Since the United States Men’s National Team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, fans and pundits have spent countless hours dissecting what went wrong. This World Cup disappointment highlighted the fact that youth soccer development is broken. Too many players don’t have access to high-level coaching and competition.
While many cannot afford to play for so-called “elite” clubs, there is also a sizable group who live in areas that lack U-12 Boys Development Academy (DA) teams. I chose to focus on this age (the youngest age group in the DA league) because the early years in a player’s development are crucial.