The Extinction of Play & U.S. Soccer
In the past 40 years, the U.S. has witnessed a decline in “unstructured play” for children. While the scientific community has documented the dangerous consequences, the sports community has yet to acknowledge the impact it’s having on youth athletics as American professional leagues are siloed from international play (e.g. football, basketball, baseball). However, for the world’s game, soccer, the trend is revealing stultifying effects in the development of American players.
Introduction — A System of Bad Habits
NY Times Best Selling author of Atomic Habits, James Clear suggests, “A goal is a desired outcome, the thing you want to achieve. Your system is the collection of daily habits. If there’s ever a gap between your desired outcome and your daily habits, your daily habits will always win… whatever collection of daily habits you’ve been following have carried you inevitably to this place you’re at right now. The system that you run carries you to this outcome.” Clear’s work can be found in the New York Times, Business Insider, Time and has been adopted by Fortune 500 companies including the NFL, NBA, and MLB.
As James would attest, habits serve as the building blocks of consistent behaviors that determine who we become and what we’re able to achieve. So when assessing the state of U.S. Men’s Soccer, it behooves us to understand the habits driving behaviors, and ultimately, results. The following analysis diagnoses our current state in macro terms, and then identifies the culpability the current youth development system bears for these results. Finally, this report recommends which habits and behaviors the U.S. should be encouraging to fully realize its potential. Including successful case studies domestically and internationally, such as the 2014 World Cup Winner, Germany.
Chapter I — Concerning Outcomes
Over the past 25 years U.S. soccer has developed a competitive and successful MLS, and restructured its youth systems with more sophisticated development leagues and professional academies. While we can be proud of a sustainable MLS, the national team failed to make the last World Cup and the number of MLS roster spots for American-born players dropped from “52% six years ago to 37% today.”
*correction: 2011 “6–12 CORE” = 3.13M
Perhaps most concerning, youth soccer has fallen by the wayside, as participation rates have dropped precipitously. In a recent three year span, “the percentage of 6- to 12-year-olds playing soccer regularly dropped nearly 14 percent to 2.3 million players (losing approx. 600,000 participants).” [NY Times, SFIA Report, Statista]
Unfortunately, money continues to be a deterrent for many families. American households with more than $100,000 in annual income provide 35 percent of soccer players, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, compared with 11 percent from households earning $25,000 or less.
As alarming as these stats may be, we need to balance “big data”, with ethnographic digging to figure out what is happening on the ground. Why might kids be turned off? How are they being coached? What is happening inside and outside the lines at youth clubs? To better understand the system, we need to gain insight into those habits that are producing these results.
But first, it will be helpful to understand how one establishes a “good” habit. Returning to James Clear’s framework:
1 — Make it obvious (visible, easy to see)
2 — Make it attractive (belonging to a group/tribe, can earn respect)
3 — Make it easy (convenient and simple to ensure it’s repeated)
4 — Make it satisfying (enjoyable, creates a positive emotion)
Alternatively, if you want to get rid of a bad habit, do the following:
1 — Make it invisible (put it out of sight, e.g. delete an app from your phone)
2 — Make it unattractive (being judged, moments of disapproval)
3 — Make it difficult (put more steps between you and the behavior)
4 — Make it unsatisfying (creates negative emotions, stressful, boring)
Now that we have a framework with a basic set of rules to elicit behavior change, we can use this as a lens through which to evaluate our current system.
Chapter II — Club Soccer: The Pursuit of Excellence
It is said that diagnosis is the basis for strategy and strategy is the basis for tactics. But as we’ll see, thousands of youth clubs across the country are misdiagnosing the problem. Thus, failing to provide optimal strategies and tactics that garner long term gains. Unfortunately, we aren’t privy to the diagnosis behind closed doors at the national and state levels, but by examining the strategy and tactics implemented at the local level, we can infer the misdiagnosis and where we fall short.
Recreational and club programs generally represent an American kid’s first soccer experience which is less than ideal. The early years might seem like nothing more than oversized jerseys chasing one ball, half-time orange slices and teams high-fiving. But this initial experience shapes players’ perspectives for years to come and so organized soccer has a big responsibility to get the habits and goals right. They should first and foremost ensure kids fall in love with the game so they benefit from the valuable life lessons soccer has to offer. These long-term benefits encourage many players to stick with it, and possibly, play at advanced levels. But as the data suggests, we aren’t getting it right. Kids are running away when the game gets “more advanced.”
