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Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America is a weekly podcast for soccer parents, coaches, and players who want to understand how youth soccer development really works in the United States.
Hosted by two dads, filmmaker Liron Unreich and investor Matt Tartaglia, the show covers everything from grassroots soccer to elite pathways like MLS NEXT and ECNL. Combining data, real experience, and expert insights from academy directors, college coaches, and former pros, each episode explains what families truly need to know.
Weekly episodes focus on the core aspects of youth soccer: player development, coaching culture, college recruiting, tryouts, travel costs, and the challenges of parenting in youth sports in today’s competitive environment.
For families navigating youth soccer’s complex system, Chasing the Game offers practical advice, credible voices, and relatable stories from two dads working to make sense of American player development, one episode at a time.
Boom.
You think the system is broken.
You say it on the field, you say it in the group chat, you say
it on the drive home.
Then Monday comes, nothing changes.
So today, we brought on someone who's not waiting for permission.
He's trying to build a new lane because this is America.
I don't know if you noticed that math.
I do.
Yeah, if you see a gap, you're supposed to build a bridge.
If you think the market is misaligned, you don't just complain.
You design a better model
And youth sports, families pay more and more each year.
The stress rises, and the kids, some will argue,
probably get less.
This is chasing the game Youth Soccer in America.
Our guest today is Danny Buttitta
He came up through the game from the grassroots level and has spent
much of his professional life in business and the business of soccer.
He's not talking about this like a coach protecting a roster.
He's talking about this like an operator looking at a broken workflow.
Danny's thesis is simple
The U.S. doesn't have a talent shortage.
It has an access and alignment problem.
His idea is to build a sponsor supported
layer that connects players, facilities, coaches,
and development pathways, so more kids can can be seen, supported
and developed.
This is a very different kind of conversation.
It's not just critique, it's a build
conversation.
And we thought it mattered enough to bring it to the table.
like you, are very much still trying to get our heads
around the plausibility of this, how it
could actually work, or how it may not, but
it's definitely worth the conversation.
Let's give it a shot
Liron: Danny, welcome
to, uh, chasing the Game.
we're excited this time, quite
intrigued to, talk to you and hear
your ideas about helping improve
soccer development in the us.
But, before we get into that,
I just, I'm sorry, I'm re
I'm, I'm thinking about this.
I'm like, the system is so broken.
It's just, I don't even know
where, I don't even know
where to start on this one.
you know, so, Matt, we
have a disruptor here.
so, all right.
So, I gotta get serious.
What, just as we kind of delve in before
I, I pull Matt into this conversation.
You, you said you wanted to fix
what's broken, what is in your eyes?
Broken?
Danny: Yeah, I think, I think a lot
of it we've heard time and time again,
especially on a lot of your guys'
episode, the whole pay to play conundrum.
we gotta find a way to
allow all kids to play.
Not only because it's the
right
thing to do, but
because the talent
coming from these kids.
I was in the Phoenix, Scottsdale
area, so there were a lot of kids
that couldn't afford.
And when I saw
the talent that they had, and
you know, they were always
excited to have these
opportunities.
Unlike you see now sometimes with
the older kids in this game or.
They take it for granted that they can
play and start, started to design.
Um, I, I hope will be a
new environment for us all
by making this
more of a, uh, coast
centric type of thing.
Utilizing sponsors that I've
built over the years and business.
Not all of 'em are soccer, but they do
have naming rights, investments that they
do along with players,
coaches, guys I
played with and bringing everybody
together to try to figure out how we can
not finish with pay to play.
That's always gonna be there and
it's actually a good thing, So I
think structurally there's a way to
do this, allowing everything else
to happen, but also bringing in
a sponsor coherent type of thing.
Literally a
sponsor will match up
with certain players.
So if I grab a lot of my business
from, let's say travel, I can
put them together with kids that
may look good for
them to support.
Because they have travel
needs with their family.
meanwhile they're
gonna get named recognition
as a possible co-founder.
But sponsors is a
straightforward way to do it.
We've got everything in place.
So the foundation, the structures
being built right now, sponsors,
players, coaches are getting contacted
mostly out here in the Western region,
only because I can contact them and
have a high influence with a lot of
the coaches and all them and vice versa.
Matt: Danny, can I ask you be,
before you get into the how, um, can
you define the where, so does this
operate fully inside of US Soccer?
The spec, the, the individual
leagues, whether it's MLS next
and ECNL and a elite academy and
GA for girls What does that look
Danny: Yeah.
I'm, this will be done on a
facility base.
Again, an another
contact chain that I have
are facilities all around.
