Dear US Club Soccer member organizations, players and coaches,
Over the past few weeks, US Club Soccer has engaged with U.S. Soccer leadership to discuss multiple issues raised by the membership over the past year. We are encouraged by these recent conversations and look forward to working with U.S. Soccer and other affiliates to address these issues and begin to repair the increasingly fractured youth soccer landscape.
US Club Soccer takes seriously our responsibility to create a positive environment that supports our clubs and leagues in the development of players. In this role, we aim to prioritize the issues that most negatively affect our membership, understanding that some of them took more than a decade to reach current levels and may not be solved as quickly as we would like. Regardless of how long it takes to develop and implement solutions, we are committed to supporting our membership and positively resolving all of these issues.
The US Club Soccer Board of Directors appreciates your input. We would like to communicate to you our position on the issues you have raised and welcome further input on all of these issues through your elected board members. We will be working with U.S. Soccer and others to address the following issues in search of a better environment for our membership and in the game generally:
We support the formation of task forces with authority to collaboratively review, evaluate and affect change in youth soccer.
We believe there is a clear distinction between recreational and select soccer, including the motives that drive children to participate and/or leave our sport.
We believe players should participate in competitively appropriate platforms, but there are negative, unintended consequences associated with establishing those levels too young.
We believe in the importance and value of multiple pathways for identification/scouting into youth national team selection.
We believe that no coach or scout should discriminate against or put pressure on players that implies they will be viewed, scouted, or evaluated differently for national team selection based on league or club affiliation.
We believe players should feel free to participate with any club, league, program or organization without pressure or fear of retribution or discrimination.
We support the creation of objective measures of clubs charged with the development of players, based on the daily environment established by the club and not exclusively on the league in which they participate.
We believe clubs and their leadership should be the primary decision-makers in the structure and organization of soccer.
We fully support our youth and full national teams and will continue to assist their future success any way we can.
As your representative members of the US Club Soccer Board of Directors, we are committed to supporting your efforts and voicing your concerns. We are dedicated to making the game better for players, clubs, and coaches, and doing so professionally, honestly, and collaboratively.
Thank you for sharing your voice with us, and for being a part of our organization!
Sincerely,
US Club Soccer Board of Directors
