{"podcast":{"title":"Chasing the Game - Youth Soccer in America","slug":"chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250","podcast_index_feed_id":7528250,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/chasing-the-game","website_url":"https://www.chasingthegame.us","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/4Xne-FSh01iD2s8m_-NH8nbG0PHW7JxI0AKsxID8Mvc/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kZWVh/ODMyNzJlMTg1NDQ3/NWZmZjlhOTAwOWEy/ZGJmYy5wbmc.jpg","author":"Liron Unreich","episode_count":35,"summary":"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.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-24T22:19:45.866390+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250"},"episode":{"title":"From D.C. United to Nottingham Forest: What Youth Soccer Coaches Really Do","slug":"from-d-c-united-to-nottingham-forest-what-youth-soccer-coaches-really-do","published_at":"2026-05-27T10:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250/from-d-c-united-to-nottingham-forest-what-youth-soccer-coaches-really-do","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250","url":"https://share.transistor.fm/s/17ae2476","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/17ae2476/b96e72cd.mp3","summary":"What does a youth soccer coach do when parents are not watching? This week on Chasing the Game, Liron is joined by Patrick Ouckama and Phil Gordon, whose coaching path has taken him from D.C. United to Nottingham Forest. That journey gives Phil a rare view of two very different soccer environments: the American youth system and the English academy world. The conversation keeps returning to something most parents do not always see clearly. Coaching is not just the session. It is the planning before training. The conversations after practice. The hard roster decisions. The scouting meetings. The staffing behind the player. The hours spent thinking about development long after the whistle blows. Phil talks about the dedication required to coach well, what changes when you move into a Premier League academy environment, and why staffing and structure matter so much in player development. For American soccer parents, this episode offers a useful look behind the curtain. Not because England has all the answers. Not because Nottingham Forest is a magic model. But seeing how another environment supports players and coaches can help us ask better questions about our own. In this episode, we cover: - What parents often miss about the work coaches do - Why coaching is much more than running a training session - How Phil’s path moved from D.C. United to Nottingham Forest - What the UK academy environment feels like from the inside - Why staffing, scouting, and support roles matter in development - The difference between coaching in the U.S. and England - How geography changes the academy experience in the UK - What American players bring, and where they can still grow - Why parent-coach relationships can shape the development experience - How families should think about college, c…","meta_description":"What does a youth soccer coach do when parents are not watching? This week on Chasing the Game, Liron is joined by Patrick Ouckama and Phil Gordon, whose…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3266,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250/episodes/from-d-c-united-to-nottingham-forest-what-youth-soccer-coaches-really-do/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250/from-d-c-united-to-nottingham-forest-what-youth-soccer-coaches-really-do.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}