The Western region from Vegas to Reno,
to
Pleasanton to Salinas,
down to Monterey.
So there's
20 something facilities I've already
spoken to or
have worked with, in
one way, shape, or form
that will house these
kids and these clubs.
This match will
be a sponsor built match for nine
to 12 kids out of each
sponsorship.
I don't have accurate totals of
what that looks like now, but it's
substantial, to, to throw out that
copilot one now to see how
it works with the rest of the
contacts within our structure tree
and start really giving those kids that
haven't had a lot of good looks.
Now, that does also
include kids that are in
the pay to play structure
that.
Maybe their club they've
outgrown or something
like that.
So we're
allowing these players to
come in, be trained by various
coaches.
Position
wise, I have a list of 12 or
14 high end coaches that are
still working in the system.
but to answer your question
about US soccer, trying to
do this as an independent, as
possible, as a grassroots
type of, opportunity.
And then basically As
we go along and the money's being
spent and the travel's being done,
and these kids are learning how to
play at certain levels of clubs,
it can even go the
opposite way.
There's a lot of ways
to look at this, consider
ourselves an accessory to the
system that's, that's in place now.
Liron: So
Matt: sorry, I'm trying
to figure this out.
What ages, let's, let's talk about the
ages and then specifically are we, are
we or aren't we talking about a kid who's
a U 13 or U 14 player who's playing,
playing within a league, within an Um,
who, who would opt into something like
this and is in, is it in addition to
their current team and the three to
four days a week that they're training?
Or is it instead
Danny: Yeah, it's a good question.
based on a lot of the leagues that
you talked about, high school age
students, they either can play
or can't play high school, right.
What we wanna do is veer around all the
bureaucracy, and allow that kid to play at
a place where he's gonna be seen most
importantly or developed if this is
a player that didn't have the money
and played here or there when they
could, but we see some real talent in so
that we can plug him into the clubs or
her, into the clubs as
well.
Liron: So
Matt: So when you say facilities, I
think Liron and I are like, we, we
have public parks, we have, uh, cones.
So break, break down facilities
for those of us that don't have
Danny: Yeah.
so like what you guys are doing, Liron,
with your, your boy, playing for NYFC.
So they have training
grounds here or there.
The facilities themselves that I
have contacts with and are willing
to work in this program with me
covers most
of California.
So that will
be their base.
We, we bring the
child in, or the kid in, or the
young adult in, we take a look at
their history where they've played
clubs.
We do speak with club,
coaches, mostly directors.
This is not stealing your player.
This is enhancing opportunities for your
player.
I think there's a lot of
noise around, scholarships
and that type of thing,
and there should be.
If that's where the kid's
gonna go, ultimately this
academy will be a Learn on Site
Academy.
We're working with, groups like Stanford
Education, Stanford Nutrition, to bring
in some of the possibilities that we've
talked about when it comes to nutrition.
They have a great online,
school, to get a bachelor's.
I do think they have some pre
bachelor programs if somebody's,
let's say, finishing up high school.
So we're gonna build these strong
relationships with large educational
institutions and other companies,
private or other, that can
enhance our vision on this thing.
So this is not something we've seen
before yet, and it's complimentary
to what's happening now.
each facility is trying
to fill space, right?
Whether it be tournaments.
A lot of
these facilities with a lot of
acreage, they do other sports.
But what I found in most of them.
Is that they're trying
to get their books solid.
And the hardest thing to do is to get
people at these large facilities
during the daytime, during
the week, right?
So we're gonna try to address
that, but at the same time, I'm
also working with, and
I can say his name, he is allowed
me to, there's a company called
Get On the Bus.
it's run by Tim
Ryerson.
They take school assets like buses, even
nutrition programs, and they
move those into a facility
base.
Now, this is, again,
is for soccer players.
there is talent within
those groups because they're
coming from, underprivileged
neighborhoods, especially
like in the Salinas area.
Whereas the Bay Area, it's
more influential, right?
So we have to measure
what's best for each kid.
Matt: so is, is this, is this
ultimately about kids who have fallen
through the cracks regardless of
age, whether it's U 13, 14, 15, 16.
So kids who may or may not be
in pay to play MLS next ECNL.
Name your name, your, your, your league.
Is that what we're looking for?
So basically we think there's so much
talent in this funnel and so many of
those kids fall out of the funnel,
right?
And that we're trying to, you're
trying to provide an opportunity
for them, which looks very different
than the opportunities that they've
either seen before or don't see it
Danny: Correct.
You hit, you hit the
nail right there because
that is what happens.
They fall through cracks.
Now a lot of that has to do with they have
other dreams and soccer's not one of them.