Strategy
Soccer development has for so long been handed over to organized soccer, or “clubs,” that we assume a child best learns soccer via an organized, structured environment. Consequently we assume the success of a club is proof of the quality of development offered. So logically, we assume the more decorated clubs offer superior learning experiences. Thus the primary goal for a club is excellence. After all, excellence comes with quality.
Clubs measure their goal’s progress through the outcomes of league matches and tournaments. Using a simple strategy to fortify the club and manifest wins:
Acquire the best coaches who understand latest trends in tactics, tech & drills.
Recruit the best players.
Clubs believe that a commitment to excellence should produce quality players that win them more games and tournaments. But time has proven over and over again major tactical pitfalls. So to understand where and how we’re going wrong, and how to course-correct, let’s analyze tactic shortcomings and their guiding philosophy.
Tactics
Tactic 1 — Possessional Play & Drills
While players should be discovering and building love for soccer in their first years of play, most coaches structure practice to emphasize possession style games and drills mirroring advanced levels too soon. Thus, removing anything resembling an actual game, where improvisation, creativity and the ability to make decisions on the fly is, in part, what distinguishes great players from average ones. Improvising should become second-nature, as much as executing drills and techniques. And lest we forget, what makes any sport fun is the opportunity to score a goal, touchdown, home run, or basket. Coaches hope training will develop more technically sound players in order to ultimately improve performances in the next game. Thus providing a foundation for years to come. The irony, as noted, is that most kids aren’t playing in those “years to come.”
In our educational system we complain of standardized learning whereby teachers “teach the test.” They know that high scores lead to more investment and hope the accumulation of tests will result in knowledge for the students. However, learning invariably becomes dull for students. And most don’t acquire the knowledge, they learn how to test. A similar thing can be said of youth soccer. We are producing kids who are good at possession and drills. But not at the game. And sadly, many aren’t playing with the same passion they would with a FIFA soccer video game.
Tactic 2 — Physical Focus
While an introduction to physical training is also important for youth across any sport, coaches are incorporating more advanced, and even professional, style workouts. The prioritization of the physical not only removes time that could be devoted to honing game-relevant skills, it becomes a deterrent. Soccer will inevitably get more demanding and sophisticated as they progress. But if they don’t develop a love and attachment to the game, they won’t stick around.
So these are our two most relied-on tactics in the early years of development. Which begs questions: Why can’t coaches refocus practice to prioritize actual games to make learning fun? Why can’t we create environments where kids get fit via play, not fitness drills? To understand the answers we must continue to work back into what’s informing these tactics and their deleterious effects.
Guiding Philosophy
Our tactics at the moment are being informed by a technically driven philosophy to development. Coaches are introducing overly sophisticated drills to younger age groups. While repetition and technical development are important, the time allocation and focus on these aspects are at odds with skill and confidence building. And most importantly, fostering the joy of playing. Visit a U-10 practice and you’ll see a field littered with neon colored cones, lines of kids waiting their turn, a coach instructing where to pass, which cone to dribble to and what move to make. Yet this couldn’t be more antithetical to a game built on improvisation and fluidity. Coaches know there aren’t “plays”, yet they create environments that suggest there are. We currently have created a culture whereby helicopter parents are handing their kids over to helicopter coaches.
This hands on approach and obsession with drills is also reflected in the types of soccer apps promoted to kids and parents to facilitate improvement. Consider the Dribble Up commercial touting “it’s just you and the ball for 45mins.. soo many touches… just can’t mimic in a game… giving you confidence to do that scissor.” Of course Dribble Up is targeting parents who desire perfection for their child in a safe, controlled environment. Tech can doubtless play a vital role at more advanced ages, but the current tools are promoting individual, siloed learning experiences, replicating formal team practices for young players. While a skill can be defined as an action one can correctly do on command in a game, a habit has a similar definition according to James Clear, “an automatic response to a specific situation.” Ironically, the current approach doesn’t foster the confidence, nor the relevant experience, to do that “scissor” in a game. Our current system encourages over-coached environments that dictate so much of what kids are supposed to figure out, not just on their own but, together.
As mentioned, relinquishing some control would remove the accountability of progress solely from the club. Which of course is unnerving for parents who believe they’re ultimately responsible for their child’s development, and coaches who need to feel valued. Meanwhile, if we consider the documented wisdom offered by skate and surf cultures, kids don’t need parents to learn and progress to more advanced levels. But parents and clubs can’t fathom such an idea for soccer. They’d rather stick to the familiar. With that, let’s break down what this strategy truly entails:
Guiding Principle 1 — Acquire the Best Coaches & Players in Town
What currently differentiates a club is the quality of coaches and players. Parents want the best for their child and think development hinges on playing with and being coached by the best. But this begs questions:
i.) Are coaches as good as we believe?
