From the age of six until my freshman year of high school i was into the game of soccer and played for my town along with a local club. One of my many accomplishments during this time was being chosen to try out for the Olympic Development Program. This relates to the reading because i went up against players from the northeast in tryouts for a position on this team.
http://www.usyouthsoccer.org/
Lechner’s article focuses on the Dutch national team and their development of a “Dutch National Style” of football throughout the late 20th century. Lechner bases some of the Dutch resurgence in the late 20th century on the collective memory of earlier Dutch victories. It can be drawn from our discussion about national myths that the Dutch victories of ’74 and ’78 are part of the foundation of Dutch soccer. The Dutch as a team know they are capable of this greatness, therefore blocking one of the first hurdles of attaining a championship, the preconceived notions of a teams limitations. Tying this back to the article of American exceptionalism, I feel that it is this preconceived notion of limitations that is hindering America in adopting the sport of soccer. Continue reading
In his article Buffington reveals the multitude of problems that face soccer in the United States. One of the aspect he touches on briefly is soccer’s ‘newcomer’ status as a sport in America. Buffington argues that America’s sports were already decided and established in the late 19th century. As such soccer did not have the chance to develop and entrench itself as one of America’s key sports. In order for soccer to thrive in America it must compete with these already fiercely beloved sports. Continue reading
My TIFO discusses the possible transfer of a top young American player who could potentially transfer from AS Roma to Toronto FC. This would be absurd 3-4 years ago, now after Clint Dempsey transferred to MLS last year for $36 Million it seems the next step of MLS making money by brining in young and American talent.
This short article and video shows how players were traded between countries between 1900 and 2013. The video shows little to no trading from 1900 to around 1950 where trades begin to increase substantially.
There is a further increase in the 1970s and a massive number of transfers in the past two decades. Throughout the video it is clear the majority of player transfers involve Europe.