American youth soccer resembles something far closer to an spider with many individualized arms than it does a single, unified entity. There’s little question U.S. Soccer is the head of the beast, but in many ways it can’t function without its prodigious arms pulling it from one innovation to another.
After all, U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy only reaches down to the U12 age group, and even that hasn’t begun play yet. In the end, it relies deeply on other leagues and developers to do the important work of bringing along players to prepare them for the academy. And there’s an argument to be made that the most vital development in the course of a player’s career happens before the age of 12.
So it goes without saying, then, that open lines of communication between the tentacles and the head aren’t merely important; they are mandatory. And according to the Youth Council Technical Working Group, those lines aren’t nearly open enough.
On Friday, that council released a statement directed at “leaders and members of U.S. Soccer” pleading for more open channels of communication. The significance of this moment should not be lost on those who would like to see continued developmental improvement in this country.
