Let me preface this by saying there is nothing wrong with the education mentality in the United States. It is just different and lends itself better to other sports when put under this microscope. The system of play through high school and then go to college before entering the draft works fine in football and basketball and a hybrid of the soccer system and the college sports system works great in hockey and baseball. Soccer is a different animal entirely.
Let me also state that last night's loss to the Czech Republic, while helping prove my point (the Czechs fielded their second class players except in goal and will not be in the World Cup), I had already planned this piece before that game.
When do players sign professional contracts and start to work their way up the ranks in professional sports?
In the United States, depending on the sport it has always been either when they finish high school or when the enter the draft of their particular sport from college. Football and basketball send their player to college. Baseball and hockey have the option of turning pro and going to the minor leagues as an 18-year old or going to college.
In soccer in the US, the system works much like baseball and hockey. There is only one problem. The US is the only country doing it that way. Freddy Adu (whether you think he has a future as a player or not) and his parents were criticized tons when he signed his first pro contract and played in MLS games as a 14 year old forgoing the chance of a college career.
At the time, the criticism seemed fine and from those with an education background it is. In soccer terms though, major clubs in Europe and South America regularly sign players as young as 13 for their youth teams and develop those players in their own minor league (they also fund the players remaining education until they are 18). Those players being signed come from all over the world to play and learn under the main coaching staffs and trainers.
Back in the US, our players play club and high school soccer and then go on to college in many cases. While many of the better players in this system go on to college and then on to a pro career, usually in MLS, the best get signed to clubs as 18 year olds. These players, while playing a lot, are not devoting the same time and energy to soccer that their counterparts in Europe and South America do. The result is American players falling behind in their development.
So how can this be fixed?
There is no real nice way to say this, but the way to fix this soccer-wise is to devalue the education element to some degree. Soccer players in the rest of the world are getting world class coaching and are devoting professional level time to the game by the time they are 16 in most cases. Here, the earliest that is an option is 18 and by that time, our players are already behind schedule compared to their counterparts.
The system as it is currently constructed is can't develop the depth of talent needed to win a World Cup or even be more than a mid-level team that occasionally makes a run to a quarterfinal every two or three World Cups.
If our players (particularly those who do not come from well to do homes who can play for personal trainers and coaches) don't start receiving elite coaching at an early age, the US will never develop the depth of talent needed to win a World Cup.
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