Plenty of youth coaches inflate resumes. In fact, the latest SFIA survey finds less than “4 in 10 youth coaches say they’re trained in any sport skills and tactics, effective motivational technique, or safety needs.” Also, many have simply won parents over with sophisticated drills and training equipment they’ve found online. Only to perpetuate the narrative that training alone gets you there. Not playing more games. But how are the coaches being evaluated beyond the win column? Are players surveyed at the end of year? What about years later having been removed from game results? What levels did those players reach? If clubs are a business, which they are, then they should be measuring and tracking how their consumers (players) feel. But they don’t. If we went beyond the primary metric being used (wins) to evaluate performance, and got someone else’s opinions besides their own (players), we might be surprised what we learn.
ii.) Is it THAT important to play with the best?
At clubs prioritizing wins, players start fighting for spots and playing time at too young of an age. They not only miss out on building game experience and confidence, they deal with the accompanying stress and anxiety of witnessing parents become over-zealous to ensure they’re a “preferred choice” wherever they play. Leading to team-hopping. And thus jeopardizing enjoyment of the pursuit.
iii.) Can it be a detriment to the player to only play with the best?
For these younger ages it’s vital they play with and against a range of talent in order to stay interested. As Atomic Habits notes, “we experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of our current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy.” This is known as the “Goldilocks Rule.” And leads to “Flow State” chronicled by Steve Kotler in “The Rise of Superman”. Getting into the flow state can “increase your life-quality, make you more present, increase your creativity, improve your performance, and make you feel more alive.”
Guiding Principle 2 — Recruiting out of Rec Soccer Too Soon
“Fun early, learn late” unfortunately is not a commonly promoted phrase amongst youth soccer circles. As parents are in a perpetual state of worry over their child falling behind, they seek more “professional” environments. Most clubs indulge them, as it leads to more revenue. But ultimately runs the risk of burning players out, and also deterring those who don’t fall in upper middle class wealth brackets.
Guiding Principle 3 — Age Segregation
Clubs separate youth players into age groups. Nine year olds play with nine year olds, ten year olds with ten year olds and so on. It appears logical to organize this way given bodies are growing and there are inherent physical advantages. Also, it’s convenient and familiar given it mirrors the classroom. It’s how it’s always been done in youth sport. Yet, around the world, professional teams offer contracts to 16 year olds because they can be thrusted into playing with men up to 20 years their senior. Some may call it dangerous, as their bodies and minds are in development. But was Wayne Rooney’s career jeopardized at 16 by playing in Everton’s first team? No, it was fantastic for him. And it’s no either / or. After games he would go home to play with his friends at the neighborhood pitch. So why in these early ages do clubs not incorporate more mixed-aged play? Especially as kids in the U.S. seem to play soccer only at practice, and rarely experience the advantages of mixed play until middle or high school. Such as those discovered in the research, “The Special Value of Children’s Age-Mixed Play”:
i. Benefits for Younger Players
Expedites learning. Toddlers with older playmates in age-mixed day-care scored higher in language, general cognitive, and motor development than those in age-segregated day-care.
Expands learning. Children learn more from those who are older as it enables them to observe and emulate advanced models of activities. Receiving emotional support and care beyond what age-mates provide.
Inspires Creativity. Older players often inspire the younger imagination.
Provides motivation & maturation. Children, by nature, want to do what older people — including older children — do; this is how they grow up.
ii. Benefits to Older Players
Strengthen weaknesses. One study showed, “teenagers adjusted play to allow younger players to engage in and enjoy the game, but the adjustments didn’t feel like sacrifices. In each example, the teenagers appeared to enjoy the game and learn as much from it as did younger players.” They honed certain skills they otherwise couldn’t focus on while playing against age-mates (e.g. one player focused on dribbling and setting up younger teammates to score, rather than scoring).
Fosters creativity. They experiment and play more joyfully as there is no pride to be gained by the older, larger, more-skilled child in beating the much younger, and the younger has no expectation of winning.
Strengthens capacities to lead and nurture. Experiences with younger children provide older children and adolescents with opportunities to be the mature ones in relationships, and thereby practice leadership and nurturance.
