Episode
Fixing Pay to Play in Youth Soccer | Danny Buttitta
- Published
- Feb 25, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2591
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://share.transistor.fm/s/e929a768
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Summary
Can a small club create a better development environment than a large one? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America, Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia speak with Evan Rosenthal, president and director of Manhattan Kickers FC, about one of the most distinctive small-club models in New York City youth soccer. They discuss selective growth, one team per age group, coach continuity, motivation at young ages, scholarships, player handoff to bigger clubs, and why scaling too quickly can dilute standards. This episode is for soccer parents navigating the New York City soccer landscape and anyone trying to understand how club size, philosophy, and environment shape player development. https://chasingthegame.us (00:00) - Chapter (01:00) - The big idea. A sponsor supported layer (03:10) - What problem he is actually solving (04:20) - Facilities + coaching. Building a home base (06:20) - Sponsorship mechanics. Who pays for what (10:05) - Widening the funnel. Finding every player (13:45) - Avoiding a new elite lane. Access vs exclusivity (18:10) - How this works with clubs. Incentives and friction (22:10) - What sponsors get back. Value and alignment (26:00) - Scale question. Local pilot or repeatable model (30:10) - Reality check. Execution details and constraints (35:40) - The bigger system. What would have to change (41:10) - Wrap. What success looks like next Click here to view the episode transcript.