Chasing the Game - Youth Soccer in America

How far should a family go for elite youth soccer? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia talk with Justin Phelps about the real cost of pursuing an MLS NEXT academy opportunity and how that decision can affect family life. They discuss relocation, long commutes, emotional strain, routines, pressure, academy environment, and the difference be...

Can a small club create a better development environment than a large one? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia speak with Evan Rosenthal, president and director of Manhattan Kickers FC, about one of the most distinctive small-club models in New York City youth soccer. They discuss selective growth, one team per age group, coach continuity,...

Why do so many U.S. players struggle when they enter a true football culture? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia speak with Dutch coach and academy educator Ditmer de Jong about the invisible cultural gap between U.S. youth soccer and Dutch youth soccer. They discuss self-regulation, autonomy, question-based coaching, everyday football cu...

What if the biggest difference between Dutch and U.S. youth soccer isn’t talent, facilities, or even training volume, but culture. In this episode of Chasing the Game. Youth Soccer in America, we talk with Ditmer (a Dutch coach and academy educator) about the invisible gap many American parents feel but can’t name. In the Netherlands, he explains, football is everywhere. It’s normal to play at sch...

What happens when the dream path finally opens, and a player is no longer sure they want it? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia talk with Alex Rando about big decisions, discipline, family pressure, goalkeeper mentality, and what it really means to bet on yourself in youth soccer. They explore academy soccer in New York, the pull of MLS N...

What happens when elite youth soccer becomes a constant evaluation cycle? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia are joined by Dr. Jonathan Jenkins and Dr. Kimberly O’Brien, authors of Mentality Wins, to unpack the mental toll of pressure, fear of mistakes, comparison culture, and burnout in elite youth soccer. They discuss confidence, feedba...

What does youth soccer in America miss when the game stops being played and starts becoming a product? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia speak with Peguy Luyindula, former player for Lyon, Marseille, PSG, the France national team, and the New York Red Bulls, about the difference between a football culture built on everyday play and one s...

Why do professional academies sometimes care less about winning than parents expect? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia talk with Sean McCafferty, Academy Director of the New York Red Bulls, about how elite youth development really works inside a pro club. They discuss MLS NEXT, development versus winning, evaluation beyond talent, playin...

After a full run of interviews, what actually became clearer about youth soccer in America? In this season recap of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia break down the major lessons from their first nine interviews across MLS NEXT, club soccer, player development, pay-to-play, and youth sports parenting. They revisit the biggest themes: roster math, communica...

What if the youth soccer system is rewarding the wrong things? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia speak with Morten Gahn, former director of the NYCFC Soccer Academy, about why early success is often mistaken for long-term potential. They discuss winning versus development, structured plans versus feelings, the staircase analogy for playe...

How do young coaches and former players see the gaps in youth soccer differently from everyone else? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia talk with Brando Babini and Billy Pavlou, founders of Youth4Youth FC and Next Level USA, about supplemental training, mentorship, match minutes, and what families often misunderstand about development. Th...

Why does youth soccer in America feel chaotic even when everyone involved cares deeply about development? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia speak with Noah Gins, Founder and CEO of Albion, about structure, culture, recruiting, retention, and what a functioning youth soccer system could look like in the United States. They discuss the lea...

Why do so many youth soccer environments create pressure before players are ready for it? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia talk with Ben Olsen about the realities of pressure in youth soccer in the United States and what parents often misunderstand about development. The conversation covers pay-to-play, soccer IQ, joy versus pressure, M...

What does it mean to coach the person, not just the player? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia speak with Patrick Ouckama, Technical Director at the New England Revolution Academy, about culture, accountability, and player development inside an MLS NEXT environment. They explore Patrick’s coaching path, what has changed in U.S. youth socc...

What does it mean to coach the person, not just the player? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia speak with Patrick Ouckama, Technical Director at the New England Revolution Academy, about culture, accountability, and player development inside an MLS NEXT environment. They explore Patrick’s coaching path, what has changed in U.S. youth socc...

How should parents think about development inside a system as fragmented as American youth soccer? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia continue their conversation with Luis Robles, MLS NEXT Technical Director and former New York Red Bulls captain. This time, the focus shifts from personal journey to the system families are navigating right...

What does better player development actually look like in American youth soccer? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia talk with Luis Robles, MLS NEXT Technical Director and former New York Red Bulls goalkeeper, about his path through the game and how that experience now shapes his view of youth development in the United States. The conversa...

Why does youth soccer in America feel like a maze? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia set the foundation for the show by breaking down the fragmented U.S. youth soccer landscape. They compare MLS NEXT, ECNL, GA, USYS, high school soccer, and other pathways, and explain why so many families feel confused even when they are deeply invested...

Why does youth soccer in America feel so complicated for families? In this trailer for Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, hosts Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia introduce the show and the questions driving it. From MLS NEXT and ECNL to pay-to-play, travel costs, coaching culture, and player development, this podcast is built for parents trying to understand how the U.S. youth soccer system...