And those are the try things we're
gonna try to figure out right away.
Again, working with places like
Stanford and their health, medical
and, mental health professionals,
depending on what that player needs.
But this is
gonna give the player that has fallen
through the cracks the opportunity.
Again.
also we might be able to put something
together for a high-end player that's
ready to move on and jump from here to
Europe.
This is all based on, this will
all be parent activated type of
programs, right.
The parents influence it before they're
18 is vital to us to make sure that
we all talk and get, get a track of
where this, where their kid's going
and what they'll receive from this
and
our open book for
contacts, social, that will all
be done through an app that's
decentralized, it's secure where they
can communicate with coaches instead
of the player sending film all the
time will key in on the coaches and the
scouts.
They enter our system and can look at each
player that they found or that we suggest.
Yeah,
Liron: So, but, but I wanna take this back
a little bit to the sponsorship thing.
'cause obviously I don't have a PhD
economics like, the two of you do.
But, the, the, so sponsorship,
first of all is, is it a, a variety
of corporate sponsors, which are,
are known companies and entities.
And two, is the sponsorship tied to the,
program facility, or are the sponsorships
directly tied to the players themselves?
Danny: Yeah, the sponsorship
will be directly tied.
That's a good question
because as you look forward from
there, again, their parents handle
all the yeses and the nos, and
we supply any information that
they need
moving forward.
we do have, RICH RYERSON
is a scout,
a big one in the San Diego area.
We're gonna build more
people, so he'll do that,
bringing in the people
he's worked with his whole life
to make sure, sure that they're
legitimate scouts, but not only scouts.
they understand
the education process here,
so we wanna keep options
open and also have a short term
plan and, and a long-term plan
for each kid and their parents.
Matt: What What does it look like?
'cause I, look, I, I think that kids at
U 12 or 13 fall through the cracks or,
or haven't, or, or haven't even found
their way to an academy because of the pay
for play system or because of logistics
or because of whatever it may be.
Right.
what does it look like
for a kid that's that age?
How, how do they find their way to you?
And then when I think about the kids
that maybe are the you, 16, 17, 18,
not 16, but maybe 17, 18, is it,
is it too late to a certain degree?
Right?
Are you better off doing everything you
can to find these kids who haven't made
their way into the system at U 10 11, 12,
where you can give them this opportunity?
Danny: Yeah, good point.
I mean, I
think the younger that we can
get each child that's influenced
to play but also obviously has
their priority as of school, if
they haven't graduated high school.
Matt: you mentioned being
an American capitalist.
How, how will you guys make money?
Is it, is it a split?
The sponsors are essentially
supporting the organization and
everything that goes into it, and
then some of the money is also being
allocated specifically to the players.
Danny: Yeah, that's a great question.
Uh, so what happens is a lot of what's
happening when they're amateurs, you
can't really attach a scout right away.
There's new ways to do it, but what
we want is the youngest kid ideally
to, to experience everything.
We have this pretty well
bootstrapped and are able to do
it on a higher level right away.
Liron: so right now for a sponsor,
except for Goodwill, is there, is
there anything for, for these sponsors?
Is it, is it future contracts for some
of those kids or is it, I mean, what,
what, how, how is it exactly built?
Danny: Yeah.
Yeah, good question.
So the sponsor will get, visual
from each facility.
supporting players.
That has to be, the mandatory
thing for them is we're behind you.
So we offer the sponsor an opportunity
to hit three different angles And that's
attaching themselves to the player,
getting visual, naming rights, ET
cetera.
There's hundreds of things,
almost literally, that you can
allow to the sponsor for
facilitating, their investment.
It's a sponsor, but it's an investment.
If you talk about it in business terms.
We're not a 5 0 1 C,
we're a private company.
Liron: is, is the sponsor related
to the quality of the player?
Danny: It could be.
Yeah, they may even be
bringing 'em in now.
The ideal thing is as we talk to a
sponsor, they like everything they learned
about the sport that they already know.
Their questions will be probably
directly at where can we get
our best exposure other than us
helping these players move through.
I think 50% of 'em so far
have said, I would like the
value of helping these kids.
Got families that work at
my company and they can't
afford it.
but we do invest in
sports and then the.
Conversation starts from there.
They already understand the sponsor
player relationship, and now
this is where we're asking them
what other things would you like?
Liron: But if you're running this high
quality program, as, as you're with,
with these facilities, and I'm actually a
parent of a kid and I can already afford
to pay $20,000 a year for soccer and
travel everywhere, it sounds like I would
still have incentive to join your program.
But then if I do, wouldn't
that then overcrowd the
program and defeat the purpose?
