Did anyone catch the US Soccer President Candidates Forum from Philadelphia?

This past week/weekend was the United Soccer Coaches Annual Convention in Philadelphia.
I've seen some funny tweets for products being offered there. Someone is trying to market an over-sized hula hoop as a RondoRing for $70.
The announcement of the new coaching curriculum had some interesting dialogue also.
I spent a few hours on Saturday morning watching the live stream of the 8 US Soccer President Candidates forum. It was pretty interesting.
At least 5 of them mentioned that the current federation is completely out of touch with what goes on within the 55 state federations. And that the recent changes to youth soccer (Age Groups, build out line, etc) were done without input from those at the youth level.
At least 5 of them mentioned that ODP should become a stronger part of the pathway along with DA.
Kyle Martino said "right now, we don't have a pathway. We have a game of "frogger" for kids/parents to navigate."
I think he was also the one that spoke about adding futsal goals to basketball courts across the country. He seemed to be a candidate that actually had some defined plans for change.
Eric Wynalada was pretty solid. He spoke very strongly about how US Soccer is out of compliance with 13 FIFA regulations. He spoke of solidarity payments. He spoke of changing the MLS calendar to be in-line with the rest of the world.
I missed Hope Solo's speech.
I really hope that Kathy Carter does not get elected.
I was surprised at how many candidates were very focused on the grass roots/youth game. It may have been because the audience was grass roots/youth coaches.

Based on what I saw (and I have zero insight into what it takes to run US Soccer), I'd love to see Kyle Martino and Eric Wynalda pair up and run the show together.
 
This past week/weekend was the United Soccer Coaches Annual Convention in Philadelphia.
I've seen some funny tweets for products being offered there. Someone is trying to market an over-sized hula hoop as a RondoRing for $70.
The announcement of the new coaching curriculum had some interesting dialogue also.
I spent a few hours on Saturday morning watching the live stream of the 8 US Soccer President Candidates forum. It was pretty interesting.
At least 5 of them mentioned that the current federation is completely out of touch with what goes on within the 55 state federations. And that the recent changes to youth soccer (Age Groups, build out line, etc) were done without input from those at the youth level.
At least 5 of them mentioned that ODP should become a stronger part of the pathway along with DA.
Kyle Martino said "right now, we don't have a pathway. We have a game of "frogger" for kids/parents to navigate."
I think he was also the one that spoke about adding futsal goals to basketball courts across the country. He seemed to be a candidate that actually had some defined plans for change.
Eric Wynalada was pretty solid. He spoke very strongly about how US Soccer is out of compliance with 13 FIFA regulations. He spoke of solidarity payments. He spoke of changing the MLS calendar to be in-line with the rest of the world.
I missed Hope Solo's speech.
I really hope that Kathy Carter does not get elected.
I was surprised at how many candidates were very focused on the grass roots/youth game. It may have been because the audience was grass roots/youth coaches.

Based on what I saw (and I have zero insight into what it takes to run US Soccer), I'd love to see Kyle Martino and Eric Wynalda pair up and run the show together.
Most of the platforms and proposals discussed reflect the fact that the Candidate's Forum was put on by US Youth Soccer. ODP is run by state associations (the constituent members of US Youth Soccer), who all have votes in the upcoming election. So, the focus on the youth game and the call for reviving ODP, while it may make sense in any event in a broadened funnel for scouting talent, is also about appealing to a voter group that was sponsoring the forum and presumably populating much of the audience.
 
@ProRel4USsoccer @EricWynalda @ProRelForUSA

Eric Wynalda is one of the candidate that gets it....
https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/954810800929095680

I like Kyle Martino also but EW seems like he has more experience and he hasn't fully supported @ProRel4USsoccer (is more concerned about the MLS businesses surviving) so that gives me some pause but if they could team up yeah that would help in the fight vs the SUM insider KC.

