Investment in US youth system

Interesting article... Now if they could tell us how to keep the kids from having gaps in their training. I'm thinking winning vs. development has something to do with it.

http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/usa/story/investment-and-coaching-in-youth-system-remains-top-priority-050813

That is a great article but I think it applies more to the mens side of the game than the womens.

On the womens side of things the USA Womens National team is the #1 ranked team in the world, they won the Olympics and will be the favorite going into the next World Cup. I can't recall exactly but I think either Abby Womback or Alex Morgan was the FIFA Womans player of the year.



With regard to USA Womens soccer, we are the best in the world and have the best players in the world.

The mens side is a whole other story.

RunsLikeWind wrote:That is a great article but I think it applies more to the mens side of the game than the womens.

On the womens side of things the USA Womens National team is the #1 ranked team in the world, they won the Olympics and will be the favorite going into the next World Cup. I can't recall exactly but I think either Abby Womback or Alex Morgan was the FIFA Womans player of the year.

With regard to USA Womens soccer, we are the best in the world and have the best players in the world.

The mens side is a whole other story.

GO USA!! (Wish I could say the same for the men) The American forward has been rewarded for her performances over the year by beating Brazil international and five-time winner Marta to the award Abby Wambach has won the Fifa Women's World Player of the Year for 2012.

The 32-year old was voted the winner of the award by both the captains and the coaches of the 209 Fifa Members, as well as selected members of the media. The striker beat Brazil's Marta into second place despite the Tyreso player leading her club to a league title, while American counterpart Alex Morgan finished third.

Wambach has already collected the US Soccer Athlete of the Year award on five occasions, as well as winning the Bronze Boot award at the 2011 World Cup along with the Silver Ball, and been given the ESPN ESPY trophy for her goal in the same competition.

Second-placed Marta, 26, is one of the most prolific players in the women's game, and scored 12 goals in 21 games for her club. She also featured for Brazil during the 2012 Olympics, although they were unable to progress further than the quarter-finals.

Morgan, Wambach's strike partner, created five assists during the London Olympics which won her the American Sportswoman of the Year award.

time to change my avatar?

the story applies to both sides. The US womans team dominates a game that is fairly new to womens sport around the world and we put some of the best athletes on the field. The time to change is before you lose that dominance not after you can no longer win. Brazil still views soccer as a mans sport. The national team spends almost no money on the womens side and they have very few practices and friendly matches to prepare. They essentially send a pickup squad to national events. At some point they could take it seriously. Japan has come to the forefront and the damage they do to our girls at disney is not a good omen for the future. The gap has closed on the US womens team and we can't sit back and pat our chest on past glories or they will one day be like the US men or follow in the footsteps of England.

go99 wrote:the story applies to both sides. The US womans team dominates a game that is fairly new to womens sport around the world and we put some of the best athletes on the field. The time to change is before you lose that dominance not after you can no longer win. Brazil still views soccer as a mans sport. The national team spends almost no money on the womens side and they have very few practices and friendly matches to prepare. They essentially send a pickup squad to national events. At some point they could take it seriously. Japan has come to the forefront and the damage they do to our girls at disney is not a good omen for the future. The gap has closed on the US womens team and we can't sit back and pat our chest on past glories or they will one day be like the US men or follow in the footsteps of England.

I thought we were all doing our part here in NTX.....oh wait wrong thread (winning vs. development )

Agree - completely. I get to travel internationally and we here in the US are still light years behind what it going to really take to consistently put a top mens contender in the mix every cycle. For the Women's, well I view it as a tremendous blessing that we all get to enjoy this run while our DD's are playing and developing....it really does make it so much more interesting.

Until the US gets rid of April Heinrichs as the Technical Development Director, we will not keep up with the rest of the world. She is still stuck in the late 80's and 90's and does not understand possession soccer. She is an absolute joke.

Uncle Numanga wrote:Until the US gets rid of April Heinrichs as the Technical Development Director, we will not keep up with the rest of the world. She is still stuck in the late 80's and 90's and does not understand possession soccer. She is an absolute joke.

Agree. Could just do a lateral move for her and make her the strength and conditioning director.