Out of the Cup after so much promise. Exposed, completely, as a team not quite ready to play on the world stage. Often a step slow, lethargic, and seemingly less skilled than all of our opponents, the team never seemed to be in a position to win a game. Noted in a news report today was the fact that Team USA had more college degrees than any other side, as if that could make up for our other shortcomings. We are not yet a soccer nation, and may never be as long as the game is played in private schools, on manicured fields, as a secondary sport.
When living in England many years ago, I was one Saturday walking past a community gymnasium where a crowd was gathered. Curious, I walked in; a professional soccer team (I can’t remember who, but it might have Tottenham Hotspurs) was holding tryouts for their developmental team. All of the boys were 13 – 15, and were being put through drills. Their touch, deftness with the ball, and power when making shots on goal were unbelievable. The skills were at least as good as college players in this country, and the boys at that tryout were ready to give up school at say, age 16, and dedicate themselves to developing into top level soccer players. As a comparison, think about our high school football, basketball, and baseball players. Until we get to that point with soccer, we will never develop the skills necessary to compete with the rest of the world.
68 Days til college football.
2 responses so far ↓
Pam // June 23, 2006 at 1:15 pm |
One of my grad students has spent two weeks in Germany watching the games. It’ll be interesting to see what she says when she returns.
Imablog // June 29, 2006 at 6:50 pm |
Charleston Blog Carnival
Dan over at Lowcountry Blogs threw out the idea of doing the blog carnival thing since he’s getting busier and doesn’t have much time left to do the round-ups. So I thought I’d throw out my contribution to the effort….