"This is an insult. It is not a plan. No coincidence @kylemartino labeled it “potential roadmap” - and then buried it. It’s what happens when you consult with Don Garber for hours beforehand. #ProRelForUSA "

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Most of the platforms and proposals discussed reflect the fact that the Candidate's Forum was put on by US Youth Soccer. ODP is run by state associations (the constituent members of US Youth Soccer), who all have votes in the upcoming election. So, the focus on the youth game and the call for reviving ODP, while it may make sense in any event in a broadened funnel for scouting talent, is also about appealing to a voter group that was sponsoring the forum and presumably populating much of the audience.

ODP with an honest selection process and funded well enough so there is only minimal cost to the selectees is, on the surface at least, a better program than the current USSDA program that has been for the most part sold to the highest bidders.
 
Another candidate (maybe it was Paul Caliguiri or 1 of the 2 attorneys) said that they also wanted to make every high school coach a US National Team Scout. I think the reason being that kids who play high school might be coming from leagues that aren't sanctioned by US Soccer today and are much cheaper to play in.
 
Another candidate (maybe it was Paul Caliguiri or 1 of the 2 attorneys) said that they also wanted to make every high school coach a US National Team Scout. I think the reason being that kids who play high school might be coming from leagues that aren't sanctioned by US Soccer today and are much cheaper to play in.

There are approximately 37,000 high schools in the US. Whoever said that is a moron.
 
Many of the candidates mentioned high School soccer as being something that should be more important.
Surprisingly, nobody that I heard mentioned anything about the college game. A few mentioned scholarship stuff.
But nobody said anything about how making changes to our college game could impact the national team and domestic league play.
 
This past week/weekend was the United Soccer Coaches Annual Convention in Philadelphia.
I've seen some funny tweets for products being offered there. Someone is trying to market an over-sized hula hoop as a RondoRing for $70.
The announcement of the new coaching curriculum had some interesting dialogue also.
I spent a few hours on Saturday morning watching the live stream of the 8 US Soccer President Candidates forum. It was pretty interesting.
At least 5 of them mentioned that the current federation is completely out of touch with what goes on within the 55 state federations. And that the recent changes to youth soccer (Age Groups, build out line, etc) were done without input from those at the youth level.
At least 5 of them mentioned that ODP should become a stronger part of the pathway along with DA.
Kyle Martino said "right now, we don't have a pathway. We have a game of "frogger" for kids/parents to navigate."
I think he was also the one that spoke about adding futsal goals to basketball courts across the country. He seemed to be a candidate that actually had some defined plans for change.
Eric Wynalada was pretty solid. He spoke very strongly about how US Soccer is out of compliance with 13 FIFA regulations. He spoke of solidarity payments. He spoke of changing the MLS calendar to be in-line with the rest of the world.
I missed Hope Solo's speech.
I really hope that Kathy Carter does not get elected.
I was surprised at how many candidates were very focused on the grass roots/youth game. It may have been because the audience was grass roots/youth coaches.

Based on what I saw (and I have zero insight into what it takes to run US Soccer), I'd love to see Kyle Martino and Eric Wynalda pair up and run the show together.

@timbuck, I didn't watch the candidates, but in the past a few hammered on the need to pay "training" and "solidarity" fees to the youth club. Was this mentioned?

@espola and @JoeBieber, HS Soccer should be part of the discussion. Its a mechanism where the "pay to play" model is thrown out. While HS soccer teams might not give DA and ODP teams a run for their money, there are parts of the US where the DA and ODP are not effective, HS Soccer can fill an important development and identification role ... especially if we start to bring the HS coaches into the fold. The problem with HS and College is they don't adhere to the Federation mandates and are separate entities. From a personal perspective, my son's JV HS Soccer team (he is a 2003) plays much better than his Flight 2 Club team ever did. In the world of HS Soccer you have basically two types of coaches: (1) Club Coaches with C, D and E licenses; and (2) the Science Teacher who coached his daughters Rec team. Are there 50 to 100 kids with top level talent in the US that are not playing for the DA or ODP? I'm sure there are. Empowering HS Coaches to identify those players for additional training opportunities sounds like a smart thing to do.
 
