketball for example.
 
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