A few years ago, the idea that the US soccer community at large was neglecting youth soccer was met with silence or ridicule.
asserted
community → neglect → silence
At a May 2022 conference call announcing a new collective bargaining agreement that effectively ended the “equal pay” saga, players were asked how they would build bridges with grassroots organizers who, in a fit of anger over perceived slights, nearly restored Carlos Cordeiro to US Soccer’s presidency not long after he resigned under heavy pressure.
uncertain
he → announce → pressure
They could have offered any vague platitudes about how they valued youth and amateur soccer.
uncertain
they → offer → youth
They fell silent.
asserted
They → fall → ?
Meanwhile, in the social media sphere, suggestions that US Soccer should be paying its able-bodied national teams a bit less and redistributing more resources to development – as is the case in more successful soccer countries – found a hostile reception.
asserted
Soccer → pay → reception
The heavily memed Simpsons reference “Won’t somebody please think of the children?!” was a typical sarcastic response.
asserted
somebody → meme → children
Today, everyone’s thinking of the children.
asserted
everyone → think → children
But the thoughts are as chaotic and self-contradictory in the soccer world as they were when Helen Lovejoy squealed out her “think of the children” plea repeatedly on The Simpsons.
asserted
Lovejoy → squeal → Simpsons
When the US men’s World Cup campaign ended with a whimper this summer, fingers were pointed at the “pay-to-play” system and economic barriers that keep a lot of players out of elite youth soccer.
asserted
that → end → soccer
The US Under-20 women’s lackluster World Cup performance in September was partially blamed on clubs refusing to release players (or, more broadly, blamed on Fifa for not scheduling such events during appropriate windows), but the result wasn’t an outlier alongside other recent US youth results.
Simply put, the kids aren’t all right.
asserted
kids → blame → results
And it’s a problem that has been addressed not with a sustained effort to improve matters but with intermittent cries for help, often followed by simplistic solutions.
asserted
that → ’ → solutions
In 2026, the most prominent voice sounding the alarm is US women’s coach Emma Hayes, whose track record of success at Chelsea and with the gold medal-winning US women in the 2024 Olympics commands attention.
asserted
record → sound → attention
In 2018, the most prominent voices were the nine candidates who sought US Soccer’s presidency after the US men failed to qualify for the World Cup.
asserted
men → seek → Cup
In between, various forces have yanked the discussion from one overarching solution to another.
asserted
forces → yank → another
Claudio Reyna, US Soccer’s youth technical director at the time, unveiled a curriculum at the NSCAA (now United Soccer Coaches) convention in 2011 that was heavily influenced by Barcelona’s tiki-taka approach.
asserted
that → unveil → approach
Three years later, at the same convention, one of the sessions grappled with the question of reconciling three different organizations’ curricula.
asserted
one → grapple → curricula
Most countries don’t have such chaos.
asserted
countries → have → chaos
In Germany, if the DFB wishes to embark on a massive overhaul such as the heralded “Das Reboot” of the early 2010s, it can do so.
asserted
it → wish → 2010s
US Soccer simply doesn’t have that power.
asserted
Soccer → have → power
Nor does it have the money, especially given the vastness of a country that would make a US equivalent of Germany’s regional training-center system impossible.
asserted
equivalent → have → system
Incoherence is just one obstacle preventing a US youth system overhaul.
asserted
Incoherence → prevent → overhaul
The biggest obstacle is one that most of the US soccer community, Alexi Lalas notwithstanding, agrees upon: Youth soccer costs too much.
asserted
soccer → agree → much
It’s an easy problem to identify but much more difficult to solve.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
It’s not that it’s difficult to find affordable soccer in the USA.
asserted
it → ’ → USA
Recreational soccer costs about the same as youth clubs in England, Spain, Germany and other more established soccer powers.
asserted
soccer → cost → England
Most high school soccer teams are free to anyone who can make the team.
asserted
who → make → team
For all the fretting over barriers to entry in soccer, participation levels have roared back to life after the pandemic.
asserted
levels → fret → pandemic
The problem is the middle tier that is largely unique to the USA – “travel” soccer that costs anywhere from the low four figures to the low five figures.
asserted
that → cost → figures
Travel soccer is the key to any sort of future in the game and/or a ticket to admission to a school that rejects high school valedictorians but welcomes promising left backs.
asserted
that → reject → backs
College and pro coaches may talk a good game about lowering barriers to entry, but they and their scouts are noticeably absent from high school and recreational games that would harbor the supposed thousands of outstanding players who can’t pay for travel soccer.
uncertain
who → talk → soccer
Travel soccer also appeals to parents who recognize their kids have little to no chance of making the cut in college.
asserted
kids → appeal → college
The snazzy uniforms are appealing to kids.
asserted
uniforms → appeal → kids
The games are better because those with no aptitude for the sport are weeded out in tryouts.
asserted
those → weed → tryouts
Teams are supposedly better because they have professional coaches, but whether they’re really better than parent coaches who have more experience dealing with kids is up for some debate.
asserted
who → have → debate
It’s also a social endeavor for kids and their parents, who wear their long-distance drives and depleted bank accounts as badges of honor.
asserted
who → ’ → honor
While all of this may sound frustrating and pointless, it’s worth noting that travel soccer generates a lot of money that might not otherwise be available.
uncertain
that → sound → money
That money goes toward suitable fields – and scholarships for players who couldn’t play without financial help.
asserted
who → go → help
So the soccer-industrial complex will be difficult to dismantle.
asserted
complex → dismantle → ?
A better bet is to reform it, in part by limiting the “travel” aspect of “travel soccer”.
asserted
bet → reform → soccer
Players don’t get better in a car or an airplane.
asserted
Players → get → car
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
