University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Penalty! Blowing the whistle on youth soccer in the United States

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Penalty! Blowing the whistle on youth soccer in the United States

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PENALTY!
BLOWING THE WHISTLE ON YOUTH SOCCER IN THE UNITED STATES

by
Tara Camille Chozet

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(PRINT JOURNALISM)

May 2010

Copyright 2010 Tara Camille Chozet

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract iii
Penalty! Blowing the Whistle on Youth Soccer in the United States 1
Bibliography 22

ii

ABSTRACT

As the sport of soccer has become increasingly popular in the United States , it
has become an avenue for some youths to gain college scholarships and to play at the
professional and international levels. Until recently, there had been no direct system in
this country that prepared young players for those ranks. In its absence, a network of
privately-run competitive teams called club teams has become the proxy method for
developing elite players. Club teams have evolved into pricey and exclusive suburban
training grounds that have all but eliminated any chance for children from low-income
and immigrant backgrounds to climb the U.S. Soccer ladder.

iii

FIELDS OF DREAMS

It’s 2 o’clock and the sun is hotter than a frying pan. Men, women and children
gather under the few trees on one side of the soccer field for a respite from the heat as
they cheer on the home team, the Aztecas. The less fortunate visitors have set up their
benches on the tree-less side of the field, the only disadvantage they really had today.
On this September Saturday afternoon in Southern California, the members of the
Aztecas, clad in forest green, race after a bouncing soccer ball as determination, sweat
and unmitigated bliss alternately slide across their young faces.
The Aztecas are a soccer team playing in the American Youth Soccer
Organization (AYSO). Their group is a hodgepodge of 15 boys and two girls, ranging in
ages from 9 to 11, from the housing projects and surrounding areas of Watts, the
neighborhood in Los Angeles famous for the race riots that set the region ablaze in the
1960s.
Every weekend, they and their families gather on the weed-ridden, rocky field of
Markham Middle School in the heart of Watts to play against teams from tonier areas like
Los Feliz and Beverly Hills. Where Watts is crumbling, spray-painted concrete, the latter
neighborhoods abound with lush patches of grass, trees and large house.
The Aztecas are playing their first season, the result of community-minded
individuals associated with another AYSO team who have volunteered time and money
to put together this group. Before the team’s existence, its current members had to play
on teams in Norwalk (11 miles away) and South Gate (three-and-a-half miles away).
1

Getting to and from practices and games was not an easy task for many of the
kids, some of whom come from one-parent, multiple sibling homes or homes in which
their parents work several jobs.
"It's hard,” says Katia Jimenez, whose son, Brian Medina, plays on the team.
“Because some of the parents don't have cars, some of them take the bus and some of
them walk to bring the kids to the game.”
She says that because the Aztecas play primarily at Markham, more of the players
have been able to make it to practices and to games. It has also helped eliminate
complicated carpooling efforts: Jimenez and the team’s coach, Richard Evans, sometimes
had to pack the kids into their cars to ensure they would make it to the game. Even now
that the Aztecas get to play in their neighborhood, Evans must still give rides to a few of
his players between practices and games.
Adding to their daily challenges is that the Aztecas are overmatched in just about
every one of their games. Because of the economics of starting a soccer team, Watts does
not have any teams affiliated with AYSO. Teams from other areas, understanding the
difficulties the Aztecas have in traveling far from their own neighborhood, come each
weekend to play them on their home field at Markham – the first time those teams have
agreed to always be the visitors for another team. This has resulted in the Aztecas having
to play teams of boys 12 and 13 years old, many of whom have hit their growth spurts
and are much faster than the team from Watts.
“Hasta tienen bigotes,” an Azteca father mutters in astonishment to another parent

