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Message: [QUOTE="Chuck, post: 1861333, member: 1646"] First, djct1999, the club is based in Northern NJ. Small town (pop 10k) with 25 teams (11 girls, 14 boys), mostly in the same league. Zoo, I'm a little torn over your assessment. I agree that for years, the US favored long ball and athleticism. I think a big part of that was because it's easier to teach and add players. Because so many kids (like me) primarily played rec with limited practice time, kids didn't get early training on anything different than "kick it and outrun the defense." I was a goalie and didn't get any training until high school. I also agree, that US sports favor size and speed. I'd add that at a young age, aggression is also favored. Some kids just naturally want every ball more than other kids. At a young age that's a huge advantage. My disagreement may be due to our different location. Where I live, every town has an adequate travel club that gets at least some quality training and plays in our league with 10 flights per age group. The best of those local teams often play in the same league as the academies. If the kid is too good for his/her team, but not good enough to play at an academy, there are usually at least 3 other clubs within easy driving distance that allow a certain percentage of out of town kids. I think that is a big advantage because the smaller, less aggressive kid has received good training and competition until he/she grows and aggression becomes less important than skill. So the sickly Messi would still get decent training and competition until he got bulky enough to use his IQ and then he would move up the ranks. I've been told that it is different where I live compared to others. We're a densely populated area. We're also in a relatively wealthy area. All the clubs have "scholarships" if you can't afford the fees, but I know we only had one kid that was having fees waived, and it's not easy for a parent to ask for help. I'm also looking at things more from a ground-up improvement in US soccer across the board, not just finding a US Messi. Although I think that is what you were saying as well. The Messi's of the world wouldn't make it to the top because only the Superkid is discovered and nurtured while everyone else stagnates. Either way, my kids will probably stay at their current club. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach