Our 'U' teams are better than they have ever been

And, apparently, our really young teams - the kids who are 13-15 - routinely go to Europe and hold their own. A kid from our club who's now part of ODP went over with a bunch of U14s last summer and did very well in England. This is pretty typical now.

One issue that I hear a lot, though, is the comfort level of soccer here in the US. Everybody knows soccer is pay-to-play here and it keeps a lot of kids out, but there's another aspect to it. An American 16-17 year old trying to make an academy team? It's soccer or...college. Not life or death. Probably a degree. In other countries? Soccer or nothing at all. It plays a role. Hell, just look at Ronaldo's story.