2

as they watch the other team run by, hulks compared to their children: “They even have
mustaches.”
But on this day, size and speed do not matter to the Aztecas. They sprint to every
ball, get up from each fall and congratulate each other even after they lose 4-1. The
Aztecas, playing against larger and faster opponents, have mustered one win in five
games, with another five yet to play.
Despite the loss, the Aztecas played well together. Evans made sure to maintain a
high level of enthusiasm and praises each of his players as they walk off the field. He
also kept careful tabs on each child’s playing time, as part of AYSO’s mission is
“Everyone plays.”
For the Aztecas, many of whom had never before touched a soccer ball, the
presence of the team has helped them to think beyond the prison-like fenced-in field of
Markham. “I really want to play soccer when I grow up,” says 12-year-old Azteca goalie
Brian Medina.
His dreams aren’t much different from those of many other young soccer players
in this country. With the increase in popularity of Major League Soccer, the United
States’ 14-year-old professional soccer league, and opportunities for a college
scholarship, there are real incentives for American children to play soccer more than
recreationally.
What Medina and many of the Aztecas are not aware of is that developmentally,
they are already well behind many of their counterparts in the suburbs, where families

3

often spend thousands of dollars in soccer-related expenses for their kids with the hope
that it will later pay off with a full ride to college or a professional paycheck.
Unfortunately for most of the Aztecas, the odds against them of someday playing
soccer at an elite level are steep. They are victims of a system that makes it nearly
impossible for children whose background falls into one or more of the following
categories: low-income, minorities, some immigrants, inner city. These factors all but
ensure children like the Aztecas will not have opportunities for college scholarships or to
make a living as professionals.
THE JIGSAW PUZZLE
Come June of this year, millions around the world will have their eyes on South
Africa, the site of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Talented athletes who have spent their
lives playing soccer will represent their countries, vying for an opportunity to raise the
coveted golden cup.
Soccer has been called the World’s Game and the Beautiful Game. It’s a sport
that has transcended race, sex and geography. It’s arguably the simplest game in the
world – all you need is a ball.
But in this country, it is also one of the more expensive youth sports,
overwhelmingly played in the suburbs of America, especially when compared with
football and basketball.
More than 3.2 million youths play soccer in this country under the U.S. Youth
Soccer umbrella, according to that organization. Another 650,000 children play in
AYSO. Untold more numbers play in unaffiliated city, high school and ethnic leagues.
4

In the United States, soccer is governed by the United States Soccer Federation
(USSF). From that organization, are splintered the various men’s and women’s
professional leagues, recreational adult leagues and youth leagues. It seems simple
enough, but the setup of the USSF at the youth level is difficult to navigate, especially for
those whose first language is not English or those who have had little to no exposure to
the ins and outs of soccer in the United States.
Youth soccer is divided into four groups: U.S. Youth Soccer, the American
Youth Soccer Organization, SAY USA Soccer and U.S. Club Soccer. Each organization
has its own goals, governing boards and its own leagues.
U.S. Youth Soccer is one of the largest, and oldest, youth soccer organizations in
the country. The teams in U.S. Youth Soccer run from recreational to elite levels. Its
goal is to “provide a fun, safe and healthy game for ALL KIDS,” according to its Web
site. It is this organization that runs the Olympic Development Program (ODP), which is
intended to provide a pipeline for players to the National Teams by identifying and
developing elite players.
SAY USA Soccer is an organization that provides services to its members like
coaching and referee training, insurance and legal support. It also runs recreational youth
leagues and specializes in giving personal attention to its members – officials and players
alike.
AYSO is committed to ensuring that each of its members have a chance to play.
The organization has six main goals, or “philosophies,” which are intended to make the
game accessible to players of all backgrounds and abilities: Everyone Plays, Balanced
5

Teams, Open Registration, Positive Coaching, Good Sportsmanship and Player
Development. Because of its dedication to balanced teams and giving equal playing time
to each child, AYSO leagues tend to be more recreational than competitive. AYSO is
generally not seen as a route to a scholarship or the pros.
U.S. Club Soccer exists to support club soccer teams - a general term for
exclusive, competitive teams – in their efforts to develop elite players. U.S. Club Soccer
also has a program called id2 that is focused on identifying top players for “possible
inclusion in U.S. Soccer’s National Team programs,” according to its Web site.
It’s apparent that youth soccer in the United States is not streamlined, and it does
not appear that the USSF is attempting to simplify its youth system. The USSF, and its
subsidiaries, did not respond to repeated request for comments for this story.
In theory, a child playing in U.S. Youth Soccer’s Olympic Development Program
is being prepared to play at the international level. But a player who wishes to try-out at
one of U.S. Club Soccer’s id2 camps might be able to make it onto one of the youth
National Teams. The answer to the question, “How does a player make it to the top level
of the game?” is not easily answered, particularly for parents and children who haven’t
learned to navigate the many twists and turns.
When asked to name the league the Aztecas play in, only a handful of the parents
knew that the team was affiliated with AYSO. When some of the families mentioned
other teams their kids had played on, they couldn’t give the league affiliation. Though
some of the parents said it would be a dream to see their children playing professionally,
they didn’t know how those aspirations would be realized.
6