Guiding Principle 4 — Prioritization of Wins
Clubs focusing on league and tournament wins in these early years are prioritizing club development over player development. Instead of playing the long game, they are playing the weekly game. They’re not focused on building necessary habits to ensure results that eventually serve both the player and club. As James Clear explains the folly with being outcome-oriented, “achieving a goal (win) is only a momentary change … that’s the counterintuitive thing about improvement. We think we need to change the results, but the results are not the problem. What we really need to change is the systems that cause those results.” Mastery requires patience. Our culture is focused on wins because we assume that means progress. But that’s team progress. Trophies are tangible, but the wins they represent are as ephemeral as the happiness they bring. Meanwhile, the mastery and fulfillment it brings is long lasting. If we chase happiness and not fulfillment, we create environments playing the short game. Encouraging families to run to hot teams and coaches. Reinforcing a terrible habit. Real growth takes time. Ironically if clubs play the long game, the wins eventually take care of themselves. And as Phil Jackson said, “Obsessing about winning is a loser’s game. The most we can hope for is to create the best possible conditions for success, then let go of the outcome. What matters most is playing the game the right way and having the courage to grow, as human beings as well as players.”
Taking all of this into account, it’s not surprising to see parents and clubs feeding off one another. Clubs focus on building winning cultures and recruiting coaches that deliver training regimens mimicking professional clubs, and in turn attract parents who are obsessed with excellence. But in this vicious cycle, we overlook the results: 99% of kids moving through a club will not become professional soccer players.
Which begs much more important questions from clubs: Are we getting the most out of their potential? Do kids love playing for their club? How do we attract and retain the youngest age groups? Are we promoting habits that are fun and lead to mastery? That helps prepare them for a life off the pitch as well?
Chapter III — A New Approach
“If you want to bring a fundamental change in people’s beliefs and behaviors you need to create a community around them, where those new beliefs can be practiced and expressed and nurtured.”
— Malcolm Gladwell.
While everyone clamors to find the next silver bullet to fix the national soccer crisis by focusing on league structures, a seemingly simple approach packed with wisdom, research and new results has emerged. One that fosters good habits. Because it’s naturally attractive, takes place out in the open for other children to see, is easy to participate in and is fun. Unstructured play, also known by “free play” is defined as an “activity that is freely chosen and directed by the participants and undertaken for its own sake, not consciously pursued to achieve ends that are distinct from the activity itself.” As distinguished evolutionary biologist, David Sloan Wilson explained, through unstructured play “children acquire valuable cultural and social skills — including, especially, skills in getting along with others, negotiating differences, abiding by agreed-upon rules, overcoming impulsiveness, and following through on self-generated plans. These skills cannot be taught in a top-down way; they can only be learned through practice.”
A 2013 study in the “International Journal for Cross-Disciplinary Subjects in Education” found that kids in unstructured situations were more daring and creative but when parents were present, “the behavior of the children took on more expected and less imaginative traits.”
A recent study of the German national team that won the 2014 World Cup looked at the development path of players who made the national team and those who were one rung below that. As retold by author of “The Sports Gene,” Dave Epstein, “the only big difference they found was the guys who made the national team had a lot more time in unstructured small-sided play when they were young and continued with more unstructured play into pros.”
And a study in 2009 supported the idea that unstructured play was instrumental in the development of professional soccer players.
Love wins
The popularity of and passion for any sport can be recognized by the prevalence of pick-up games. On the beaches of Rio De Janeiro, street courts in Paris, or dirt pitches in South Africa, soccer is played with joy. This is where kids learn to be brave, mimic their heroes, battle, build toughness, experiment, fail, and try again. This is where they self-organize and form social bonds. This where they fall in love with the game. This is where the new generation of heroes are created.
The U.S. overlooks this vital stage and ingredient to the development of the world’s best players, as we usher our kids right into organized soccer, but it shouldn’t be a foreign concept given we celebrate and understand the value of unstructured play in other sports such as basketball, baseball and football. We need to remind ourselves that youth around the world, especially in the countries we admire, eat, drink and sleep soccer. To say it’s a religion for them is not an exaggeration. Can we honestly say the majority of our youth share that passion? So where can we expect the love to start? Where is our culture of unstructured play? Where can our heroes be created?
