Shoeless Soccer: Fixing the System and Winning the World Cup

by Carlo Celli, Nathan Richardson

Soccer was the number one youth participation sport in America. But numbers have declined by nearly 25% in recent years. Over the same period, the US Men's national team has gone from what many considered the verge of a breakthrough to elimination from the 2018 World Cup. If Americans can be the best at anything, then why not soccer?What's gone wrong with American soccer and what can we do to fix it?In memory of Pele's first team, "the Shoeless Ones," this book makes the compelling case that our uniquely American quest for perfect equipment, perfect fields, and perfect competition is exactly what has prevented our American youth from developing the skills, instincts and creativity needed to master the beautiful game. If America is going to take its place as a true soccer nation, we'll need a movement at the grassroots level, even if it means that games aren't played on grass at all.

186 pages, Paperback

Published May 9, 2018

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a refreshing manifesto. It's actually not so much about the US winning the World Cup as it is about everything that's wrong with youth soccer. Having played youth soccer for 9 years, and having coached it now for two years, it explained a lot of the regrets I have from my own time playing, and the discomfort I have coaching. I actually took some advice from the book during our game today and had the first graders I coach play 2vs2 on the sidelines during the quarters they were out. They seemed to have a ton of fun--more when they were playing on the sidelines than on the field--and although they were exhausted during the game, they had a lot more time to actually play and a lot less time just sitting or waiting for a turn to do drills. We would have lost the game anyway (we haven't won one all season), but I felt so much better about the experience the kids had with soccer.

[Asma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read on how to fix American soccer. I’m definitely a fan of the ideas in this book especially since our current system hasn’t been working.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book regarding the broken culture of soccer in America. The current system is broken. This book provides simple ways to fix.