The 2013 College Cup, the competition that brings the best
two-college soccer teams in America together to fight it out for bragging
rights as the number one team in the nation.
Kyle Craft, Harrison Shipp and Andrew O’Malley, heard of
them? No, and are you going to be seeing them wearing the red and white hoops
under the management of Jurgen Klinsmann any time soon? Probably not, but these
three players have just won the national title for Notre Dame Irish after
beating the Maryland Terrapins 2-1, and therefore should be considered as the
best players in America right now.
The NCAA, national collegiate athletic association, the
future of all athletes in America, hoping to take the next step and become an
elite sportsman. The NCAA is an organization that hopes to prepare athletes for
the next step in sport and life after they leave high school. The strict
organization implement many rules such as playing at least one year in college
before going on to play basketball in the NBA and at least three years before
going on to play in the NFL.
So where does that leave the future of American soccer and
the national team one day winning a World Cup?
Because the expectation amongst many soccer players in
America is to go onto college and get a degree while playing, the standard in
which they are exposed to is not very good. By the time the best players get
done with their soccer careers at the college level they are 22, 23 years old.
By this age most promising young players in Europe and South America have
established themselves in the soccer world and are regulars for top division
club across the world. They have a good two to three years professional
experience under their belt and know what its like to be playing so that you
can afford a mortgage and put food on the table.
Notre Dame Irish lifting the 2013 College Cup
The system in America does not look promising for the future
of soccer. You don’t see players coming through the Major League Soccer system
the same way Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and Steven Gerrard. No, a player might be
with a clubs Academy up to the age of 18, and then they go off to college to
enhance their academic side why putting in a few hours each week in training. This
is not to mention the rules of college soccer, which are their to develop the
promising players into top sports stars.
Granted, that the NCAA say “students” come first, but when
that is the route that athletes have to take before going pro, the set up for
what is meant to be the next best things in terms of soccer talent would be
compared to an under 12 tournament for a group of Sunday league teams.
Roll-on roll-off substitutes and exactly 90 minutes being
played that see each half end with a novelty countdown with 10 seconds left on
the clock and then an obnoxious air horn being blown to signal the full time
whistle. Soccer or a farce to the world’s most played sport?
The standard of referees does not help the game in any shape
or form either. What would be considered in England as a great 50/50 tackle is
often deemed a reckless challenge, and any sort of verbal retaliation whether
directed at the referee or a player on your own team is rewarded with a yellow
card.
The College Cup wasn’t short of its poor refereeing
decisions either. Hilario Grajeda, voted the 2013 MLS referee of the year
saw two handballs inside the penalty area go unpunished. One of which was a
clearance off the line in the 35th minute by a Notre Dame player
that should have seen him sent off. Fate must have been on Notre Dame’s side
though as in the 67th minute there was a second obvious handball
that went unnoticed. Notre Dame then went on to come from a goal down to finish
2-1 winners.
Despite the poor refereeing decisions it seems like the
America culture of wanting to “put on a show” is more important than developing
the players of the future. During the first half of the game Maryland’s head
coach put on headphones to talk to the two commentators while the game was
going on. Can you imagine what people would say if Arsene Wegner put on
headphones to talk to Martyn Tyler during the FA Cup Final?
It seems as if the commentators don’t even know what they
are talking about either when it comes to the beautiful game. Taylor Twellman,
a retired MLS player who had a brief stint with 1860 Munich seems to have all
the credentials when it comes to knowing a thing or two about soccer yet a
comment during the game left me baffled.
“You can’t play a ball into the 18 yard box with a
5ft-8 goal keeper,” Twellman said.
What does that even mean Taylor? A 5ft-8 goalkeeper is that
commanding in the air? The forwards should rely on taking shots from outside
the area?
Taylor Twellman, the next Martyn Tyler?
The lack of knowledge is the most worrying thing in the
future of American soccer, and because of that the standard is affected. I
believe a very average team from a council estate could give any college team a
run for their money.
Maybe it’s just the culture of America that doesn’t help the
development of soccer, as the country is content with three major sports in the
shape of basketball, baseball and national football. Even during the game itself, the biggest spectacle in college
soccer didn’t manage to trend on Twitter.
The one thing that can be taken from the Cup is that at
least Notre Dame aren’t calling themselves “World Champions” like every sports
team that seem to win something in America do.
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