This was written in response to the article regarding the four clubs combining in Iowa:

   This reminds me of the wise person who writing  about education noted that teachers are the biggest creators of inequality in the world  - “Until a teacher arrives in a Village everyone is equal – equally ignorant in a book learning way. Almost instantly, the teacher creates inequality as one young person moves quickly ahead and others for various reasons don’t keep pace”.         

Our young soccer players who are ready to move ahead should be encouraged to do so along with other players who have the same goals and love of the game. The “jack of all trades” who wish to be ok at many different sports should also play with that type of supposed  “all around athlete”? - although I will take a well trained single sport soccer (or any sport)  player as an example of an athlete ahead of a dilettante who flits from sport to sport.         

We know the model for the type of Club and situation(s) that helps create really superior players – on a world model!  We need to copy those models and give our young motivated players who love soccer and the physical part of the game the same opportunities young people have all over Europe and much of the world.           

NorCal Clubs need to take control of the grassroots as far as the most motivated soccer players are concerned. To have them filtered through a system that have neither soccer nor developing soccer players at heart is not a very wise organizational approach. The “youth soccer” monopoly has been broken and we need to begin to act on that fact!         

When Japan modernized in the 19th century, they did not look to themselves for ideas concerning education -they copied the successful French model. When Africa began to modernize, they copied the educational system of the Colonial power in their country.

 When Northern California modernizes their approach to educating the most motivated young soccer players they will know, hopefully,  that they:
 
·       Need to change and modify their approach from the California model
·       Copy models that have already been successful in other countries.
 
 
Thanks, Herb