The picture isn’t any clearer for some that have followed and studied the sport for
years.
“It’s just really fragmented,” says David Keyes, a PhD candidate in anthropology
at the University of California San Diego, who has studied the historical and cultural
aspects of the sport. “I just think there’s soccer all over the place. It hasn’t come
together in one whole [system],” he says.

PLEXIGLASS CEILING

The complexity of the youth soccer system in this country isn’t the only factor
hindering some children from climbing the United States soccer ladder. Other aspects
like a familiarity with the sport, steep financial burdens placed on families by youth and
requirements to provide birth certificates or other identifying documents make it so that
many youth soccer players that wish to make it to the elite ranks will not.
Whereas in the major sports like football and basketball, if one excels at the high
school level, the chances of getting a college scholarship or a direct jump to the
professional leagues is are more likely. In soccer, it is actually deemed to be detrimental
to a player’s future to play at the high school level, where coaches are often full-time
teachers coaching part-time and the level of play has been watered down because of some
elite teams barring players from competing for their high schools
Most in the soccer world agree that while it is an excellent way to introduce the
game to young players, AYSO is also not helpful in making it to the highest levels of
7

soccer because of its lack of trained personnel. If a player truly wants to make it to the
next level, he or she must play club soccer.
Part of the adherence to the club system is due to the nature of soccer, where
statistics and other information that might make it easy for colleges and professional
teams to scout players from afar are not as prevalent as they are in sports like football,
basketball and especially baseball. A stellar player on one side of the United States might
not come to the attention of a scout on the other side of the country because there aren’t
any methods for tracking talent outside of goal scoring. Club teams ensure that the best
players are playing on teams, and because they travel to tournaments, scouts can see
many players at once.
Another reason for the popularity of club soccer is the need to play throughout the
year. Club soccer partly formed out of the perceived necessity to keep children playing
in the off-season of high school soccer, which usually runs in the spring and summer
months.
But club soccer is not easily accessible to all.
Club soccer teams are known by some in the sport as “pay to play” teams,
because they generally charge fees to join, are selective and often travel to tournaments
around the country. These teams can set a family back anywhere from around $500 per
season, per child, to as much as $5,000 per season in some cases.
For teams like the Aztecas, whose members families were unable to even pay the
nominal $70 AYSO fee (which varies from team to team), these costs would seem
astronomical.
8

Club fees vary depending on how much traveling a particular team does and the
expertise of the coaching staff. Some teams go as far as to hire professional coaches
from Europe and trainers for teams that can be as young as the Under-9 age bracket (ages
7, 8 and 9 years old).
Bernadette Arizmendi, who coaches the Cyclones, an Under-12 AYSO team in
Cypress, Calif., says she and her daughter are considering making a move to club soccer.
But she is also thinking about her budget. Whereas in AYSO most personnel that are
involved with the organization are volunteers, club soccer has privatized those positions.
“It’s a complete cash cow as far as the coaches, the professional coach that’s
getting paid, the referees get paid,” she says. “Everybody’s paid in [club soccer].”
Then there are the hidden costs to having your child on a traveling club.
“The [players’] families are constantly having to travel [with them],” says
Arizmendi, who has coached her daughter Desiree and the Cyclones for two years.
“[They] stay in hotels rooms, and they’re going out to eat,” she says. “It’s just
unthinkable for some people.”
Some clubs charge for uniforms, which can include home, away and warm-up
sets. Add to that the costs of cleats and shin guards and families could end up spending
over $100 for the outfits.
The expenses are necessary, insist those involved with club soccer, in order to
provide the highest quality coaches and environment for a player to succeed. Professional
coaches are especially needed to be objective assessors of individual talent, says Dan