Because now you're basically just
moving from one paradigm to the
other for those who can afford it.
Danny: Yeah.
Yeah.
And I can see that's a
question I haven't heard yet.
That's what you
guys do, right?
Awesome.
Yeah.
I love it.
I love this interplay.
I think, I think the parents and
the player know where they're
at, or what they've been told.
Um,
that player at a high
level will have contacts in
Europe.
They just need to tell us what
they need and we will
have a business arm of people that
will run that down to make
sure that that's possible.
Each one's gonna
be
different in its proposal and most of that
proposal's gonna,
come from
the company's interested
in a program like this Right?
Matt: I mean, it sounds like
it's almost an NIL type of arrangement
where athletes are getting,
ultimately, whether they're paid
per se, but they're being sponsored.
Right.
Maybe the, maybe they're
not receiving Yeah.
Like name, name, image, and likeness.
Exactly.
To a degree.
Danny: and we want
to enhance that for them.
There's a lot of rules in that
that allow you to do more than just
sell a signed shirt or your, your Jersey.
So we're gonna look at that
even closer because the rule's gonna
keep changing and hopefully the NCAA will
keep moving it forward because it's a
progressive idea that was long needed
to be done.
And there's kids that
are finally benefiting from its process.
There's a lot more in those
agreements that we can look at.
To enhance NCAA and as well as the
player, we all, we always have to
constantly look at each player themselves,
right?
So for a,
a kid that's already at a high level,
we wanna offer them the opportunity
to be seen more.
Maybe not
just be scouted, but
be seen more.
Liron: but the advantage would still
be for a s in the United States.
It'll still be for an MLS next program
the European side, I understand,
camps, getting some scouts to look
at, but let's talk about the United
States right now in internally, there's
already a system in the United States.
we can, we call a program, but,
and, and it sounds like we're
you're trying to increase more
opportunities for kids who really
don't have that opportunity right now.
have you spoken to MLS or what,
is there a bridge between what you
imagine is your organization into an
established team in the United States?
Danny: Yeah.
Yeah, good question.
Yeah, there are contacts in
the MLS that I don't handle.
That's, that's not my
position in this company.
But yes,
and those talks will be transparent.
but it has to come from the player
and obvious their families what
direction they wanna go.
if that kid wants to go
through the American system,
then we will pull out all of our
contacts people we're working with,
and we will go find that person that
we can speak to because gatekeepers
kill the player at these levels, right?
and we will find a way to match up
those people and fairly quick.
Matt: so these kids are living, going to
school and then training at a facility.
Potentially, what lead,
where are they playing?
Like where are they actually playing
Danny: Yeah.
So for now
they'll be coming out of clubs and we'll
have a relationship with each club because
I get a lot of, you're taking our players
and I, I believe personally, we should be
well past that.
The first thing they should say is.
This is a player I really like.
I want to keep him here.
What are you
guys thinking about doing with him?
Then the conversation can start.
But there's a lot of coaches out
there, good ones and other that feel
the ownership is theirs, but legally
it looks a little bit differently and
we're trying to match what the players
and their parents want, not what the
club coach may want in that moment.
I think most of our relationships
should be positive, 98.5% positive and
helping that player in their family.
Liron: the one, one of the cliches
we have, Matt brought it up many
times this idea of the funnel.
But it's, it's like if the United States,
if the funnel was wider in an appropriate
way, we would have so much talent.
There's just so much untapped talent.
so how do you increase that
gateway to, for somebody to,
to enter your, your system?
That doesn't exist right now, but
two, is the entry to your system.
Also dependent on the talent, or
any kid can enter this system.
Danny: Yeah, we'll have a
layered, proposal basically.
So we'll
have a lot of open tryouts in
areas that are outside of some of
the larger areas
that we have contacts in that are ready
to do this.
Yeah.
So we're gonna, we're gonna
stretch it out and widen that.
It's a great point because there's a lot
of people
in there, but.
It's winding
down
and only a few are getting through.
So we wanna
expand that, not by expanding
what's coming in, but by finding out
where each kid wants to play, how he wants
to finish school, what he likes.
Everything is on the
table here.
When we're
doing this with players,
the sponsors are just
back seaters The idea for us and how we
make money is basically sponsor base.
We're comfortable that we
have enough large
sponsors in the regional area of the west
to go ahead and get
the things that we need and the capital
necessary to continue.
Putting together
9 to 12 players, almost like
going through a class, right?
yes we can do
some coaching with
pro coaches, there's, there's,
a lot of other things we
can do to influence this child
to continue his excitement
while also communicating with the family.
