Q&A: Austin FC’s Claudio Reyna on using player, parent experiences to guide youth soccer forward
When U.S. Soccer launched the Development Academy in 2007, it was heralded as the next step in turning the men’s national team into a world power. In 2017, the U.S. failed to qualify for the World Cu…
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American-Statesman: What are maybe one or two areas of that opportunity that you see to maybe take a step back, that you’d like to see be more shifted into the focus of how we go about youth development at the highest levels?
Reyna: It’s a good question. There’s a lot of things that are important that we can maybe change. The amount of cost. I think we have to be very conscious of how much parents are paying for their kids in all sports, from individual training to just the travel out there. It takes away from the joy a little bit. I grew up in a different time, and I can talk to that. I spent a lot of time playing, but I also was home with my brother and my family. I feel now youth sports has become this industry where you just travel so much. On weekends, long trips. Kids of a young age getting on planes to play games. You’re just not quite sure why.
It’s something more generational from my time growing up. It’s on steroids. It needs to calm down a little bit. That would be one thing. That would also calm down the hysteria with all the parents about trying to get their kids to college. We’re in a different world right now and hopefully that’s something that will change, is just the overall drain of cost and those resources.