9

Webb, who has coached in AYSO and is now the coach of a club team for high school-
aged girls in Cypress, Calif.
“You have to break a lot of hearts at the club level because you’ve got to have
[player] cuts,” he says. “Sadly, it’s about winning. When you’re paying that much
money, you don’t pay to lose,” says Webb.
That money, says Webb, can
Webb is an anomaly on the club soccer scene, which prides itself on searching for
the most experienced and decorated coaches available. He did not play soccer while
growing up and he took up coaching to direct his daughter’s AYSO team in 2000. In
club soccer, he says, it’s all about a coach’s resume.
“Unfortunately,” Webb says, “a lot of it is hype with the parents that want their
kid to have to best. They’ve said it to my face: ‘Well, I won’t let my daughter play for
you because you’re not a professional coach.’”
But ultimately, despite the added cost, Webb says it’s the best option for clubs.
David Forlow, who served on the board of his son’s club soccer team in Chicago
two years ago, insists that any child who wishes to play soccer need only apply. For
families who can’t afford to pay the fees associated with club soccer, Forlow says there
are also scholarships available.
“We had a pretty simple financial aid forms,” he says. “If you fell below certain
levels, the club paid the difference [between expected family contribution and total club
fees].”
Forlow says the number of scholarships available depended on the team’s budget
10

in a given season. He also says the team often held fundraisers to fund the scholarships
and cites examples of parents on his son’s teams having chipped in to pay for meals or
travel.
While this may be the case for some club teams, Irv Smalls, the Executive
Director for the non-profit, elite youth soccer organization in Harlem, believes Forlow’s
experience to be the exception, rather than the norm.
“[The clubs] know how many kids they will scholarship,” says Smalls. “And I’m
not even trying to make it a racial or community-based thing. It’s just based from a
money standpoint.”
Webb supports Forlow’s assertion, but admits to having a limited number of
scholarships (two) for his team.
But it’s not just club soccer that charges to play. Even organizations like AYSO
charge for kids to play, albeit on a much lower scale, which are still out of the question
for some families. The Aztecas were lucky to have their league fees of $70 per player
subsidized by an anonymous philanthropist from Beverly Hills.
Arizmendi is working with AYSO to address the problem through a scholarship
for children whose families can’t afford extravagances like sports fees. Her desire to help
came from an experience last year when her team, the Cypress Cyclones, helped a team
from Huntington Park, Calif, a low-income suburb of Los Angeles, pay for a chance to
travel to the AYSO state tournament.
“At the end of our game,” says Arizmendi, “all the [Huntington Park] girls were

11

running off crying.” “We were like, ‘What’s wrong? You guys just won, you guys did
an awesome job,’” she says.
The girls from Huntington Park knew from the moment the final whistle blew that
they would not be going to the state championships in Davis, Calif. Their families
couldn’t afford the trip. The league offered Arizmendi’s team an opportunity to take
their place, but she felt it would be unfair. Instead, Arizmendi’s team raised money and
petitioned local businesses to help fund the Huntington Park team’s journey to the state
tournament. The team, sponsored by Los Angeles radio personality Ryan Seacrest, went
on to take second-place. Arizmendi says this experience shows the great economic
divide within youth soccer.
“Our girls come from a completely different lifestyle than them,” says Arizmendi.
“Their families work two or three jobs, and money is tight. Our girls really don’t have to
worry too much about that.”
Forlow says the players he has come into contact with don’t play in the club
soccer system moreso because of difficulties at home rather than financial hardship.
“In the Chicago area,” he says, “very, very few economically disadvantaged kids
are not playing soccer because of expense or cost. It’s other things.”
Forlow says gangs, the need to take care of siblings at home or a need to work are
all factors that would hinder a young player’s success. It is these social aspects that that
Irv Smalls, the Executive Director of Harlem Youth Soccer and its club team FC Harlem,
works to develop his participants in life as well as in soccer. Smalls says that the issues