I think that's falling
through the cracks too.
Coaches are
so busy
and they take in so much
from parents.
I've seen a couple of your episodes
where people talk about, the parents,
they're a big part of the game.
Not only 'cause they pay,
but they love their kid
and if the kid wants to
play somewhere, they would die for that.
I know I would for my daughter,
when she was growing up,
it was the same thing.
So that type of intensity, along with
good information and a good foundation,
I feel like anything can be done.
Matt: I wanna hold you accountable for
my question around, so where do these
kids, where do they actually play matches?
Are you gonna create your own league?
I mean, is that the vision that you
essentially have these, these, you have
kids 10 to 12, eight to 12 of 'em in
different facilities, let's say around
along the west coast, you take a couple of
those facilities, you combine them into a
team, and then they're playing other fci.
Like, is that what it
looks like eventually?
Or do you wanna play within
the the current structure?
Danny: you, you hit it on the head.
It was something I wasn't
sure to talk about or not.
We want to give that kid a chance if he
wants to, let's say he is moving, to be
able to define already with the club
in that area, if he's gonna stay
with club, if wherever he is at is
local, the facility comes first.
But again, we're gonna work with
coaches, mostly directors, coaches have
their own job.
They're busy, but the directors,
the technical directors
are open to this
idea so we can even place
kids in other clubs.
This is all based on our
agreement with each club and what we
do
and our agreement not to
cross over on certain things.
That's all respectable, getting
a lot of good feedback from it.
Liron: but wouldn't a club that's a pay to
play club, what would be their incentive?
Because if the kid is, if some
of the training is offset by you,
Where that kid could be at that club
for the extra two or three years.
Wouldn't that be a financial
loss for that pay to pay club?
Mm-hmm.
Matt: It's, it's hard for
me to imagine the clubs, uh,
giving the green light
Danny: but if you ask any coach what
his interest is in his players, other
than his value to the team, I would hope
that first anyway would be their lives
and their situation and their families.
These are little things that
most don't bring to the table.
They come out, they play
intensely, but they go
home
to problems or they go
home to
boredom or they go home to the computer.
So there's a lot
if that
player wants to continue to be seen, I
mean, we're all doing this so the players
can develop and be seen, but
we might have some alternatives
for each club as we talk.
We're gonna have clubs that say, we
don't want anything to do with this.
We don't even know who you guys
are.
This is a new idea.
A hundred people have tried this.
What we're confident in is
what we've already built on the
backside, our contacts,
our sponsors, ready to
spend money.
that's, that's where it
really works out in the end,
or doesn't work out for
most people doing something.
Outside club
soccer, but we're comfortable with that
and we think it needs to be
built a little bit differently to
house more players.
Again, that being
the primary reason we
started to do this is
find them a place to play,
even if it's only rec,
Matt: I, I mean, I think we've heard
on, on, on this pod and just through
our conversations that there's a
feeling that there's less and less
kids falling through the cracks.
Because at the end of the day, if
you're really talented, if you're
driven and you can find your way
to a club, even if you can't afford
it, the club will underwrite it.
And there's enough clubs, we know
that throughout this country.
Um, where that, that,
that may be possible.
Um, however.
Liron: I
think
Matt: think that there's still a ton of
kids that are falling through the cracks
um, and it may not be initially, and
it may not be the kids who are the most
talented, but there's another tier and
then there's another tier below that.
that whether they start in the system
and then fall out of it or they never
get into the system, uh, that it
seems like there's a real opportunity.
I, I guess I'm still trying to
figure out how it all comes together.
And I love the, I love the fact that
you're, that you're thinking about it and
that you're working towards it because
those kids all deserve a chance, right?
That kids who are privileged have
No, no, no one would argue that.
Right.
So however we can figure that out, great.
Then let's try to figure it out.
Um,
Danny: Yep.
Liron: love it.
It's exactly what Matt was saying,
but also what, what is the scale
that we're talking about here?
Just you, I know you were talking about,
let's say start in your first location.
Like how, how many kids are
you actually pointing at?
What is it, what would be a success?
gimme some metric.
Danny: Yes, sure.
Yeah, as I mentioned earlier, 9 to 12
I think is gonna be the sweet spot.
It'll obviously start in one
facility, with one sponsor.
We have a couple already
contracted, but we've
gotta make sure that sponsors
fit, they're also investing in
a player that may break it through.
And once
professional contracts come out,
there's a lot of underwriting and
other things to consider in there.
And like the European system,
they're investing in players.
Matt: So are you saying there is upside
potentially for sponsors that if they
invest in a kid at 12 years old and that
kid goes on to be a professional, that
similar to
to the way a in academy in
Europe would get paid, for a sell
through or whatever it may be?
