I’ve been banging this drum for years. I don’t necessarily agree with the “if Lebron (or whoever) played soccer they’d dominate” idea, and frankly see that as a separate discussion anyway since not all dominant minority athletes grew up poor, obviously. I do agree though that we’re severely limiting our ability to find and develop top talent because of the cost to play in the elite youth clubs and academies that youth need to join to gain exposure and opportunities. Scholarships are great but they’re limited and unless you show immediate promise as a top talent you’re unlikely to get one. Who knows how many kids could develop into top players after a few years but might not show it right away?

The second issue I think is there’s no pick-up game culture in America. Formal coaching is crucial but the best players, especially the creative and attacking ones, have an ability to improvise and scrap. Many of them picked that up playing on the streets, in the cages, or in parks. I don’t know how to solve this or if it’s just something that can even be created inorganically. I just believe the more places that kids the opportunity to play unorganized free soccer we might not only see more young people discovering their soccer talent that might not have otherwise, but they would also have that street-style edge you see in many top players from poorer South American and European countries.