12

at home need to be taken care of before players who come from economically or socially
disadvantaged backgrounds can develop as players.
“There’s a social component that you need to almost…be a social worker to work
with the potential soccer player in the inner city,” says Smalls. “And that’s not the job of
the US Soccer Federation. I’m not even being critical of them... That’s not their job.
Their job is, ‘we’re supposed to create elite soccer players.’”
If the USSF or individual clubs wanted to address its players’ needs outside of
soccer, are they capable of doing so?
“I’m not sure they know how to do it,” says Smalls, “and if they really want to be
in the business of being social workers at the same time.”
Smalls believes programs like the one he runs in Harlem are needed to introduce
the game to youths who are more familiar with urbanized sports like basketball, and to
help them deal with their personal issues. The organization, Harlem Youth Soccer, runs
soccer teams under the name FC Harlem, with the goal of personal and player
development.
“With FC Harlem,” says Smalls, who acts as Harlem Youth Soccer’s Executive
Director, “what I’m looking at is first and foremost, using soccer as the hook to bring
them in. It’s less about soccer development and more about youth development,” he
says. “When you’re going with a group where soccer is a non-traditional sport, they need
to have fun first.”
Smalls had the unique experience of growing up in both the suburbs and the inner
city in Hershey, Pa., and Harrisburg, Pa. respectively. This dichotomy, he says, has
13

allowed him to understand children from both sectors. He says the most important thing
to recognize about the inner city is that many of the children there have not been exposed
to the sport.
“I was joking with [MLS] Commissioner [Don] Garber one day,” says Smalls. “I
said, ‘Hey if you put a blue blazer on me and put the MLS logo on the lapel and put me in
a white shirt and some khakis, and I go and stand on 125
th
Street in Harlem and say,
‘Hey, starting today, I’m going to start growing soccer in the inner city.’ People will
keep on walking by, saying ‘Good luck, we play basketball.”
He believes that if it were only given a chance, soccer could very well thrive in an
urban landscape.
“What people need in our community are programs,” says Smalls. “They don’t
care if it’s badminton, soccer, lacrosse, they want opportunities. But what I’ve learned is
that providing a sport is the way to give that community a hook to teach them and
educate them in other areas. And honestly I think that’s what a lot of these sports,
especially soccer, don’t get.”

LOST IN TRANSLATION

Yet another group of youths who may have difficulties making it to the top levels
of U.S. soccer are those who are immigrants or from families who are recent immigrants.
Soccer is a sport that is especially popular in Latin American and African immigrant

14

communities. For many of these players, soccer is ingrained in their culture. In almost
every part of the world, it is not uncommon to see children playing soccer on the streets,
on the beaches, in parking lots, in alleyways or wherever there might be an open space.
But it is very different in the United States.
“A lot of players, they come here, they’re excited to be here in the United States,”
says Smalls. “They go to play, and when they want to join soccer, they can’t because of
all of the rules and regulations. It’s like, “Huh?” Even if you want to go out onto the
field and kick it around, they don’t have a permit.”
Adding to these players frustrations are barriers to registering for traditional
soccer clubs. Smalls says the difficulties they encounter may be intentional.
“I think sometimes there are parts of soccer that are trying to make it tough for
immigrant kids to play,” says Smalls. “That’s not happening accidentally.”
Smalls relates an experience he had recently with a local league:
“Last year, the registration process was submit a birth certificate and a picture, as
long as it was legible. This year, if you submit a birth certificate, it has to be from an
approved country, United States or Canada, or any other foreign country, but it has to be
translated in English and stamped and certified by an official notary. For the American
kids, that’s nothing. That’s easy. There’s nothing to that process. Who is that for?”
Forlow also believes more clubs are looking into their players’ immigration
statuses.
“[The Olympic Development Program] here in Illinois added an extra hurdle,” he

