Chasing the Game - Youth Soccer in America – Détails, épisodes et analyse

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Chasing the Game - Youth Soccer in America

Liron Unreich, Matt Tartaglia

Sport

Fréquence : 1 épisode/8j. Total Éps: 45

Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America is a weekly podcast for soccer parents, coaches, and players who want to understand how youth soccer development really works in the United States. Hosted by two dads, filmmaker Liron Unreich and investor Matt Tartaglia, the show covers everything from grassroots soccer to elite pathways like MLS NEXT and ECNL. Combining data, real experience, and expert insights from academy directors, college coaches, and former pros, each episode explains what families truly need to know. Weekly episodes focus on the core aspects of youth soccer: player development, coaching culture, college recruiting, tryouts, travel costs, and the challenges of parenting in youth sports in today’s competitive environment. For families navigating youth soccer’s complex system, Chasing the Game offers practical advice, credible voices, and relatable stories from two dads working to make sense of American player development, one episode at a time.

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Soccer vs. School: Why Should Kids Have to Choose?

Épisode 44

mercredi 14 octobre 2026 • Durée 45:37

Soccer vs. School: Why Should Kids Have to Choose?

Soccer and school should support the same kid. Why does pursuing one sometimes make the other harder?

At YSC Academy, an independent school partnered with the Philadelphia Union, Mark Franek teaches students whose school day is built around soccer. Elsewhere, parents are trying to make training, travel and a regular school schedule work together. Mark, an English teacher and author of American Soccer Nation, explains what he values about the Philadelphia Union environment. Liron and Matt press him on the families who don't have that option.

Mark makes the case for in-person teaching while acknowledging the difficult choices families face. He also refuses to treat college as a failed professional dream. His perspective comes from inside this environment, as both a teacher and a soccer dad.

The conversation stretches beyond school: the car ride home, what kids hear when parents dismiss MLS, and the American soccer communities Mark writes about.

In this episode:

Why Mark left law when he was missing his son's games
How he describes a school day built around Philadelphia Union training
His approach to the car ride home, and why he says parents must know their own kid
Why he treats college and professional soccer as worthwhile paths
What he thinks a strong coach alone cannot provide
His concerns about online schooling, and the limited choices some families face
Why he wants club owners to invest in education alongside soccer
What the early American Soccer League and its communities mean to the players he teaches

Chasing the Game is a weekly show for parents trying to navigate youth soccer in America: the money, the leagues, the pressure, and what actually develops a player.

(00:00) - Intro: Culture, School and a Book
(01:54) - Missing His Son's Games
(05:17) - School Inside the Philadelphia Union
(09:09) - Soccer at Home and the Car Ride Home
(14:39) - Why Mark Wrote American Soccer Nation
(19:14) - What Kids Hear When Parents Dismiss MLS
(22:19) - College Is Not a Failed Pro Dream
(24:43) - The Rise and Fall of the Early ASL
(28:38) - Communities and Total Immersion
(32:34) - When School and Soccer Collide
(37:26) - Mark's Vision for American Soccer
(41:32) - Outro: Before You Change Schools

View full transcript

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Too Much Soccer Training, Not Enough Free Play?

Épisode 43

mercredi 7 octobre 2026 • Durée 39:40

Too Much Soccer Training, Not Enough Free Play?

Before you book another soccer training session, when did your kid last just play?

The pitch is familiar. More sessions, a stronger team, more travel, a better chance. Families spend thousands, give up weekends, and still feel it is not enough. Ted Kroeten built that system himself, running a big club in Minnesota on assessments, progress reports and the 10,000 hours. In his words: kids hated it, parents loved it.

So he co-founded Joy of the People, a play-based program in a St. Paul rec center. Ted describes 16 years of watching what kids learn through play when adults step back. His frame is overloading and underloading. Overload is the explicit work: drills, reps, structure. Underload is play, where kids build a language of movement and learn to read the player in front of them. Ted thinks even top academy players need more chances to play freely. He also says that can happen within an academy session when players let go of performance pressure and coaches help create the right environment.

When Liron asks why a kid's moves disappear between training and games, Ted points to fluency: learning to read and respond to another player. Liron and Matt own up to their own overloading too, including a pickup game where three parents showed up with Veo cameras. Ted's last piece of advice sounds simple and isn't: play with your kids.

