Introduction: The World Cup, a tournament set forth for the top professional soccer teams to compete for the #1 title, is the most watched sports program across the world. With an estimated “3.5 billion viewers” (Wood) researched by Robert Wood, the author of “Top 10 List of the World's Most Popular Sports,” soccer is at the peak of all related competitions. When these tournaments occur, people of numerous different cultures come together to support their country, and with that comes immeasurable emotions. Whether it be passion, excitement, attachment to a team you enjoy watching or a team of your own that you play for, the professional soccer environment creates inspiration for kids to want to play for something much bigger than what they …show more content…
If one were thinking about playing this sport in college, paying a high cost of a little over $3,500 a year for say, 5 years, adds up to the total of or half of one year of education at a university. To continue with that very idea, the DA provides advanced training through higher level coaches which causes far more development than he or she would endure on a local club team and in turn, provides them favorable position for athletic scholarships. The high cost of the DA soon seems small compared to paying full tuition, and other expenses in addition, out of pocket to attend a four year university which would arise if DA costs were over looked and seen as unnecessary to excel as a youth player. To pay a lofty amount for a youth team at ages fourteen through eighteen, is in fact, beneficial to the player if done correctly. The player is eventually exposed to many more substantial opportunities, given the chance to prosper in terms of their athletic ability, and ultimately, is taught what competitiveness truly is and how to compete against prominent youth players …show more content…
The Development Academy is strictly located in the United States and aims to develop kids into players who thoroughly understand the game of soccer and primarily, use that trained talent to raise the standard for all youth soccer worldwide. Raising the standard for youth soccer would directly relate to how Professional National teams turn out in the future. Not so much. In 2017, the U.S. Men's Soccer Team did not qualify for the World Cup that is set to take place this upcoming 2018. While this was devastating for many, according to an article from Fox News, “The United States men’s national soccer team failed to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals for the first time since 1986” (“US Men’s Soccer”). This is the first time the U.S. Men’s team failed to qualify in 3 decades. Over the years, it has shown that U.S. Soccer has decreased in talent when it comes to the most elite of all soccer- The National Teams. This goes to prove that the players selected for the DA and their specific club teams, are not as advanced as other countries. This isn’t due to the lack of attention put towards bettering these teams and individual players, this is due of the lack in variety of financially ranked players and not