You're saying that the sponsor would
have a, would have a piece of it.
Danny: We would also have a piece of
that, but it's very minute, very minute.
Yeah.
Our, our money's being made on like every
other 5 0 1 c except in a private way.
in my business experience, 5
0 1 C doesn't address capital
requirements or private business.
it undermines it really, because
they're just giving money
every
year.
Ideally you're
writing it off and that's, that's a good
way, I, I wouldn't run a club that way
personally, and I'm
probably either pissing
people off or something else.
It's
not.
'cause I don't
like giving
and donating.
That's not it.
It's
that I know everybody that spends money.
Even companies have a
heart when they look at what
they're spending the money on.
So.
They may want to say, we,
we don't want anything
out of this, but we would like Johnny and
Lisa and them to be a part of our group.
'cause there's these things
we want to do with them.
Right.
So that's
another enhancement for the
players, depending on the
sponsor and, and that's why we
need to match the sponsors and the
players up correctly from the beginning.
Liron: so essentially there'll
be a contract, early on between
the kid in, in your org.
So let's say if a kid plays for you.
And then, a Monterey FC is the
one right at your MLS, next,
closest geo the geography.
So let's say somebody's 1213, by that
time you, you've gotten them through
their first couple years, you, you've
discovered that raw talent, what would
be basically stopping them from going
to Monterey, because that's already an
established pipeline into, the MLS system.
Danny: Yeah, we, we would
want that, losing money.
You're not, we're not really
at a point where we look at
that as lost money or time.
'cause
there's a lot of
business transactions will happen
around that kid's playing time.
these will all
be more transparent, when we
cap this thing off.
But we want kids to make choices
that are better for them,
especially advancing up
the tree of the professional world.
So.
We're, we support that a hundred
percent.
So our
contracts are like a social
contract when they're young, we'd
like to see you do this, maybe
get you into a nutritional program
like this,
and each one, will have a sponsor,
a father, a mother, or something
behind it.
Just getting a lot of feedback,
especially from the player's parents,
which already have an investment in
them.
Right?
You don't think they
wanna spend any more money
in this case.
They don't have to, that that's
all voluntary.
If they want to continue,
we are trying to guide people, but
not everything's about the bottom,
bottom, dollar in, in, a lot of cases.
But of course, we are a
for profit, so we will
find our ways,
Liron: So,
Matt: So, so the way, go back
to the Monterey FC example.
So you bring, you have a uh, of 12 kids.
The sponsor is aligned to those 12 kids.
I'm assuming you're not just
picking an individual kid.
So it's a group of them, right?
And one of those kids goes to Monterey
FC, progresses through the system, and
then gets sold to the San Jose, or, sorry,
moves onto to the San Jose earthquakes
Danny: Yep.
Matt: and signs his first
professional contract.
Liron: contract.
At
Matt: At that point, there's a
percentage of those dollars that go to
a small percentage to your organization
and a percentage to the sponsor.
And then I would imagine if that
player succeeds at that level and
then gets sold to Europe, for example,
Liron: extent.
Then
Matt: then there's, there's 2%,
there's two co coupons clipped along
the way for that next process, the
next
Danny: right?
Correct.
Yeah.
Like for instance, if we push one
into the Monterey program, our social
agreement will have
to be a managed agreement
because all we're doing
in the social agreement
is accepting the money in such a way
based on what the
sponsor or whoever
wants us to, to make it.
And then let's say the
kid goes to Monterey.
Our relationship we feel is good enough
with a lot of these clubs and
pro teams or will be
that.
Us handing over talent to them.
They get most of the money when
the contract's sold, so we'll
be negotiating that type
of scenario ahead of time.
But we wanna push people and
especially now, because you gotta
remember if you get a good sponsor
player connection based on on
who the sponsor is, that can go a long
way for exposure for that kid or anybody
else that sponsor wanna work with that
knows that kid.
Liron: No, it's, it's a really,
it's, it's a really cool concept.
But when you say like, so sponsors
just, I, I mean, I don't know what,
what you can say or, but can you give
an example of what you would consider
kind of a, a top tier corporate sponsor?
I mean, I'm sure it's not a,
the local dermatology office.
It's, we're, we're, we're talking about
something completely different here.
That would be a. A cool thing to
have or something that would have
some meaning for, for an athlete
Danny: Mm-hmm.
Liron: at that scale?
Mm-hmm.
Danny: Yeah.
Yeah.
We have to match
those up.
