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    To the U.S. Soccer Federation . . . In Anger

    by Paul Gardner, Soccer America
    My congratulations to the United States Soccer Federation. The ignorance, the arrogance, the bias, the total lack of awareness, the smugness, to say nothing of the abysmal failure to do what it is supposed to do, are now revealed as way beyond anything that I believed possible.

    The facts in Mike Woitalla’s article expose what is going on in Chicago. Those facts tell of an anti-Hispanic bias of extreme ugliness, something that everyone who is in any way associated with the Federation must be deeply ashamed of.

    Briefly: last October U.S. Soccer, under its new President Carlos Cordeiro, announced the formation of a Task Force to look into youth soccer. Nine original members were announced; during the months that followed more members were appointed. Today the total number of members is 59. Not one of them, not a single one of them, is a Latino male.

    We could say that this phantom president Cordeiro qualifies in that category. Not for me he doesn’t. Cordeiro might as well be from Borneo for all his attention to the Hispanic issue.
    So how is it possible for this nationwide organization to go searching for experts involved in youth soccer ... and to fail to recruit even one Latino?
    The mere fact that such an outrageous thing can happen simply beggars belief. There is massive involvement of young Hispanics in youth soccer. How could the Federation experts miss that point?

    Miss it they did. Or did they? I do not believe that they “missed” it. I believe that they know about it. Which means that they either are not interested in it, or that they do not believe it to be of any importance, or that they actively oppose it.

    Those are increasingly ugly explanations. After at least a couple of decades of trying to promote the vital importance of the -- growing -- Hispanic contribution to the growth of American soccer, I can only say that what was left of the various illusions I may have entertained along the way have now been brutally stripped away.

    The stats revealed by Woitalla are not only unacceptable, they are utterly disgraceful, a dark stain on the Federation, which is exposed as totally incapable of doing its job. There are no excuses that can be offered that will dilute this blemish, this revelation that we have a Federation that is actively discriminating against American Hispanics, that is deliberately keeping them out of influential appointments.

    These Federation experts must already know what Woitalla mentions: that nearly 40 percent of the boys involved in the various Federation national teams from U-14 to U-20 are Latinos. And how many Hispanic coaches does U.S. Soccer employ? One. The estimable Tab Ramos. When the U-17 job became available recently, it went to an obscure Swiss, with no particularly obvious suitability for the job.
    The Federation could, of course, regret that no American-Hispanic coaches were to be found. That may even be true -- but the reason is clear: because the Federation does nothing to promote them.

    In the face of this damning evidence, not only of incompetence, but of active discrimination, the leaders of this crippled Federation could do all of us, and the sport in the USA, a huge favor by resigning to make way for people who know the ground-level facts of the Hispanic contribution to youth soccer.

    The Federation needn’t bother trying to explain how its experts managed assemble that 60-member Task Force on youth soccer without considering any Hispanics. Something that is just not possible without a hefty dose of bias in the selection process. The absence of Latino coaches in the Federation is further confirmation that an evil spirit of anti-Hispanic discrimination pervades the corridors in Chicago.

    Of course, there has been plenty of guff from the Federation over the years about diversity. The Task Force even includes a “Diversity” sub-group. We know, now, with absolute certainty, that nothing worthwhile can be expected from them.
    During the years that I have been complaining about the sort of bias that Woitalla has now so tellingly exposed, there have been a number of aspects that I have considered but never written about. For instance: should the Hispanic soccer community, so obviously being slighted, break away to form its own Federacion ? But that has always seemed too drastic a step.

    Now, I’m not so sure. The depth of the discrimination that Latinos face is now revealed by this worthless -- worse, biased and therefore damaging -- youth Task Force. Something else I have touched on only briefly before, is the lack of initiative shown by the Hispanic soccer community itself.
    This is a squalid story. Inevitably, plenty of honorable and good people are embroiled in it. But every one of these Task Force members ought to know the truth about the burgeoning importance of young Hispanic players. They are, after all, presumably experts? Every one of them ought to be surveying their colleagues ... and asking themselves “Why are there no Hispanics?” But that is evidently a questioning attitude that doesn’t exist at the Federation.

    Make no mistake. This is a sick Federation. There is no way that it can explain away the discrimination that the composition of the Task Force reveals. This is not a small committee -- this is a nationwide assembly of some 60 youth soccer experts. And it is an absolute disgrace. A slap in the face, a slamming of the door, a blatant exhibition of disrespect toward Hispanic soccer players -- indeed, toward the whole Hispanic community.

    I have been covering soccer throughout the world for over 50 years, paying particular attention to youth soccer. To say I am disappointed with U.S. Soccer’s attitude does not begin to describe my feelings. I am totally disgusted. This imbroglio of the Youth Task Force is so much more than an embarrassment. It is by far the nastiest example of calculated ignorance and arrogance that I have encountered in the sport.

    To the U.S. Soccer Federation ... shame on you!

    #2
    Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
    by Paul Gardner, Soccer America
    My congratulations to the United States Soccer Federation. The ignorance, the arrogance, the bias, the total lack of awareness, the smugness, to say nothing of the abysmal failure to do what it is supposed to do, are now revealed as way beyond anything that I believed possible.

    The facts in Mike Woitalla’s article expose what is going on in Chicago. Those facts tell of an anti-Hispanic bias of extreme ugliness, something that everyone who is in any way associated with the Federation must be deeply ashamed of.

    Briefly: last October U.S. Soccer, under its new President Carlos Cordeiro, announced the formation of a Task Force to look into youth soccer. Nine original members were announced; during the months that followed more members were appointed. Today the total number of members is 59. Not one of them, not a single one of them, is a Latino male.

    We could say that this phantom president Cordeiro qualifies in that category. Not for me he doesn’t. Cordeiro might as well be from Borneo for all his attention to the Hispanic issue.
    So how is it possible for this nationwide organization to go searching for experts involved in youth soccer ... and to fail to recruit even one Latino?
    The mere fact that such an outrageous thing can happen simply beggars belief. There is massive involvement of young Hispanics in youth soccer. How could the Federation experts miss that point?

    Miss it they did. Or did they? I do not believe that they “missed” it. I believe that they know about it. Which means that they either are not interested in it, or that they do not believe it to be of any importance, or that they actively oppose it.

    Those are increasingly ugly explanations. After at least a couple of decades of trying to promote the vital importance of the -- growing -- Hispanic contribution to the growth of American soccer, I can only say that what was left of the various illusions I may have entertained along the way have now been brutally stripped away.

    The stats revealed by Woitalla are not only unacceptable, they are utterly disgraceful, a dark stain on the Federation, which is exposed as totally incapable of doing its job. There are no excuses that can be offered that will dilute this blemish, this revelation that we have a Federation that is actively discriminating against American Hispanics, that is deliberately keeping them out of influential appointments.

    These Federation experts must already know what Woitalla mentions: that nearly 40 percent of the boys involved in the various Federation national teams from U-14 to U-20 are Latinos. And how many Hispanic coaches does U.S. Soccer employ? One. The estimable Tab Ramos. When the U-17 job became available recently, it went to an obscure Swiss, with no particularly obvious suitability for the job.
    The Federation could, of course, regret that no American-Hispanic coaches were to be found. That may even be true -- but the reason is clear: because the Federation does nothing to promote them.

    In the face of this damning evidence, not only of incompetence, but of active discrimination, the leaders of this crippled Federation could do all of us, and the sport in the USA, a huge favor by resigning to make way for people who know the ground-level facts of the Hispanic contribution to youth soccer.

    The Federation needn’t bother trying to explain how its experts managed assemble that 60-member Task Force on youth soccer without considering any Hispanics. Something that is just not possible without a hefty dose of bias in the selection process. The absence of Latino coaches in the Federation is further confirmation that an evil spirit of anti-Hispanic discrimination pervades the corridors in Chicago.

    Of course, there has been plenty of guff from the Federation over the years about diversity. The Task Force even includes a “Diversity” sub-group. We know, now, with absolute certainty, that nothing worthwhile can be expected from them.
    During the years that I have been complaining about the sort of bias that Woitalla has now so tellingly exposed, there have been a number of aspects that I have considered but never written about. For instance: should the Hispanic soccer community, so obviously being slighted, break away to form its own Federacion ? But that has always seemed too drastic a step.

    Now, I’m not so sure. The depth of the discrimination that Latinos face is now revealed by this worthless -- worse, biased and therefore damaging -- youth Task Force. Something else I have touched on only briefly before, is the lack of initiative shown by the Hispanic soccer community itself.
    This is a squalid story. Inevitably, plenty of honorable and good people are embroiled in it. But every one of these Task Force members ought to know the truth about the burgeoning importance of young Hispanic players. They are, after all, presumably experts? Every one of them ought to be surveying their colleagues ... and asking themselves “Why are there no Hispanics?” But that is evidently a questioning attitude that doesn’t exist at the Federation.

    Make no mistake. This is a sick Federation. There is no way that it can explain away the discrimination that the composition of the Task Force reveals. This is not a small committee -- this is a nationwide assembly of some 60 youth soccer experts. And it is an absolute disgrace. A slap in the face, a slamming of the door, a blatant exhibition of disrespect toward Hispanic soccer players -- indeed, toward the whole Hispanic community.

    I have been covering soccer throughout the world for over 50 years, paying particular attention to youth soccer. To say I am disappointed with U.S. Soccer’s attitude does not begin to describe my feelings. I am totally disgusted. This imbroglio of the Youth Task Force is so much more than an embarrassment. It is by far the nastiest example of calculated ignorance and arrogance that I have encountered in the sport.

    To the U.S. Soccer Federation ... shame on you!
    type"This is by far the most thought out well writing post I have ever seen on here. Well done. But the US Soccer Federation on the men's side will continue to be this way because their is a lane to make a sh*t ton of money on educating the uneducated in the soccer field in America. Look at the youth soccer landscape and how many coaches are from overseas and have UEFA licenses or English accents? They are the ones arms deep in this selection process and the ones push what they deem as "the acceptable player type" to the US National Team.

    In all honest these "top coaches" wouldn't have job if it wasn't for that fact that youth academies here are so naive to the actual damages that is being done to the youth player by these coaches by putting these players into a cookie cutter system and not allow freedom of play and self expression on the field. Selecting players base on body type speed etc instead of actual technical ability and problem solving soccer IQ is nonsense. Until the upper management realize that it's more important to be intellectual on the field then running for 90 mins or 120 mins at 1000 miles an hour this will be the same result. Also in every other major sport in the country that represents the country there is diversity and acceptance of minorities aside from Tab Ramos latinos are hardly ever seen on National Teams that represent the US.

    Comment


      #3
      This is a great post that will be littered with dumb remarks about some of our local hispanic coaches and DOC's

      Its a shame that the US fails to promote its young latino(a) players.

      Comment


        #4
        I had no idea. It is pretty crazy, smacks of discrimination and is missing out on many experts and coaches.

        Also, a 60 person task force?! No wonder nothing ever gets done there.

        Comment


          #5
          Don't the colleges recruit a ton of foreign players to play college soccer? My point is that they don't seem to care one way or the other. Not sure how it doing up North but down here in Florida lots of Hispanics are playing soccer.

          I'll confess I didn't read the whole post it was way too long for me this late at night. I do know that different coaches favor different body types. Some just want the tallest kids, some want kids that just dribble, etc...

          I do know if our case when our kid started passing very well it totally went un-noticed. Even though in every practice this is what the coaches stressed and wanted the kids to learn at the end of the day they rewarded the players that simply dribbled and held onto the ball. It was sort of maddening.

          Not sure their is really a racial problem in soccer but their certainly is shortage of really good coaches, a lack of knowledge on HOW BEST to teach kids soccer, and also a lack of ability to identify the players who are truly talented.

          People keep wondering why the UN Men's team has hit a ceiling and struggles to beat anyone. The answer I believe is that the very best players, the kids with the most talent, or being lost in the system. Instead of training everyone only a select few (kids on MLS DA teams) and a few other kids lucky enough to have a great coach are getting coached up on how to play soccer. Most kids, even the ones that are really committed, are not learning how to play all the aspects of soccer.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            Don't the colleges recruit a ton of foreign players to play college soccer? My point is that they don't seem to care one way or the other. Not sure how it doing up North but down here in Florida lots of Hispanics are playing soccer.

            I'll confess I didn't read the whole post it was way too long for me this late at night. I do know that different coaches favor different body types. Some just want the tallest kids, some want kids that just dribble, etc...

            I do know if our case when our kid started passing very well it totally went un-noticed. Even though in every practice this is what the coaches stressed and wanted the kids to learn at the end of the day they rewarded the players that simply dribbled and held onto the ball. It was sort of maddening.

            Not sure their is really a racial problem in soccer but their certainly is shortage of really good coaches, a lack of knowledge on HOW BEST to teach kids soccer, and also a lack of ability to identify the players who are truly talented.

            People keep wondering why the UN Men's team has hit a ceiling and struggles to beat anyone. The answer I believe is that the very best players, the kids with the most talent, or being lost in the system. Instead of training everyone only a select few (kids on MLS DA teams) and a few other kids lucky enough to have a great coach are getting coached up on how to play soccer. Most kids, even the ones that are really committed, are not learning how to play all the aspects of soccer.
            It would have been really helpful if you had read the piece. It's about problems at the top and what appears to be either discrimination (worst case scenario) or abject cluelessness in including more Hispanics in top level coaching and US Soccer decision making. As another said the fact that they have a 60 person panel assessing the state of U.S. soccer is pathetic. The problems are readily apparent to all but US Soccer it seems. If they can't figure out the problems, how are they going to come up with solutions?

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
              type"This is by far the most thought out well writing post I have ever seen on here. Well done. But the US Soccer Federation on the men's side will continue to be this way because their is a lane to make a sh*t ton of money on educating the uneducated in the soccer field in America. Look at the youth soccer landscape and how many coaches are from overseas and have UEFA licenses or English accents? They are the ones arms deep in this selection process and the ones push what they deem as "the acceptable player type" to the US National Team.

              In all honest these "top coaches" wouldn't have job if it wasn't for that fact that youth academies here are so naive to the actual damages that is being done to the youth player by these coaches by putting these players into a cookie cutter system and not allow freedom of play and self expression on the field. Selecting players base on body type speed etc instead of actual technical ability and problem solving soccer IQ is nonsense. Until the upper management realize that it's more important to be intellectual on the field then running for 90 mins or 120 mins at 1000 miles an hour this will be the same result. Also in every other major sport in the country that represents the country there is diversity and acceptance of minorities aside from Tab Ramos latinos are hardly ever seen on National Teams that represent the US.
              Running a 100 miles an hour is a s Florida soccer style not the rest of the country

              Comment

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