Chasing the Game - Youth Soccer in America

Harris Faulkner Gets a World Cup Crash Course
A six-time Emmy-winning Fox News anchor is heading to France vs. Senegal with her daughters and needs soccer rules for parents before the World Cup.

Harris Faulkner knows pressure. Live television. Breaking news. Election nights. But soccer brings a different challenge: stoppage time, offside, VAR, red cards, chanting fans, and two teenage daughters watching every reaction.
So Liro...

Why does a youth soccer player look technical in training, then struggle when the game starts?

That question drives this conversation with Christian Silva, founder of Silva Academy and a former professional player. Christian pushes past the easy labels parents hear all the time: technical, confident, talented, improving. His point is sharper than that. A player can look great in a session, beat cones, win drills, and still not under...

A post can open a door, but it can also distort what families think progress looks like.

In this episode, Liron and Matt talk with David Rodriguez, founder of Footy Access, about one of the most loaded words in youth soccer: exposure.

Parents want their kids seen. Players feel the pressure. Clubs understand the value. Platforms create visibility. But being posted is not the same thing as being developed, recruited, or ready.

David exp...

What does a youth soccer coach do when parents are not watching?

This week on Chasing the Game, Liron is joined by Patrick Ouckama and Phil Gordon, whose coaching path has taken him from D.C. United to Nottingham Forest.

That journey gives Phil a rare view of two very different soccer environments: the American youth system and the English academy world. The conversation keeps returning to something most parents do not always see cle...

Most soccer families are told the same thing: specialize early, chase the biggest league, get seen, and don’t fall behind.

But Don Farr and his son Ryan tell a different story.

Ryan played multiple sports, stayed connected to high school soccer, took a post-grad year at Northwood, and then became a standout freshman at Stony Brook. His path was not clean. It was not obvious. And that is exactly why it matters.

This episode is ab...

Youth soccer keeps changing. Most families are still searching for fixed answers.

In this episode, Filippo Giovagnoli challenges some of the deepest assumptions parents have about development, culture, tactics, pathways, and what actually creates players.

This is not a conversation about nostalgia or romantic ideas about European football. It is about adaptation.

The modern game moves faster. Players have less time. Duels matter more....

Your First Contract Is Not a Career

A pro contract at 18 can look like the finish line. In this episode, Dr. Chris Platts explains why it is often just the start of the hardest stretch.

For soccer parents, the pressure is familiar. The badge. The academy. The scholarship. The contract. Each one can start to feel like proof that the path is working.

But Chris’ research with young players shows a more complicated reality. Families...

Too Much Noise in Youth Soccer:
What Actually Builds Players

There has never been more around youth soccer players. More training. More clubs. More private sessions. More advice.
And somehow, many players are still missing the basics.

In this episode, Brian Chun and Edson Elcock join Liron and Matt to talk about what actually builds players and what just creates noise. They break down why simple training still matters, why repe...

Youth Soccer Development: Why Clarity Matters | Christian Gonzalez

What does a club really mean when it says it develops players?

In this episode, Christian Gonzalez gets specific. We talk about why clarity matters in youth soccer, how vague coaching creates vague outcomes, and why real development lives in details, standards, and consistent correction.

This conversation goes beyond branding and club language. Christian breaks...

What actually shapes a player. Talent, training, mentality, environment, or the people around them?

In this episode of Chasing the Game, we talk with Gotham FC rookie Talia Sommer about the path that shaped her: growing up between New York and Tel Aviv, playing with boys, turning pro in Israel at 14, choosing Butler over Atlético Madrid, and learning how to protect her own voice as the game got more serious.

This is also one of our c...

Barcelona is the dream for a lot of soccer families. But what does that environment actually demand from a player, and what are parents really chasing when they look at Spain?

Liron is joined by Patrick Ouckama and Barcelona-based coach Nil Congost of EOS Football for a parent-first conversation about Catalonia’s football culture, why promotion and relegation changes the standard, why technical training alone can mislead famil...

Parents in youth soccer are often forced to make big decisions with partial information, mixed signals, and a lot of anxiety. Andrew May, whose coaching background includes Chivas USA, LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, Real Monarchs, and LAFC, explains how families can better evaluate clubs, ask sharper questions, and support development without getting lost in badge-chasing, pressure, or noise. This is a practical episode about communica...

What do MLS academies actually look for in a player?

In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia sit down with Jose Campos, Academy Director at Orlando City, for one of the clearest conversations we’ve had yet about how serious academies really think.

Jose explains how Orlando City defines player profile, what “fit” actually means inside a pro academy, why growth mi...

What if the youth soccer pathway is bigger than most families realize?

In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia speak with Matt Poland, Sporting Director and head coach at FC Naples, about where the USL fits into the American player-development system and why it may become a more important part of the pathway for young players.

They discuss building a professional club from the gr...

What actually prepares a young player for the next level?

In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia speak with Tom Bowen, Academy Director at Long Island Soccer Club in MLS NEXT and assistant coach at Hofstra University, about what player development looks like from both the academy and college sides.

They discuss Europe versus America, maturity, locker-room culture, college recrui...

How far should a family go for elite youth soccer?

In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia talk with Justin Phelps about the real cost of pursuing an MLS NEXT academy opportunity and how that decision can affect family life.

They discuss relocation, long commutes, emotional strain, routines, pressure, academy environment, and the difference between a strong badge and a truly deve...

Can a small club create a better development environment than a large one?

In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia speak with Evan Rosenthal, president and director of Manhattan Kickers FC, about one of the most distinctive small-club models in New York City youth soccer.

They discuss selective growth, one team per age group, coach continuity, motivation at young ages, scholarshi...

Why do so many U.S. players struggle when they enter a true football culture?

In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia speak with Dutch coach and academy educator Ditmer de Jong about the invisible cultural gap between U.S. youth soccer and Dutch youth soccer.

They discuss self-regulation, autonomy, question-based coaching, everyday football culture, risk-taking, and why players d...

What if the biggest difference between Dutch and U.S. youth soccer isn’t talent, facilities, or even training volume, but culture.

In this episode of Chasing the Game. Youth Soccer in America, we talk with Ditmer (a Dutch coach and academy educator) about the invisible gap many American parents feel but can’t name. In the Netherlands, he explains, football is everywhere. It’s normal to play at school, after school,...