But, the local ones are a big
part of what we do in each area.
a lot, lot of these sponsors
that we have are in local areas
and are attached to soccer.
So instead of spending their money
on, maybe a program that the club puts
out, we can help that club enhance it
to more of a directory of the player
places they've been, what they like to
shop for, what they
enjoy driving it, all that kind of stuff.
It just, it goes endless
about the possibilities on
what corporations want to see
short term and then long term.
there's, how many people enter the game,
both Europe and here,
Matt: I've been smiling because I've just
been thinking about the number of sponsors
coming after Liron for middle aged men.
I mean, it's
Liron: Yeah, it's
Matt: it's been phenomenal.
Except this is a family show, so
we can't even talk about what those
Liron: I've been turning away,
sponsors I'm trying to push that away.
Yeah.
Danny: Not that it's a problem, right?
Liron: yeah.
Well, I mean, it's a capital, you said
it Danny, it's capitalist society.
I'll, I'll take it all.
so you, you'd basically be going
with a portfolio of, I mean,
this is a really cool idea.
It you'd be going with a portfolio of
players, potential players going to a,
a sit sponsor, and then well, eventually
there's you, some of it'll be goodwill,
some of it will be advertised or for
the space or on the shirts or wherever.
But there's also a pie in the sky for
if, if one of those kids goes pro.
Danny: Thank, yeah.
Yeah.
Just like any other organization,
the one, the one thing that
we have is the humanity behind
it is how we wanna look at it.
like every player found type thing.
We have a lot that all of us
have seen falling through
the cracks for decades,
not just a few years, not recently
decades.
And then measured their talent after a
six week camp that they got equipment
and food and
saw a lot of talent and
excitement when they played.
That's something that
is kind of slipping for a
lot of players now, is that excitement
once they get to the different levels.
And a lot of them give back, but not
enough of them give back, in my opinion.
There's a
lot of places they came from, a lot of
people they should thank and if they want
to do that in private, that's fine too.
But I think
we would like to start
that whole, not giving
and taking, but offers
down, back down when this player advances,
they can be role models right away.
You don't have to be in the MLS or
playing for PSG, right?
There's a
lot of
respect from younger kids looking up.
Matt: does this problem exist
solely here because of, because
of the pay for play system?
So in, in South America, for example,
or in Europe, for example, when the,
the large majority of the grassroots
level and then above is covered,
whether it's through a municipality
or it's through a professional club
and you're not running into this, the
types of issues that we're running into
here, is it that, or is it the, the
size of the country from a population
perspective in a geography, or is it both
Danny: Yeah, I think
it's both those things.
And, somebody was
on your show recently,
so I can't remember,
but they were talking about Europe,
which we all do, and then measuring
Manchester City Man, United,
it's a bigger city, but
you have two sides, right?
And we need to do more of that here.
that's starting to happen in the game.
Investors are coming in, starting
semi-pro teams, which we will
possibly do right away.
Move them into the
relegation, system
in the USL
or something along those lines, and have
a for-profit team and see where that goes.
so That kid can play with us, But
I think we need to refresh and
look at, at both sides of this
too, the human being involved in this
process, and obviously celebrate
the opportunities that they get
and make this thing an exciting
way up.
And if they're not interested in playing
anymore, we'll help that, that kid that.
Little girl, little boy depart the system
in such a way where they've learned
enough from it.
And we can help with anything
you might wanna do after that,
whether going back to
school or finding a job.
we want to try to
encompass as much of this
on the human side as we can.
Yeah,
Liron: And the, the, so obviously a
facility is, is a big part of it, right?
places that have more expensive
land, maybe would have greater
numbers of untapped talent as well.
how do you, how do you balance that?
Is there a vision for that
Danny: Yeah.
So yeah, socioeconomics, I don't know
if you guys are all familiar with them.
I learn 'em as I go, but I think
I know enough about socioeconomics
where, it just depends
on.
Liron: all my socioeconomic questions.
Danny: Yes, ma. Get the calculator out.
yeah, yeah.
yeah.
They're changing all the time.
has to be in the fact
that the kid is gonna
be comfortable with what we're doing, have
the choices, have control of the choices,
and obviously
the variant is the, the parents.
And so each parent will
be needed to looked at
and take
all of their questions seriously and allow
the kid to know, this is what your parents
are really saying they want you to play.
but they want you to play in this area.
Now, that
will be up to now the parent
and the kid to talk about, I
don't want to go to that area.
We'll give 'em those numbers
on that reality, right?
But we'll also give 'em the, the
numbers on their status of success and
make it as real as possible as they
move forward and up or downward and out.