A few success stories offer hope and guidance. The Select Soccer Academy’s Summer Futsal program in South Florida where players (ages 7–18) from Palm Beach, Broward and Dade counties commit up to 3 days a week during the summer to play round-robin tournament style pick-up soccer. Providing a fantastic example for how unstructured play helps kids develop their skills while they fall in love with the game. Coaches are present, but there isn’t coaching in the typical sense. They keep time, bring bibs and balls, manage disputes and injuries kids can’t on their own, and ensure the gym is high energy. They even bring music to play in the background contributing to the atmosphere. The coaches relinquish much of their authority, empowering the kids to pick their own teams. And because it’s the kids time, parents are asked to respect their only rule: no sideline coaching or cheering. Their focus is creating an environment that fosters good habits and gives players what they’re missing outside of practice. While Atomic Habits notes, “Nothing sustains motivation better than belonging to a tribe,” SSA has compared their approach to a surf culture whereby kids feel free and connected. Every Saturday they host a “Snickers Cup” where players pick teams and compete in 5 minute games, winners stay on. The team with the most points is crowned champion and celebrates with a recycled trophy filled with Snickers bars. Returning the following week to do it all over again. Later in the summer the staff offers the opportunity to compete as formal teams in the World Futsal Championships at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex. The result of SSA’s program? They’ve grown over the 10 years, watching players move onto play for respected programs such as the Inter Miami CF and Portland Timbers youth teams, PSG Academy, and Division I college soccer programs. SSA attributes this to creating an environment that encourages fierce competition while failing forward. Players are experimenting, problem solving, falling and picking themselves up to try a new way. The sheer volume of games they play in a 10 week span offers more touches and opportunities to improve their talent in game-like situations than most kids receive in the 40 weeks prior. SSA is playing the long game by focusing on creating good habits. Consider the following from two SSA regulars who play full time for an MLS academy team now:
“It was fun and fast, and demanded teamwork which makes you a better team player. It even made it easier to step up and be a leader at times. It allows you to show off skills and who you truly are. Last summer I became a better team and individual player.”
— 12 yro, Inter Miami CF.“It’s soo much fun to play. The coaches allow us to express ourselves. I love being able to play freely & be creative. They let me try new things during games. Playing freely & learning new moves & skills has helped me excel on grass fields too.”
— 11yro, Inter Miami CF.
While futsal is a recent trend in the U.S., it’s been a popular instrument in Spain and Brazil for generations. In fact many clubs in Brazil hold off the transition to grass fields until players are 13 years old. It’s clear futsal has a lot to offer:
1 — Speed of Play: court dimensions and heavier ball creates quicker play, expediting foot-eye coordination and on ball comfortability as players use all surfaces of their feet.
2—1v1: Players are forced into more 1v1 situations, building confidence and developing the vital skill of winning individual battles to create team advantages.
3 — Repetition & Freedom to fail: More opportunities to fail equals more opportunities to learn and make adjustments faster.
4 — Goals: Players are in constant counter-attacking transitions leading to more goals. And given the court dimensions everyone can score.
5 — Competition=Fun. Combine the above, and intensity naturally rises. Building camaraderie, autonomy and communication skills more than any drill can.
6 — Cheap: Minimal maintenance for courts lowers overhead costs.
Futsal is a great development complement for Americans. The inherent individualistic and competitive environment speaks to our values. It’s the same culture found in street basketball. That said, as teams and leagues formalize and tournaments become lucrative, one can imagine they’ll fall to similar pitfalls plaguing “outdoor.”
Regardless, formalized futsal leagues still don’t solve kids’ unwillingness to self organize. And it’s not the kids’ fault. A study by sociologists at the University of Michigan documented this change by comparing detailed records of how kids spent their time in 1981 and 1997. The researchers found that time spent in any kind of play decreased 16 percent, and much of the play had shifted indoors, often involving a computer and no other children. As social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has written, “The trend has continued in the 2000s. Recess and free play time were reduced to make room for more standardized testing and academic work. Homework became common for even the youngest schoolchildren. After-school playtime morphed into structured activities overseen by adults.” As a result of stifled free-play, one U.S. survey revealed “children themselves prefer to have adults organize their lives.” A recent example shared by the Palm Beach Day Academy whose P.E. teachers are experiencing for the first time students asking them to organize their “Friday Fun Day”. Instituted years ago with the purpose of allowing students the freedom to choose, now causing anxiety. Such findings coupled with research correlating the decline in creativity with the growing restrictions of free play, shows us how big the challenge facing U.S. soccer is.