In this episode:

Why Ted walked away from the deliberate practice system he built at a big Minnesota club
Overloading vs. underloading, explained with push-ups and learning a second language
Why a move that works against a cone disappears against a real defender
Matt's first reaction to a 30/30/30 session plan: "what are we paying for?"
Where play can fit when the week is already school, four practices, travel and homework
Why parent-organized "free play" keeps turning into another tournament
What Ted's son told a newspaper about his dad, and why it stuck with Ted
What Ted says parents should actually do at home

Chasing the Game is a weekly show for parents trying to navigate youth soccer in America: the money, the leagues, the pressure, and what actually develops a player.

Is Moving Up in MLS NEXT Worth Risking Playing Time?

Épisode 42

mercredi 30 septembre 2026 • Durée 49:20

Is Moving Up in MLS NEXT Worth Risking Playing Time?

MLS NEXT Homegrown or Academy: would you move your child up if his place on the field became less certain?

The offer sounds like progress. But your child already plays regularly, likes his coach, and enjoys his team. A longer drive and a higher division might bring opportunity. They also leave parents with a hard question: what are we giving up?

Luis Robles, General Manager, Sporting, MLS NEXT, returns to work through that choice with Liron and Matt. He recalls a mother whose son was happy, playing, and loved his coach. For that player, in that setting, he thought the environment was right. Age and local options mattered to his answer.

The conversation also gets into what happens beyond the division name: how clubs are evaluated, why travel costs matter, and what Luis saw as a dad that helped shape his thinking about U13 playing time. He also questions the pressure to fill every free afternoon with organized training.

In this episode:

Weighing a Homegrown offer against an Academy team where your child already plays
Why a player's age and local options change that decision
What watching U13 players sit out made Luis want to change
Why Luis sees tied Flex matches as a chance to experience penalty pressure
How he watches game video with his son without making mistakes the whole story
What he says MLS NEXT looks at when evaluating clubs
The connection between fewer overnight trips and a family's soccer costs
Why he says children do not need structured training all the time

High school eligibility note: Luis mentions the waiver in this conversation. The published 2026-27 Homegrown rules require an approved waiver, with eligibility conditions and application windows, and describe returning to matches after the high school season ends. Playing high school without approval can prevent Homegrown participation until the following fall. Before making plans, check the current rules and confirm your child's eligibility with your club and MLS NEXT. Rules and waiver:

Chris Mueller on What the Soccer Dream Demands

Épisode 41

mercredi 23 septembre 2026 • Durée 45:32

Chris Mueller on What the Soccer Dream Demands

Chris Mueller was never the best kid on the field. He was on the B team at his Chicago club until he was 14, he was 4 feet 11 until high school, and he did not start a game or score a goal as a freshman at Wisconsin. He left Wisconsin as the first two-time All-American in the program's history, went sixth overall in the 2018 MLS draft, and played for Orlando City, Hibernian in Scotland and the Chicago Fire, with two caps for the U.S. Men's National Team.

None of it was bought. He never had a technical trainer as a kid. What changed, he says, was lining up what he said he wanted with what he actually did every day, and that is the part no parent can pay for.

Mueller retired from professional soccer in September at 30. He told Liron and Matt on the record, two days before it was public, and then spent most of the conversation talking about other people's kids: how to test whether a player means what he says, what he thinks families overpay for, what college coaches check once your kid has their attention, and why taking ownership is the part that transfers whether or not the soccer works out.

The honest part is that there are no guarantees. He did the work, he made it, and it still ended earlier than he expected. He still calls the ending his choice.

In this episode:

The test he gives a player: hand them the steps, watch what they do with them over a week or a month, and treat the result as insight rather than a verdict
Why a kid who does not take the steps may be missing structure and guidance rather than desire
Why claiming a college goal and not backing it up costs a player confidence on the field
What he thinks families overpay for: he says technical training is good and uses a trainer himself, but three sessions a week against two team trainings is the wrong balance
What he did instead as a kid, in a hockey rink outside Chicago with a Facebook group called Football in the Burg
What college coaches check once your kid's ability has their attention: warmups, handshakes, calls to school counselors and club coaches, sessions they turn up to unannounced

A Pro Soccer Offer at 15. A Family Decision.

Épisode 40

mercredi 16 septembre 2026 • Durée 46:13

A Pro Soccer Offer at 15. A Family Decision.

If your child received a professional soccer offer at 15, would your family say yes straight away? Jonny Shore's family took months. College was still on the table.

