In our first "Letter to the Editor" we ask our Managing Editor, Robert Ziegler, "Why Doesn’t the U.S. Produce Star Players?"

It is very close to the fundamental question of how we get from A to B as a soccer nation. I tend to write these longer, more systemic pieces on our whole setup. In truth, we are making progress in those areas with things like the Academy as a competition and training platform, the growing involvement of our professional league in youth development and delivery; and improving coaching education from the grass roots up.

There’s room for improvement in each of these areas, but there’s another problem area that is much deeper-rooted and harder to change.

The problem that I see above these things is that American soccer has too much of a socialist, egalitarian, collective, whatever you call it, mentality. I don’t know if this stems from soccer’s recreational base with no scores kept, everybody getting a trophy, etc., or if it is more deeply rooted in our culture from New Deal or Great Society thinking where, however decent the intentions, we tend to demonize those who are more successful and advance an expectation that everybody is the same.

The problem of course is that soccer is a sport and that by definition means people competing with one another and trying to do and be better than one another. So while an advanced society hopefully does not discriminate on the basis of characteristics such as ethnicity, gender, religion, politics and economic status, it also does well to reward creativity, work ethic, talent and achievement.

What I see repeatedly in American soccer is good players being kept down or dragged back from behind. Too many coaches are more interested in winning more trophies at a lower level than allowing their best players to progress to other levels, be it national team, older age groups, tougher competitions or otherwise. Also, too often when players begin to get recognition on their club or school team, the knives start to come out behind them. I’ve seen parents or teammates start to see their own situations, whether that means status on said team, prospects of advancement made better by the first player’s abilities, or just failing to contain old-fashioned envy, as threatened by the idea of that player leaving the squad, even if it is the best thing for that player.

It can also work the other way where the players at the higher level resent the entry of a younger or otherwise new player into the mix.

All of this works together to keep players with the potential to be something special, a star, from having the chance to realize his potential. What’s so difficult about this challenge is that you can have all the good coaching and system improvements you need, and it won’t matter because those players with the characteristics to succeed will essentially be bullied to prevent them from advancing, and the opportunity is lost.

Fixing that has to do with reforming society, politically and otherwise. Coaches can be instrumental in teaching values such as humility, graciousness and benevolence, but this is a very tall order. Sorry to be so pessimistic, but I do think this is a major part of why we have hit something of a plateau internationally.

What do you think?