May261999
19-10-2006, 04:24 PM
The undiscovered American Maradona (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=385093&cc=5901)
This is the United States. A country with a vast and disorganized infrastructure that identifies, captures, and coaches players before they are ten-years-old. It is a soccer country organized in such a manner that allows a player to go window shopping, or be courted by any club. When it comes to finding players, there are few cracks a player can fall through, especially if he or she is talented.
Interestingly enough some would argue, including myself that what soccer in the United States needs is less organization, not more. The preponderance of club and select teams potentially exposes a player to the heavy hand of being overcoached. If there is one thing where the myth of the American Maradona hits it correctly, is that U.S. soccer stands a better chance of developing a player like Maradona or Ronaldinho outside the organizational structure, rather than on the inside.
That's the problem. Several prominent former players (Reyna, most recently) have come out and said as much. The problem is that the folks at the USSF on down through ODP programs and their feeder club teams are so entrenched with their cronyism and good-ol-boy structure that welcoming an outsider is so alien to them.
Look at what Jay DeMerit did in his rise from nothing (after being rejected by "the system") to the EPL. That should be a lesson to the leadership of US football.
This is the United States. A country with a vast and disorganized infrastructure that identifies, captures, and coaches players before they are ten-years-old. It is a soccer country organized in such a manner that allows a player to go window shopping, or be courted by any club. When it comes to finding players, there are few cracks a player can fall through, especially if he or she is talented.
Interestingly enough some would argue, including myself that what soccer in the United States needs is less organization, not more. The preponderance of club and select teams potentially exposes a player to the heavy hand of being overcoached. If there is one thing where the myth of the American Maradona hits it correctly, is that U.S. soccer stands a better chance of developing a player like Maradona or Ronaldinho outside the organizational structure, rather than on the inside.
That's the problem. Several prominent former players (Reyna, most recently) have come out and said as much. The problem is that the folks at the USSF on down through ODP programs and their feeder club teams are so entrenched with their cronyism and good-ol-boy structure that welcoming an outsider is so alien to them.
Look at what Jay DeMerit did in his rise from nothing (after being rejected by "the system") to the EPL. That should be a lesson to the leadership of US football.