The NYCFC midfielder tells Liron and Matt how they made that decision, what changed after he signed, and how his parents supported him when playing well did not bring the next opportunity. For parents wondering how kids become professional soccer players, this is one family's answer, with the parts that do not make the announcement: online school from 10th grade, two seasons on the second team playing against adults, a season where he played well and got "pretty much no looks" from the first team, a debut at 17 that came faster than he expected, and a back injury that took most of the next preseason.

Jonny says he has no regrets, and he still tells every kid to have a plan B. He also understands why another player might choose college. Liron and Matt also ask him what coachability means and what coaches owe young players in return, and what he would tell a nine-year-old who is scared to make a mistake.

For parents, this is a player's account of when support helped and when pressure got in the way: parents who let him play, friendships that made the academy years special, the moments he needed clearer feedback from coaches, and why, even in the first team, he keeps coming back to enjoying the game.

In this episode:

Joining an MLS academy at 10 and adjusting to the competition, travel, and training schedule
Why young players need room to make mistakes, and how his parents supported that
What coachability means, and why coaches also owe young players clear feedback
Weighing a pro contract against college, and why Jonny still recommends a plan B
Switching to online school and missing birthdays and weekends with friends
Why playing against adults made the academy-to-second-team jump so difficult
The season with no first-team looks, and working back after injury
Keeping friendships and interests outside soccer, without measuring progress against social media

What U.S. Soccer Says Must Change in Youth Soccer

Épisode 39

mercredi 9 septembre 2026 • Durée 48:45

What U.S. Soccer Says Must Change in Youth Soccer

How is U.S. Soccer trying to fix youth soccer? Its chief operating officer says the current system is "not acceptable," families are not appropriately served, and the federation owns improving and clarifying the pathway.

The World Cup filled stadiums and pulled in tens of millions of viewers. Then the run ended against Belgium, and the federation started saying two things at once: the event was a success, and the development system has to change. For a parent in the car on the way to practice, the second sentence is the one that matters.

Dan Helfrich, Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Soccer, describes what he wants a new system to look like: soccer in schools and parks for free, local competition that does not price families out in money or time, development centers where a kid can be seen without a tryout or a check, and a wider talent funnel that stays open past the early-teen years when kids are still growing. He agrees that most young players should be able to find good competition much closer to home, while acknowledging that lower-density communities need different answers. He says U.S. Soccer will not own and operate leagues. These are goals and early design principles, not announced policy.

Dan is also a soccer parent. He asks to return in 9 to 12 months so Liron and Matt can review what has changed and what has not. Parents should hold U.S. Soccer to that check-in.

In this episode:

The "spider web" of governance and why Google Maps cannot navigate the pathway
Soccer in schools and parks as the first step toward affordability
Why an 11-year-old's future does not depend on one national tournament, and where travel can shrink
Why U.S. Soccer does not want to own youth leagues, and what it wants to own instead
Why scouting becomes self-fulfilling and how video and a wider affiliate network could change that
Keeping the talent funnel open through adolescence, when dominant 11-year-olds stop dominating
The cost of a good game, travel as an unforced error, and where new money could come from

The Long Game. How Do You Keep Kids Loving Soccer?

Épisode 38

mercredi 22 juillet 2026 • Durée 23:47

The Long Game. How Do You Keep Kids Loving Soccer?
How do you keep kids loving soccer when the game keeps asking them to carry more?
This final episode of our Summer Best Of series steps back from rankings, pathways, costs, and development models to ask a bigger question. After a year of conversations, what actually matters when the final whistle blows on a child’s youth soccer journey?
Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia revisit some of the voices that shaped the first season, including Dr. Jonathan Jenkins, Don Farr, Tali Sommer, Ryan Farr, Andrew May, Peguy Luyindula, and David Rodriguez. Together they explore listening before solving, protecting enjoyment, giving late developers time, and remembering that the child has to stay more important than the sport.
The Long Game closes the series with optimism. Youth soccer is still worth believing in, but only if we never lose sight of why children started playing in the first place.
In this episode:

• Why listening should come before solving when a child wants to quit
• What parents often forget while chasing development
• Why freedom and enjoyment create better long-term players
• How Ryan Farr’s journey challenges early specialization
• Why growth goals matter more than outcome goals
• Why the child has to remain more important than the sport
• What the best guests from Season One taught us about long-term development
• Why the future of American youth soccer is still worth fighting for

(00:00) - The Long Game
(01:37) - Listen Before You Solve
(05:13) - Why Parents Love Watching
(08:27) - Playing Free
(11:21) - Late Development Is Real
(14:15) - Growth Over Goals
(18:13) - The Child Before The Sport
(20:37) - Why We Still Believe
(21:51) - End of Season Reflections

Click here to view the episode transcript.