15

says. “They ask kids privately, ‘Do you have proof of citizenship or proof that you’re
here legally?’”
Forlow says that the clubs’ interest in legal status is more a product of necessity
than inspired by ulterior motive. One of the primary ways club teams remain competitive
is by going outside their regions to play teams from other areas, sometimes even by
traveling internationally. In this post-9/11 world, it can be difficult to travel even through
the southwestern United States without proof of legal status because of immigration
checkpoints. Forlow thinks this automatically makes some players ineligible.
“In many cases,” he says, “that will hurt the kids because the club will say, we’re
not trying to develop kids to send them to college, we’re trying to develop kids to
produce one pro player per year to pay for this whole system. And they look at that and
say, we can’t sign an undocumented kid, even if we wanted to.”
Even if there is a club willing to overlook a players’ immigration status as it
relates to traveling, if that player needs financial aid to pay for the clubs’ fees, that may
incur yet another obstacle. Forlow gives an example of a friend of his who is in the
country illegally and gets paid in cash.
“Say you want to go to a club and fill out paperwork for a scholarship,” Forlow
says. “They’ll say, ‘show us your tax return and we’ll help you with aid.’ Well, what do
you say? I can show you a tax return with a fake social security card number on it?”
Scott French has been covering soccer at all levels for over 20 years for
publications like Soccer America magazine and ESPN Los Angeles. French says that

16

given the nature of the current youth soccer, it’s unsurprising that there are players that
clubs and the USSF have overlooked.
“There are still a lot of kids who are not in the system,” he says, “but will play in
Latin leagues or will play for their high school team. High school sports will be covered
by mainstream media and the top clubs will be covered by the soccer media. But a lot of
these leagues that cater to the Latin player don’t get covered by anybody, so it’s almost
like they’re invisible to mainstream American soccer.”

SUBURBAN BLISS

Just how did soccer become the sport of the suburban upper-middle class? Keyes
believes the roots of the phenomenon took hold in the 1960s and 1970s, when soccer had
a surge in popularity in the United States, thanks in large part to presence of Brazilian
superstar Pele playing in the now-defunct North American Soccer League.
At that same time, many were leaving the cities to move to the open spaces of the
suburbs. From 1910 to 2000, the United States experience a growth in metropolitan
population each decade, with most of that increase taking place in the suburbs rather than
the cities, according to November 2002 “Demographic Trends in the 20
th
Centry” report
conducted by the United States Census Bureau. As of 2000, more than half of the total
United States population resides in the suburbs, according to that same report.
It was in this landscape that soccer was seen as the perfect diversion for children.
“It was [suburban] parents looking for an alternative to other sports,” Keyes says. “They
17

saw [soccer] as a friendlier game. Not as violent as American football, more athletic than
baseball. That’s where it started, so it was those types of people who got involved with
the U.S. federation, and that kind of thing. And it’s just kind of continued to be that
way,” he says.
Additionally, unlike in other parts of the world where soccer is played on just
about any flat surface, in the United States, the view has often been that grass and a
regulation size field is what is needed in order to play soccer.
“The way that it’s marketed in this country leads you to believe that the only
place that it can be played is in suburban communities with open-wide fields,” says
Smalls.
This assumption, believes Smalls, has negatively affected soccer’s exposure in the
inner city. His view takes the mantra from the Kevin Costner film, “Field of Dreams”: If
you build it, they will come.
Smalls relates an example from earlier this year when Harlem Youth Soccer built
a mini field in central Harlem, adjacent to an indoor basketball court. As the workers put
the finishing touches on murals and lights on the field, curious teens began to trickle out
from the gymnasium to watch the process.
“They were like, ‘Wow, that place is on fire! That place is hot,’” says Smalls.
“They don’t know the sport,” he continues. “If we never built this field here and it
remained an open concrete space with the kids running around, if we tried to build a full-
size field on it, they’d never step foot on it.”
Space and economics are again issues when it comes to bringing soccer to urban
18

areas that exist in colder climates. In the suburbs, teams simply practice and play at
indoor soccer arenas to continue training in the winter months. This brings yet another
conundrum to the practicality of soccer in the city.
“We have issues here in the Midwest that you won’t in California,” says Forlow.
“We have months and months on end where there’s snow on the ground and we can’t
practice outdoors. That’s another expense that would change the cost formula. It’s far
cheaper to run a club in southern California than it is in Chicago. A big indoor facility
here the size of a full soccer field will charge as much as $500 an hour to use it.”
Smalls believes that despite the obstacles, soccer and an urban environment can
still co-exist, provided the soccer powers that be are dedicated to putting in the effort. He
says the USSF has tasked its charitable arm, the United States Soccer Foundation, with
the job of finding a way to do so.
“They’re taking on that challenge,” says Smalls. “I think the past president and
even the new president, who I know very well, I think they’ve all understood and
recognized that we need to make a serious push towards getting kids in the inner-city
playing. I still believe though, that it has to come from the soccer machine.”