I've done a lot of research on the candidates. Eric Wynalda is clearly the best choice to take US Soccer forwards. He doesn't represent the status quo like Kathy Carter who is Don Garber 2, while Kyle Martino talks out of both sides of his mouth.
 
Many of the candidates mentioned high School soccer as being something that should be more important.
Surprisingly, nobody that I heard mentioned anything about the college game. A few mentioned scholarship stuff.
But nobody said anything about how making changes to our college game could impact the national team and domestic league play.

If a player is truly of national-team-candidate caliber, and has been identified as such by the time he is of age to enter college, a college program is not rigorous enough. It's a short season, practice time is limited by NCAA regulations, and his true "job" is getting that degree, or at least making "progress" toward it so that he stays eligible and the school stays out of trouble.
 
I've done a lot of research on the candidates. Eric Wynalda is clearly the best choice to take US Soccer forwards. He doesn't represent the status quo like Kathy Carter who is Don Garber 2, while Kyle Martino talks out of both sides of his mouth.
Wynalda seems to have his stuff together and is coming at this from a high level view of what needs to be done.
He has good vision. But I worry that without the right team in place to execute on that vision, his ideas may get stuck. He has some radical changes in mind for the United State to compete on a global level. I just hope that the US is ready for this. He is a BIG proponent of Promotion/Relegation. And while it sounds good on paper, I am not sure that our domestic league (MLS and whoever the 2nd, 3rd and 4th level teams will wind up being) are establish enough financially to support this vision. With the MLS goals of expansion, maybe they should just worry about "Promotion" for now within MLS. Have the 2nd/3rd/4th level leagues have their way with promotion and relegation immediately. And maybe then let the top teams from the 2nd Division have first crack at becoming an MLS expansion team.
 
If a player is truly of national-team-candidate caliber, and has been identified as such by the time he is of age to enter college, a college program is not rigorous enough. It's a short season, practice time is limited by NCAA regulations, and his true "job" is getting that degree, or at least making "progress" toward it so that he stays eligible and the school stays out of trouble.
You speak the truth. But it is the pathway that many 18 year old players choose to take. Why not try to enact some type of change at this level? Our teams seems to be somewhat competitive internationally until about the age of 20-22. If our college program had a longer season, better training and more exposure against top level clubs, we might be able to be 20% better. 20% better is very subjective, but would likely move the needle a bit on how competitive we are on an international level. Have your "college season" and then have college teams play tournaments against U20 and U23 or 2nd teams from top clubs around the world. It would give our domestic league better players. And may open up more avenues for players to play in Europe.
 
You speak the truth. But it is the pathway that many 18 year old players choose to take. Why not try to enact some type of change at this level? Our teams seems to be somewhat competitive internationally until about the age of 20-22. If our college program had a longer season, better training and more exposure against top level clubs, we might be able to be 20% better. 20% better is very subjective, but would likely move the needle a bit on how competitive we are on an international level. Have your "college season" and then have college teams play tournaments against U20 and U23 or 2nd teams from top clubs around the world. It would give our domestic league better players. And may open up more avenues for players to play in Europe.

They could but that would mean more time on the playing field and less time in the classroom...that's not the function of college.

If they really wanted to be attractive to that 18 year old considering between the safety of college, playing in Europe (complete with all the tax and immigration problems that come with it), or the MLS, the thing they should do is make the MLS more attractive to players by removing the salary caps. Bradford Jameson, the sole homegrown player left on the Galaxy, makes about $65K and who knows how long his career will last...only the 3 DPs on a team make near European money...Jameson had to make a choice between playing for Berkeley or the Galaxy...if I were his parent, I'd probably say he chose poorly. The salary caps exist to limit overall spending in the league and to ensure reasonably balanced teams (so no one team can become dominant by throwing money at the problem, like in Europe). But as a result, US players are priced out of the market because their salaries are too low...the ones it works for are the players from Latin America and the Caribbean, who form such a large part of the non-DP slots of the MLS, because their cost of living is lower once they retire back home. Removing the caps would also bring European talent to the US to allow them to play against the U.S. players....what if a U.S. team were competitive enough to go after a Ronaldo, for example?
 
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