What Does Player Development Actually Mean?

Épisode 37

mercredi 15 juillet 2026 • Durée 30:13

Parents hear the word development everywhere in youth soccer. Clubs say it. Coaches say it. Trainers say it. But if training does not transfer to the game, the word can hide more than it explains.

In this Best Of Part 3 episode, Liron and Matt revisit clips from Sean McCafferty, Juan Santamaria, Nil Congost, Christian Gonzalez, Evan Rosenthal, Matt Poland, Dr. Chris Platts, and Jose Campos.

The episode moves from winning and false progress to skill, recognition, specificity, sacrifice, late developers, and the coaching humility required to see the player in front of you.

In this episode:

Why winning all the time can create false progress
Why wanting to win is still part of development
How environment challenges talent
Why technique is not the same as game skill
Why general practice creates general outcomes
How parents get pulled toward training that looks good but may not transfer
Why the simple action under pressure is often elite
Why coaches and parents should be careful when predicting a player’s future

(00:00) - What Is Development?
(01:17) - False Progress
(04:05) - Winning Matters
(05:49) - The Barcelona Fantasy
(08:37) - Technique Is Not Skill
(12:13) - Specific Training
(14:37) - Style Before Substance
(18:10) - The Last 15 Percent
(21:20) - Late Developers
(26:45) - Coaching the Player
(29:15) - What Parents Should Look For

Click here to view the episode transcript.

Is Youth Club Soccer Worth the Cost?

Épisode 36

mercredi 8 juillet 2026 • Durée 27:06

For parents, that question is not only about fees. It is about sacrifice, access, pressure, private training, travel, college hopes, and whether the money is actually helping the player.

In this Best Of episode, Liron and Matt revisit the cost conversation through clips from Peguy Luyindula, Danny Buttita, Evan Rosenthal, Dr. Chris Platz, Justin Phelps, Tom Bowen, Ryan Farr, Phil Gordon, and Alex Rando.

The episode moves past the easy complaint that youth soccer is expensive. It asks a better question: what are parents buying, what are they not buying, and does the spending match the child’s why?

Chasing the Game is a weekly show for parents trying to navigate youth soccer in America: the money, the leagues, the pressure, and what actually develops a player.

(00:00) - The Cost Question
(02:06) - Why Soccer Costs More Here
(05:05) - Pay-to-Play and Access
(08:06) - Scholarships Inside Clubs
(10:20) - Start With Why
(14:38) - When Sacrifice Becomes Pressure
(17:08) - The Scholarship Reality
(18:26) - Academics and the College Path
(20:50) - College or Contract
(23:12) - Ask Better Questions
(25:10) - Never Spend Blindly

Click here to view the episode transcript.

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The Youth Soccer Maze: Finding the Right Path

Épisode 35

mercredi 1 juillet 2026 • Durée 24:59

Summer is here, and so is our first Best Of episode.

But this isn’t a greatest-hits collection.

Instead of replaying our biggest social clips, we went back through 35 episodes and chose the conversations that quietly shaped how we think about youth soccer.

We call this episode The Maze because that’s what the American youth soccer system often feels like. Every decision feels urgent. Every club promises opportunity. Every badge seems important.

Looking back, we realized these conversations were all answering the same question:

How do parents know they’re making the right decision?

Featuring insights from Sean McCafferty, Andrew May, Ditmer de Jong, Filippo Giovannoli, Jose Campos, Tom Bowen, and more, this episode explores club fit, player development, rankings, self-regulation, physical maturity, and why finding the right environment matters more than chasing the biggest badge.

In this episode

* Why fit beats prestige
* Why parent ego quietly shapes decisions
* How self-regulation separates long-term players
* Why rankings only tell part of the story
* How biology fools parents and coaches
* Why challenging yourself is essential for development

(00:00) - The Maze
(02:36) - Badge, Fit, and Timing
(06:17) - The Ego Trap
(10:10) - Self-Regulation
(12:03) - Europe and Environment
(14:37) - Rankings and Identity
(17:24) - The Bigger Pond
(20:52) - Biology Can Fool Us
(23:46) - What We Learned

Click here to view the episode transcript.

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Chasing the Game - Youth Soccer in America – Détails, épisodes et analyse

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