But this is where adults can step in. “Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behaviors”, as Clear confirms the two most common cues for behavior change are time and location, both contributing to making a habit easy to adopt. Atlanta’s Station Soccer is a shining example with the redesign of existing transit station areas into soccer pitches.
“Habits Provide Evidence”
If we want to regain, retain and expand 6–12 year old participation, we must change our approach. Especially considering the fastest growing sports like lacrosse, and more lucrative ones are luring them away. This is the age when kids experiencing adolescence tend to rebel against authority and structure. So it shouldn’t be surprising that they aren’t sticking with soccer when it gets tough, as it’s always been tough. We need to consider this an opportunity for real change. While we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, we need to undoubtedly rethink club goals, strategies and tactics. That builds a system to support practice with unstructured play. As other sports are also becoming more structured and professionalized (e.g. AAU basketball), there is a ripe opportunity to offer free-play. Consider the explosion of eSports and its offering. It gives control, figuratively and literally, to kids. They practice on their own time with friends, without parents hovering over their consoles.
There will be many skeptics unwilling to relinquish control, and shift any focus away from forming teams that win trophies, as it feeds the instant gratification and immediate return on investment. But even they’ll agree that goals (outcomes) are determined by daily habits (system). And ultimately, “your habits matter because they help you become the type of person you wish to be… Quite literally, you become your habits.”
So, if skeptics are truly committed to player development, they need only compare a club environment with unstructured play to see where better habits lie for kids:
1 — Make it obvious:E.g. Playing in public, where others can watch and be enticed to join.
2 — Make it easyE.g. Minimal costs (zero to low player fees, no referees), easy to access.
3 — Make it attractiveE.g. Autonomy to pick teams & co-strategize, everyone plays, form friendships.
4 — Make it satisfyingE.g. Actual games, freedom to experiment, lots of scoring, battles of skills, 1v1.
OR
1 — Make it invisibleE.g. Play on fields requiring permits out of view of other kids not playing.
2 — Make it difficultE.g. Expensive (clubs fees, refs), travel requirements (cost, time).
3 — Make it unattractiveE.g. Over-coaching, practice is proxy try-out for playing time, parental pressure.
4 — Make it unsatisfyingE.g. Possession games with touch restrictions, drills, fitness focus, dictated play.
Conclusion — What Outcome Do We Want?
“If we try to play like the Yankees in here, we’ll lose to the Yankees out there.”
— Money Ball (GM Billy Beane played by Brad Pitt)
US Soccer’s future hinges on its willingness to adapt by iterating its strategies and tactics. And when we compare the U.S. to powerhouses such as France, Brazil and Germany, we notice two distinct advantages given the longer history and popularity in-country: 1) soccer has a monopoly on their best athletes, 2) unstructured play is common. So if we continue to focus energy and ingenuity on mirroring their professional leagues and academies, we might just find ourselves in a perpetual state of catching up. Thus, if the diagnosis is wrong, strategies and tactics will be targeting the wrong challenges. First we need to align on what “success” should look like. We can recognize the expansion of the MLS and a handful of players, like Christian Pulisic, signing big overseas contracts as evidence. But it’s not the first time we’ve experienced a successful league (NASL) and seen players move abroad to top teams (Reyna, Ramos, Howard, Bradley). So while we can be excited about the MLS and a crop of young players, it doesn’t solve for the dangerous amount of talent either not attracted, or kept, in soccer. So, can we take a more humble response to the results this time? Instead of mirroring other countries, can we admit we too have a unique culture and relationship with soccer, one that needs a customized system? Can we shift measurement from focusing on short term wins, to more sustainable longer term goals, i.e. love for the game and retention?
As a second step, we need in-depth research at the national and local community levels to learn what kids think and feel about the game for a legitimate diagnosis. Then, with those insights have the guts to respond with a system that makes soccer irresistible for 6–12 year olds. One that is easy, obvious, attractive and satisfying. The U.S. is known around the world for innovation, for being a leader, but when it comes to soccer we’re reactive. Hence, unstructured play is likely to be seen as a foolishly bold consideration. Ironically, it’s alive and well in every country we compete against. Deciding whether to seriously consider this an important developmental tool reveals a lot about what one values. But if we can at least agree the game should be loved, then an urgent question must be asked: if they love soccer soo much, why aren’t players regularly self organizing outside of practice to play with other kids? It’s undeniable that our development system needs improvement. But what we offer must be responsive to the players in order for them to make soccer a joyful habit. Or as James Clear reminds us, “a habit needs to be enjoyable for it to last.”