{"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":30,"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 youth sports parenting 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":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250"},"episode":{"title":"What MLS Academies Really Look For. Jose Campos of Orlando City","slug":"what-mls-academies-really-look-for-jose-campos-of-orlando-city","published_at":"2026-03-25T11:49:23+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250/what-mls-academies-really-look-for-jose-campos-of-orlando-city","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/chasing-the-game-youth-soccer-in-america-7528250","url":"https://share.transistor.fm/s/48ad33b0","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/48ad33b0/b3c82c8b.mp3","summary":"What do MLS academies actually look for in a player? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America , Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia sit down with Jose Campos , Academy Director at Orlando City , for one of the clearest conversations we’ve had yet about how serious academies really think. Jose explains how Orlando City defines player profile, what “fit” actually means inside a pro academy, why growth mindset and coachability matter so much, and how scouts separate current performance from long-term potential. He also gets into what parents misunderstand about trials, why college is not failure, and how players should think about challenge, development, and timing. This episode is for soccer parents, coaches, and serious players trying to better understand MLS academies, the youth development process, and what decision-makers are really evaluating behind the scenes. (00:00) - Start (00:03) - Cold Open. What MLS Academies Actually Want (01:01) - Jose Campos’s Journey to Orlando City (05:04) - What Different Soccer Cultures Teach You (11:36) - Building Orlando’s Player Profile and Culture (20:08) - Performance vs Potential. Early and Late Developers (24:59) - How Orlando Recruits and Builds Its Roster (30:01) - What Live Scouting Reveals That Video Misses (34:03) - America’s Diversity, Styles, and Player Profiles (39:03) - Trial Advice for Players and Parents (43:02) - Always Chase the Next Level (46:01) - The U.S. System, Pay-to-Play, and the Business Reality (56:03) - What Players Still Need Beyond Training (01:00:00) - Host Takeaways and Final Reflections Click here to view the episode transcript.","meta_description":"What do MLS academies actually look for in a player? In this episode of Chasing the Game: Youth Soccer in America , Liron Unreich and Matt Tartaglia sit d…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3690,"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/what-mls-academies-really-look-for-jose-campos-of-orlando-city/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/what-mls-academies-really-look-for-jose-campos-of-orlando-city.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}