A NEW HOPE

So can a player who doesn’t go through the traditional methods still make it to the
elite levels of college, professional and international soccer? Smalls believes there might
be some politics that come into play when it comes to moving up in the ranks.
19

“I’ve been through specific examples of players that were very, very talented that
did not go through the system,” he says. “But at the end of the day because, I believe,
[those players] did not go through the system, [USSF coaches] moved along past them.
He says he is seeing more of an effort on the part of club teams and the USSF to
go into immigrant communities, especially Latino neighborhoods to find diamonds in the
rough.
“I think that’s it’s really a long process,” French says, “and I think it’s a lot to
learn. They have a lot of work to do in getting primarily Latino kids, those communities
to trust them and convince them of what they’re doing. I know there are clubs that are
working hard to bring in more Latin talent.”
French says that soccer in the United States is still a relatively young sport, so it’s
understandable that the USSF will fail before it can succeed in bringing new and
undiscovered talent into its ranks.
“I think we’re certainly making strides,” he says. “I just don’t know that we’re
making the strides that are needed. I don’t necessarily put that at the fault of anybody
except for the time that it’s going to take. It’s not something that can happen instantly.”
The Aztecas sit in the shade after their game, conversing jovially as they snack on
orange slices. They could be any other youth soccer team in the United States. But then,
reality crashes down as police sirens blare a few blocks away and some of them head
back to the housing projects they call home.
If there are future superstars among their ranks, they may never be discovered.
They may be yet another of the lost generation of soccer players. The youth soccer
20

system in the United States may be in need of an overhaul, but signs point to a change.
Coupled with more social programs that cater to players with backgrounds similar to the
Aztecas’, there is reason to hope. As the Aztecas look forward to their game next week,
perhaps their younger siblings and other players who follow can look forward to a future.

21

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arizmendi, Bernadette. Phone Interview. March 16, 2010.
Jimenez, Katia. Personal Interview. October 9, 2009
Chang, Joe. Phone Interview. March 12, 2010.
Dure, Beau. Phone Interview. March 11, 2010.
Evans, Richard. Personal Interview. October 10, 2009
French, Scott. Phone Interview. March 14, 2010.
Forlow, David. Phone Interview. March 8, 2010.
Keyes, David. Phone Interview. March 20, 2010.
Lewis, Michael. Phone Interview. March 9, 2010.
Smalls, Irv. Phone Interview. March 11, 2010.
Webb, Dan. Phone Interview. March 18, 2010.
Whittelsey, Brent. Personal Interview. September 26, 2009.

22

Abstract (if available)

Abstract As the sport of soccer has become increasingly popular in the United States, it has become an avenue for some youths to gain college scholarships and to play at the professional and international levels. Until recently, there had been no direct system in this country that prepared young players for those ranks. In its absence, a network of privately-run competitive teams called club teams has become the proxy method for developing elite players. Club teams have evolved into pricey and exclusive suburban training grounds that have all but eliminated any chance for children from low-income and immigrant backgrounds to climb the U.S. Soccer ladder.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Chozet, Tara Camille (author)

Core Title Penalty! Blowing the whistle on youth soccer in the United States

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Journalism (Print Journalism)

Publication Date 05/10/2010

Defense Date 04/01/2010

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,Soccer,Sports,youth sports

Place Name USA (countries)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Celis, William, III (committee chair), Callaghan, John L. (committee member), Gutierrez, Felix Frank (committee member)

Creator Email tara_c_chozet@yahoo.com,tarachozet@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m3070

Unique identifier UC1281655

Identifier etd-Chozet-3686 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-330626 (legacy record id),usctheses-m3070 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-Chozet-3686.pdf

Dmrecord 330626

Document Type Thesis

Rights Chozet, Tara Camille

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Repository Name Libraries, University of Southern California

Repository Location Los Angeles, California

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu