Whoops! The Silenced Voices of American Soccer Found a Megaphone.

Millions of American soccer players, coaches, and fans have been alienated and pushed to the fringes in favor of benefitting just small segments of our great country. Very small segments.

Entire communities, states, and regions have been deemed irrelevant – while just a handful of American cities (chosen by a committee) are able to enjoy the sport of soccer and all of its benefits to the fullest.

Let’s not beat around the bush. U.S. Soccer’s mentality in the boardroom seems to be that a handful of billionaires are more important than you and I.

Unfortunately for the boardroom, we the people of American soccer – the ones that have been discarded/disregarded/disrespected – the flyover states – the inner cities – the underprivileged and underserved- the fans that were told their team is leaving town  – the league that was told it didn’t meet the standards – the parents who are getting ready to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for another youth soccer season – the players and coaches who have reached the dead end of the American soccer system – well… we the people are getting noisy. And we’re letting everyone know that we’ve had enough.

U.S. Soccer messed up – and the entire the world saw. Failing to reach the World Cup was the last straw, and it put batteries in a megaphone that we’ve been dying to use. But the job is not done, yet. Now it’s time to face the facts.

Plenty of standards and policies and programs have been concocted. Most of which have been put in place to benefit just a small number of people while still excluding the majority of America and entire demographics specifically. How much longer does this charade need to go on before this country realizes that this “unique” system obviously and undeniably failed?

.@EricWynalda on the function of the Development Academy pic.twitter.com/TGMY86RU7y

— J.R. Eskilson (@JREskilson) January 20, 2018

The saddest part is that there are people protecting what failed! There are still people protecting this system that drove us off of the road to the World Cup. There are still people protecting the decision makers that would rather go to court with one league while saving another. There are still people protecting those responsible for not paying our national team players what they’re worth. There are still people defending the idea that committees choosing specific markets for top-flight soccer is better than empowering the entire country with a merit-based system.

It’s 2018, but some people in American soccer are still stuck in the 90’s.

The “old guard” are grasping onto the ’94 World Cup for dear life. They are squeezing every last drop of relevance out of 1996. They are pretending that we’re as far ahead of the pack as we were in 1999.

The world hasn’t been waiting for us to get our act together. Neither have our neighbors in CONCACAF. And the voices that were silenced for so long here inside of our borders have plenty of things to say and every right to say them now.

So, as we inch closer and closer to a monumental moment in American soccer, it’s important to think about what we really need. Because there are some fundamental American ideals that have been missing. Things that our country was founded upon. Things our kids learn about in school. Things we are so proud of as a nation. But they’re missing in US Soccer.

Here is what we need, want, and deserve:

1. We want inclusion, not exclusion.
2. We want the freedom to build, not bullshit restricting standards.
3. We want transparency, not misdirection.
4. We want excellence, not mediocrity.

(Please read Seth Godin’s post about Freedom, fairness, and equality.)

It’s time to say bye-bye, 90’s. Bye-bye, cronies. Bye-bye, corruption. Bye-bye, status quo. Bye-bye, losers.

It’s time to give the game and all of its benefits to every single player, coach, fan, investor, and community in America. It’s time for a new leader. It’s time for a new direction.

It’s time to say hello to the future of US Soccer.