Article Review: US Soccer Turning to Overlooked Youth

By Francisco Lopez

The article in Sports Illustrated called “US Soccer Turning to Overlooked Youth to Discover Next Wave of Talent” by Stanley Kay brings to light an important issue occurring in youth soccer recruitment in the United States (Kay, 2014). The issue is that many of the top teams, whether they are academy, college or pros, are not exactly recruiting the best players in the country. Many of these teams are not going into inner cities filled with young, underprivileged talent, but instead recruiting from expensive academy and club teams. This is creating a form of segregation as many of these overlooked players happen to be minorities, mainly Latino (Kay, 2014). To change this, a man named Doug Andreassen, Chairman of Diversity Task Force for the U.S. Soccer Federation, has begun an initiative for U.S. Soccer in which he plans to have people support and scout the underserved inner city youth that have the talent and potential to make soccer grow in the country (Kay, 2014). Head coach of the United States Men’s National Team, Jürgen Klinsmann is in support of the Andreassen proposal (Kay, 2014). Not only do Andreassen and fellow supporters want to help balance the exposure/recruiting opportunities for youth, but also create more affordable playing fields where soccer is more encouraged, even in inner cities where soccer is not a dominant sport (Kay 2014). Stanley Kay gives examples of current professional soccer players, such as Clint Dempsey, in the United States that has come from unknown, inner city communities and has become big successes in the sport. Kay informs the readers of how the demographics of the underserved areas can be used as a great recruitment resource to create a more developed soccer system in the U.S.

In a sport where Latinos have thrived and Latin Americans rule as some of the greatest soccer powers in the world, the author is pointing out that clearly the U.S. Soccer Federation is missing out on this opportunity. Latinos are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the country, and many come from immigrant and impoverished backgrounds (Brown & Lopez, 2013). If the U.S. wants soccer to grow not only in popularity, but also in skill, we need to recruit more of these inner city players. They provide what many of the wealthy players cannot; heart, humility, work ethic, natural ball control, and skill. Recruiting minorities based on local demographics is a million-dollar business idea as well. For instance if a professional soccer team from a community such as Los Angeles or Washington DC, where there is a large Latino population and influence, signs a local talented kid that grows to become a star player, not only will tickets sell, but the MLS and national teams will become more competitive. I remember back in the late 90s and early 2000’s when MLS teams were far more diverse and had a lot of Latin talent. DC United would draw thousands of fans to RFK Stadium, mostly Salvadoran because of players like Raul Diaz Arce who was a star Salvadoran player, and was a great representation of the people in the community. Now, they can barely get half of the lower bowl filled during most regular games. This supports what Kay informs the readers in his article, that many of these youth players can be the next big stars of professional American soccer, thus increasing popularity of the sport and revenue for the leagues.

This article is very informative and persuasive about the current soccer development problem in the U.S. The lack of diverse recruiting is a very sensitive topic that is affecting many economically struggled youth in the United States to this very day. As a participant from various soccer leagues, I can testify that this is very much the truth. Colleges and high level teams are mainly scouting the expensive academy teams, meaning that most players are financially wealthy enough to have access to higher development opportunities. This information can be found in the majority of the professional and college team rosters. Kay stresses how the concept of “pay-to-play” is an approach that has made it financially impossible for youth to play on some of the most competitive teams. Families do not have the resources for their child to play on these teams, and so they are confined to recreational and local leagues with no exposure to play professionally or in college. The economic barrier describes the actual current model of soccer development for the United States, and the unjust recruiting strategy that Kay wants readers to see.

Lastly, all of Kay’s evidence and arguments provide great criticism to how the U.S. Soccer Federation rates its quality. On countless interviews and articles with U.S. soccer officials and affiliates we hear about how the U.S. is “still developing” in soccer. Meanwhile other countries are surpassing and have an army of future generations of footballers such as South America and Europe. As Americans, it’s in our culture to want to be ranked among the best in the world for anything, yet here we find a level of inferiority in this sport. We feed diverse youth the idea of the American Dream, and yet here they are not receiving the fair amount of opportunities they deserve to represent this nation that is their current home. The way Kay describes this issue, the American Dream is being sold, literally, from playing opportunities on teams, to even access to local fields.

Works Cited

Brown, A., & Lopez, M. (2013). Mapping the Latino Population, By State, County and City. Pew Research Center. Retrieved February 8, 2015, from http://www.pewhispanic.org/2013/08/29/mapping-the-latino-population-by-state-county-and-city/

Kay, S. (2014, November 11). U.S. Soccer Turning to Overlooked Youth to Discover Next Wave of Talent. Sports Illustrated.