Liron: I mean, what, what, what
is your metric for success here?
is it a complete reshape of
American youth soccer system?
You can, you can define it too by
periods of time, one year, five years.
Danny: yeah.
Yeah.
One year, one year is gonna be matching
a hundred kids to their clubs already
or to new opportunities in and around the
game.
But I think, near, near future is
aligning everything up correctly
and having enough excitement.
Within the program
short term is just making
sure that everything is
cohesive.
The
long term is eventually owning
a couple pro teams ideally
of players we developed in
years gone by or other assets.
And also having that European
Academy, that's my big push.
Um.
I,
I don't like to hear academies unless I
hear schooling, health, nutrition.
Otherwise, it's just a, it's just a club.
But the long term is, yeah, owning
a couple pro teams, being more
of a sports management company
while still running, soccer purpose.
but I don't want to get ahead of
myself
just yet.
Yeah,
Liron: It's just something
we're used to this podcast, so
Danny: yeah.
Really good.
Uh, people reaching for dreams
and stuff is great, but they gotta
be grounded in reality, financial
reality as well, so it's important.
Matt: you know, one of the conversations
we had with Noah Gins who runs Albion,
um, which is all over the country and
there's about 10,000 kids in it, where
we talked about why we should be able
to break through the pay for play
dilemma that we
that we have.
it's not gonna come from
municipalities the way it does
in Europe and South America.
Um, it's gonna have to come
from private enterprise and.
What does that ultimately look like?
Right?
I think this is a, what you're
describing is a version of that.
I think there's probably a number of
different ways to go after it, but
of course, there's always the concern
that, um, that you've got a, for pro
you have for-profit organizations
running development for kids, right?
So there is this, there is this, this
natural battle around what that looks
like and what's ultimately best.
And look, I, I think the, the
important thing here for all of us
is that no one thinks it's perfect.
Everyone thinks that there's a lot of
different ways for it to improve, and
there's a lot of really smart, dedicated
people to try to make it happen.
Is it happening at the pace
in which we want it to?
Probably not.
You know, are, are there kids who are
being negatively impacted by it For sure.
And families.
Absolutely.
Um, so look, I think part of what
we're trying to do here is to have
these conversations and have people
on who have different perspectives and
different ideas to help try to do our
part, whatever, whatever that may look
Danny: Yeah.
That's awesome.
I like that.
It's a
good
Liron: was beautiful, Matt.
That was, I have goosebumps here.
Wow.
This is, uh, I mean, yeah, we're
not wrapping up the show, are we?
I mean, this is really
a extraordinary moment.
Uh, Danny, look what you've done.
Danny: Hey, it's the best of me.
Yeah.
Matt: uh, I mean, a
Saturday night at 11, Liron,
Liron: know, I know?
And, uh, uh,
Danny: Thank you guys for fitting me in.
I appreciate it.
Liron: Danny, we love the, the
dreamers and the doers and, and
this sounds like, uh, something that
is, uh, really could be fantastic.
And, we, we want, we wanna, uh, follow up
as well on, on how this is progressing.
Danny: Please do.
Yeah, looking forward to it.
Wow.
How do you say wow in economics?
I think it's still wow.
Danny, thank you very much for doing this.
Whether someone or everyone agrees with the
model or not, you're stepping into the arena, and that matters.
You're trying to solve for a problem.
Near the end, Danny said something that frames
the whole conversation.
It says, nothing is set in stone, but our direction and our mission.
So he's super focused.
And it's not a finished system.
This is a builder speaking
Yeah, and Danny also said, we're not a
501c3.
We're a private company.
That's important.
This isn't framed as a charity.
It's framed as infrastructure, as integration.
Matt, both you and Danny said, you
said falling through the cracks about kids and this belief
that the crack exists if the layers are not connected.
So this idea of the sponsors and facilities operating around the game
Okay, I mean, worth a shot.
Yeah, I mean, look, so here's where we land.
If you believe the system is broken, you have two choices.
You can keep talking about it and complain about it, or you can try to
build something that forces alignment.
Danny's choosing the second path.
It's not going to be an easy ride for him and for his partners on this
but let's see what they got.
Yeah, and we chose just to talk about it.
So, and, uh, if if this episode
hits you in the right way, send it to
another soccer parent coach or, uh, anyone
in the biz, because this is what we're become now.
And, uh, tell us more in the comments.
If a sponsor path actually existed in your city tomorrow
would that matter to you?
Cost reduction, coaching quality, exposure, measurable
development, something else.
Danny, when there are milestones on the board, you're
in and out of pilot mode, we'd love to hear from you.
This is Chasing the Game Youth Soccer in America
See you all next week.