Youth soccer in the United States has become a hot topic in recent months, with two former U.S. men’s national team players giving their takes on the state of youth development in the country.
Former USMNT players, Geoff Cameron and Brek Shea, spoke about the state of youth soccer in the U.S. in the co-hosting of their new "The Ground Training Club" podcast, discussing the why’s and how’s of what’s important for young players in their development.
This came after USMNT legend, Landon Donovan, expressed his disapproval of development in the country and why it stems as one of the biggest reasons why the men’s national team has struggled to bring up talent.
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Cameron, who made 55 appearances for the U.S. national team, agreed with the former LA Galaxy player’s take, saying youth players don’t necessarily need an influx of games or tournaments, but rather having the time to train and improve.
Geoff Cameron responds to Landon Donovan youth soccer quote: "We NEED winners."
The former Premier League center back believes youth teams and coaches often focus on the team (and winning) over developing the individual players and taking them to the next level.
“[Youth players] don’t need to play 20 games in a weekend, right? They’re going to these tournaments and playing game after game — are you actually having enough time to train and get better?” said the former Stoke City player.
“[Coaches] are just focusing on a team instead of to individually development the players technically,” he added.
Cameron, however, also stood by the idea of needing to create winners in the sport from a young age — something that Donovan criticized.
“It’s OK to create winners, you want to ‘want to win’. I actually want them to lose as well, so they experience what it feels to lose.
“You’re pushing them, we need to create winners. To say like ‘hey, I’m gonna run through a brick wall if I have to’. It’s a fine line, you want to develop them but you want to create winners,” he added.
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The topic of youth soccer in the U.S. (and their infamous pay-to-play system) was also brought up by FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, earlier this year — saying the U.S. need to change their youth development dynamic (get rid of pay-to-play) to maximize their potential.
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