Chasing the Game - Youth Soccer in America

Would a Soccer Prep School Fit Your Kid?What is soccer prep school, and could it be a path your family has not considered?After hearing about Ryan Farr's post-grad year, Liron and Matt wanted to understand an option they had barely considered. Jon Moodey, Northwood School's boys' soccer program director, explains how the school and Black Rock FC combine boarding-school life with soccer through the school year. Some players arrive in ninth grade; others, like Ryan, come for a postgraduate year.The same players and coaches move from prep-school competition to club events. Jon describes the daily rhythm of classes, training and college guidance, and why he looks at character as well as soccer ability. The hosts also ask about tuition and need-based aid, the difference between getting seen and getting recruited, and why a Division III fit can be better than chasing a Division I label.Jon says the program offers a platform: coaching, structure and college relationships. He cautions that it cannot guarantee a particular scholarship or placement. For parents weighing a move, the useful test is whether the child wants the school, the daily life and the soccer environment, even if the hoped-for offer never arrives. Chasing the Game is a weekly show for parents navigating youth soccer in America: the money, the leagues, the pressure, and what actually develops a player.In this episode:Why a postgraduate year and a four-year prep-school path are different choicesHow Northwood's school team becomes Black Rock FC after the fall prep seasonWhat living away from home asks of a young player, alongside daily training and schoolWhy Jon sees Ryan Farr's early time on the bench as part of his growthHow showcases put players in front of college coaches without guaranteeing offersWhat need-based aid can change about the family's priceWhy Jon weighs character, while Northwood admissions makes the final decision(00:00) - The Prep School Path (01:33) - What Northwood Is (06:51) - From Northwood to Black Rock (08:52) - Ryan Farr and the Postgrad Year (13:10) - Development Beyond the Field (18:09) - Showcases and College Coaches (20:39) - Division I, Division III, and Fit (24:52) - Tuition and Need-Based Aid (26:21) - What Jon Looks for in Recruits (32:27) - No Guarantees, Only a Platform (38:27) - Admissions and the Campus Visit (41:21) - What the Hosts Took Away View full transcript

Bad First Touch or Bad Read? How Kids Learn to Read the GameYour kid looks sharp in training. Then the game starts, and you wonder if they are learning to read the game at all.Miguelangel Grande Jr., founder of Grande Sports, says the problem often starts before the first touch. Pressure changes the picture. Players have to recognize space, understand what their coach wants, and make decisions while the ball is somewhere else.Liron and Matt ask what parents can actually watch for from the sideline, when fewer minutes at a stronger club may still make sense, and what he tells families who cannot afford private training. Miguelangel also points families toward simple time with the ball and full games on TV.In this episode:Why a strong training session may not translate into a matchWhat a player might be feeling before a poor first touchHow off-ball runs can matter even when the pass never comesWhy a bad pass and a bad decision are different problemsWhen a top academy environment may justify fewer minutesWhen playing more elsewhere may be the better choiceWhat he tells families who cannot afford private trainingWhy free play and full matches help a child learn the gameChasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America is a weekly youth soccer development podcast for parents navigating the U.S. youth soccer pathway. Hosted by Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia.(00:00) - Why Training Looks Different on Game Day (06:11) - Before Calling It a Bad First Touch (11:08) - The Badge or the Minutes? (14:30) - What Full Matches Teach (17:17) - The Runs Parents Miss (20:51) - When to Settle Into a Position (23:03) - Does a Young Player Need Social Media? (24:45) - Learning the Phases of Play (28:54) - When Private Training Costs Too Much (33:02) - What Kids Can Do at Home (35:31) - Discipline and the Path Ahead (41:18) - A Parent’s Takeaway View full transcript

Are We Asking Too Much of Young Goalkeepers?Your young goalkeeper lets in a goal. Before you decide what went wrong, what was it reasonable to expect them to do?Sebastiano Mana, Met Oval's head of goalkeeping, wants young keepers to attempt things they haven't mastered yet. He explains why mistakes belong in training, how he reviews what a child could have done differently, and why some expectations from the sideline don't match the player's stage of development.Liron and Matt ask what this means when parents choose a team. Sebastiano's answer comes with ages: up to U15 or U16, he says, consistent goalkeeper coaching matters more than minutes, and splitting playing time is fine. From U17, when colleges start looking, the minutes matter and it may be time to move. He also talks about size in scouting and the basics he finds some experienced young keepers were never taught.Then he speaks as a dad: his smaller midfielder son playing a year down with a younger birth year, a frustrating college search, and the backup plan his family had before a late opportunity.In this episode:What Sebastiano looks for in a young goalkeeper beyond savesWhy technical details still matter after years of playingHow size influences scouting without telling the whole storyWhy he puts coaching over minutes up to U15 or U16, and minutes first from U17Why he encourages mistakes while teaching better decisionsHow video review separates responsibility from unrealistic expectationsHis family's experience with bio-banding and a late college opportunityWhy his family kept a backup plan during recruitingSR Goalkeeping: the NYC goalkeeper training program Sebastiano runs with Alex Rando. srgoalkeeping.comChasing 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: One Mistake and Everyone Sees It (02:14) - From Turin to Coaching in New York (03:50) - Fundamentals Without Losing the Fun (07:44) - The Commitment He Found in New York (09:56) - What Shows Goalkeeper Potential (12:37) - Size and the Longer Development Path (18:27) - Training Quality or Playing Time (21:15) - Bringing Goalkeeper Coaching Closer to Home (23:07) - Learning Through Mistakes (25:28) - What Can Your Child Reasonably Do (27:56) - A Smaller Player Finds His Pace (31:34) - College Recruiting and a Backup Plan (37:39) - Other Sports and Goalkeeper Development (39:55) - Outro: Before You Blame the Keeper View full transcript

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 gamesHow he describes a school day built around Philadelphia Union trainingHis approach to the car ride home, and why he says parents must know their own kidWhy he treats college and professional soccer as worthwhile pathsWhat he thinks a strong coach alone cannot provideHis concerns about online schooling, and the limited choices some families faceWhy he wants club owners to invest in education alongside soccerWhat the early American Soccer League and its communities mean to the players he teachesMark's book, American Soccer Nation, is out now on Amazon and wherever books are sold: https://a.co/d/0hmHzDRXBonus book content and advice for elite young soccer players live on Mark's book site: https://americansoccernation.com/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

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 clubOverloading vs. underloading, explained with push-ups and learning a second languageWhy a move that works against a cone disappears against a real defenderMatt'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 homeworkWhy parent-organized "free play" keeps turning into another tournamentWhat Ted's son told a newspaper about his dad, and why it stuck with TedWhat Ted says parents should actually do at homeChasing 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) - When Did Your Kid Last Just Play? (01:47) - Ted Built the Machine. Kids Hated It. (04:29) - Are the Best Kids Playing Enough? (07:08) - Overloading vs. Underloading (10:51) - Inside Joy of the People (14:41) - Great in Training, Gone in Games (17:12) - When Training Scripts Every Move (22:39) - Where Does Play Fit in a Packed Week? (25:34) - When Parents Ruined Pickup (28:35) - My Dad Was Never Disappointed (31:41) - Play With Your Kids (35:46) - What We Took Away View full transcript