When asked by Mike Woitalla, of Soccer America’s Youth Soccer Insider, “What would you like to see happen in American youth soccer?”
ANSON DORRANCE: World Cup and Winner of 21 NCAA Division I titles had this to say…
ANSON DORRANCE: World Cup and Winner of 21 NCAA Division I titles had this to say…

We’ve got to focus on honoring the technical coach who transforms the kids with an exciting personality and a thorough understanding of the joy for the game, and technical growth — and make that person our youth coach hero.
Right now, the biggest prestige for a youth coach is to win a championship at a more advanced level, U-14, U-16, U-18 … So that’s where most of our top coaches are going. And it’s a poor investment of resources. We have to figure out how to get our top coaches to coach U-12. To focus on what to do at our U-6 level, to make sure that by the time the players get to the U-14 level, they’re the best in the world because of what they’ve done at U-6 and U-12. Make coaching the youngest players a prestigious position — the coaches who inspire children to love the ball, to love the game, and to play every single day.